A/N: Heh. Hiii! So sorry for taking forever in posting this. Mostly, I'm just lazy. I admit it. And my brother turned me into a Whovian, so I've been catching up on Doctor Who. And I've been reading other ficts (I'm kinda stuck on the Dark Knight Rises' Bane at the moment). But anywho, I'm already planning out the next chapter...and I need your help, readers, with how this fict will plan out (see bottom A/N for more info). So, while you ponder that, here's the next chapter.
Enjoy!
"What's the saying? Where's thunder there's lightning, and they say that it never strikes twice in same place..."
"Found a walker."
The talking around the fire stopped immediately. Jada watched as everyone turned to look at Daryl. Rick slowly stood up and walked towards the resident redneck.
"What? Where?" The former deputy asked.
"Out tha' way." Daryl replied shortly, nodding his head in the general direction they just came from.
"There others?" Shane asked, standing and making his way next to Rick.
"Dunno." Daryl shrugged. "Didn't look like it."
"Right." Rick said, hands on his hips and turning to look at everyone. "Shane, Glenn, grab weapons and head towards the highway, make sure the road's clear in case we gotta leave in a hurry." He turned to Daryl. "Take T-Dog to where ya found it. Search thoroughly." He looked past Daryl to Jada, standing a few feet behind Daryl's left shoulder. "JJ, you an' me'll go that way." He pointed towards T-Dog's tent. "Dale, Andrea, stay here an' keep an eye on camp. Anything comes by ya can't handle, give a yell." Everyone nodded and went to grab whatever they were using as their weapon of choice.
Jada stood with her arms crossed under her breasts waiting for Rick to grab his weapon. She watched the others move about the camp to gather what they needed and head out with their designated partners. She watched T-Dog walk from his tent, to grab a shotgun, then walk back to where Daryl was standing in between his tent and her tent. Before the two headed off into the forest, she saw Daryl glance back to her and give her a tiny nod. Shocked and just a little confused, she gave him a small nod back. When his back was turned to her again, she frowned.
Daryl really needs to come with a handbook. She thought. Why did I deserve that nod? Was it a thank you? Good luck? What? Fuck! And men think women are confusing.
She watched as Glenn and Shane marched off down the lane back towards I-75, then turned her attention towards Rick as he walked towards her with an ax. She schooled her facial features into a neutral expression as she pulled her SIG out of the back of her pants. Rick nodded to her and she followed him as they made their way into the forest behind T-Dog's tent. As they rounded the tent, Rick took the lead with his ax held at the ready; Jada followed close enough behind him that she could cover his back, but gave him enough room to swing the ax if needed.
When they were a good distance into the trees, Rick stopped and lowered the ax head to the ground as he continued to look around. Jada stepped up next to him and lowered her SIG to her side, also looking around.
"Can ah ask ya somethin'?" Rick questioned softly.
"Uh, sure." Jada replied, not looking at the man and not really sure what he was going to ask.
"Ya still plan on headin' ta Atlanta?"
Jada jerked in shock. Wasn't expecting that. "I haven't really given it much thought yet." She admitted softly.
Do I want to go to Atlanta now? Now that my only reasons for going there in the first place are...gone? She asked herself.
"Do ya have any other people ya need ta check up on?" Rick asked, now looking at the woman next to him.
Jada looked at the ground, then shook her head. "No." She whispered.
Her parents were only children and she didn't have any siblings. The only friends she had were in the Army and, well...she knew what happened to them already.
"Stay with us then." Rick said, bringing her out of her thoughts.
Jada's head snapped up. "What?"
"We can always use another gun." Rick explained, then grinned. "And yer the only one who really knows how ta cook with limited supplies. Stick with our rag-tag group'a misfits...if not ta help us, at least for ma son. He seems ta like ya well 'nough."
Jada grinned slightly. The kid did take a liking to her...and she was starting to like the kid as well.
There was also the fact that she was getting to know Daryl baby step by baby step. And that seemed to be more than she could say for most of the others in the group.
"So you're sayin' I'm only good for keepin' everybody fed?" She joked, smirking, and finally looking up at Rick.
"Nah, course not." He replied easily. "Yer just the best at it."
They both sniggered softly and looked around again. There was a pregnant pause before Jada responded.
"I just have one question before I completely give you the 'okay, I'll stick with you weirdoes'." She said, still looking around.
"Shoot."
"Are ya still headin' to Fort Benning?"
Rick was silent for several moments.
