"Uncle Si is looking…OH MY GOD!" Jace exclaimed after walking into his mother's room only to find her still asleep in bed and she wasn't alone and she wasn't clothed. He backed out of the room quickly and slammed the door behind him, probably scarred for life, much like his mother thought she would be. She'd woken up at the sound of the door opening and had become very, very aware of the situation as soon as she realized it was her son standing there. He'd gotten out quickly but the damage was done. Her son had walked on her in bed with a man, thankfully not doing anything but sleeping but Jace had already gotten the birds and the bees talk and knew what the situation meant.
"Shit." Julie said putting he face in her hands. Her face was beat red and she felt like crying. Daryl had woken up at the sound of the door as well and he was feeling just about as uncomfortable as Julie. "Si is going to kill me." Julie said after a moment of silence.
"Maybe the kid won't say anything." Julie gave Daryl a look that told him not to be stupid. "Okay, but it's not a big deal." Daryl reasoned. The look stayed on Julie's face. "I'm not helping am I?" Julie shook her head. Daryl sighed and did the only thing he could think to make the situation better. "Well, since the damage is already done…" He pulled her back down on the bed and covered her body with his. Julie, despite not wanting to, was smiling up at him.
"This is your solution?" Julie asked. Daryl nodded. "How is this helping anyone?"
"Well I don't know about you but I can definitely say it is helping me."
"Yeah, I can feel that against my leg." Julie informed him still smiling.
"How long do you think we have before someone else interrupts us?" Julie thought about it.
"Fifteen minutes at most."
"Plenty of time." Daryl said just before kissing her and despite the situation, Julie smiled against his lips and decided he was right. The damage was already done. They might as well enjoy themselves while they could.
Daryl was walking out of the main house when he was caught by Julie's brother Silas. The man had just asked to talk to him for a few minutes and Daryl couldn't exactly tell him no. For one thing, Silas had taken them all in and agreed to let them stay. He'd given them the closest thing they had a home since the prison. For another thing, Daryl had kind of just slept with his sister and really didn't want to get on his bad side. So, Daryl had done the only thing he felt he could do in the situation; he'd followed Silas back upstairs and into his office. Silas had sat behind the desk and Silas had indicated that Daryl should sit in the chair in front of the desk. Daryl did as was requested.
"We haven't been formally introduced." Silas began leaning back in his chair. "Silas Bennett."
"Daryl…Dixon." Daryl said in a stiff voice feeling very uncomfortable.
"My nephew stopped by to see me." Silas said. Daryl nodded.
"Thought he might." Daryl admitted after a few moments of silence. Silas smiled.
"Yeah, that kid will do anything to irritate his mother." Silas admitted. The two were silent. Silas stared at Daryl and Daryl looked at everything but him. Daryl was brought back to his first date with Lucy Monroe and how uncomfortable he'd been sitting in the armchair with her parents while she finished getting ready. "Look, Julie's a big girl and can make her own decisions about who and what she does with her free time."
"Yes, sir." Daryl said, trying to respectful.
"That being said," Silas said leaning forward. "She is my little sister and has been through hell. I know we all have been but right now she's the one I'm worried about."
"Worried about how?" Daryl asked in confusion. Silas sighed and leaned back in his chair.
"Julie, has had her share of obstacles to overcome in life." Silas said.
"You mean the pills?" Daryl asked. Silas nodded. "You're not worried she'll start doing it again, are you?" Silas thought about it for a minute before shaking his head.
"No, Julie has her head on much straighter now than she did before and she's much stronger than she was before." Silas admitted. "I'm less worried about Julie and more worried about her kid."
"You mean Jace?" Silas nodded. "Why would you be worried about Jace?"
"I know you heard about or were present for the little display Jace put on last night in the dining room." Daryl nodded remembering how much he'd wanted to smack the kid. "Usually Jace is a little more reserved and tries a little better to keep his attitude towards his mom in check, at least as far as public displays go." Silas paused and Daryl could see Silas was trying to decide how much he was going to tell him. "Has Julie told you about a man by the name of Locke?"
"She's mentioned him and expressed her dislike for him." Daryl admitted. Silas nodded.
"The kid looks up to Locke, not that I can understand why. The closest I can figure is that Locke treats him like a man whereas Julie and the rest of us treat him like the kid that he is. I don't like Locke's friendship with my nephew and I know Julie dislikes it even more." Silas stopped talking.
"Why are you telling me this?" Daryl asked.
"I was hoping you might be able to get through to the kid."
