A/N: Ed is Dead! :) I'm so happy I no longer have to get inside of the head of an abusive pedophile :/ Thanks to all of you who have reviewed, favorited, and followed my story :) Those of you who reviewed received a mini preview of this chapter, and a bunch of you guessed who walked out of the woods. Let's see if you're right ;)
Special thanks to: futuredweller, peonies01 , Candra 'wolfgal97, HGRHfan35 , definitelywalkerbait , illarneyheart, and Rhiannon Muir :)
Chapter 9: Bury Me With It
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It was the middle of the night, and Daryl couldn't sleep. He decided to help keep watch with the old man, Dale, and put his restlessness to good use, rather than toss and turn in his sleeping bag beside a passed out Merle. His mind was still on Carol, reeling in disbelief at the way he had gone off on at her. It was none of his damn business what she did with her life, and he shouldn't give a god damn whether or not she stayed with the piece of shit husband of hers. And yet... he thought, kicking some dirt with his boots. And yet it's all he was doing. He just couldn't get her bruised body out of his mind, so much like his mother's after his father would go ape shit while drinking.
Daryl shook his head to try and dislodge the thoughts consuming his mind. He couldn't think about her any longer. She was safe, for now, in her tent with her daughter, and that fat son of a bitch was passed out in the woods, and probably wouldn't be able to see her after the way Daryl left his face. Not like I'd let that fat fuck anywhere... he began thinking, but was distracted by the smell of death, and shuffling coming from the woods. He immediately adjusted his crossbow towards the direction the noise was coming from, waiting for the walker to appear. It didn't take long, 10 seconds or so, before the corpse appeared, slowly making it's way to the camp, fresh blood and guts dripping from it's mouth and torso.
Without thought, Daryl let his arrow fly, connecting dead center in the walker's forehead, causing the rotting corpse to fall to the ground. As he moved forward to collect his arrow, he could hear Dale calling out to Shane from behind him, followed by the sound of the larger man's footsteps.
"What happen-" Shane started, but stopped as soon as he saw the lifeless body besides Daryl, who was currently putting the top of his foot on the woman's skull.
"Ugly bitch came up outta the woods," Daryl said, yanking the arrow free with ease, "Looked like she'd eaten something not too long ago," he added, wiping the arrow head clean on his jeans.
"You think there could be more?" Asked Shane, staring warily into the woods where the walker had just emerged.
"Only way to find out is by checkin' it out," He muttered, reloading his crossbow. "Best make sure people know to stay in their tents and have a weapon ready."
"You're not heading in their alone! We have to stick together; go in pairs," He urged Daryl.
"I ain't plannin' on dyin'," Daryl growled to the large officer, feeling the need to prove himself. "I been trackin' since I could fuckin' walk, and huntin' just as long."
"I'm not saying that, but we gotta be smart about this. Now is not a time to dive in blind," Shane said, slowly appealing to Daryl's rational side.
"Fine," He grumbled, swinging his crossbow over his shoulder, "But hurry the fuck up. I don't wanna wait here like sittin' ducks."
Daryl watched Shane jog back to Dale, telling him to warn the rest of the group, before jogging back to Daryl's side.
"Le's go," Daryl muttered, not even checking to see if the cop was following in his path.
After the first two minutes of walking, Daryl knew in his gut where the pathway was leading him. The trees grew thicker and thicker as they went, shielding the moonlight from the woods path with every step.
"Need some light down here," Daryl muttered to Shane in frustration, "Can't see shit in these woods at night."
"I've got it," Shane said, turning on a flashlight Daryl hadn't realized he was carrying.
"Thanks," he said to the cop, continuing forward on the trail.
Several minutes later, the stench of death lingered in the air before the men gazed upon the last remains of what could only be Ed Pelletier.
"Oh, shit," Shane whispered, staring at the torso that was torn open, and shifting his eyes to the limps that scattered the ground next to the body where they were once attached.
Daryl narrowed his eyes and moved closer to the son of the bitch lying in the dirt. Several organs were missing, and the intestines were mostly eaten, hanging over the torn stomach and falling on the ground. His throat was ripped out of his neck, and his face was practically chewed off.
Fucker didn't get nearly what he deserved Daryl thought as he reviewed the remains silently, holding back the urge to add damage to the mutilated corpse in front of him.
"What the hell was he doing out here alone?" Shane asked, suddenly much closer to the body than Daryl realized.
"No idea," Daryl said automatically, not wanting to reveal that it had been his brutal beating that left the bastard unconscious in the woods, vulnerable to attack.