Jada decided that if he said 'yeah, we're still headed there, even though you've already told us it's overrun', then she was going on her own again the minute she found a set of working wheels. If he said no, then she just might stick with them. She hadn't completely decided if it was worth possibly getting shot in the back by two of the group who seemed to have something against her.
"Ya said it was probably overrun, right?" He finally asked.
"Yeah."
"Think there'd be any way to clear it out?"
Jada thought about it. "No. With the small amount of people in this group, and I'm assuming a dwindling ammo supply, I don't think it's possible. If we got overrun at Fort Gordon and Gillem so badly, I don't think Benning faired any better. People went to us for help. They would've gone there, too. And that equals a shit-ton more walkers than there should have been with all those extra people around." Her voice tapered off towards the end of her reasoning.
Rick nodded. "Then, no, ah don' think we'll go there any more."
Jada release a quiet sigh. "Okay...where then?"
"Not sure. Have ta bring it up with the others. See what they wanna do." He replied.
Jada nodded this time, then took a few steps forward, raising her SIG.
"What—" Rick started to ask.
"Shh." Jada held up her hand to silence him.
Staring around the trees ahead of them, she saw movement in front and to her left, about a hundred yards away. Keeping her SIG trained forward, she turned her head slowly back to Rick. Lifting her left hand, she pointed to where she saw a probable walker. Rick nodded and picked up the ax, then slowly made his way ahead of Jada and further into the woods, where he leaned against a tree in the direction they thought the walker would stumble. Jada followed and leaned her back against a tree near Rick, SIG at the ready in case back-up was needed.
They watched the walker walk right in between their trees and keep staggering on. Jada locked eyes with Rick and nodded. Rick turned his attention to the walker and followed it stealthily. When close enough, he lifted the ax and brought it down quickly on the back of the walker's skull. The walker collapsed to its knees and Rick pulled the ax out with a squelch, only to bury the ax deep in its skull again...then one more time for good luck.
"It's dead, Jim." Jada said, walking up to Rick and looking down at the former human.
With a grunt, Rick pulled the ax out of the skull once more. He looked up at Jada. "We better get back. See how the others made out and set up watch. We'll have ta get outta here in the mornin'."
Nodding, Jada followed Rick back to the campsite, keeping her eyes moving, looking for more walkers.
Back at the fireside, Jada and Rick met up with Glenn and Shane. They didn't find any walkers along the road out and reported that the way out was clear. The four stood at the ready and waited for Daryl and T-Dog to return. When they did, they marched straight over to the small group, in between Jada and Glenn with Daryl closer to Jada.
"What'd ya find?" Rick asked the newcomers.
"Two more." T-Dog answered. "One feastin' on the dead one. The other comin' to do the same. Dispatched 'em easily enough." He nodded towards Daryl and his crossbow.
Rick nodded. "We found one, too."
"So what do we do?" Glenn asked softly, cradling a shotgun against his chest.
"We'll stay here till mornin', then we have ta head out. Find somewhere else to settle for a while." Rick answered just as quietly.
"We ain't goin' ta Benning?" Shane asked skeptically.
Rick glanced over at Jada before answering. "Nah. If Gordon and Gillem were so overrun, ah don't see how Benning would fair any differently."
Shane scoffed. "Because some bitch we just happened to pick up tells us not ta?"
"Hey, this bitch is trying to save your life. Worthless as it is." Jada growled, glaring at him. "Look, asshole. I don't like you and clearly you don't like me, which is totally cool with me, but I am trying to help you all survive for just a little longer."
As much as she wanted to stalk off, if only to not punch him in the mouth, she stood her ground.
The tension rose steadily.
"Hey. What's going on?" Dale asked as he and Andrea came over to the huddled group.
Shane looked away first, leaving Jada free to take a deep breath. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Daryl shift his weight onto the foot closest to her. When she turned her head slightly to get a clearer view of him, she saw him nod his head once. She understood the meaning of his nod this time.
You did good.
Jada felt her lips try to tug up into a grin, but she somehow managed to suppress it...Just so T-Dog won't tease me later. She thought.
Turning her attention back to the rest of the group, she saw Rick motioned everyone over to the fire. They needed to tell everyone else what was going on. When everyone was seated (more or less in their "normal" space), Rick explained that Daryl had taken down a walker initially, then told about the other three that were found by others. A light gasp sounded from Carol as she held her daughter closer to her. Jada took a glance over to Lori and Carl to see the woman put her hand on her boy's shoulder; both were surprisingly calm.
"So what do we do?" Andrea spoke up, across the fire from Jada.
"We'll hafta leave in the mornin'." Rick explained. "Try ta find somewhere else to hold up fer a while."
