Born to Die

VII

Odette didn't sleep at all that night. A car only got so comfortable, especially after sleeping on an actual bed after a month. If there was one thing she missed, it was home. Odette lay awake in the back seats of her car. Her head lay on two pillows while she hugged the third. A throw kept her from freezing in the cool night breeze.

Odette unlocked her car and headed out towards the barn with her cane in hand. Her bare arms were covered with a rather thick mint and teal cardigan. The closer she got, the more she noted that there was someone else near the barn as well. Odette mentally groaned, thinking it was Shane. The last thing she needed was him getting all up in her pooch about last night. She didn't care about what she said to him last night, he deserved much more.

"Whataya doin' up?" The voice from up ahead belonged to Daryl, not Shane. Odette sighed in relief.

"Couldn't sleep. So I just wanted to check it out. You?" She asked raising a brow.

"Been keepin' watch." He replied with a scowl. "Bastards are so fuckin' annoying." He muttered.

"Shane make you?" She asked as she began to walk towards it. Daryl stopped her by holding his crossbow out.

"Don't." He said sternly. "You're not armed." He added. Odette shrugged and used her cane to push his crossbow out of her way.

"Whatever. You don't have to treat me like Carl." She muttered.

"Was only lookin' out for ya. Bad enough that ya have a limp. Don't wanna purposely screw yourself up now do ya?" Odette scoffed and shook her head furrowing her brows.

"Are you seriously bringing this up again?" She asked. "Unbelievable." She muttered. Odette glared at Daryl before heading back to her car. "You know, sometimes I wonder if you and Shane Are really all that different." She spat pointing a finger at him.


After lying awake in her car all night and early morning, Odette awoke when she started seeing Dale and Glenn head out of the RV and tents. Odette sighed and yawned rubbing her eyes.

great. She thought, Now I'm awake.

She left her car, and headed over to go hang out with Glenn and Dale who were on top of the RV taking watch.

"Oi! Morning." Odette said as she climbed the ladder.

"Hey."

"Morning." Both Dale and Glenn said to each other.

"How's it going?" She asked. The morning breeze was still chill.

"We were just talking about what we'd say to Hershel." Glenn said looking worried.

"About the barn." Odette understood nodding.

"What do you think?" Dale asked.

"It's an unpopular opinion, but same As last night. They're not attacking yet. Sides, there's gotta be a reason why Hershel's keeping walkers locked up in his barn." Odette said.

"How'd you find out about the walkers anyways?" Dale asked Glenn.

"Me and Maggie were gonna-" Glenn cleared his throat and stuffed his hands in the pocket of his jeans "Gonna hang out in the barn,"A faint spray of pink blush splashed across his cheeks, and Dale And Odette looked at each other with a small smile, "and then I saw them." He said. "Maggie tried to explain but..." He trailed off.

"I'm gonna talk to Hershel later this afternoon." Dale said. Odette nodded.

"You should. I think he'd take it better if it came from you rather than Shane or Rick. I'm pretty sure they're both getting on his nerves." Odette said. "They're both Bogans." Odette spat.

"Is that er, Australian?" Glenn asked raising a brow.

"Obviously." She muttered. "Are you guys also watching the barn?" Odette asked. Dale shook his head.

"Daryl's been taking care of that." Dale answered.

"Still?" Odette asked.

"Whataya mean still?" Dale asked as he looked over at Daryl through his binoculars.

"I couldn't sleep so I headed over to the barn and, he was there, keeping watch." She said shrugging.

"He must be tired." Dale said.

Odette shrugged, "Not my problem." She said with a scowl.

"Something wrong?" Glenn asked eyeing Odette.

"There's always something wrong." Odette pointed out.

"Is it your leg?" Glenn asked. Odette nodded with a shrug.

"Well yeah. It's nothing new though, hurts all the time anyways. I'm low on my Vicodin, and all Hershel has are the sucky painkillers. You know, ibuprofen and stuff." She muttered playing with her fingers.

"What kind are you looking for?" Glenn asked.

"Something strong. Vicodin, morphine, methadone." She listed. Dale shook his head.

"You mean the addictive ones." Dale said. "You really need to stop relying on them." He said. "Eventually you'll run out of everything that we have." He explained.

