Day One
Jazz, Ritchie and Chelsea quietly ate their breakfast in the veranda. The three discreetly watched, as Mr. Davis and Linda helped Lewis walk through the yard. Chelsea had advised him to walk around so he could get his blood flowing and some air. "His fever's not cooling down." Chelsea sighed, shaking her head. "What do you mean? He just woke up the other day. Isn't that a good sign?" Ritchie glanced at her as he set his cup of coffee. Jazz shook her head, "I don't know. He's been coughing really bad last night. Look.." She nodded towards the was hunched over, coughing as the two rubbed his back. "It's been three days. He's supposed to be at least, a little better now. I don't know what I'm doing wrong here." Chelsea exclaimed rubbing her temples.
Jazz suddenly shot up in her seat, "Shit!". Chelsea quickly followed Jazz running out of the veranda. The young med student quickly ran to Lewis who was vomiting blood before he fell on his backside.
Snap!
Snapping out of it, Jazz gets on her feet and quickly averts her attention to where the sound came from. Jazz squinted through the darkness. One campfire lit the campsite by their truck, as she stood on top of it. The camp was now bigger, befnore they only had a suv and a pickup, now they had four and a RV. Jazz raised the rifle as a figure emerged from the trees. Snorting, she dropped the rifle, watching the older Dixon came in the clearing, glancing at her watch; it was already two in the morning. Jazz frowned watching Merle strut his way with something hanging on his shoulder and disappearing inside his tent.
"He knows how to hunt." Steadying herself before falling on the other side of the truck, "Fuck.." Jazz lets out a shaky breath as she glanced the young man seated in front of the campfire just below her. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you." He put his hands up. "It's fine." She studied the young man; he looked a few years younger than her. He had a slim built and looked like he wasn't from around Georgia but Korean. "Were you there this whole time?" Jazz frowned. "Yeah." He chuckled. "Daydreaming on watch, huh?" the young man teased as the red head let a small laugh. "Aren't you cold up there?" he glanced at her clothes; she wore a cargo pants and a black wifebeater. "It's just a little cold." She shrugged. "Can't sleep?" Jazz said softly staring up at the sky. "Can't really sleep well these days." The young man shook his head poking the fire before staring at her. "How long till your shift ends?" "Why?" She glared down at him suspiciously. The young man watched the redhead's grip on the rifle tighten. He shrugged, "I was just wondering how long you have to be up there. It gets a little chilly at night." "I'll manage." She snapped at him before turning away from him. "Right. Well, uh good night." The young man mumbled before getting up and quickly going inside his tent.
The next day, Jazz was woken up by voices outside her tent. "Her watch just ended at four in the morning. Let her sleep." "I just need to speak to her really quick." Jazz glanced at her watch and realized she only got to sleep for three hours. "You can talk to her when she wakes up." "She wakes up in the afternoon! I can't wait that long." Jazz threw the covers off of her before zipping her tent almost stomping outside.
"What now?" Jazz scowled at Rea and Walsh who stood in front of her. "Well what the fuck is it?" she crossed her arms. "Good morning, Jasmine." Walsh greeted her casually. "The fuck?" she glared up at him. Shane's eyebrows rose before chuckling. "The rest and I were talking and we wanted to have our own supplies-" "We've been giving you food. What else do you want?" she glared at him. "I wanted to ask if you could lends us a few guns so we could scavenge a few towns." Jazz snorted at him, "No fucking way. Don't you have a gun?" "I do and the Dixon's and Andrea has too but-" "Then why not take them with you?".
Shane barked a laugh, "Jazz, you think I'd take them and a woman out there? Not to insult you or any other woman in camp.". "Oh I wouldn't know, Shane. I'm not an asshole like you." Rea stepped away from the two, sealing her lips as she tried not to laugh.
