Summary: Stone had a list of rules, these rules were never meant to be broken. But when her right hand man falls injured, she must break these rules to let strangers into her life to help save the one man she trusts. What could ensue?
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for my two characters :)
Scratch, scratch, thud!
"Ugh on movies they make them seem so much lighter" Stone complained loudly, dragging another walker towards the pick up truck. T-Dog and Andrea laughed lightly, coming towards her and helping her load the walker onto the already high pile of dead.
"We'll have to make another round" Andrea muttered, taking a seat on the back of the truck as T-Dog took the drivers seat.
"I'll be waiting" Stone said, taking another walker's ankles and dragging it to a new pile.
It didn't take long before Shane joined her by the barn, looking aggravated and tensed. He silently helped Stone pile up the walkers and waited with her until Andrea and T-Dog returned, it was safe to say that Shane made her feel quite uncomfortable. "Ah there you are Shane" Andrea said, jumping out of the pick up truck.
"Where ya been man?" T-Dog asked, slinging a walker over his shoulder and plonking it onto the truck. Stone watched on enviously.
"Just been talking to Lori, that's all. She's worried about Rick" Shane muttered, also slinging a walker over his shoulder and shoving it onto the truck.
Stone frowned, I bet you two weren't even talking about Rick she thought. Stone wasn't stupid and she could see right through Lori and Shane, she could see that something was either going on or had been going on between the pair. However when Stone tried to voice her opinion about it to Rivers, he completely snubbed the idea. She sighed inwardly and dragged a walker to Shane, who took it easily from her and placed it on the truck.
When they had loaded up the truck once more, Shane and T-Dog left with Andrea sitting on the back. They left Stone to pick up the fallen limps that broke away from the deceased, and to burn them in their own small pile.
"So wha's goin' on with Shane 'n ye?" A voice startled her out of her thoughts.
"Jesus!" She exclaimed, dropping the limps and turning angrily around. Daryl was quietly standing behind her, observing her closely with the blankest face. "What's it to you?" She asked, scooping up her dropped limbs and throwing them into a nearby bucket.
"Jus' curious" He muttered, "'Cause I thank Andrea likes him"
Stone rolled her eyes "There is nothing going on, Shane and I just have some mutual feelings towards various things. You can tell Andrea that she can have him, although I really thought she liked Rivers" She rambled to herself.
Daryl shrugged and looked over her head at the barn, his face contorting with unknown emotion.
"Hey um, how ya been since.." Stone tried to ask awkwardly. Daryl snapped his head towards her and his brow furrowed into a scowl.
"Jus' fine" He growled, turning on his heel and stomping away
Flabbergasted slightly, Stone watched after him with a scowl "Okay sir, don't get your knickers in a knot"
"Wha' did ye say?" Daryl asked irritably, turning around and scowling even harder than before. "I'd watch my mouth if I was you pom" He sneered. Stone frowned at him and shook her head.
"I just don't get you Red" She said as he approached her again. "One day we're having a laugh, the next you're jumping down my throat"
"The world don't revolve around ye" Daryl snapped.
"Damn straight it doesn't, and I'm not going to sit around while you bother me with your bipolar emotions" She snapped back, taking the last of the limbs and setting them on fire. "You can come talk to me when you've gotten over your childish tantrum" She added.
"Dun ye even care that the lil girl was turned" Daryl shouted after her.
"More than you think" She muttered as she marched off towards the RV that currently occupied Carol. "Imbecile" She grumbled, jumping up the steps of the RV and greeting Carol with a sympathetic look. "How you feeling?" She asked, instantly regretting it.
She was met with a cold look, "Right, stupid question" Stone mumbled and took a seat opposite Carol.
"I don't really feel like talking right now" Carol said calmly, her somber appearance would shock most people.
"It's alright, I'll wait" Stone replied softly, taking out a loop of string from her pocket and a handful of skin.
"What on earth is that?" Carol hissed, recoiling with shock and horror.
"Walker scalps" Stone said with a shrug. She took out her knife and poked holes through each one, and started threading the rope through.
"Why do you have walker scalps and why are you putting them on a rope?" Carol questioned, intrigued by Stone's actions.
"This is probably one of the best ways for me to deal with my brother's death, besides I'm half native American. It's a cultural thing" She said, showing Carol the other end of the rope that was still inside her coat pocket. On it was over a hundred scalps.
Carol looked away, disgusted slightly "I'd never have known you were Native American, I mean you're quite pale" She added, slumping back into her seat.
"My dad is British obviously, so I inherited the skin colour. But the hair and eyes are my mothers" Stone mumbled, threading the last scalp onto the rope.
"Have you always grown up with these traditions?" Carol asked, indicating to the scalps.
Stone nodded "My dad nailed Native American traditions into me from a young age, despite my mother leaving him when I was six, he was always loyal to her. I guess my mother was shocked when I went to live with her. She tried to teach me things, but I already knew." Stone mumbled, shaking her head and folding the rope up into her pocket. "Feel like talking yet?" She asked Carol.
