The ninth chapter! Ok, now i have more chapters than reviews so i won't be uploading the tenth chapter until this is fixed. Review people, i'm lost without your guidance!
Also, something i don't think i've done yet and am profoundly ashamed about failing to do - i'd like to thank everyone who's following the story, everyone who's favorited it and, most of all, to everyone who's reviewed it. It's a pleasure writing for you guys :)
Bleeeep, thank you for being the story's 40th follower. :)
FanFicGirl10, lilnightmare17, writrgrrrl, thank you for all the reviews, i hope more will come as you're letting me know if i'm doing a good job. :)
Disclaimer:
I don't own the Walking Dead, but i do own May and Kiba.
Chapter 9: The Barren Search
"I found some here!" May said, siphoning gas from a fancy town car that was now dusty and abandoned in the middle of a street. She watched as the last of the fuel dripped out before she took the hose and the jerry can and headed for her next target. Kiba decided not to follow her – he didn't like the smell of fuel and was playing with Carl and Sophia. She smiled at them as she waited for the tank she was draining to empty out. They managed to siphon a lot of fuel and it was thanks to Kiba. As much as he didn't like the smell, when they'd stop somewhere he'd go around at bark a little at every car that had something in its tank – it was beyond useful.
After they left the burning CDC, they headed to Atlanta to refill their supplies to make sure they reached Fort Benning. May was certain they won't find anyone there, but went along with it anyway, not having a better option herself – for some reason 'go live in the woods' wasn't as appealing to everyone else as it was to her. She turned to the group and saw Daryl was taking her things from his truck. She thought it might be one of his 'I wanna be alone' things again and was ready to fight, when she saw him go around the truck and start unloading his bike. "Hey, what's going on?"
"We're leavin' tha truck. Uses up too much gas. I'll be ridin' tha bike." Daryl said, wiping the dust of the machine. "What about Kiba and me? Everywhere else is already too crowded and I don't see Kiba enjoying a bike ride." And there is no way I'm leaving him behind she added, in her head. "The mutt and yer bag can go with them." he said pointing at Rick and his family "You said ya wanted a bike ride, didn't ya?" her eyes lit up at the prospect. She turned on her heel and ran up to Rick and Lorry to see if Kiba could ride with them. The way Carl's entire face lit up when she said that, there was no way they could say 'no'. She stuffed her bag in, keeping the bow and her original quiver tied around her body. May was lucky enough to stab a head of a walker who had a full quiver attached to his back. Granted, prying it off was disgusting, but now she had twice as many arrows. She secured a knife to her belt and another one inside her boot.
Once Kiba was safely in the Grimes' car, May walked up to Daryl. She was wearing a hoody, seeing as how she was on the bike. Daryl handed her a helmet he found and she put it on. "Ya yap too much and yer off to the RV." he said, raising a threatening finger. She rolled her eyes under the helmet, but nodded anyway. They mounded the bike and led the caravan away from Atlanta.
As they were riding the roads of Georgia, Jun found herself admiring the natural beauty of the country more so than before. She wasn't sure if it was the open road, the fresh air or the fact that she wasn't feeling overheated for the first time since she got here, but it all seemed much more beautiful.
It's been a long time since Daryl had someone else on the bike with him. He felt May's hand around his waist and, to his surprise, he didn't mind. They've been driving for hours and the warmth of her body gave felt good against his back. At some point, she rested her head against his shoulder and he tried not to move it too much as to not disturb her. What he wasn't counting on was what came next – a road block. An entire stretch of highway was littered with abandoned cars, making it impossible for anyone but himself and May, who were on a bike, to pass through. He wandered around, trying to find a path for the rest of them.
"See a way through?" Dale called out of the RV. May saw Daryl jerk his head, motioning them to follow them. She took off the helmet, and placed it between Daryl and herself. Many cars covered the road as well as the fields around the road. The doors were gaping open and every car seemed ransacked through – they obviously weren't the first one to run in to this. The smell of death hovered over the entire area and soon, May realized it was from the many corpses residing in the cars. It seemed a lot like a graveyard. Daryl navigated them through it until a sharp, wheezing noise coming from the RV made them stop. She unmonuted the bike and headed for the smoking RV. The door opened slightly forcefully and an angry Dale walked out, followed by Shane, Glenn, Andrea and T-Dog.
"I said it! Didn't I say it? A thousand times, dead in the water…" Dale grumbled, going to the steaming front of the RV. "A problem, Dale?" Rick asked walking up to them, followed by the rest of the group. "Oh, just a small matter of being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no hope of…" but his voice trailed off as he saw Daryl walk up to an open car and start picking through it. "Okay, that was dumb." Dale said to himself. "Can't we find a radiator hose here?" Shane asked pointing at the vast nothingness of the landscape, littered with abandoned vehicles. "There's a whole bunch o' stuff we can find." Daryl said, continuing to pick at the carcass of the car. "Siphon more fuel from these cars, for a start…" T-Dog said, getting to work. "Maybe some water?" Andrea added. "Or food." Glenn agreed.