Shane sighed, "If I take those Dixons who knows what would happen?" "Not my problem. Besides we've wiped clean every town that isn't miles away or doesn't belong to the dead." "Well where will you get supplies when they run out?" "Atlanta. Or pack up and find another place." "Atlanta? That's your solution?" Shane stood back studying the woman in front of him. At first he thought this group was pretty smart but Atlanta? "Don't look at me like that, Walsh. Atlanta's a big city with supplies all over the damn place and access roads coming from every direction. The only thing you need to get in and out safely is a good plan." "So..?" Shane's voice softened. Jazz groaned in irritation , "I'll have to talk to the others and you're people need to start carrying your own weight around here." She almost snarled at him as she glanced at a big fat old man lounging around under sun smoking cigarettes. "We just need a few days to settle down, Jasmine." Walsh sighed in frustration. This woman was being difficult. "All I'm saying is you're not visitors here. Everyone of you should earn their own keep." And with that Jazz went back inside her tent.
After lunch, Jazz spotted Ritchie by his car screwing shut a medium sized solar panel they had found from a random house. "Thank god for nature lovers?" Ritchie grinned at as she came up to him. "You got it working?" Jazz ignored the bruising spot on his jaw and on his cheekbone. "I'm hoping. Just need to hook it up somewhere." "I don't think we have anything here that needs power." Jazz shook her head looking around. "A fan?" Rea said wiping her forehead with the back of her hand. "I'm fat. I can't handle this heat. It's not even summer yet." Rea grumbled to herself as she passed by carrying a bag full of laundry. "How 'bout a fridge?" Someone yelled from across camp getting the attention of almost everyone. Merle grinned at her, "For cold beers huh, sugar tits?" he chuckled before going back to whatever he was cooking on his own firepit. "That's actually not a bad idea, Dixon." Jazz chuckled before turning back to Ritchie who had a frown on his face. "What the fuck did he just call you?" he grunted. "It's fine Ritchie." Jazz whispered softly smiling down at him before giving his shoulder a soft squeeze and walking away.
The day went by smoothly with everyone minding their own businesses and own duties. Shane had assigned a few people to help keep watch and check perimeters with the other group. As dinnertime arrived, everyone had been briefly acquainted with each other and were having pleasant conversations, excluding the Dixons, The Peletiers and Drew who didn't want to mingle with the other group.
After eating, Jazz stood outside Shane Walsh's tent, "Walsh." She called out. Shuffling was heard from inside before his head poked out, "Jasmine, come in." Jazz paused before cautiously stepping away. She stood a few feet away from him. "My group and I talked earlier and we decided." Shane then stepped out of his tent. "The answer's still no, Walsh. We can't let you take our guns." She said firmly looking at him directly in the eyes. "We were too trusting before and this time we're being careful. There's no point in hiding what happened to us. You all saw our wounds. We don't know if you have plans for us or not but until then… Until you all prove us that we can trust you, you're all the same to us." She watched him carefully look down with disappointment before looking at her. "We don't want to rely on your group. We want to have our own set of supplies, Jasmine." He said with his jaw clenched. "I get that, Shane. We're not really that thrilled with sharing such a huge amount of our supplies with a bunch of strangers but you have to do it with your own resources." "Jasmine, The Dixons aren't really that easy to work with. I'm sure you know that by now." Jazz shrugged, "They haven't given me any reason to think so but if you ever decide to head to Atlanta, let me know. One or two of us can go with you with a gun and a ride. That's all the help you're getting from us." And with that she turned and left him. Jazz stopped in her track to see the long black hair woman who had a little boy with her. "Eavesdropping I see." She chuckled at the woman before walking away and heading to her tent to get some sleep before her watch.
"You little bitch!" Linda screeched launching at her and grabbing her hair pulling roughly. Jazz screamed in pain as she felt her scalp stretch. "Stop it! Don't hurt her!" Rea screamed as she tried to stand up. "Shut the fuck up! You fat fuck!" David yelled giving Rea a hard backhand slap. "You promised! You all promised!" Davis yelled hysterically, pointing a shotgun at everyone's face. Ritchie glared darkly at him. This man was pointing his own gun to his face. All everyone could do was kneel and struggle while their hands and feet were tied.