"I know. I tried detoxing once by myself. It was horrible. Only lasted a week." She said.

"How bad was it?" Dale asked.

"Pretty bad. I smashed my hand with one of those pepper grinders. Broke my bones, but it took away from the pain."

"You need serious help." Glenn said. "Ironic it's a doctor that needs it."

"Oh believe me. I know. My friends used to tell me that everyday." Odette yawned and rubbed her eyes to stay awake.

"You look tired. Go get some sleep. And Go tell Daryl to hit the sack. Glenn can keep watch for him." Dale said. Odette yawned again and nodded.

"Kay. See ya mate." She said as she walked down the ladder.


Daryl walked back and forth and around the barn. He was tired, needed sleep. But, he was determined to stay awake to help keep watch. The walkers helped him stay awake through the night, they wouldn't shut up.

As he looked up ahead towards camp, he saw Odette limping her way towards him again. He did regret what he said to her earlier in the morning. But, there was no other way of telling her to back off so she stays safe.

Women.

"Ya comin' over ta yell at me?" Daryl snapped once Odette reached the barn.

"I'm not talking to you anymore unless I have to." She snapped. "Dale asked me to tell you to get some sleep. Glenn's gonna take over for you." She said. Odette took one last look at the barn and a tired looking Daryl. Not sexy.

"Bout what I s-"

"Shut up and go. Wombat." Odette snapped as he headed back towards her car.


After Odette awoke from her nap in the car. She headed over to the RV to go and hang out with Dale.

"Watcha doing?" Odette asked as she watched Dale gather up all the guns in the sherries bag.

"Gathering the guns." He said quickly. "Help me hide them while Shane's still distracted." He added. Odette nodded and took the load of guns off from Dale's shoulder.

They didn't talk until they entered the woods. Everyone else back at camp was busy attending to their own business, Shane and Rick were arguing again by the barn. Surprise, surprise. Odette had suggested they hide them in the swamp, no one would look for the there anyways. She and Daryl passed by there when they were out looking for Sophia.

"You understand why I'm doing this right?" Dale asked Odette as they slowly walked down a steep trench. She left her cane in the trunk of her car. She didn't want it's tracks to be set here, incase anyone did find out about the guns.

"Yeah. S'okay Dale. It's what anyone in their right mind would do. A person like Shane shouldn't be around guns anyways." She added.

"Not just that. He's so eager on killing those walkers in the barn. Only a matter of time until he looses it." He said, "Plus, that thing with Otis." He added softly.

"I am one hundred percent sure he just left him there." Odette said. "Majority of what I've learned is also about signs. I can read people pretty well." She said.

"You're pretty hard to read." Dale said.

"Yeah? Why is that?" She asked even though she ready knew the answer.

"When you're not talking, your face just goes blank. Emotionless." Odette nodded, then began patting her face with her fingers.

"Sorry. It's become a habit." She said.

"Not a problem. I think it can be used to your advantage. Here," he said pausing in his pace in front of an old upside down tree and dead leaves. "This looks like a good spot." Dale said.

"Looks good to me." Odette said as she pulled out one of her pistols.

"Not so fast." They turned to find Shane advancing towards them. "You're really gonna hide the guns from me?" He placed his hands on his hips. "Think you could get away with this old man."

"Shut the fuck up Walsh! You have no right to talk to him like that." Odette snapped.

"S'okay Odette. This doesn't need to turn into something out of control." Dale said.

"Old McDonalds right. Now, give me the guns." He said sternly, "And no one will get hurt." Odette crossed her arms over her chest and scoffed.

"How'd you find us anyways?" She asked.

"I followed your tracks you dumbass."

"If only you could use your tracking to look for Sophia instead of us." Odette snapped.

"How many times do I have to tell you? She's probably dead! While everyone else is going out looking for her, I'm the only one who still lives in reality!"

"You're just jealous cause everyone's out looking for her. I bet of it were you no one would give a fuck."

"You fucking bitch!" Shane started advancing towards her, but then stopped when he heard the click of a riffle. Dale's riffle.

"You back away from her now, and I won't shoot you." Dale warned. Shane laughed coldly and turned his gaze towards Dale.

"You know what? I don't think you will Dale. You don't have it in you," Shane taunted.