"This is a graveyard." Lorry said in a firm voice. They all paused for a moment and gave her a look, unsure if they should carry on. "I'm not sure how I feel about this."
"Would you rather we starve to death? Or die of dehydration? Because, that's a gruesome way to go.. It's all abandoned. The owners are dead, but we're not. Let's try and keep it that way." May said simply, as Kiba sniffed around the cars, looking for fuel. "Alright, alright, let's go…" T-Dog said, following Kiba's nose. "C'mon y'all, gather what you can." Shane instructed the group.
They all spread out – Daryl, T-Dog and May followed Kiba around, the men siphoning fuel and May going through the car they were siphoning, looking for anything the group might find use for. She found some baggage with children's clothes, for both boys and girls. She rummaged through it and realized they would fit Carl and Sophia. She took the suitcase out and dragged it over to Lorry and Carol, who already had a big pile gathered. "Hey, you two!" she called out to the kids. "Got something for ya." She said, opening the bag. Both of them ran to it instantly. "Thank you, May." Carol said, gratefully. Lorry nodded in thanks. She smiled at the two women and went back to following Kiba. The next car she looked in didn't have any food, but she did find a couple of flannel shirts that would fit Daryl in someone's hand luggage. She took them out and stuffed the both of them in her backpack – if he won't have them, she will. She turned to the RV and saw Dale standing atop it, keeping a lookout.
Suddenly, Kiba started squirming around, whining and growling nervously. He ran up to May and stood in front of her protectively. She looked in the direction he was growling in and soon saw walker after walker shuffling their way. An entire herd of walkers was heading straight for them. Shit! She looked over to the group and saw Rick running between cars and shoving the kids, Carol and Lorry under them, before shuffling under one himself. She saw Glenn and Shane hadn't noticed the herd and she shot and arrow that lodged itself in front of Shane's feet. He turned around, saw the walkers and shoved Glenn and himself under a truck. She saw Daryl and T-Dog were both hiding behind cars so she crawled under one herself, pulling Kiba under there with her. She hugged the dog tightly and prayed he wouldn't make a sound.
A pair of seemingly alive feet shuffled by the car she was under and she saw blood dripping on the floor. She peered from under it and realized it was T-Dog whose arm was bleeding profusely. Double shit! T-Dog fell to the ground and she saw a pair of grayish feet closing in on him. Without thinking about it she whispered a short "Stay" at Kiba before she lunged out, pulling the knife from her belt and stabbed the walker under the jaw. At the same time, Daryl grabbed it and stabbed it in the head. He seemed terrified to see her out in the open, and just showed her to the ground. She rolled back under the car. She saw him pull T-Dg in a lying position and place the walker on top of him, masking his scent. He, then, laid on the floor himself, pulling a corpse from the car May was under atop his body. She could practically touch him.
Suddenly, a group of walkers shuffled and grunted, walking by them, but didn't notice any of them. Daryl could see May under that car and, for the first time since he met her, he actually saw terror in her eyes. The heard seemed to have passed and he instantly shoved the dead body of himself, pulling the one of T-Dog as well. May crawled from under the car followed by her mutt and sneak up to them. The black man cut his hand pretty bad and was bleeding heavily. May turned to one of the many open trunks around them and pulled out the first, clean piece of clothing she found. She ripped it to stripes and started wrapping them tightly around T-Dog's arm. She lifted her gaze slightly and, when he looked in her golden eyes and realized the terror was gone, leaving no trace behind.
A high-pitched scream broke through the car park and May jerked her head up. She grabbed her bow and arrow and was ready to run out and fight when they both saw Sophia disappear behind the edge of the woods, followed by two walkers and, a second later, by Rick. "Meet you at the edge of the woods in half a minute. Bring Kiba." May said to Daryl before she bolted in Carol's direction. The walkers were all gone and most of the group came out from their shelter.
"Carol, I need something of Sophia's." May said as soon as reached the women. She was half hysterical and crying, as Lorry was holding her by the shoulders. Both women gasped when they saw her and May realized that she was covered in walker blood from when she stabbed that sucker that was trying to eat T-Dog. "I'm fine. Carol, I need something of hers now. Kiba can track her!" She was trying to stay calm, but she also knew that, the longer that little girl is alone in the wood, the less chance they had of finding her. Carol stumbled over to the car they were in and, with some effort, pulled out one of Sophia's shirts. "Please, find her…" she said through sobs. May didn't reply and, instead, just grabbed the shirt and ran for the woods. She found Daryl and Kiba waiting for her.
"You're not going." Daryl said, taking the shirt and blocking her way. "Daryl, I'm a ranger, this is what we do – we find people who get lost in woods." she replied, pointing out the obvious. "Besides, you can't stop me from going!" she added stubbornly, grabbing the shirt back and gesturing Kiba to follow her.
