Notes: I know... I just updated this but I couldn't stop writing.
Hope you all enjoy :)
Chapter 7: Deputies vs Dixons
The scavenging party had succeeded in escaping Atlanta, except Merle had been left behind. For those who had left him their own guilt ate at each of them. Dane, especially felt that he had failed him on that rooftop. When they had returned River had blown up, blaming the new guy Rick for handcuffing him there. However, upon hearing that T-Dog had chained the door shut her hope was renewed and she was ready to run out and rescue him. The more responsible Dane wouldn't let her leave to the city on her own in the dark. All around, tensions were high between the trio of Canadians and the other members of the group.
It was just before dawn. The sun wasn't even up yet, but River was. Impatiently she nudged Dane in his sleeping bag. "Rise and shine," she pestered him. She'd been poking and prodding at him for over an hour.
Dane groaned and rolled over. "Damn it, Tom, go back to sleep." Hell, she hadn't even gone to sleep yet. Her mind was in overdrive. Merle was in that city, sitting helpless up on some rooftop.
"Give me the keys and I'll leave you alone, let you sleep," River offered to cut him a deal.
"No," Dane refused yet again. "I'm not letting you wander into that city in the dark." He'd been there, he knew what it was like.
"You don't get to tell me what I can and can't do," River protested. "I'm not a child."
"Then stop acting like one," Dane snapped back grouchily. He could feel River's glare through the darkness.
"Both of you," Jason hissed, "would you please shut up." Pulling his sleeping bag over his head and covering his ears he prayed for silence.
River huffed and left the tent. Liam went with her.
"God, she's a pain in the ass," Dane muttered.
"I'm serious, be quiet," Jason groaned. "Bad enough listening to her all freaking night."
Neither brother had got a good nights sleep with River tossing and turning next to them, grumbling the entire night. Her departure was a much needed break. The atmosphere in the tent changed and they were able to lay down their heads and get a couple hours of good, restful sleep. They were going to need it.
Jason stretched and looked around the tent. It was empty. He got himself dressed and headed out to see what the plan was.
Everything was going on as usual in the Atlanta Survivor's camp. Carol was folding laundry. Glenn was watching sadly as Dale and Jim stripped the gorgeous red sports car he'd stolen. Rick was talking to Lori as she hung laundry to dry. It was if nothing was wrong.
Shane pulled up in the black jeep, returning from down in the quarry. "Water's here y'all," he hollered to the camp. "Just a reminder to boil before use." Jason rolled his eyes. Did people really need to be told that?
Then it occurred to him. The jeep. Not the little black jeep, but him and his brother's gorgeous pumpkin orange piece of machinery... It was missing. So was Dane, River and Liam. The bastards, they'd just up and left him there without so much as a word.
With nothing else to do, Jason threw a pot of water on the fire to boil then headed to the forest to grab some fresh pine boughs to make some tea. Pine was an excellent source of vitamin C. It was just one of those habits he'd picked up spending months living out of the network of cabins on their trap line. Protein was never a problem, but you wanted to stay healthy in the bush in the winter you learned to develop a taste for certain other things.
Amy was across the camp hanging laundry to dry with her sister. Jason sighed. Cautiously he made his way over to her with a hot, steaming cup of tea. "Uh, Amy?"
The young blonde looked up from her work and smiled. "Morning JJ."
"I...I... Uh," Jason was struggling with the words so he just held out the cup.
Amy stared into the cup uncertainly. "What is it?" she asked.
"Just drink it," Andrea nudged her sister and gave her a wink.
"It's, uh..." Jason was sweating. Embarrassed, he wiped his hands on his jeans. This always happened to him and he hated it. "It's tea." He squinted at Amy and waited.
Tentatively Amy took a sip. Her face scrunched up. It was awful.
Andrea who had been watching her intently let out a little laugh. Immediately she brought her hand up to her mouth, knowing how hard it must have been for Jason to do what he'd done.
Seeing the hurt on Jason's face Amy tried to cover up her dislike of the tea, "That's err, really sweet of you, JJ. Thanks."
Jason laughed uncomfortably. What he really wanted to do was run, but he hadn't done that. Not since the incident fishing at the quarry. "I... I d-didn't like it at f-first either, but it's g-g-good for you."
"Right," Amy said. She'd stick to plain old-fashioned water.
"Maybe it'll grow on you," Jason suggested, managing to pull off the whole sentence without stuttering. Slowly he was easing up around these people.