"Me?" Daryl asked, not sure he'd heard the other man correctly. Silas nodded. "Why me?"
"Because Julie trusts you and I have a feeling you're not one of those guys that's worried about hurting someone's feelings." Daryl had to admit Silas was right. "Julie and I, along with our brothers and sister have tried getting through to the kid but he's just as stubborn as his mother is." Silas said, frustration evident. "You managed to get through to Julie on some level. I'm hoping you'll have the same luck with the kid." Silas admitted.
"No offense," Daryl started. "but I don't think I'm the guy for the job"
"Why is that?" Silas asked.
"Because I'd just as soon punch the brat as talk to him." Silas chuckled at that.
"You and me both, Mr. Dixon." Silas said. "But I'm going to ask you to try." Daryl knew he could refuse the other man's request and there would be no hard feelings but the way he'd said it, Daryl could see he was starting to get desperate. Hell, Julie was starting to get desperate.
"How am I supposed to do that?"
"Well, our traps need to be checked and reset. I thought maybe you could go out and take the kid with you."
"You think Julie will agree to this?" Silas nodded. "I'm not exactly a kid person." Daryl said. Silas chuckled.
"Yeah, I got the feeling you weren't." He admitted. "Don't think of him as a kid. Think of him as a little brat that needs straightening out. How'd your daddy straighten you out when you were a kid?"
"Generally with a belt." Daryl admitted.
"As much as I think the kid needs a proper beating every now and then, Julie wouldn't take too kindly to me asking you to beat him for her." Silas said with a sigh. "Just take him out with you and see how it goes. No harm in that is there?" Daryl thought about it for a minute before agreeing. "Great, I'll let talk to Julie and Jace while you go get ready." Daryl stood up without another word and left the office. His only thought being he was screwed.
Julie wasn't thrilled by Silas' suggestion. It wasn't that she didn't trust Daryl to keep him safe outside the compound. She trusted him completely. He'd proved himself more than capable in that regard. She was even on board with the idea of giving Jace a male adult role model that she was more on board with than Locke. What she was concerned about was Jace's reaction to Daryl? Jace was a punk when it came to new people and she had a feeling he was going to be doubly so where Daryl was concerned. But Silas was right. Jace needed a positive role model in his life that would get him away from Locke because Locke was not good for him. If Silas' plan worked and Daryl could get her kid to trust him and listen to him, she'd consider it the best day since all this started.
So, that's how she found herself standing by the inner wall of the compound with her son and Daryl. Jace had taken the news relatively well, according to Silas anyway. He was excited to get out of the compound. He'd wanted to go with Locke instead but Silas said the only way he was getting out was with Daryl, so Jace quickly got on board. He was also overly excited about carrying a gun and a knife, a fact Julie hated. He'd been taught how to use the weapon by his father and had been tested with it numerous times by his mother but she didn't like the idea of him having to use it on anything other than a target.
"Remember to keep your finger off the trigger whenever the safety is off." Julie told Jace, who rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, I got it." Jace said in an annoyed tone.
"And listen to Daryl." Julie told him in a firm voice. "While you are out there you do as he tells you. If he tells you to climb a tree, you climb a tree like you're a freaking monkey. If he tells you to smear bear scat on your face, you smear bear scat on your face. Do you understand me?" Jace rolled his eyes but nodded.
"Can we go now?" Jace asked Daryl.
"I'll meet you at the gate." Jace walked off and stopped at the closed gate in front of him.
"You'll look out for him?" Julie demanded of Daryl, who nodded. "And you promise you won't shoot him no matter how annoying or disrespectful he gets?" Daryl sighed.
"It'll just be an arrow in his pinky toe." Daryl told her. "He'll make a full recovery from it, I'm sure."
"Daryl." Julie said in a warning tone, which earned her a smile.
"It was a joke."
"Oh so you're funny now?" Julie snapped. Daryl rolled his eyes.
"I won't shoot the kid, okay?" Julie nodded feeling better. She hadn't actually thought he would but one could never be sure, especially when it came to spending time with her son. Hell, sometimes she seriously considered doing it.
"Thank you." Julie told him a moment later and she meant it. "I know spending your day with my punk-ass almost teenager wasn't high on your list of fun things to do but I appreciate it." Daryl nodded.
"I'm going to have to meet this Locke to see why everyone hates him." Julie smiled.
"Give it five minutes and you'll understand." Julie assured him. "And I have no problems with you shooting him."
"Where at?" Daryl questioned. Julie shrugged.