"Jasmine?" Jazz woke up with a cold sweat. "Jasmine? Are you there?" Jazz sighed before pulling away her covers and exiting the tent. Jazz stared at the young man outside her tent. "Yes?" she said confused as to what he wanted. "Uh Rea asked me to wake you up. I'm on watch with you according to Shane." He said rubbing his nape. "Just give me a minute." He nodded and left while Jazz went back inside to get her jacket. Jazz stood outside her tent studying the young man on top of the RV, thinking if she should sit with him or stay on top if the truck beside the RV.
Jazz climbed up the ladder and found the young man seated comfortably at the chair facing the dirt road. "Hey." He smiled at her as she sat down beside him, facing the other way. "You're wearing a jacket." He pointed out taking off his baseball cap and running his hands on his hair. "Yeah. It does get chilly at night up here." She shrugged. Jazz scanned the forest in front of her. "I'm Glenn by the way, Glenn Rhee." The young man introduced himself pulling her attention away from the woods. He held up is hand as if asking for a high five. It was an odd way of introducing himself. Jazz chuckled, "Jasmine Foster." She smiled back giving him a sounding high five. "World's gone to shit and we're living in one place. Why even bother with formalities?" he shrugged. "That is fucking true, Glenn." She nodded laughing. "Call me, Jazz." "So what did you guys do to scavenge almost every town." He asked grinning. Jazz paused for a moment. "It's pretty amazing you know. Considering you guys are just seven." "We just got a long streak of luck I guess." She shrugged glancing at him. Glenn wasn't that young to begin with. He looked like just around the same age as her and the group and looked pretty timid. So far he hasn't given her any red flags excluding the fact she had snapped at him for just being nice to her last night. "I'm sorry about last night by the way." She turned to him. "Ah yeah. It was nothing." He shrugged nonchalantly. "You guys can't really blame us. We were with a family before. Bunch of psychotic assholes." She grumbled. "It's acceptable." He nodded in understanding. "How so?" "They tried to take your supplies, I'm assuming." He said crossing his legs not looking at her. "And tried to kill us." Jazz laughed bitterly. Hiding the past was pointless. Glenn nodded, "Yeah. The wounds and bruises were a dead giveaway." His eye flickered down to her chest and arms that were littered with cuts and bruises. Jazz could only nod in agreement as she slide down her chair, trying to get comfortable and to get the memory off her mind.
"Don't touch her! Have your way with me just don't touch her!" "Shut the fuck up!" "NO!" "Don't you dare touch her you fucking asshole!" "Me! Just hurt me! Don't touch them!"
Glenn noticed her tense up, "So what did you do before all this?" Glenn asked trying to distract her. "Photojournalist." She mumbled. "What about you?" Jazz asked before letting Glenn ask another question. "Delivery boy." He grinned. "Pizzas?" Jazz's eyes twinkled. Glenn nodded, "Fuck!" Jazz yelled in frustration. "I would kill for some pizza right now.." she pouted before peering at him through her lashes. "You wouldn't happen to have some pizza in your tent would you?" she asked. Glenn laughed out loud, "No. Sorry." Jazz sighed slumping down her seat.
"But I think I know something you might be interested in." "Okay, Pizza Boy. I'm all ears." She raised an eyebrow turning her body to face him. "Shane said you're planning to go to Atlanta for a run. Well I happen to deliver pizzas there for two years. I know the streets better than anyone." He grinned. Jazz stared at him, "Are you sure you want to go to Atlanta? I'm guessing it's gonna be filled with biters." She looked at him worriedly. Glenn didn't look much. "Yeah I've thought about it but I want to help. I know all the access roads. I know every little detail. I'm your man, Jazz." He grinned at her. "Shit. Okay. I'll think about it." She nodded. The rest of the watch was quiet after that with a few questions here and there other than the younger Dixon leaving his tent so early. "They both hunt and share their food with us. Sometimes..." Glenn shrugged reading the suspicious look on her face. "Guess that's useful these days, huh?" "Hey our watch's over." Glenn said as he glanced at his watch. "Finally." Jazz stood up stretching her limbs and climbing down the rv. "I'll go wake up, Chelsea. Good night." She waved at him as Glenn walked away.
It's been almost a year ago since my last update ;-; Ill definitely update every month or two weeks if I have time. I also have an accnt on ao3 under ironictwat. :) thanks for reading