FanFicGirl10- Well…..he didn't *exactly* just walk off for the night. I couldn't make him that much of a dick to be honest. Caitlin's all Irish, so she might be a *wee* bit mad at Daryl! Norman Reedus said in an interview that Daryl wasn't a cuddler…yeah...well...we'll see about that… LOL! Thanks for your R&R!
Scoobydoo0811- Thanks! I had fun writing the chapter as well! Fluffy moments make me happy! Thanks for your R&R!
Piratejessieswaby- I love Caitlin too! *grin* Seems like most people reading this story like her as well! Thanks for your R&R!
Enough of the fluffy stuff, time to get on the road and head to Fort Bragg, NC. One of the biggest Army bases on the East Coast, and home of my brother's command. I've been to the base once, so my layout will be a bit rusty I'm sure. As always please read and review to keep my fingers and brain going! Enjoy!
No one song hit me this chapter, just been a playlist of Alter Bridge, Staind, Theory of A Deadman.
Who's figured out what Caitlin's tattoo says? It's kind of important to the story….*evil laugh*
Caitlin woke naked, wrapped in a blanket in her tent. For a moment she panicked, her heart started racing as she came out of the fog of sleep slowly, trying to remember why she was naked and alone. Thoughts flashed in her mind of fingers on her skin, heated kisses on her neck, piercing blue eyes and the smell of woods and smoke. Caitlin sat up, pulling the blanket up to her chest, swiping her hair behind her ear. The flap on her tent opened, as Daryl walked in with a bottle of MRE orange juice and a plate with food on it.
"Hey darlin' you're awake. Thought I'd bring you breakfast. How'd ya sleep? I haven't slept yet. Had too much to do." Daryl grinned a sly grin, looking at Caitlin as he handed her the plate. Daryl sat down next to Caitlin; as he cracked open the bottle of orange juice.
"Thanks for breakfast. I'm kind of hungry after last night. When are we leaving for Bragg?"Caitlin smiled at Daryl, how could she be mad at him for leaving her last night when he brings her breakfast the next morning? The sex had been amazing, Caitlin felt like Daryl was a man she could trust, besides, wasn't it just sex between two consenting adults? There didn't have to be attachments with it did there? Caitlin could tell that Daryl had a tough time with emotions, like someone who had been abused earlier in life. The scars he bore were just as horrific as hers. It pained her to touch the one over his heart last night; she remembered her fingers trembling as a tear ran down her cheek.
"As soon as we finish packing up and you eat breakfast. Can't have you dropping out on us again. Got a lot going on today. I'm gonna go finish packing up. I'll help you get your tent packed up when you're ready. Enjoy your breakfast darlin'" Daryl smiled at Caitlin, pressing a chaste kiss to her shoulder before getting up to leave.
Caitlin ate quickly before dressing in a pair of jeans and a tee-shirt. She dug through her overnight bag, finding both of her bottles of pills, tipping one each out into her hand. By the count in the bottles she would be coming up empty very soon. Caitlin swallowed the pills down with the last of the orange juice, hoping that the pharmacy at Bragg was still mostly complete, and she would be able to locate what she needed. Caitlin folded up her blankets and pillow, tucking them under her arm as she walked out to her truck.
Daryl was standing by her truck loading his tent into the back, "What the hell is that?" Caitlin tipped her chin at the motorcycle strapped down in the bed of her truck as she put her bedding into the back of the cab.
"It's my brother's and it's going with us. I didn't think you would mind if I hauled it in your truck." Caitlin frowned at the SS lightning bolts painted on the side of the gas tank, not impressed one bit. Daryl saw the frown on her face, and followed her gaze. "I ain't like my brother, I ain't a white supremacist. I ain't got nothin' against blacks, Asians, anyone like that. Promise ya that."
Daryl and Caitlin worked together breaking down and packing up her tent, as Rick and Maggie fueled up their suburban out of Caitlin's reserve tank. Caitlin handed Daryl the keys to her truck, "I'd prefer it you drove for awhile. I'm still digesting breakfast." Daryl took the keys from her hand, "Ya sure? Don't feel like you're obligated since my bike is in your truck." Caitlin smiled as she opened the door, settling into the passenger seat. Daryl adjusted the seat before stepping into the clutch, the truck rumbled to life as the campsite was left behind.
Forty miles seemed to take hours, between moving cars out of their way, stopping to check for supplies, fuel in vehicles, anything of use. Caitlin and Daryl didn't talk much past small talk, mostly listening to the cd playing in the truck. It had been awhile since Daryl had heard music, what was playing was something he had never heard before. It was women singing different songs, which had very little music accompanying them. It was relaxing, not just for him, but he could see Caitlin relaxed as she watched out the truck window.
"Look there, exit here Daryl. Bragg's down this exit about three miles." Caitlin's heart hammered in her chest, hoping the base still held. Refuge on a military base would be choice compared to the woods, with all the fences and fortified buildings. Supplies should be high, as most bases were meant to become disaster shelters.