"Foot, heart, head…it really makes no difference to me." She admitted. Daryl smiled.
"You really aren't as sweet as everyone thinks, are you?" Julie smiled and shook her head.
"But don't tell Silas. I don't want to ruin the image he has of me in his head."
"Can we go?" Jace shouted from the gate. Julie rolled her eyes and Daryl ignored him.
"Don't' worry so much." Daryl told her, cupping her cheek with his hand. "We'll be back in a few hours." Julie nodded. "And while I'm out, look after the others. They're going to need some help adjusting." Julie nodded.
"I've got it covered." She assured him. He gave her a nod of the head and then turned and walked over to her son. Julie watched until the gate closed and she could no longer see them. "Please, don't let him shoot Jace." Julie pleaded, no sure exactly with who, but pleaded all the same.
With Daryl gone, Julie went to Field House to see how the others were doing. Carl had found a hand held gaming system and was playing that on the couch. Judith was sleeping in the upstairs bedroom. The others were doing their own thing. She called them all into the living room and when that was too tight of a fit, they went out to the porch, which was bigger and more open.
"So, we talked it over and I have an idea where I'd like to put each of you." Rick nodded and indicated she should continue. "Rick, I usually take care of the whole military aspect of the compound but since I'm gone fairly frequently, I hoped you'd be willing to take over the running of things within the compound."
"You mean, like be your assistant?" Rick asked. Julie shook her head.
"No, like be my partner in it." Julie admitted. "My brothers are great but they haven't spent much time outside these walls. I want someone who knows what it's like making decisions for me when I'm gone and to help me make decisions when I'm here." Rick nodded.
"Would this keep me within the compound?" Julie nodded.
"For the most part. I might need you out occasionally but you'd be mainly working within the walls. Is that okay with you?" Rick looked over at Carl before nodding. "Carl, you'll be doing schoolwork and helping out with odd and end chores around the compound."
"School?" Carl asked. Julie smiled and nodded.
"When we finally get this world back to a somewhat functioning order, I don't want uneducated children in charge." Rick smiled at the annoyed look on Carl's face but Carl nodded. "It'll also give you the chance to meet the other kids in the compound and maybe find some friends."
"That would be nice." He admitted. Carl hadn't had anyone close to his age since Sophia. Julie smiled.
"Glenn, Michonne, I want you on runs with Daryl, if you're up to it." Michonne nodded but Glenn hesitated. He looked over at Maggie uncertainly.
"They need you." Maggie told him and it was true. Julie had been told how good Glenn was at getting in and out of tight spots and how much of an asset he was on runs. She needed someone like that because some of her guys were absolutely clueless it seemed.
"Okay, I'll do it" He agreed. Julie smiled at him.
"Maggie, most of the guys around here don't know much about farming or taking care of animals. I thought you might be able to help them out."
"You want me to be a farmer?" Maggie asked in disbelief. Julie chuckled.
"You've had experience and right now we're doing things by trial and error." Maggie rolled her eyes. "I would be happy to find somewhere else for you if you want." Maggie shook her head.
"I'll do it." She said. "I just thought my farming days were behind me. It'll be nice to get back to something normal." Julie understood what she meant. Sometimes after being gone for long periods of time, all Julie wanted to do was be a normal person.
"Beth, how do you feel about kitchen detail?" Beth smiled and nodded. "I also thought when needed, you could assist Dr. Everett in the infirmary." Beth agreed. "Carol, for now we need you in the kitchen." Julie said in a straightforward voice. Carol looked at her like she was crazy.
"You want me in the kitchen?" Carol snapped at her. Julie nodded her head. "You're serious?"
"Honestly, I don't trust your judgement outside the walls and that left very few openings."
"You don't trust my judgment?" Carol asked, as if it were totally unbelievable.
"You wanted to blow Terminus up and let the walkers in." Julie said in a hard voice. "An effective plan to be sure but also riddled with risks, unnecessary ones at that."
"I'm not a cook." Carol said crossing he arms over her chest.
"Then you can work the fields or help with cleaning." Julie told her in a firm voice. "As soon as you earn my trust, I'd be more than happy to send you out with the others but not until then."
"And we have to do what you say." Carol said in a bitter voice.
"Like it or not, this place is run by me and my family. We try not to be too bossy and authoritative but yes, we are in charge. If you don't like the way things are, you're free to leave." Carol didn't say anything. "Thought not." Julie said, trying to keep her voice neutral. "So, we'll see you in the kitchen starting tomorrow for breakfast." And that was the end of it. Julie turned to the next person. "Father, we could always use an actual man of the lord. The guy we have is good but he's too fire and brimstone. So what do you say?" Gabriel thought about it.