"What about Benning?" Carol asked so quietly Jada had to strain to hear her.
Shane scoffed again. "Apparently, it's no longer an option." He glared at Jada, who childishly rolled her eyes and looked into the fire.
"Makes sense, really." Lori muttered, also sending Shane a slight glare.
"Alright." Rick said quickly before any arguments could start. "We'll have to set up watches t'night. Two person teams. T-Dog, Andrea, take first watch, please. Wake me in two hours. Everyone else, try ta get some sleep. We leave at first light and figure out where ta go later." He instructed.
With nods all around, he headed towards his family's tent. Rick turned before going in. "And keep the fire low." He then ducked into the tent for some sleep.
Jada watched as Carol and Sophia got up and headed into their own tent. Dale headed towards the RV. T-Dog and Andrea got started on their watch. Lori and Carl stayed by the fire for a little longer before getting up and heading to their tent with Rick. Jada was left by herself at the fire. She could see Daryl just on the edge of her peripheral, though, and watched as he, too, eventually got up and headed towards his tent.
The Staff Sergeant stayed by the fire for several minutes, not ready to go to sleep. Sure she was tired, since she didn't sleep the night before, but if she was honest with herself, she was afraid to go to sleep. Afraid of the nightmares that might come. Might remind her that her parents were no longer part of this fucked up world.
Eventually, she got up, no longer able to keep her eyes open after staring into the hypnotizing flames of the fire for so long. She nodded to T-Dog and Andrea, who were also around the fire after they completed a walk around, and ambled on over to her tent.
Once inside, she zipped the tent flaps closed, securing the zippers to the bottom of the tent with wire. Days earlier, she had jerry-rigged the tent so nothing could get in without a struggle; she had punched a hole in the floor of the tent with her Swiss Army knife and threaded a wire she stole out of a found underwire bra through and into the zipper, then twisted the ends like a twist tie. The only flaw (and she knew it) was that it would also be hard for her to get out in a pinch, though the tent was wide enough that she could slither underneath one of the flaps...however undignified it might look.
Once she finished with the zipper, Jada stood and was just about to flop down onto her sleeping bag when she turned to find her clothing still hanging from poles. With a groan for being denied some sleep, she reached for the closest piece of clothing and pulled it down. Meticulously, she folded the shirt and laid it on her sleeping bag. She continued pulling clothes down from around the tent and folding them. When everything was folded and sitting on her sleeping bag, in piles according to the item, she shoved them fastidiously into her duffle bag. She zipped up the bag and tossed it to the other side of the tent. Quickly, she untied and kicked off her boots and took the SIG out of her pants to rest on her rucksack.
Jada was then able to crawl into her sleeping bag and settle down for however long she was able to, whether it be from nightmares or a wake up call for look-out. She had just closed her eyes and gotten comfortable when she heard a clap of thunder off in the distance. Turning onto her stomach, she growled loudly into her pillow.
Thunderstorms meant possible leaks in the tent.
Thunderstorms meant less sleep.
Thunderstorms meant you had to be on your toes more; walkers aren't so easily heard over the sounds of rain and thunder.
Burrowing deeper into her sleeping bag and ducking her head underneath her pillow, Jada released a deep sigh, closed her eyes, and attempted to sleep.
000000000
A few short hours later, Jada awoke with a jump, sitting up in her sleeping bag; the flash of lightning, followed by the crash of thunder directly overhead, the downpour of rain, and dreaming of her past all woke her up. Leaning back on her elbows, she let her heart rate return to normal before taking a glance out of the mesh window above her. Knowing the sky would be cloudy because of the storm, she tried to get a look and decide if it was worth staying awake for the rest of the day or go back to sleep for a bit. When she looked, she couldn't see the sky, but knew "first light" was a way off yet. Releasing a puff of air, she pulled herself (and her sleeping bag) closer to her rucksack to dig in one of the middle pockets. Towards the middle of the pocket, she found what she was looking for a pulled it out. Jada looked down at the military-issued watch to check the time...not that time had any meaning in this shit-storm called life now, but it gave a good reference for sun rise and sun set.
4:30 AM. Sun rise was still a good hour and a half away.
With a grunt, she shoved the watch back into its pocket and closed it up. Falling onto her back, the Staff Sergeant stared at the ceiling.
Why did no one come wake me for a watch? She thought, frowning.