Amy forced herself to nod, but in her head she was daydreaming about Starbucks. A nice vanilla chai latte with skim milk. Hot, sweet, a little spicy and absolutely delicious. This backwoods stuff would never cut it.
The low rumble of the Jackson's jeep gave Jason the perfect excuse to get out of there. Dane came barreling in and parked it next to the little black jeep. Little being the operative word. It was dwarfed by it's modified cousin. A sick feeling grew in the pit of Jason's stomach as he made his way closer. "Where's Tom?" he asked, seeing only one occupant in the vehicle.
"You mean she's not back yet?" Dane looked surprised.
Jason shook his head. That'd be a negative. "Where'd she go?"
That was the million dollar question. Dane shrugged. "I have no idea. I'd thought maybe she'd headed off towards Atlanta on foot."
Jason snorted. "That sounds like something Tom would do."
"So I went for a little drive, checked the roads, but I didn't see any sign of her." There was a hint of worry in Dane's voice.
Daryl was nearing the top of the ridge. Strapping his crossbow to his back he got down on his belly and waited for the winds to be right. Silently he crawled the rest of the way. He'd been tracking that there doe for miles. Every time he got close the wind would shift and she'd pick up on his scent and take off again.
There she was, oblivious to his presence, munching on some leaves. Would make a damn fine meal when he got her back to camp. Bringing himself into a crouching position he readied his crossbow. The damn thing moved just as he released the bolt. Ain't no way it was gonna be a clean kill. Quickly he loaded another and let it fly but the deer was gone.
Daryl cursed under his breath and made his way to where she'd been. There was no choice now but to follow the blood trail. No way was he letting that much meat get away. The hell if he knew why he gave a damn if these assholes ate or not anyways. But that was gonna be some mighty tasty venison right there. Beat the hell outta squirrel, that's for sure.
Daryl had plenty of experience tracking game, so there was no trouble finding the doe again. Once he was in position he lined up the shot and took it. The bolt pierced the deer's rib cage. The doe leapt outta sight once more. Didn't matter. Daryl knew before he even saw the frothy pink blood trail that it was a killing shot, straight through the animal's lungs. The hunter slung his crossbow over his shoulder and set off to retrieve his game. They was gonna be eating good tonight.
"Mom! Dad!" Daryl could barely make out the screams, the woods absorbed the sound. Was that Lori's little brat? He listened closely but there was nothing. Shit. Must've just been hearing things. Either way, that kid wasn't his problem. Wasn't nothing gonna distract him from his goal.
Wouldn't ya know it. The damn doe had ran practically straight into camp. Probably right around that rock. Daryl trudged through the thick underbrush and came out into the clearing where the deer had finally died. The hell? Half the God damned camp was standing around, wielding weapons, staring at him like he was one of em flesh-eating bastards.
"Oh Jesus," Shane muttered, shotgun in his hand.
Whatever. Then Daryl looked down at his deer. You gotta be kidding. "Son of a bitch that's my deer," the hunter objected looking disgusted. "Look at it all gnawed on by this filthy, disease-bearing, motherless, poxy bastard." With every word he kicked the corpse of the Walker venting his anger.
"Calm down son," Dale frowned from under his hat. "That's not helping."
As if Daryl was gonna listen to some dumbass geriatric. "What d'ya know about it old man?" he growled advancing towards Dale. "Why don'tcha take tha' stupid hat an' go back t' On Golden Pond?" Returning to his kill Daryl lamented, "Been trackin' this deer fer miles. Was gonna drag it back t' camp, cook us up some venison." Examining the animal, he paused. "What d'ya think... think we can cut aroun' this chewed up part right here?"
"I would not risk that," Shane warned.
"That's a damn shame," Daryl drawled. What a waste of a good animal. "Well I got some squirrel," he informed them, glad he hadn't come back entirely empty handed. "'Bout a dozen or so. It'll have to do."
"Shit, Dane, what do we do?" Jason frowned.
"Not much we can do," his big brother responded dejectedly. "Tom's gonna do what Tom's gonna do. I tried looking for her, but I don't even know if she'll take the main roads into the city. Kind of unlikely."
Jason didn't want to ask the next question, didn't want to know the answer. "Just how bad, exactly, is it in Atlanta? Assuming she gets that far?"
Dane furrowed his eyebrows. "It's pretty bad," he said truthfully.
"Do her and Liam stand a chance?"