"It is my calling." He said but something about his voice told Julie he was hesitant. Interesting. Julie thought to herself, noting to keep an eye on him.
"Noah, how are you with numbers?" Noah shrugged.
"I always got A's in math." Julie smiled.
"Excellent. We need someone to sort of keep inventory and help make sure things run smoothly as far as supply distribution goes. You up for the challenge?" Noah nodded. "Great."
"What about me?" Tara asked.
"Tara, I'm thinking about putting you with Michonne and the others. How do you feel about going on raids?"
"Pretty good." Tara said with a smile. Julie nodded.
"Abraham, I wasn't sure what to do with you and your group." Julie told him. "Mainly because I wasn't sure if you guys were going to be staying."
"Why wouldn't we?" Rosita asked in confusion.
"I thought you might want to continue on to Washington, which I would understand." Abraham sighed.
"I take it you never heard."
"Heard what?" Julie asked in confusion. Abraham sighed and glared at Eugene.
"Turns out Eugene here was lying about knowing how to stop all this." Julie looked over at Eugene.
"I'm not proud of it." He said in a firm tone. "But I'm a coward and I needed protection. The only way to get that protection, or so I felt, was to lie about my usefulness."
"So you don't know how to produce a cure?" Julie asked.
"No, ma'am, I do not."
"That's…upsetting." Julie admitted.
"I understand if you have no place for me here." Eugene said but his voice was filled with fear. Julie sighed.
"If we have a place for a man like Locke, we can find somewhere for a man like you." Julie told. "All of you." Julie said to Abraham and Rosita as well. They both nodded.
"We'd greatly appreciate that." Abraham said and he meant it. Julie smiled and looked at her watch.
"I, uh, have to go meet with my brother so we'll talk more later." They nodded. Julie stood up. "Have the others not here find me so I can give them their assignments." Rick nodded.
"Thank you." Carl said to her and he really meant it.
"You got it kid." Julie told him with a sincere smile before leaving.
Carol was livid. She had had her decisions called into question on occasions before and she'd had no problems with that. What she had a problem with was Julie telling her how things were going to be. Julie didn't know Carol and that somehow meant she didn't trust her. Julie didn't know any of the others all that well either. Carol wasn't going to lie and pretend Julie and her had a rock solid foundation for starting a friendship because it had been rough at best but to outright say that she didn't trust her was going too far. And then on top of it, the bitch had shoved her into the kitchen. She wasn't some boring old housewife anymore. She'd finally escaped that mold and had paid a heavy cost for it.
Before everything happened, Carol had been living with an abusive husband with her daughter. Her husband was eaten by walkers pretty early on and not too long after, her daughter had been lost too. The experience hardened Carol in a way most people didn't realize. It had caused her to almost feel less emotions than she once had because the only way she'd gotten through the death of her baby girl was by emotionally distancing herself and shutting down to an extent. Yes, Carol could admit she had made very questionable decisions and many that she wasn't proud of but her plan to storm Terminus by force was not one of them. Julie managed to get the job done but that didn't mean Carol's plan had been a bad one.
Worst of all was how Julie had Daryl wrapped around her freaking finger. Carol had said something slightly negative about the girl and Daryl had given her hell for it. As far as he was concerned the sun shined out of her ass and she could do no wrong. But Julie was going to mess up, Carol just knew it. She was going to make a mistake that was going to cost someone she cared about dearly. She wasn't sure when it would happen but Carol knew that it would. One thing she had learned since all this started was that you couldn't trust outsiders. When they started accepting outsiders into the group, things began to crumble. It wasn't a big deal when the outsiders had little to no influence but that's not how it was with Julie. Julie carried a lot of weight with the group and Carol knew that meant she could do the most damage. It wasn't like Carol thought Julie would do something on purpose but she knew the girl would make a mistake and the people who paid for it were the ones Carol cared about. Well she wasn't about to let that happen. She wasn't sure how she planned on stopping it but she was going to find a way.
After Julie had left the house, Carol had excused herself and found herself outside the walls. Julie hadn't told anyone Carol wasn't allowed to leave and Carol had a feeling she wasn't going to. Forcing Carol to stay inside the walls was no different than keeping her hostage. So, Carol had walked right through and had been given the suggestion she stay close for safety. Carol had nodded vaguely at the guards and gone wherever she pleased. She had been walking for close to an hour when she came to one of the cabins Julie must had been talking about.