"Watch me." Dale warned.

"Look man, just give me the guns. And, I'll walk away. We can forget that this ever happened." Insisted Shane. In the meanwhile, Odette took out her pistol and aimed it at Shane's leg. She didn't want to kill him. No, she wanted him to feel pain.

"Shane. I will shoot."

"No you won't." He took the bag of guns.

"Yes I will."

"You're just some stupid fucking bipolar wench."

She pulled the trigger, and Shane fell to the swamp floor.


Odette left the swamp, and Dale helped Shane get back to the farm.

"You fucking cunt!" Shane kept snapping. Odette rolled her eyes. As soon as they got to the camp, Rick and Lori were the first people to run towards Shane, worried.

"What the hell happened to you?" Rick asked Shane. "Did you get shot?" He looked at Shane's outer thigh, the place where Odette aimed for his downfall.

"Yeah." Shane said wincing. "Odette shot me." He ratted. Rick and Lori looked at him wide eyed while everyone else came to see what was going on.

"Why the hell would you do that?" Lori snapped at her, her eyes about to tear.

"He was assaulting me. I was only acting up in self defense." She explained. Not all of it was a lie.

"Bullshit!" Shane snapped. "Now fix it!" He yelled. Odette raised a brow.

"After what you just did to Dale and I? No freaking way."


Odette lay in the backseat of her car, picking at her cardigan. No one other than Lori, Rick, Shane, Andrea and Carl were giving her the cold shoulder. She didn't care though, not like they were friends or anything anyways. Dale supported Odette, mostly cause he was there when everything erupted. Glenn and Carol were both neutral. Then, there was Daryl.

She hadn't seen Daryl ever since her spaz at him earlier this morning. Not that she cared anyways. He was a jerk. Totally bipolar. One minuet he was acting tolerable, then the next he was harassing her because of her disability.

Hershel refused to help Shane and take out his bullet. If anything, Odette could have sworn that he didn't like him much either. So, it was up to Lori and Rick to help out Lori's boyfriend.

How romantic.

Odette had been in a daze until she heard loud tapping on her car windows. Odette rolled her eyes and rolled over in the backseat of her car. Pushing her honey curls over he face, and placed her pillow over her face. She heard a familiar groan. The same person began fidgeting with the handle on the doors.

"Come on Sheila! Open the fucking door!"

"Walk away Dixon." She muttered.

"Everyone's waiting for you." He said.

"There's a surprise. The last thing I wanna do accidentally walk into the Field marked 'lunch mob.'" She mumbled.

"Come on! Shane's lost it! He's about to open up the fuckin' barn." Daryl explained.

"He just got a bullet taken out of his thigh. He can't be doing something that stupid."

"Get out of the car! Or- or I'll break myself in." Daryl yelled.

"Will you just back off and leave me alone? What part of piss off do you not understand?" Daryl unlocked the car doors and then grabbed her shoulders pulling her out. "What the fuck?"

"Look, Just come! You're the only one who can keep in in check!" Odette glared at him, then yanked her away from his grasp.

"Back off. And don't touch me!"


When Odette got to the barn all she could see was disaster. Shane was just about to open the barn. He was limping his way towards it, and his bandage was soaked with blood.

They did a really bad job. She thought.

"Where's Rick?" Odette asked as she headed to stand beside Dale.

"Went out with Hershel and Jimmy. That's why we called you here." Dale answered.

"You couldn't have asked me that?" Daryl muttered who was standing right beside her as well. Odette rolled her eyes and sighed shaking her head.

"Shane! Knock it off!" Odette yelled as he grabbed Dale's riffle.

"What? Are you gonna shoot him again?" Andrea asked with a scowl. Odette looked taken back.

"How is it that I'm the only one thinking rationally?" She snapped.

"You're thinking rationally? What the hell are you talking about?" Odette rolled her eyes.

"Clearly you guys are too stupid and stubborn for your own good. You do know that Hershel's gonna kick is out right? He hates us! Cause of Shane!" She snapped. Lori rolled her eyes.

"Oh shut up. What has he ever done." She snapped.

"You mean aside from being an ass, wanting to leave without Sophia, killing Otis? Geez you drongo." Lori went pale.