Carol shook her head and buried her face in her hands "Not right now Stone, but thanks for distracting me" She said.
Stone shrugged and got up from the table "I'll come back in a bit" She added and left the RV fairly quickly.
Stone found herself once again pulled back to the forest, and there she sat for a good two hours mulling over her situation. Since she accepted to stay with this group, a burden had been lifted off her shoulders and she felt that she could finally keep Rivers and herself safe within this group. However there was one problem, was she going to tell Carol that she saw Sophia by the highway or not? Shaking her head, she reached under her top for the thick chain that hung from her neck.
She lifted the chain over her top and sadly peered at the three items that hung there. On the chain was a small wolf claw, a silver double sided feather and a army dog tag, each on engraved with a different family member's initials. At times like these, Stone missed her family the most, when all chaos had gone and it was just quiet. "Your family is all you're ever going to have Lola, your family won't let you down, won't break your heart and won't stab you in the back. Don't forget that" Stone's father had told her the day before he died. Stone looked down and sighed, wringing her hands with grief "I won't" She mumbled and tucked the chain underneath her top again.
Stone didn't come back to the RV as she promised, instead she did her rounds of the farm and avoided going near Carol. Back to square one she thought bitterly, just as you were making progress towards being a more open person. Stone grimaced, jolting her foot against a nearby tree and recoiling with pain. She held her foot tenderly and cursed her so called 'steel caps' for wearing off over the years she owned them.
"Stop being such a pansy and go talk to Carol" Stone said to herself, swallowing hard and advancing on the RV. When she reached the RV, Lori was stepping out and looked at her with a twinge of desperation.
"Where have you been?" She questioned, frowning hard at her.
"I've-" Stone started.
"Never mind, we're holding a funeral for Sophia and Hershel's family. Can you convince Carol to come, she doesn't want to and is acting weird" Lori rambled, gripping Stone's shoulders with immense force.
Stone backed away "How is she acting weird?" She asked.
"She is just accepting Sophia's death, like it was nothing"
"Isn't that best?" Stone said, bewildered that Lori thought it was strange.
"No! Carol needs to mourn or otherwise she'll turn out like-" Lori stopped and stared at Stone.
"Like what?" Stone said through gritted teeth.
"Like you" Lori finished.
"To hell with you Lori, there isn't anything wrong with me" Stone snapped, jabbing a finger into Lori's chest.
"You're so emotionless and ruthless. You don't care about normal things and frankly you fit in with this world" Lori snapped back, recoiling from Stone's hard jabs.
"Well Lori not everyone was raised in a 'normal' environment, I wasn't coddled as a kid and I lost every single one of my family members by the age of twenty. Don't talk to me about normal because I was never raised normally. So fuck yourself" Stone snarled, shoving past Lori and stepping into the RV. She turned back to Lori "I'd think twice before angering me Lori, I know about you and Shane" Stone threatened, causing Lori to gasp in shock and hold a hand to her mouth.
Furiously Stone entered the RV, where Carol and Daryl sat quietly. They stared at her, obviously having heard the heated discussion outside. "Get your ass up Carol and go to your daughter's funeral" Stone barked, and then she turned on her heel and stomped out and towards the barn. Not forgetting to glower at Lori as she passed.
Strangely enough it worked, Carol, Daryl and Lori weren't far behind Stone as she reached the grave sites. Stone stood furiously to the side, ignoring Carol's glances over at her and definitely ignoring Lori as she tried to come closer to her.
Soon the rest of the group gathered around the grave sites, Hershel's family included. The ceremony was short and sweet, no one really knew Hershel's wife Annette and her son Shawn. Hershel's daughter Beth remained most of the time sobbing and Maggie was left comforting her. Carol didn't say anything about her daughter, so it was kept simple. When the three bodies were buried beneath the tree, the group departed and went their different ways.
However Carol stayed behind, shooing away both Daryl and Lori to leave her be. Which left Stone and Carol in silence, both staring at Sophia's grave. "I saw her" Stone confessed, still staring at the grave. "I saw her running"
Carol looked over at her with alarm "What?" She whispered.
"I saw your little girl running and I was too selfish to get up and help. I thought you guys were hostile, I saw Daryl and Rick run after her and I thought she'd be fine" Stone rambled, relieved she was finally voicing her guilt. "I-"
Carol stormed towards her and slapped her hard on the cheek "She was just a little girl" She shouted "And you let those things run after her and kill her"
"I didn't know, I thought Rick and Daryl would of found her" Stone argued back.
Carol shook her head with disgust "Lori was right, you are just an emotionless bitch" She said bitterly, turning abruptly and leaving Stone alone with a stinging cheek and a heavy heart. She kneeled down beside Sophia's grave and patted the dirt over her grave.
"I'm sorry" She whispered, patting at the earth once more and walking back to the farm house. Not really feeling in the mood to talk to anyone, Stone set off into the woods wondering if telling Carol the truth was a good idea after all.
I know this is a short chapter, but I'm typing up the next chapter as we speak. So you all get two chapters this week yay!
Thank you for the lovely reviews x