The cabin was unsuspecting. The windows were not boarded up and the door wasn't locked. When Carol walked in, she figured out real fast it was not in fact a cabin that the compound held. There were two possible reasons for that; one, it was too near the compound to really be of use to them, or two, they hadn't found it yet. Carol doubted the second was true but it was a possibility. She also walked in on a group of people she had a feeling had no right being there. There was a group of six men and one woman and they were armed and ready to kill Carol with very little motivation.
"Gareth, what do we do?" One of the men with a gun demanded sounding panicked.
"Relax." A man said coming forward. Carol assumed this man was Gareth.
"Gareth?" Carol asked. She'd heard that name before. "You were at Terminus." Gareth gave her an intrigued look.
"You're right." He said. "How do you know that?"
"I'm with the group that escaped your custody." Carol answered honestly.
"You are, are you?" Gareth asked with a sick smile. Carol nodded. "It's risky admitting that to us considering what they did." Carol agreed and said as much. "Why tell me?"
"Because I need your help taking the bitch that caused all this down." Gareth regarded her in an intrigued manner before chuckling. Carol didn't like working with this psycho but she would do what was necessary to save the people she cared about.
Daryl had known that this job was going to be a pain in the ass, especially given what he knew about the kid so far. So far the kid had been mostly silent. He'd been excited when he was told he was going to get to go outside the compound but now that he was out, he seemed very on edge. Daryl knew that he'd been out a few times before but Daryl assumed that it had been with one of his uncles and not some complete stranger. His uncles had probably tried to put him at ease and talk to him in order to keep him calm, which was a reasonable thing to do with a kid. Daryl, who had no children of his own and had had no intentions of having them ever before all this started, had no intentions of doing that. After the way the kid had talked to his mom, he deserved to be nervous and on edge. If he stayed quiet, this whole thing would be surprisingly easy.
Silas he told Daryl where all the traps were. Daryl had originally thought the traps he'd been referring to were traps to catch deer, rabbits, and other wildlife in order to use as food. He learned, however, that while they had traps like that set up, the ones Daryl was looking into were the ones that were set in order to catch walkers that wandered too close to the compound. His job was to maintain security, or at least that's what he'd been told by Silas. Daryl knew what this meant. It meant kill the walkers in the traps and dispose of the bodies. When the kid had found out after they'd already left the compound which traps Daryl was looking into, he had glanced behind him wearily, almost as if he wished he could go back home. If the kid had asked to go back, Daryl would have gladly taken him. He thought this plan was ridiculous and put the kid in unnecessary danger, as well as putting Daryl in danger himself because if it came down to it, he was going to die in order to keep the kid safe. He'd been assured, however, that the woods around the compound were safe. The group had worked long and hard to ensure that.
The hope that Daryl held out that maybe the kid would stay silent only lasted about thirty minutes and then the kid seemed to forget his fear and become rather curious about Daryl.
"So, before Julie found you, where were you living?"
"Wherever I could find a safe place to sleep for the night." Daryl answered not looking at him.
"You didn't have a home?" Daryl shook his head.
"Not many people do anymore."
"But we do." The kid said in confusion. Daryl nodded without looking at him.
"That's because you've got your mom covering your ass." He said in a hard tone.
"Julie didn't set this place up." Jace said in a hard tone. "My Uncle Silas did." Daryl nodded.
"Yeah, but your mom keeps it running and safe."
"Is that what she told you?" Jace asked, sounding like he thought the exact opposite of what Daryl was saying.
"She didn't have to." Daryl said. "I've seen the way the men treat her and defer to her, just like your Uncle Silas does. I've also seen her in action." Jace was silent for a few moments.
"You know, she lies." Jace said.
"About what?" Jace shrugged even though Daryl couldn't see it.
"About whatever she needs to in order to keep control and gain people's trust."
"Is that what your friend Locke told you?" Daryl questioned.
"Yeah, but it's true."
"So, what has she lied to you about?" Daryl asked, although he had a feeling he knew the kid's answer already.
"About my dad. About why she left. About everything really."
"Has it ever occurred to you that maybe she's not lying?"
"No." Jace said full of confidence in his answer. "Locke says that no mom that wanted their child would have left them, especially when it meant risking never coming home. He also says she still clearly doesn't want me around since she still leaves me."
"And you've never thought that maybe this Locke guy is the one lying?"