"You think there's more of them around?" Shane asked, looking at Daryl from the other side of the body.
"There's only one set 'a tracks here, but it wouldn't hurt to check," he replied, still unable to look away from Ed's body. Shane nodded and turned his face back to Ed's corpse as well, scanning the bloodied mess quickly.
"We should take care of him," Shane said, pulling out his gun.
"Not yet," Daryl said, finally tearing his gaze away to look at Shane. "We gotta tell 'is wife an' kid firs'. Don' think they should find out by us draggin' 'him back to camp with a bullet in his head. He ain' comin' back any time soon. These things usually take a few hours to come back. He died not too long ago."
Shane looked Daryl up and down before nodding his head in agreement. "Yeah, okay. Then which way did she come from?"
Daryl took the flashlight from Shane and shined it on the dirt and leaves below, squinting his eyes in concentration. "This way," he said, leading the way once again through the woods.
The men walked further into the forest, stopping every now and then for Daryl to find the path the walker had taken. They had only been walking for 15 minutes, the sun just starting to peak from the horizon, when they spotted a log cabin in the woods.
The cabin was fairly small, but definitely remote. Three cars were parked in front of the house, making it look as though people were home, unawares of the dangers around them. The only sight that made Daryl know otherwise were the three freshly dug graves in the back, with a fourth halfway done.
"Jesus Christ," Shane whispered as they moved forward. Children's toys littered the yards, bikes, jump ropes, hool-a-hoops, and Tonka trucks, and there was a patio with garden furniture in the back, as well. "What the fuck happened?" Shane wandered allowed.
"Several walkers, looks like," Daryl responded, flashing the light to the ground, and seeing a pile of four walkers lying dead by the side of the house. "Someone took these sons a bitches out," he said, revealing the pile to Shane.
"We should check inside for survivors," Shane said, making his way towards the front door while pulling his gun from it's holster. "Make sure you're behind me," He added to Daryl, who nodded and followed behind the cop.
They opened the door slowly and were hit, once again, by the smell of death that engulfed the entire house. Signs of struggle were evident throughout the household. Furniture was turned over, glass was smashed, and blood was splattered everywhere.
"Jesus Christ," Shane muttered again as they stepped through the devastating scene. Daryl watched him bend down and pick up a bloodied teddy bear before tossing it to the side in disgust. "Gotta keep moving," Shane said under his breath, more to himself than Daryl.
Daryl looked around the room, trying to determine whether the walker once lived here, or caused the gruesome scene around him. As he scanned the area, he noticed that all of the doors were shut except for the one to his left. He nudged Shane and pointed to the closed door. He lead the way, looking into the other rooms, noticing one of them had a noose hanging from a ceiling fan. They stopped in front of the closed door, and Daryl kept his crossbow up and ready as he slowly turned the doorknob. Daryl looked back at Shane, making sure the cop was ready, before quickly swinging the door open and aiming his crossbow.
Rather than finding the room filled with walkers, the cop and hunter found a man and woman huddled in the corner, the man aiming his gun at Daryl.
"Don't shoot!" The man cried, raising his hands in surrender. Daryl lowered his bow and turned to Shane to see him do the same with his gun, though he didn't place it back in its holster.
"Are you alright?" Shane asked, stepping from behind Daryl to address the couple.
The woman sniffled in the corner before replying, "We're...We're fine. We just, we came to see... and they were...They were all..." She broke down sobbing, bringing her legs up to her chest, and hiding her face in her knees.
"I'm sorry," The man said, laying his hand on the woman's back and rubbing slowly, "It's okay, baby," he whispered in her ear. "We've been through a lot in the past 48 hours," the man explained, looking back up to Daryl and Shane.
"What happened here?" Shane questioned gently, evidently not wanting to upset the couple further.
The man looked at Shane and Daryl before he spoke. "We was on our was from the city, barely made it out alive. We came down here to visit her sister, thought it'd be the safest place, you know? It's so far outta the city, we never thought... We just thought we'd be able to hide out with them until it was all over, but when we got here..." his eyes watered and he kissed the woman's head, "When we got here, they were all dead, and those things...And then we found Wendy in her room..." The man couldn't finish; the horrors he had seen written all over his face. "We found her in her room, just...hanging there..." he whispered, staring off with a dazed expression. He lowered his head and kissed the woman's short hair again. "We got her down, and tried to get her back, but...We dug them graves out back, and buried Sean and the kids, but when we were digging hers..." the man paused again, trying to regain his composure. "I'd gone inside for some water. All of a sudden, I hear her screaming, and she comes running in from the back, a walker following her real close. And then I realize, ain't just a walker, it's Wendy."