The gate they rolled up on was closed. Caitlin got out, checking the guard shack before walking back to the suburban. Rick rolled down his window, "What gives? The gate is closed, so it should be safe right?" Caitlin nodded, "I can unlock the gate from the guard shack, there isn't anyone in it. But that doesn't mean walkers didn't get in through another gate or a hole in the fence. Doesn't mean there aren't troops holed up in her either. We need to be very careful. Hopefully we can fuel up out of the fuel depots and find some supplies. That would be ideal, along with somewhere to stay for the night." Rick nodded as Caitlin spoke, "Well let's get the gate open and start looking for shelter, supplies can come after shelter."
The gate opened easily, both trucks drove through, and waited on the other side. Caitlin pushed the button to close the gate, running through as it closed. She opened the door to her truck, hopping in the passenger seat, "If I remember right the exchange, commissary, hospital and hotel are all in the same area about two miles in. Follow this road while I read signs." Daryl nodded as he put the truck in gear. The base was eerily empty, as if people had once been there, took what they wanted and just bugged out. Caitlin was shaking her head as they neared the hospital complex, she hoped there were things left, even if it felt so very empty.
Daryl stopped the truck, getting out and walking back to the suburban behind them, bow in hand, pistol on his hip. "You guys check out the store, me and her are going to hit up the hospital. We'll re-group and hit the grocery store and the hotel. Got to be something for the taking."
"Daryl this place is like a ghost town, it's like they just packed up and left. Why would they just abandon a base like this?" Rick just couldn't wrap his head around it, why leave something so secure and well stocked like this behind?
Rick took his group into the post store; Rick had a clear idea of what they were looking for, what they needed. The doors were unlocked; the store was quiet as a tomb. As they walked through the aisles, Beth pushed a cart with Judith in the baby seat asleep. Carl pushed another as Rick and Maggie grabbed items off the shelves filling the carts. It was eerie that there was no walkers, no people holed up, nothing.
Daryl forced open the sliding glass door of the emergency room entrance; the smell hitting his nostrils was over whelming. "Yeah, there's dead in here somewhere, keep a eye out." Caitlin nodded as she drew an arrow to the ready on her bow. They walked side by side over clearly dead bodies, noting that none of them had turned. Caitlin read the sign on the wall, "Pharmacy is this way. We need to hit it hard. Probably wouldn't hurt to hit central supply either for IV bags and such. It would make my life easier." Daryl grunted as he took point down the hallway heading left. Emergency power was still in effect, meaning the keypad locks on the doors still worked. Doors were closed everywhere they looked, the silence making Caitlin edgy.
Daryl noticed, his tone quiet in the silence, "Why would they abandon a place like this? There is so much in supplies here still. It would be easy to keep protected with all the military here." Caitlin took a deep breath, "I'd wager they got called to mobilize out, and these people laying here are their family members that were left behind."
Daryl tried to open the Pharmacy door, but it was solidly locked tight. Caitlin walked up to the keypad, punching in a code. Daryl watched the lock click from red to green, "Take it you been here before?" Daryl grinned. "Not hardly. I used to date an Army medic that worked in the pharmacy here. I knew his code." Caitlin smirked as Daryl made a face that almost made her burst out laughing.
Daryl edged the door open with his foot, stepping into the pharmacy seeing white shelves stocked full of drugs. "Hope you know what you're looking for. We'd be here all day looking through these shelves." Caitlin beamed at him, the joy evident in her face, "Luckily for us, the rows are in alphabetical order and I know what I want and need." Daryl stepped over the body of a man in a white lab coat; his neck tore out, "Darlin' be careful, there's been a walker here. This old boy's throat's tore out."
Caitlin unhooked the sea bag on her back, grabbing bottles off the shelf, not listening to the sounds around her past Daryl breathing. She heard the moan, and looked past Daryl seeing the walkers closing in on him. Caitlin drew her knife, throwing it into the skull of the nearest one, as she heard an arrow leave Daryl's bow flighting past her ear. Two on his back, two on hers. Caitlin backed up into Daryl's back, drawing the walkers in for a close kill. Daryl drew his knife, waiting. Caitlin had dropped her bow, an arrow still in her hand. "Come on you bastard, come have your ending." The walker looked at Caitlin as he lumbered forward, his nametape on his blouse clear. Caitlin jammed the arrow through his skull as he lunged, Daryl striking his walker down at the same time.
Caitlin jerked the arrow loose, "Guess that was a bit of irony," she said as she turned the body over with her boot, "This is the guy used to date. Weird it was me ending him." Daryl almost laughed as he pulled his own arrow free, "I'll check the rest of the room for more. Just keep getting what you need." Caitlin nodded as she filled the sea bag with bags of IV fluid, drugs, boxes of syringes anything she thought useful.
"We still need to hit central supply. Bandages, central line kits, that kind of stuff would be useful." Daryl nodded as they stepped out into the hallway again, heading into the depths of the hospital.