"No, Mr. Locked wouldn't do that." Jace didn't get a response. "Why would you think Locke is lying?"
"Because he's a manipulative bastard, most likely."
"You don't even know him." Jace said, glaring at Daryl's back. Daryl nodded.
"You're right and I'm hoping I never get the chance to."
"He's a good soldier."
"He's a manipulative bastard that's trying to turn you against your own mom."
"If you're so smart, why don't you tell me the truth about my mom then?" Jace snapped. Daryl turned around and glared at the kid. He'd had enough of the attitude.
"Okay, you want the truth?" Daryl asked in a hard tone. Jace backed up a few steps with fear etched on his face but after a moment he found some courage and nodded his head. "Okay, here's the truth. Your mom didn't join the Army and leave because she wanted to get away from you. She did it because it was the only way she could see of taking care of you since your deadbeat father had no intentions of getting an actual job to do it himself."
"Don't you talk about my dad that way." Jace said with a glared. Daryl ignored him.
"While she was over there risking her life, getting shot at, and eventually taking two bullets for it, your dad was sitting on his ass playing video games and spending the money she made."
"My dad…"
"I want you to think back real hard to when you were a little kid." Daryl told Jace. "I want you to think about the time when your mom was away and ignore everything your father ever told you."
"Why?" Jace asked in confusion.
"Because I want to know what you actually remember from that time." The two were silent for a few minutes as Jace thought about his request.
"My dad was home a lot." Jace started in a far off voice. "He complained about Julie a lot too. He was upset that he wasn't able to go out and do what he wanted because he had to stay home and watch me because she wasn't around." Jace had forgotten about this time completely. "He drank a lot too." Daryl nodded.
"Sounds like a great dad to me." Daryl said sarcastically.
"But he wasn't like that always." Jace snapped. He remembered pretty clearly when his dad had changed. "When he found out Julie had been shot twice, I think he'd thought she was going to die because he got a job and straightened himself out, which was good since Julie became a drug addict shortly after that." Jace finished in an angry voice as he glared up at Daryl. "She chose drugs over me." Daryl nodded.
"She did." He admitted. "And she's regretted that choice ever since she made it." He told the kid. "She also went through hell sobering herself up and has done everything she could think of to make it up to you since."
"It's too late." Jace was angry now.
"Why?" Daryl demanded in an angry tone himself. "Because your dad told you it was? Because Locke told you it was?" Daryl's voice had risen a little at these questions. "I want you to think about this next question long and hard kid." Daryl told him. "Why did you forgive your dad for being worthless for the first five years of your life but you can't forgive you mom for a few short years?" Jace opened his mouth. "Think about it."
And Jace did. He stood staring at the ground as Daryl's question ate at him. He was right. He'd been two when his mom enlisted and almost six when she'd been shot. During that time his dad hadn't worked, hadn't had much to do with him either. He'd felt like more of a burden to his dad at that point than anything else. But his mom had called him every chance she got to let him know she was thinking about him and had written at least twice a week. He still had her letters, or he'd had them until this all started. When she was home on leave she spent every minute possible with him. The two and a half years she'd been on drugs and recovering from them she hadn't been around much but she'd still called now that he thought about it. His dad had just not allowed him to talk to her. By the time she was clean, his dad had him convinced that Julie didn't want him and that's exactly how Jace saw it. From then on out he'd refused to have anything to do with his mother. Had his dad manipulated into hating his mother for his own selfish reasons? Was Locke doing the same thing now?
The answer to the first question was a most resounding yes. Even Jace could see that and admit to it. His father had skewed everything that happened with his mom to his favor and made Jace believe exactly what he wanted Jace to believe and Jace had let him. His dad had been a good dad, or at least he had been once his mom got hurt. But why would Locke be doing the same thing now? It didn't make any sense. Locke was his friend and told him the truth because he thought Jace deserved that. He didn't treat Jace like some child that needed protecting. He treated him like an equal. Jace glared up at Daryl.
"You may be right about my dad." Jace conceded. "But you don't know the first thing about Mr. Locke. He doesn't treat me like an obnoxious child. He lets me help him and treats me like his equal. He says he needs me."
"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that." Daryl told the kid in a pitiful voice. "Regardless of how great Locke may be or how wonderful he may treat you, if you ever speak to your mom the way you did last night again, I'll knock you out myself." Daryl said and Jace could see he meant it.
"Julie would never forgive you for that." Daryl shrugged. "But I thought you liked her."