"Doubt it." Both their hearts sank.
"Merle! Merle!" Daryl's voice carried through the camp. One problem straight to another. Dane winced. This was the moment he'd been dreading.
"Time to get out the popcorn," Jason rolled his eyes. Dane glared at him.
"Getch yer ass out here," Daryl hollered. "Got us some squirrel. Stew em up."
"Hey Daryl," Shane called after him. "Hold up. I need to talk to you."
"'Bout what?" Daryl snarled back at the deputy.
Dane tried to cut in, "Hey Shane, maybe you should let..."
Shane ignored him. "About Merle. There was a," he paused considering how best to phrase this. "There was a problem in Atlanta."
The whole damn camp had gathered around to watch the drama that was about to ensue. Hell, Jim was actually leaning on the little black jeep like is was some kind of show. Jason's jab about the popcorn suddenly seemed entirely appropriate. Rick was walking towards the center of the action. This just got better and better.
"He dead?" Daryl choked out, clutching the string of squirrels tightly in his hand.
"We're not sure," Shane admitted. Said aloud it really did sound pretty terrible.
Daryl circled Shane menacingly. "He either is or he ain't." It was pretty god damned black or white.
River placed one shaky foot in front of the other. This last mile felt like the longest mile she'd ever walked. Liam trotted along happily beside her. Every now and then she'd have to stop and use his powerful, steady shoulders as a brace to hold herself up. Dane and Jason had been right. As much as it tore her apart to see that little girl going hungry, she was no good to any of them like this.
"Almost there, buddy," she informed Liam as they stepped out onto the rocky edge at the top of the quarry. Really though, it was herself she was reassuring. A few more steps and they should be able to see the camp.
Down below Daryl turned away trying to hide the torrent of emotions he was feeling. Merle was all he had, he thought, a bit teary eyed. All he'd ever had. Daryl wiped his eyes with the back of his wrist. "Hold on, let me process this..." he said, his voice wavering as he spoke. "You said you handcuffed my brother t' a roof..." Daryl could hardly make sense of the words as he repeated them. "And you left him there?" he shouted the question in Rick's face.
Daryl's angry voice carried up to where River was plodding weakly along with Liam. Shit. Oh shit. That meant Daryl was back from his hunt and had just found out they were one Dixon short. A surge of adrenaline coursed through River's veins. Dropping what she was carrying she bolted back towards camp.
The camp came into view just in time for River to see a string of squirrels flying through the air towards that asshole Rick Grimes, followed by Daryl's fist. The latter never connected seeing as Shane tackled him to the ground. River was running as fast as she could. Liam passed her, barking at the commotion down below. Jason and Dane both turned in unison.
"Liam?" Jason snagged the dog by the collar. "Settle boy. Where's Tom?" The dog turned his head and looked behind him, more used to hearing his master referred to as Tom than River.
"Watch the knife!" Rick heard the warning just in time to dodge Daryl's swing. Control the knife arm, that was what he had to do. He held on tightly until Shane was able to subdue Daryl in a choke hold.
"Tom!" Dane called out surprised and relieved to see the young woman running towards them. Thank God she hadn't run off to Atlanta on her own.
"Best let me go," Daryl warned.
"Nah, I think it's better if I don't," Shane said as he wrestled the redneck to the ground.
"Choke holding's illegal," Daryl cried out.
Dane bit his lip. It wasn't pleasant to see Daryl like that. It wasn't right. The guy had just been told his brother was left for dead, he was hurting. Bad. It was a repeat of the God damned roof, though. To let him go was to put everyone in danger.
"File a complaint," Shane said in dry sarcasm. "Come on now, I can keep this up all day." Daryl was grunting and wheezing as he struggled to free himself from Shane's hold.
"Let him go!" River wailed as she ran past Dane and Jason.
Not having forgotten River's little performance the previous day, Shane warned, "Someone better grab her!"
Dane quickly wrapped his arms around her waist. "No!" River hollered straining against his strong muscles. "No! No, let me go," she pleaded.
The woman's pleas fell on deaf ears. Rick crouched down to Daryl's level. "I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic," he informed him. "You think we can manage that?"
"Daryl?" River called out hoping the redneck hunter was okay. All those awful things she'd thought, she took them all back.
A grimace formed on Daryl's face as he squeezed his eyes shut. His breathing was labored in Shane's tight grip.
"Let him go," River whimpered.