The woman began sobbing slightly harder now, burying her face deeper into her legs to muffle the sound. The man hugged her into his chest, kissing her and soothing her as he did.
"I couldn't kill her. I just...I couldn't. We ended up locking ourselves in here, praying she would just leave."
Daryl stood still listening to the man's tale. In any other circumstance, he would have been furious at the man for not killing the walker, family or not, knowing how deadly they were. But the walker had killed Ed Pelletier, and for that, Daryl was grateful for the man's weakness.
"I'm sorry," Shane spoke, breaking the silence. The man nodded, unable to speak as he held the whimpering woman in his arms. "If you need a safe place to stay, we have a camp set up by the quarry a few miles away. It's not much, there's only about 20 of us, but we keep each other safe, we have shelter and food, water, gas. We'd be more than welcome to have you join us."
Daryl brought his thumb to his mouth and began chewing on his thumbnail, wanting to leave the cabin as quickly as possible. He hated being around all this emotional shit. All he wanted to do was shoot an arrow in Ed's fat fuckin' face and be done with it.
"We have some food, gas, and ammo as well. You guys can come in our car, and lead us to your camp site." The man said, slowly standing and helping the woman up, who had only just stopped crying.
"That's no problem at all. I'm Shane, by the way, and this here is Daryl," Shane said, introducing the two of t hem.
"I'm T-Dogg, and this is my wife, Jacqui," T-Dogg said, bringing his arm around his wife for support.
"We need to tell them about the walker that killed Ed," Daryl whispered to Shane, the two of exiting the room to allow T-Dogg and his wife some privacy before they left.
"Not yet. They went through enough right now. We don't need to add what that walker did." Shane whispered back, fading out when the couple entered the room with them.
"We're parked out front," T-Dogg said, heading towards the front door. They walked to the green Jeep, all clambering into the vehicle before they made their way from the cabin in the woods.
It didn't take more than a 15 minute drive for the four of them to get to the quarry. They exited the Jeep and Shane introduced the couple to the rest of the group, allowing them to pick a place to set up a tent, but got T-Dogg's attention while Jacquie unpacked the car.
"I need to tell you something, man, before you found out a different way," Shane started, receiving a quizzical look from T-Dogg. "There was a walker that came out from the woods this morning. Daryl shot it with his crossbow, and we ended up tracking it to see where it came from. That's how we found you."
T-Dogg's face went pale, but he nodded his head in understanding. Daryl went back to biting his thumb nail, hating the situation he was stuck in.
"I'm really sorry, man. Her body is back there. We can bury her if you'd like. I just wanted to tell you before you saw," Shane explained again, using a hushed tone.
"Thank you," T-Dogg said, turning his head back to his wife, "I don't want her to see. I'll keep her busy while you move..." he trailed off again, unable to speak. Shane nodded to him, and T-Dogg went to his wife and helped her unload their car.
"He doesn't need to know that the walker killed Ed," Shane said, now looking at Daryl. "But speaking of, I better go break the news to Carol and Sophia."
"I'll take care of the body," Daryl said, thinking of the most satisfying way to make sure the bastard wouldn't be coming back to life. Shane nodded his head in approval and walked towards the Pelletier's tent. Daryl watched him for a moment before going to survey his tools and weapons. He didn't want to make too much noise, so a gun was out, not that shooting the fucker would be all that satisfying, but it also meant he wouldn't enjoy taking him out with his crossbow either. Could stab him with a knife he thought, but then his eyes landed on the pick axe in the back of his truck. Daryl smiled cruelly as he went and picked it up, enjoying the weight of the tool in his hand.
Now that he was ready,pick axe in his left hand, shovel in his right, and bottle of gasoline in his pocket, Daryl walked back into the woods. It didn't take long to reach Ed, only about seven minutes now that he knew where he was headed, but he could smell the rotting body far sooner than he could see it. Ed lay there, in the leaves, missing appendages, and torn open like a present. Daryl kicked the immobile figure once, feeling the urge to spit on him, images of his father coming to mind. He raised the pick axe above his head, and glared down at what used to be Ed's face.
"I'll do it," came her soft voice from his side. Daryl whipped his head around to look at the woman that had just snuck up on him. He stared at her face blankly, then down at her outstretched hand. "He was my husband."
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Carol sat in shock on her sleeping bag, unable to properly process the information Shane had just given her.
"Carol, I know this must be hard, and I'm sorry. Do you," Shane whispered, attempting to soothe the her. Carol raised her hand to quiet him, twisting her head to look into his eyes.