"I do." Daryl admitted. "But I won't allow you to treat her like garbage. If I have to be the bad guy, so be it." Daryl turned his back on the kid. "The first trap should be just up ahead. Make sure you're ready."
Julie had had a rough morning and the afternoon wasn't proving to be much better. She had known Carol wasn't going to take the news very well but to find out that the woman had left the compound made Julie nervous. A part of her, the very, very dark part of her, almost hoped that Carol would end up dinner for the walkers because that would have solved a lot of problems but she wasn't going to admit that to anyone. She'd much rather keep Carol and feed Locke to the walkers. He was, after all, a bigger pain in the ass. Julie knew getting rid of either of them would be impossible. Rick and his group would never forgive her for getting rid of Carol and Jace would never forgive her if she got rid of Locke.
When Carol didn't return after a few hours, Julie got nervous, even if the others didn't. They all knew Carol could protect herself, which Julie did too, but Julie was worried about what Carol was doing out there that was taking so long. On top of that, she was incredibly anxious over Jace being out of the compound, even if he was with Daryl. That didn't make her feel any better. Daryl would get himself killed to protect the kid, which was not what Julie wanted. What she wanted was both of them back safely.
"Hey Elliot." Julie said walking up the Northeastern guard tower and finding her old friend standing watch there. It was weird seeing him back there but also comforting. Since his return, she hadn't had much of a chance to talk to him, especially alone. He gave her his ever charming smile. Elliot was one of those guys you saw and fell in love with because he was just so god damn beautiful. Perfect blonde hair, blue eyes, just the right amount of stubble on his jawline, and a killer body to go with it.
"Hey boss." He said. Julie rolled her eyes. That had been his name for her back in the day and she was glad it still was. It made the situation feel normal and familiar.
"How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me boss?" Elliot shrugged.
"At least once more."
"What if I threatened to kick your ass?" Julie challenged. Elliot smiled.
"You've been threatening to do that since I met you."
"Yeah well you conveniently went missing for eight months so I missed my opportunity."
"I'm back now. We can pick up right where we left off." He offered and Julie knew exactly what he meant by that statement just based on his tone of voice. Julie sighed.
"Elliot, things aren't like they were when you left." Julie said delicately. After a moment Elliot nodded.
"Yeah, a rumor was floating around about you and that redneck."
"His name is Daryl." Julie said in a slightly annoyed tone. "And this place is worse than high school when it comes to gossip."
"Oh, you know your kid." Elliot said smiling. "He made sure he told as many people as possible." Julie sighed.
"Now his ass I may actually kick." Elliot chuckled.
"You couldn't do it and you know it." He told her, which was true. "I'm not sure if Silas is a genius or an idiot for sending the kid outside the compound with the redneck."
"His name…" Julie shook her head. "Never mind."
"I mean, he may actually be able to perform a miracle like Silas is hoping for and straighten the kid out." That was what Julie was hoping the solution might be. "Of course, knowing Jace the way I do, and assuming he hasn't changed much since I've been gone…" Julie shook her head.
"He's probably worse." Julie admitted.
"Then I'd say there's a fair chance he'll get his ass kicked." Julie sighed because she was thinking the same thing.
"I don't know if that would be a good thing or a bad thing." Elliot shrugged.
"Of course the best thing would be if Locke mysteriously disappeared, never to be seen from again." Julie froze at those words. She heard his tone and she knew what he was implying.
"Elliot, that's not how we do things around here." She said in hard voice. "You know that." Elliot stared at her long and hard before looking at his feet and nodding. "As much as I hate the man, and trust me I do, I'm not going to let him have that control. He pulls his weight. He stays." Julie said simply.
"Yeah, you always were too honorable." He said with a small smile. Julie scoffed.
"Besides with him gone I'd have no one but myself to blame for what an asshole my kid is."
"Well, we can't have you blaming yourself." Elliot said with a larger smile.
"Damn straight." Julie agreed. "Speaking of Locke, you see him?" Elliot shook his head.
"Not since I went on watch four hours ago." Julie sighed. "Why?"
"I had something I wanted to discuss with him but can't seem to find him. No one has seen him either."
"Well he's like a bad case of herpes." Elliot said in a serious tone. "He'll always resurface." Julie chuckled and nodded her head because this was the most accurate description she had heard for Locke yet.