"It's okay, Tom," Dane whispered in her ear, his arms still firmly around her waist. He could feel her body trembling.
"You think we can manage that?" Rick repeated his attention fixed on Daryl. There was a firmness in his voice that demanded compliance. With a small nod from his partner, Shane let Daryl go and he fell to the ground.
"What I did was not on a whim," Rick explained. "Your brother does not work and play well with others."
"It's not Rick's fault," T-Dog piped up, unable to get over his own guilt. "I had the key. I dropped it."
Daryl was still on the ground, looking utterly disgusted. "You couldn't pick it up?"
River's heart ached. That couldn't be him. That couldn't be the same strong Daryl that kept stealing her kills, that'd saved her life. He looked so broken on the dry, dusty ground of the camp. "Dane, let me go. Please Dane, let me go," she begged, the need to go to Daryl burning inside her.
"I dropped it in a drain," T-Dog expounded on his earlier comment.
Still on his hand and knees Daryl snorted in response and dropped his head. This was fucking ridiculous. This couldn't be happening. Except it was. Getting up he snarled at the big black man. "That supposed to make me feel better?" He asked bitterly. "Well it don't."
"Maybe this will," T-Dog offered. "Look, I chained the door to the roof so the geeks couldn't get at him, with a pad lock."
Rick's tone softened as he took in the hurt on Daryl's face, knowing too well what it felt like to think your family was out there, dead or soon to be, with those monsters walking about. "That's gotta count for something," Rick told him.
Suspecting it to be safe now, Dane let River go. There was no hesitation. She ran to Daryl and reached out for him. "Daryl?"
Callously Daryl swatted the young woman away, "Leave me th' hell alone ya dumb, useless bitch."
River backed off, eyes wide with shock. Again Daryl wiped his eyes. He's just hurting, River reminded herself, though she wished she could ease that suffering.
"To hell with all y'all," Daryl shouted, swinging his arm in a wide arc. "Just tell me where he is so's I can go git him," his voice cracked. River didn't think she'd ever seen anyone look so despondent. It was heart-breaking. River hand to clench her fists in order to resist the urge grab ahold of him.
Lori was leaning on the door frame of the RV with one arm. Everyone had been so focused on the men it took them by surprise when she spoke up. "He'll show you," she said of her husband. "Isn't that right?"
Rick looked around and nodded. "I'm going back."
Dane walked over to River who was just sort of standing there, not sure what to do, fists in little balls. "Hey," he reached out and out and put a hand on her shoulder.
River turned, there were tears in her eyes. Dane frowned. "We'll get him back," he assured her. All she could do was nod and bury her face in his chest. Was it Merle or Daryl she was crying for? Even she wasn't sure.
"Where have you been?" Jason cut in.
"Eh?" River turned leaving wet spots on Dane's shirt where she'd been shedding her tears.
"Dane thought you might have taken off to Atlanta on your own," Jason explained what they'd both been afraid of. "Where were you this morning?"
"Oh," River looked around sort of dazed. The adrenaline was wearing off. "Checking the traps. Thought I should probably eat something before we went."
Dane noticed she was still trembling. Shit, he'd thought the trembling he'd felt was just her emotions. "Damn it Tom, thought we told you..."
"I know," she winced.
"Nothing, eh?" Jason frowned. They were all out of noodles, and seeing as a Walker had chomped on what could have been dinner it would have been nice to have some decent meat.
River shook her head. "Got a coon," she grinned proud of herself. Those were her set locations she'd picked.
Jason didn't see any raccoon. "Where is it?" Just what they needed. She was hallucinating, getting delusional.
Confused, River looked around. "Must've dropped it."
Jason exchanged a worried glance with his brother. Apparently Dane had had the same thought. Just how long had it been since she'd eaten?
River was staring back up at the rocky ledge. It seemed to stretch away forever from where she was. That's where she'd heard Daryl, that's where her catch would be laying out in the damned Georgian sun waiting to spoil. There was no way she could climb back up there. Her blood sugar was too low, she'd drop before she made it half way.
Liam was standing there wagging his tail. An idea popped into River's head as she looked at him. "Liam," she called getting his attention. "Dead coon!" she ordered. The dog knew dead bird from hunting waterfowl with her, and he knew coon from tracking and treeing raccoons. Chesapeake's were supposed to be smart. Time to see just how clever he was. "Dead coon!" River repeated pointing him in the right direction and hoping he'd be able to put two and two together.