"Where is he?" She asked calmly, hearing more strength in her voice than she was used to.
"In, in the woods. Daryl's heading back in to take care of him so he won't turn." Carol's eyes widened at his words, and stood to her feet. "Carol, I don't think you want to-"
"Which way?" She asked, oblivious to his concern. There was no way someone else was going to finish her husband but her. It was her job as his wife. Her responsibility.
"Back by his tent, but I really don't think," Shane said, but Carol didn't hear him, already sprinting out of the tent, and making way to Daryl's. She remembered exiting close to here the night before, and ran into the woods on the path she had taken, hoping Ed's body was where they had left him.
She paid no mind to the sticks scraping her face, or her ribs that were crying out in protest. She merely continued on until she saw them. There, standing over a bloodied mound that must be her Ed, was Daryl, pick axe raised over his head, as he glared down at Ed's mutilated face.
"I'll do it," She said quietly, not wanting to startle him. She stretched out her arm for Daryl to give her the weapon, but he just stared at her face, before moving his gaze down to her arm. "He was my husband."
Daryl stared at her for one more second before slowly lowering the tool, his arms flexing from the weight, and handing it to her. Carol felt her arms drop from the mere size of the object, and brought her eyes to finally look at Ed. She felt herself tearing up as she looked him over, taking in his torn throat, lack of limbs, and open stomach. She then looked at his face, a face that was absolutely unrecognizable, and raised the axe over her head.
She tilted her head as she stared at him, feeling the tears slide down her cheeks as she hesitated to swing. She let her eyes travel over him again, still crying silently as she did, but then her gaze fell on the pants half way down his legs. She felt her chest clench, and her arms swung without thought, the tip of the axe landing in Ed's brain. That's for the abuse throughout the years, and the scars that now mar my body. Carol lifted the axe again, and swung a little less hesitantly. That's for the freedom that you've slowly taken away from me. Swinging more surely still, she hit her target again. That's for taking away out daughter's happiness and laughter. She forcefully jerked the axe out of Ed's skull again, and raised it over her head before letting it fly down once more, feeling her strength break through with every hit. That's for taking away who I was. Carol ripped the axe out of Ed's skull one last time, before plunging it with all her might back into his brain. And that's for making me live in fear for the past 20 years of my life!
Carol broke down sobbing next to the lifeless remains of her husband, feeling more free than she had in years. She couldn't control herself as she continued to sob, letting it all out. It was the feeling of Daryl's hand on her back that caused her to snap out of her state, and scramble to her feet. Without thought she tore out of the woods and into her tent, letting the emotion overtake her once again.
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Daryl stared at the small, fragile woman in shock as she swung over, and over, and over again, the pick axe connecting with the bastards with each swing. What shocked him even more was the pride that slowly began to fill him as he gazed, mesmerized by her strength. All of a sudden she was down on the ground, a weeping mess once again. Unsure of what to do, Daryl took slow and hesitant steps towards her. Remembering how the man, T-Dogg, had soothed his wife, Daryl brought his hand out to put on her back, before putting it down. He stared Carol, who was shaking from the force of her tears, and sucked in his breath. Making up his mind, Daryl laid a trembling hand on her back as a way to offer her comfort. She immediately jerked from his touch and jumped to her feet, before fleeing out of the woods.
With a huff, Daryl took an extra second to stare at Carol's retreating form, before turning back to Ed. He gave the corpse another hard kick for good measure, then picked up the shovel and started digging a fairly large hole. Ed didn't deserve a burial, but Daryl didn't want the blood to attract other walkers. Once he finished digging, he took the bottle of gasoline, and poured it over Ed. Once the last bit of gas was gone, Daryl dug into his pocket for his matches, stepped back, lit one, and threw it on the corpse. The body immediately went up in flames, lighting the darkened woods. He pulled out a pack of smokes and watched the fire burn the body to a crisp. Once the flames finally went out, he moved what was left of Ed into the hole, and covered his corpse with dirt.
A/N: Yay for another chapter! :) lol I hoped you all liked this one. I enjoyed introducing T-Dogg and Jacquie's characters. For those of you wondering why they're married in this, it's merely because Jacquie calls T-Dogg baby when she stay's at the CDC and tells him it's okay lol Also, the title Bury Me With It (if you don't know) is an awesome Modest Mouse song, and refers to Carol's old, meak, mousy self being buried with Ed's body :) YAY FOR STRONGER CAROL! WOOOOOOOOOOO! Please review :) I will love you soooo much! and you get a little treat when you review, so, you know, incentive lol 3 you all! Alexis out.