She kicked off the sleeping bag and rose to her feet, stretching out as best as she could in the tent. She then rolled up her sleeping bag and pillow and shoved them back in their bag. Grabbing her SIG and waterproof poncho from her rucksack, she untied the zipper and unzipped the tent flaps. She pulled a flap back so she could watch it rain and get an idea of how waterlogged the camp ground was. Through a bolt of lightning and rumble of thunder, Jada could see that the fire was definitely out and there were puddles in some places, but it wasn't as bad as she was expecting.
Sitting down at the opening, she grabbed her boots and pushed her feet into them. As she laced and tied them up, she took another look around the campsite, trying to figure out who was on watch.
Through another flash of lightning, she saw a large beach umbrella propped open on the top of the RV. She was also able to see that someone was sitting underneath it on a crate.
And from the distinct outline of a crossbow on the shoulder, she knew it to be Daryl Dixon.
After fiddling with her boots, she unfolded the poncho and slipped in on over her head. Tucking her SIG into the back of her cargos, she put the hood up and stepped out into the storm, pausing to close up her tent so her stuff wouldn't get drenched.
Jada turned and looked up at Daryl again, who had shifted his crossbow when he saw movement, but was relaxed.
Do I join him or walk around? She debated, taking a few steps forward, not in any particular direction. Well, he is out of the rain. She made up her mind and speed walked over to the RV.
It took her a moment to find the ladder that would lead her up to the roof, but when she did find it, she carefully (but quickly) climbed. Once on the roof, she picked her way over to Daryl, being cautious of the torrents of water running off the roof...she didn't want to slip, fall, and bust her ass. She nodded to the hunter when she was standing underneath the umbrella. He nodded in response then returned his attention back ahead of him. Jada slowly turned in a circle to look around the site for walkers and/or Daryl's watch partner. She then crouched down next to him on the opposite side of the umbrella pole.
"Who's supposed to be out here with you?" She asked over the rain as she huddled further into her poncho.
"Don't matter." He replied with a shrug.
"Sure it does. What if a horde of those fuckers came outta the trees? You wouldn't get 'em all with only a few arrows, no matter how good you are." She responded, looking over at him.
Daryl frowned briefly, then let out a puff of air in what could have been a grunt as he glared straight ahead.
"So I ask ya again...who's supposed to be out here?" She almost demanded, close to how she would speak to one of her subordinates in the kitchen.
Daryl turned his glaring frown towards her. "Don't ya try ta pull rank on me. I ain't one-a yer underlings." He paused for a moment when Jada lifted her eyebrow and tried not to smirk. "Yer supposed ta."
Jada's smirk instantly dropped and turned into a frown to rival that of Daryl's. She turned her head away from him "Why didn't anyone wake me?" She asked more to herself than the hunter.
"Ah didn't get ya 'cause ya needed to sleep." The redneck replied, not looking at her.
"'Scuse me?" Jada's head whipped back towards him.
With another flash of lightning, they could both clearly see the other's face: Jada's held a look of shock, where Daryl's was poker-face straight.
"Ya heard me." He grumbled.
Holy shit! She thought, taking a long look at the man next to her. Did I find a soft spot on the big, bad hunter? She grinned softly, turning her face away from him.
"Thanks then." Jada said just loud enough for him to hear.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him nod again.
Her knees were starting to hurt from her crouched position, so she moved a bit closer to where Daryl was sitting on his crate that was holding up the umbrella, and sat on another crate on the opposite side.
The two were silent for the rest of the extremely early morning hours, until the sky started to lighten. The thunderstorm was still on them, but it was starting to taper off; the thunder was getting further away with the occasional flashes of lightning. From their perches on top of the RV (under the umbrella), they watched as people started to wake up and deconstruct the camp in the rain. It was amusing to say the least.
When most of the tents were ready to be shoved back into bags and stored back into vehicles, Jada and Daryl made their way off of the roof to dismantle their own tents. It took Jada only minutes to pull all of the poles out of their spots and pull them apart, then another minute to fold the tent and roll it up into its storage bag. Picking up her duffle bag, tent, and rucksack, she took them over to the RV and stored them out of the way.
I may be traveling with these people for a while, but the sooner I get my own set of wheels the better. She thought with a sigh as she shoved her duffle under the small table. Getting a bit cramped in here.
Standing up straight, she looked out of the window next to the table.
It was still raining...
Daryl had a motorcycle...
Plopping down onto the bench seat where her rucksack was stashed, she dug through the pockets looking for her extra (although, cheap) poncho. Letting out a grunt of success as she pulled the folded plastic out, she walked through the RV and down the stairs, back out into the rain, almost colliding with Andrea as the woman opened the door.
