After the clothes were done, Amy and Andrea borrowed some fishing gear from Dale and went out to catch some dinner.
"I'm getting tired of squirrel." Carl complained.
We were seated by the dead fire. Due to the extreme heat that had come today, I had shed the sweatshirt so that I was left in my black tank top. Riddick was chewing on what was left of a stick that Sophia had thrown him earlier.
"Me too, but I won't tell Daryl that." I muttered. "I think that that would be a blow to deep for his pride. It might kill him."
Carl laughed and returned his gaze to the mathematics book which Lori forced him to do.
"Do you like doing homework?" I questioned, plucking a piece of grass from the almost bare ground.
"No. I don't see the point." He grouched, his pencil scribbling away at the page.
"Sorry man. Maybe I can talk to your Dad when he gets back. Try to lessen your load a little bit." I offered. He nodded in thanks, and I stood up.
Riddick abandoned his stick and followed me instead, his tail wagging.
"You're too happy." I muttered to him. "It's quite annoying actually."
"You're annoying too"
"Oh really? When?" I asked him, continuing to walk to the RV, intending to get a drink.
"When you give me a bath. I'll get dirty again, so what's the point."
"Because I don't like my hair getting dirty when I use you as a pillow." I explained, stepping through the door and into the kitchen section.
He went to follow me, but Shane called to me,
"Don't let him in the RV!" I rolled my eyes.
"Ok!" I called back. "Riddick, blieben." I said to Riddick. He whined in protest, but sat down and watched me through the doorway.
"You're more protective then a mother hen." I said to him, reaching into the cabinet to get a bottle of water.
It was warm, but with the temperature in the 100's, I didn't really care. Stepping out of the cramped space and back outside, I sat down in my spot. I had gotten a blanket from the RV and laid it out on the dusty ground so I wouldn't be laying in dirt and bugs when I slept.
Sitting down, I dug around in my backpack until I found the novel I had stolen from Dale's book supply. Sure Black Beauty wasn't my ideal book of choice, but Dale had a bad selection to choose from.
After almost an hour of reading, I heard a loud commotion. Looking over the brim of my book, I saw Andrea and Amy come waltzing in with about 2 dozen fish. My jaw dropped.
"We will eat well tonight!" I squealed to Riddick, patting him on the stomach, which had bulked up quite a bit in the past few days. I was glad, though.
Both of us scrambled up and darted towards them.
"Ha! Ladies, because of you, my children will eat tonight. Thank you!" Morales laughed, taking the fish strings from the sisters.
"Thank Dale," Andrea said, "It's his canoe and gear."
"Mom, look! Look at all the fish." Carl exclaimed, and Morales swung around to let Lori get a better look.
"Ah, thank you." Lori laughed, shying away. Priss.
"Whoa." Carl said, poking the dead fish.
"Yeah, whoa, where did you to learn to do that?" Lori questioned.
"Our dad." Amy answered.
"Can you teach me?" Carl asked.
"Sure! We'll teach you all about nail knots and stuff." Amy said, eyeing Andrea. "If that's ok?" she asked Lori.
"You won't catch me arguing."Lori said.
"Ok, guys." I said when there was a break in the conversation. "The real question is who wants to clean them? Not it!" I said quickly
After the debate over who was going to clean the fish, Dale walked up.
"Hey Dale! When's the last time you oiled those line reels, they are a disgrace!" Andrea jabbed, a friendly smile on her face.
He didn't react to it one bit, and I felt suddenly nervous at the look on his face. I reached around and made sure that my gun was still tucked safely in my waist band, and my hand drifted to the knife I had sheathed on my thigh.
"I uh…I don't want to alarm anyone but we may have a bit of a problem." Dale said, pointing towards the top of the ravine as Shane joined us.
I glanced up and saw the figure of a man bobbing up and down behind the foliage, and I dimly saw the shovel he held in his hands.
"Is that Jim?" Shane asked.
"Is he digging?" I asked in confusion, wiping the sweat of my brow with my left arm while my right hand stayed on my knife.
"Yeah." Dale nodded.
….
When we reached Jim, he was shoveling dirt in a vigorous manner, not evening looking up as we approached. I stood next to Shane, making sure to keep my hands harmlessly by my side so I didn't scare him. We just stood there for a few seconds watching him.
"Hey, Jim." Shane said. "Why don't you hold up, alright, just give us a second here, please."
Breathless, Jim stuck his shovel in the ground and turned to face the posse. "What do you want?" he snapped.
"We're all just a little concerned, man, that's all." Shane reasoned.
"Dale says you've been out here for hours, Jim." I spoke up, shifting from one foot to the other.
"So?" he shot at me.
"So why ya digging?" Shane asked. "What, are you heading to China, Jim?" He laughed a little.
"What's it matter? I'm not hurting anyone." Jim finished, returning to his digging.
"Yeah, except maybe yourself. It's a hundred degrees today! You can't keep this up." Dale tried reasoning with him.
"Sure I can! Watch me!" Jim lashed, becoming agitated.