Liam cocked his head to the side for a moment. You could almost see the gears turning inside that thick skull of his. Then something clicked and the dog turned and ran towards the ridge.
"When did you teach him that?" Jason asked, surprised.
"Just now," River grinned.
Preparations were being made for the trip back to Atlanta. River went and sat by the fire pit and waited for Liam to return with her meal. She'd need it if she planned to go with them.
Shane and Rick were in the middle of a heated argument. River thought about sticking the two of them in a pit and letting them fight it out. May the best deputy win. Not that she had any doubt that Shane would kick Rick's ass. That suited her fine, she didn't like Rick too much at the moment.
"Why would you risk your life for a douchebag like Merle Dixon?" Shane asked vehemently.
"Hey," Daryl snapped. "Choose your words more carefully
"Oh no, I did," Shane assured him. "Douchebag's what I meant." He huffed and spat the name, "Merle Dixon... guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst."
"Asshole," River muttered sitting on her crate. Maybe she didn't like Shane too much right now either. Better yet, after they got Merle back she could stick them both in a pit with the Dixons. Deputies versus Rednecks. River smiled at the thought, knowing full well which team she'd be rooting for.
Sure enough Liam returned with River's raccoon. "Nice one," Dane said approvingly.
River had gutted it out in the bush and roughly skinned most of it. She didn't want to leave any waste in camp to draw Walkers in. They did the same out on the trap line to avoid drawing in bears or wolves as much as they could. Slicing off some thin slabs of meat, she skewered them on a stick and set them over the fire.
"JJ!" River called him over.
"Eh?" Jason called back as he approached the fire.
River tossed the remainder of the raccoon corpse at him. Nimbly he caught it. "You're going to watch Liam for me," she informed him. The big city would be too dangerous. She didn't want to risk anything happening to her dog. "Might as well roast that up for lunch. Plenty to go around." Jason didn't argue. Maybe he'd have better luck with the raccoon and Amy than he'd had with the pine needle tea.
Lori was crouching by the fire across from them with Carl. "Eww," the boy wrinkled his nose. "You're going to eat that?"
"Eww's right," Lori agreed.
Most people associated raccoons with the critters that snuck up onto your porch at night and got into your garbage. However, away from urban areas they were one of the better meats. "Ever tried it?" Dane asked, resisting the temptation to roll his eyes at the kid.
"No," Carl admitted.
"Then don't knock it."
Lori couldn't stand it. She looked at her husband getting ready to return to Atlanta. "So you and Daryl, that's your big plan?"
"Doubt River's going to let them go without her," Dane mumbled across the fire. "Which means I'll be going too." Either way he would have been going. He'd failed Merle and he owed it to him.
River was surprised at how many people decided to join the search party. There was Rick, Daryl, Dane and herself. That didn't surprise her too much. However, then there was Glenn and T-Dog, even if Glenn had been a little reluctant to go. With that many people she felt better about their odds.
Not everyone was happy about it, though. "It's not just six," Shane complained. "You're putting every single one of us at risk, just know that Rick. Come on, you saw that walker. It was here, in camp. If they come back we need every able body here to protect camp."
River rolled her eyes. "I wish he'd just shut up. Someone ought to sew his mouth shut."
"You volunteering?" Jason grinned.
"I'll go see if they have a needle and some thread in that RV of Dale's," Dane offered. River laughed. It was tempting.
"They just go and and on, don't they," River whined as everybody debated the merits of the planned trip. "That's a man's life and their bitching about if it's worth it with guns thrown in?"
"I know, Tom," Dane sympathized. "But Merle didn't exactly make any friends here."
River sighed and munched on her fire-roasted raccoon. "I know," she managed between mouthfuls. Damn, she was ravenous. It wasn't until she'd started eating that she'd realized just how hungry she was. At least that dizzy, weak feeling was subsiding.
The blaring horn of the cube van signaled time to go. River took the last of her meat with her and hopped in the back. Dane was just a step behind her.
"C'mon, lets go!" Daryl yelled to the rest of the rescue party.
River stood at the back of the van, "Hey, JJ!"
"Ya?"
"Make sure Liam and Sophia get some of that coon, eh?"
Jason nodded. "And you guys make sure you get your asses back here in one piece," he ordered remembering what Dane had said about Atlanta before.
River smiled, "Would you expect anything less?" The world had ended, but the three of them failed to really recognize the danger they were in every second of every day. Life was just going on.