Daryl sighed, realizing he was never going to win this fight and he followed after her. The mutt sniffed the shirt and, in a matter of seconds, they found Sophia's tracks. "There." May pointed at a clump of smushed grass. Daryl froze, as he heard a sound behind them, and turned, pointing his crossbow in the direction. He saw a tip of an arrow in his peripheral vision and realize May was doing the same with her bow. After a moment, Rick stumbled out of a bush, surprised to see them. "C'mon." Daryl gestured, and the group started following the little girl's tracks. For some reason, Daryl felt it was important to find this girl. He didn't think it was right to leave her alone in the woods and he swore to himself that he will bring her back safely. When he saw that May was about as skilled a tracker as he was, he found he was glad he couldn't make her stay behind.
After a while of sneaking silently through the woods and following her tracks as well as Kiba's nose, they seemingly hit a dead end. "The tracks are gone." Rick said in a slightly defeated voice. "Nah… They're faint, they ain't gone." Daryl said, pointing at an uncharacteristically curved branch. "She came through 'ere." the hunter said, pointing at the ground. "How can you tell?" Rick asked, confusedly. "I don't see anything – just dirt, grass, trees…"
"You wanna lesson in trackin' or ya wanna find that girl an' get our ass off that interstate?" Daryl replied hostilely. May would have probably smiled at that, had she not been so worried about the poor little lost girl.
They've been tracking silently for over an hour, with Kiba sometimes running up to May and waiting for her to give him another sniff of Sophia's shirt, when a sudden ruffling in the bushes caused them all to drop to the ground, their weapons at the ready, expecting for something to attack. When nothing happened, Rick turned to the two of them pointed in the direction of the ruffle, and slowly sneaked that way, with Daryl, May and Kiba following him. They were on high ground and, below them, was a stumbling walker. Daryl signaled Rick to distract the walker while he gets him from behind, while he gave May a look that told her that if she moved, he might shoot her as well. The two men killed the hungry creature, and all four of them gathered around it's corpse. Daryl forcefully pulled his bolt from the geek's head, looking around the forest for signs of life. "Sophia!" he called out loudly. May shot him a venomous look for making so much noise, but said nothing. Rick was kneeling by the geek, inspecting his hands. "What're ya lookin' for?" the hunter asked.
"Skin under the fingernails." He rolled the geek over and opened its mouth. "It fed recently. There's flesh caught in its teeth." he added, pulling something out forcefully. The stench spread around the corpse making them all slightly dizzy. "What kind'a flesh?" Daryl asked. "Only one way to know for sure." Rick said, pulling out a knife. He cut open the geeks shirt and exposed a bloated, hairy belly. He was breathing heavily and was about to gut it, but Daryl stopped him. "Here… I'll do it." He reached for his belt, releasing his knife. "How many kills 'ave ya skinned and gutted in yer life anyway?" He pulled out his long, hunting knife. "Mine's sharper." May took a deep, calming breath – she didn't want to seem weak.
Daryl stood over the corpse and stabbed it in the top of its gut, pulling the knife down the length of its stomach. An even fowler smell started spreading from the geek and May had to focus all of her energy just to make sure she didn't vomit. Rick was breathing heavily and sweating, obviously feeling the same urge. Daryl repeated the process a couple of more times and soon, the belly of the beast was open and waiting to be explored. Daryl shoved his gloved hands in and started pulling out all the currently unimportant organs and throwing them out. "Yeah… The bastard had a big meal not long ago… I can feel it in there…" the hunter said, reaching his hand deep inside the creatures' body. He pulled out a rotting, black gut, dropping it on the floor. "Stand back, I got this." Rick said, cutting it open with his knife. The stench that came from there was the worst one yet. May couldn't hold herself back anymore and she stumbled away a bit, grabbing on to a tree before she threw up. She heard the two men behind her dig through the content of the organ, letting out disgusted noises and she threw up again.
"Tha bastard ate a woodchuck for lunch." she heard Daryl mutter, turning to see he was holding a little bird scull on the tip of his knife. It didn't eat Sophia. A sigh of relief escaped her lips as she took a few steps their way, before she slumped to the ground. She notice Kiba had stayed at least 10 feet away at all times – the smell must have been so much worse for him. Daryl shook the little skull of his knife. "'T least we know…"
"At least we know." Rick agreed. Both men turned to May, as if checking if she was alright. She looked up at them, feeling embarrassed, and saw a walker closing in at an alarming speed. She grabbed the knife from her boot and threw it at the bastards head, hitting him between the eyes. They turned in time to see it slump to the ground. Rick went to check if it ate recently, while Daryl offered her a hand to help her get up. She saw all the gore and blood on it, smiled at him and got up without any help. He realized what was the problem and scoffed a little.
"This one hasn't eaten in days." Rick told them, leaving the dead body. "Anyway, it's getting dark, we should get back." They nodded and, led by Daryl, headed back to the group – without Sophia.
That's the end of chapter 9. I hope you enjoyed it, but i won't upload any more chapters until i get some reviews - i'd like to know what you think about the character development and, also, to know if anyone is out off character so i could correct it :) So, review! Peace!