Lori stepped forward. "They're not going to say it, so I will. You're scaring people. My son, and Carol's daughter."
"They got nothin to be scared of. I mean, what the hell people, I'm out here by myself. Why don't you all go and leave me the hell alone." He was starting to get angry, and my hand twitched towards my knife, my only source of protection these days besides Riddick who was sitting patiently by my side.
"We all think that, maybe, you should take a breather." I said, and when Shane stepped forward I readied myself.
"Why don't you go get yourself some shade, some food. I tell you what, maybe in a little bit, I'll come out and help you myself. Just tell me what it's about. Why don't you just give me the shovel." Shane said.
Jim stabbed the shovel head once again into the ground. "Or what?" he challenged.
"There is no 'or what'. I'm asking you, I'm coming to you and I'm asking you, please. I don't want to have to take it from you." Shane said, getting agitated himself.
"If I don't, then what? Then you gonna beat my face in like you did Ed Peletier, aren't ya?" Jim said.
He turned to the rest of us and spoke a little louder. "Ya'll seen his face, huh, what's left of it!" He redirected his attention to Shane. "See, now that's what happens when someone crosses you." He once again began digging.
"That was different."Shane said stiffly.
"You weren't there! Ed was out of control, he was hurting his wife!" Amy defended.
"That is their marriage!" Jim yelled. "That is not his! He is not judge and jury. Who voted you King Boss?"
"We don't want an argument, Jim. Just, please, take a break." I said, trying to smooth over the tension that had spiked in the conversation.
"She's right. Just give me the shovel." Shane said, reaching for it.
Jim automatically refused, stepping away from Shane and holding the shovel away from him. When Shane pressed on, Jim shoved him squarely in the chest, pushing him backwards. He swung the shovel at Shane, who dodged it, and then was roughly tackled.
"You got no right!" Jim yelled as he struggled on the ground. Shane pinned him on his stomach.
"Jim! Just stop it! Hey, hey, hey Jim! Nobody's going to hurt you." Shane said, trying to comfort the delirious male.
I saw him reaching for his handcuffs and knelt down, grabbing them so he didn't have to take his hands off of Jim. He cuffed him and kept him pinned down.
"That's a lie. It's the biggest lie there is. I told that to my wife and my two boys, I said it a hundred times it didn't matter. They came out of nowhere." Jim said quietly. I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose, because I knew where the story was going.
"There were dozens of them…just pulled them right out of my hands." He turned his head to look at me, of all the people surrounding him. "You know the only reason I got away was because the dead were too busy eating my family."
….
After the Jim fiasco had passed and been dealt with, it was time for our fish fry. I sat in the group of people by the fire and fed Riddick off my plate. Laughing and conversation prevented any silence but I stayed quiet, sipping from my warm beer that had been scavenged.
I remember the conversation being about Dale's watch. How he always, same time every day, would rewind it. I remember Amy standing up.
"Where are you going?" Andrea asked, stopping her sister.
"I have to pee. Geez, try to be discreet around here." Amy muttered, walking off to the RV.
Everyone had a little giggle at that. I smiled and set my plate on the ground, expecting Riddick to dive at it hungrily. When he didn't, I glanced down and observed her erect ears. I furrowed my eyebrows and nudged him with my knee.
"Riddick?" I whispered, and he growled low and menacingly. My eyes widened.
"Walkers!" I hissed, jumping up and grabbing my gun.
Everyone acted simultaneously, plates clattering to the ground and the sound of guns being drawn. A second later a shrill scream pierced through the night.
Turning towards the RV, I saw Amy fall to the ground, a bloody chunk missing from her arm.
"No!" Andrea screamed, and she took off for her fallen sister.
A walker got to close, and I shot off a round, wincing as it echoed through the woods. I shot another that was coming up behind Shane, and another that came close to taking a chunk off of Andrea as she knelt beside her sister.
"Get to the RV!" I heard Shane shout, and I took off running, knowing that Riddick would follow.
By the time I reached Andrea and Amy and turned so my back was to the large vehicle, the walkers were everywhere. I saw Shane coming towards me with Lori, Carl, Carol and Sophia right behind him, so I covered his flank.
Three walkers that were stumbling after them were taken down. I knew I had about five more bullets in my clip and I knew that there were more than we could handle. Shane's shotgun hit the walkers, but not where they needed to be hit to take them out.
"We're going to die." I whispered to Riddick as Andrea's sobbing got louder.
Just as I muttered those words, I heard more gunfire. Glancing around quickly, I saw four figures moving in the darkness that were too fast to be walkers.
"Rick." I breathed, and I shot down another one of the geeks as they came closer.
After they arrived, it was over in a matter of minutes. My hands were shaking as I held my gun, and I couldn't take my eyes off of Amy on the ground. One moment she was breathing, and then she was dead. She just slipped away.
"Oh God." I whimpered.
As I heard Andrea sob out her sister's name, my gut clenched and I felt the fish rise in my throat. But instead of puking up my dinner I slid to the ground a foot away from her, my arm slung limply around Riddick.
"I remember my dream now." Jim said.