"Hey! Shane would never have killed Otis! He's not like that. He would never do something like that." Carl yelled. Odette rolled her eyes.

"Just back away. Before things get worse." Shane, being the stubborn bastard he was, opened the lock on the barn.

In the meanwhile, Rick, Jimmy, and Hershel came back from wherever they were with walkers on a leash.

"You think that is rational?" Shane yelled at Odette.

"Hershel doesn't think of the walkers in the barn as dead. Just sick. His wife and stepson are in there. Told me earlier." Dale said.

"He's crazy! They're not sick! They're monsters." Shane yelled. He headed towards Rick and Hershel and began shorting at the walkers chest.

"Shane!" Rick yelled.

"Rick!" Hershel yelled. "Do something!"

"That's where they're heart should be! Why aren't they dead?" Shane yelled at Hershel.

Odette kept her riffle target on Shane. That son of a bitch had to go. Then, Shane shot them in the head. He tiredly limped his way towards the barn where he unlocked it, and stood back as at least a dozen walkers walked out. Shane shot them all, and when Odette turned around, she saw Hershel, Maggie and Beth on the ground crying.

Of course. Shane took the one thing that the family had for closure. Their loved ones.

Shane fell to the floor, exhausted from the strain on his leg. Odette sighed, and just when they all thought it was over. They saw one last person come out from the barn.

It was Sophia. Still alive. Odette gasped and smiled, glad to have her back. She was impressed though. She had stayed in the barn full of walkers all this time, and survived. Odette turned and saw the happiness in Carol's eyes as she saw her daughter. The reunion was short lived though. Because, in a matter of seconds, the twelve year old girl fell to the floor.

She was dead.


Carol broke down. She ran to her dead daughter, dodging all the dead walkers and sobbed. Shane stared at the body wide eyed. Obviously not realizing what he had done sooner. Odette took one glance at Dale and saw his face grown pale. Carl began to cry in his Mums arms. She turned to Daryl, who looked mortified and pissed off. With good reason anyways, he has spent the past week or so looking for her. Hershel and his daughters were sobbing in the back.

It was worse than a funeral.

"I think we should burry the bodies." Odette whispered to Dale who only nodded. Daryl dropped his crossbow and began kicking at in rage.

"We should move them soon." Odette added as she looked at everything. "The sooner the better."

"I want y'all off of my property! Get the hell away from here! I'll give you two days!" He yelled through his cries as his daughters carried him back to the house.

"Smooth work officer jackass." Odette muttered.


While everyone else helped move the bodies, Odette stayed behind with Carol who sat sobbing in the RV, looking out through the window and watching everyone place the bodies in Daryl's truck.

"I'm really sorry about what happened." Odette said. A lump was caught on her throat. "Trust me I know how you feel." She said. Carol looked at her coldly.

"What just because you lost your best friend? She was my daughter!" She cried. Odette froze for a second and shook her head.

"I was married once too." She said softly, Daryl walked in and say on the counter, "His name was Elliot. We had a son together. I lost both of them about give years back. They died in a car accident." She said softly, Daryl watched Odette and saw her begin to shake. "Worst part was I wasn't even with them. It's hard. Never does get easy cause dammit, I miss them all the time." Her tears were held back. "I know sometimes that you feel like you're alone, and that no one understands you. But take a look here. Everyone has lost someone. You don't have to go through everything alone." She said. Odette pursed her lips, then jumped slightly when she caught sight of Daryl. He want supposed to hear that. She cleared her throat, "I'll give you two a minute." She muttered as she left the RV.

Odette sighed and sniffed back the tears. She headed towards her car, and sat in front of it on the right side, her back to the farm. She began to cry.

She thought about them all the time, but never about the accident. Only about the good times. When someone did mention them, she'd joke and then brush it off, because she was afraid of breaking down. But now, she could try. She has kept everything bottled up inside for too long.

She had to let it out somehow, sometime.

When Odette heard footsteps, she stopped with the water works and brushed the tears off of her cheeks with her cardigan.

"Just me." It was Daryl. He sighed and slumped against her car, and slid down to take a seat beside her. Odette didn't say anything. She just nodded. "Ya can't keep it inside forever. Sadness is like a sneeze. If you don't let it out you'll die." Daryl muttered as he began to play with the hem of his button down shirt.