"Whoa. Sorry." Jada mumbled as she stepped down out of the RV and to the side so the other woman could pass.
With a terse nod, Andrea made her way into the RV.
Jada watched her for a moment, then with a huff, she marched over to Daryl. She stopped next to where the hunter was trying to roll up his tent.
"Hey." She called softly, not wanting to startle him, then realized he probably already knew she was there. When he looked over at her (and not stopping in his work), she continued. "I thought you could use this for when we head out." She held out the plastic poncho to him.
He took it from her, looking down at it before looking back up to her. An unspoken question clearly on his face.
"It's my extra poncho. The cheap kind, but it'll help keep ya at least semi-dry on that bike a-yours." She explained with a small smile.
Daryl tried to hand it back to her. "Don't need it." He said, gruffly.
Men are so stubborn! Jada glanced skyward in exasperation. "Keep it anyway. Use it when ya feel the need or want to then." She turned on her heel and stalked back towards the RV.
"JJ!' She heard from behind just as she was reaching for the door. Turning around, she saw Rick jog up to her.
"What's up?" she asked on a sigh.
"Tell whoever's in there that we leave in ten. 'F ya wanna make somethin' simple for breakfast, go fur it. 'F ya wanna wait till we stop somewhere, that's fine, too." Rick instructed.
Jada nodded. "I'll tell them, then probably wait for food."
Dale emerged from the trees and came up to the two of them. "What's the plan?" The older man asked.
"We leave in ten minutes. We'll keep goin' south on 75. See if anything'll help us out in the short run. Maybe somewhere to hold up till this rain stops." Rick explained.
Dale nodded and went into the RV to deliver the message to everyone in there. Rick glanced over at Daryl, who had finally gotten his tent in the bag, then back to Jada. He didn't say anything, but tilted his hat towards her and walked off to the station wagon. Jada frowned and followed him with her eyes.
Seems like Daryl isn't the only one who should come with a handbook...maybe it's all men. She pondered as she, herself, looked over at Daryl. She watched him pick up his bags, then ponder over the poncho before shoving it into the back of his muddied work pants. He glanced up, then and looked directly at Jada. Knowing she'd been caught staring (though she couldn't really help it), she ducked her head, feeling her cheeks turn slightly pink, then turned to finally head into the RV.
Jada plunked down on the bench seat next to her rucksack and across from T-Dog...who was wearing a mischievous smirk as he saw her face. She pointed to him warningly.
"Don't." she said, trying not to smile.
T-Dog held up his hands with a laugh. "I wasn't gonna say anythin' about ya gettin' all hot 'n bothered by the redneck."
She leaned across the table with a laugh to smack his arm. "Asshole." She muttered before looking out the window. "Are you trying to play matchmaker?" She asked him.
When she didn't get an answer, she looked back to him. He was trying to smile innocently, but failing miserably. Rolling her eyes, she looked back out of the window as she shucked her poncho to let it dry for a while. Jada watched as Daryl took his things to the station wagon to shove them in the trunk then talk to Rick for a minute. He then headed over to his bike, which Jada could barely see from the window. She was able to see him take the poncho out of the back of his pants and throw it on, though, and she felt relieved and accomplished because of the action.
She found herself smiling stupidly to herself.
Jada heard T-Dog chuckling to himself and sighed, the smiling not leaving her face. "I'm not even gonna admonish ya this time, 'cause it's clearly done well in the past." She said, making the man laugh harder.
A few minutes later, the RV rumbled to life and the caravan of rag-tags headed back out onto the highway, away from the campsite. The rain becoming lighter and the thunder only being heard in the far distance.
A/N: Alrighty, so...did ya like it?
And here's where I need your help, readers.
I saw an interview with Robert Kirkman on "The Nerdist" and he said that the show is like a "re-do" of what he wanted to do in the comic books; like a second chance to do something different. So here's my problem...it involves Sophia: do I stick to the comic book and not have her turned into a walker and the group gets to Hershel's farm the book way or do I go the TV show route and have her turn into a walker and shoved in the barn?
I REALLY need help with this! I've been thinking about this since I started this fict and I still don't know which way to go...I mean, I can come up with plans for both routes, but I'd like to know which way you, as my reader, would like to see.
Send me your PMs on this subject please!
Oh, and one more quick note: someone left me a review saying my plot had holes...well, I'm not about to give away everything right out of the gate. It keeps you coming back for more. I have it planned, so no, there aren't plot holes, thank you very much. And, yes, I realize I'm being a bitch about this, but shit like this bothers/dents my fragile confidence...