"Sorry about Sophia. You looked too hard for her for this to happen." She said hoarsely. "And after everything Car-"

"None of it would have happened if Shane hadn't done what he did." Odette shrugged.

"It's my fault. I shot him." She said.

"I don't think the leg had everythin' ta do with it. He's a crazy guy anyways." He said.

"Yeah. But people always look at him as the hero." She said scoffing, "I just wanna go now." She whispered.

"Where?"

"Anywhere. As long as its far away from this place. I- I should have stayed with Brie. At the CDC. She was right anyways. Everyone I care about is gone anyways. What's the point?" Daryl looked at her uneasy.

"What 'bout me?" He muttered. Odette sighed and leaned her head against the body of the car.

"I don't know. One minute you're willing to have a decent conversation, the next you're calling me out cause I have a disability." She said.

"Still think I'm worse than Shane?"

"No. Course not. I was just angry with you." She said.

"Cause of the leg thin'? Or that kiss?" Odette narrowed her eyes.

"Why would I be angry at you for that kiss? Didn't mean anything." She stated.

"What made ya believe that?" He asked furrowing his brows.

"You were drinking the whole night. It was a drunken kiss. And, a drunken kiss is a drunken kiss."

"Ya sure it had nothin' ta do with yer late hubby?" He muttered.

"It's been five years. Almost six. I've had two other boyfriends since then. No. Not cause of him. But that doesn't mean I don't miss him cause I do"

"What about now?" Odette rolled her eyes.

"Now? We-" she was cut off by his lips. This time, when she pulled away, there was a small frown on her face.

"What now?" Daryl asked groaning. Odette scrunched her face and looked at Daryl with unease.

"This isn't a little weird for you?" She asked. "Sophia was found and now she's dead and we're having a burial. You look for her everywhere and know you're kissing me?"

"People grieve and mourn in their own way." He said, his clear blue eyes meeting with her mocha ones.

"Are you using me as a way to process grief and mourn?" She asked plainly. Daryl growled, a noise that Odette hadn't heard him make before.

"Did it look like that?" Odette shook her head, "I may be a lot of things, but if I wanted a quick screw I would have gone with someone easier." He said. Odette cocked her head.

"Like who?" Daryl shrugged.

"Probably Lori or Andrea. But that's not the point." Daryl sighed and picked at the arrows near his crossbow. "Remember when ya patched me up after I got shot, and when I asked why ya did it, ya said it was because deep down I cared. It true, cause I care about ya." He mumbled. Odette didn't say anything, cause well, it was one of the cheesiet things she had ever heard. And, she definitely wouldn't expect that from someone like Daryl Dixon.

"Man. I didn't think it would sound that stupid." He muttered causing a soft laugh to escape from Odette's lips.

"Glad I wasn't thinking the same thing." She mumbled. Daryl scowled and began playing with his crossbow. "But um," she picked at her sleeves, "I'm willing to uh, give it a shot I guess." She said.

"Ya sure?" Daryl asked eyeing her carefully. But, damn was she hard to read.

"Yeah well. Hakuna Matata." She said with a small smile.

"The fuck does that mean?" Odette sighed and shook her head.

"It means no worries. How have you not seen 'The Lion King'? That's just, totally unforgivable." Daryl rolled his eyes.

"First that sparrow now the Arabic." He muttered.

"It's African!" She emphasized, "bozo." She muttered.

"C'mon. Lets go help with the burial." He said as he pulled himself up, grabbing his crossbow. He offered a hand to Odette.

"Thanks. You wanna give me my cane?" She asked as he brushed some dirt off from the butt of her jeans.

"Don't push it Sheila." He snapped as he headed towards the digging if three graves.

There were three graves being dug. One belonged to Sean; Hershel's stepson, Annette; his second wife, and Sophia. The rest of the walkers were gonna be burned.

This was gonna be some messed up burial.


A/N: Okay so about the Sophia thing, I wanted to add a bit of a plot twist with her search. I thought that Shane shooting her while he was in an unstable state would be appropriate. Not to mention, I've always really hated him, so, why not? Anyways, I hope you liked it. Thanks for reading! :D