Daryl and Jace had cleared three traps so far, all three of them had been empty. They were coming up to the fourth and biggest one. Neither had said much of anything since their conversation earlier. Daryl was happier in the silence and Jace was thinking really hard about what Daryl had said. The kid had wanted to dismiss everything Daryl said as being skewed by his intimate relationship with his mom but Jace couldn't deny that Daryl made some valid points about things. Maybe Daryl wasn't wrong about the things he'd said about Jace's dad but he was most definitely wrong about Locke. Wasn't he?
They got lucky at the fourth trap; or maybe unlucky depending on how you looked at it. There were five walkers in there. Three men and two women. Jace hadn't been exposed to many walkers since all this happened. He didn't remember them looking like this though. They'd always had an unnatural skin tone but now their skin was almost gray in color and seemed to almost literally be falling off their bones. The blood on them was also, more or less, just about black in color, like it was old. Somehow, despite looking more fragile and breakable, the walkers looked scarier now than he remembered them looking. Daryl walked up to the trap and Jace stopped just behind him.
"You want to be an equal?" Daryl asked Jace, who nodded his head. "Okay, tell me how we should handle this." Daryl said indicating the trap. Jace looked from Daryl to the trap. The traps were basically holes in the ground with fresh meat put into them frequently to draw the walkers to them. Jace looked at Daryl in confusion.
"Shoot them with your crossbow." Jace said as if it were obvious. Daryl shook his head.
"I want you to handle it." Daryl said. Jace looked at him in confusion and then back to the trap. After a moment he pulled his gun from the holster on his waist and got ready to shoot them. "You sure you want to do that?"
"Why wouldn't I?" Jace asked.
"Sound attracts more walkers."
"Oh." Jace said uncertainly and after a moment he put the safety back on his gun and holstered it. "The only other thing I have is my knife." Jace told Daryl honestly. Daryl just stared at the kid. "You want me to get in there with them and use my knife?" Jace asked as if he thought Daryl were crazy.
"You said you want to be treated as an equal." Daryl said.
"But I'm twelve." Jace exclaimed.
"You can't have it both ways, kid." Daryl told him. "You can't be an equal and a kid at the same time." Jace looked back at the hole, this time Daryl could see the fear on his face. After a moment, Daryl sighed took his bow off. "You ever shoot one of these?" Jace looked from the bow to Daryl and shook his head. "Want to learn?" Jace nodded enthusiastically. For the next twenty minutes Daryl talked Jace through the crossbow. He then handed the thing to the kid and told him to take care of the walkers. The first three times Jace missed completely. The fourth time he go the walker in the chest. But after that he got all five of the walkers right through the head. Daryl nodded. "Not bad, kid." He said honestly. Jace smiled, proud of himself. "Now get my arrows."
"Are you serious?" Jace asked looking at the dead walkers in disgust. Daryl nodded.
"When you're out there," Daryl said pointing to the woods surround them. "you don't have an armory full of arrows to choose from. You have what you have on you and you got make them last."
"So, you pull arrows out of dead walkers?" Daryl nodded. "That's disgusting."
"You do what you gotta do." Daryl said honestly. "Now, get to it. We still have one more trap and I want to be back before it starts getting dark." Jace sighed but did as he was told. As far as the kid was concerned, pulling arrows out of dead walkers was a small price to pay for getting to use the crossbow. Locke had never let him do that.
Julie was waiting by the compound gate when Daryl got back with Jace. Carol had come back an hour ago and seemed to be in a much better mood than when she'd left. She'd even apologized for how she had acted. Julie didn't think it was a sincere apology but a half assed apology was better than nothing. Besides, Julie had barely given her much attention. She'd been too worried about Daryl and Jace. Usually the people sent to check traps were back well before now. She was worried they'd run into trouble or something had happened to one of them. Jace had never been outside the compound this long and she was freaking out.
As soon as the two had walked back through the gates with no scratches on them and all in one piece, Julie sighed in relief and felt herself relax. They were okay. Not only were they okay, they were talking about something and Jace actually seemed excited about whatever it was they were talking about. Jace had never been that excited during a conversation with Julie, well at least not since he was a little kid. It both broke her heart and thrilled her in equal measure. Made Daryl could get the kid to stop paying so much attention to Locke.
The two saw Julie almost as soon as they came to through the gate. They walked over to her and Julie had to restrain herself from hugging Jace in relief. She knew he would not appreciate that at all. She gave Daryl a look that asked how it had gone. He gave her a small smile and nodded his head once.
"Hey, how'd it go?" Julie asked Jace with a forced smile.
"It was awesome!" Jace exclaimed. "Daryl let me use his crossbow." That explained his excitement. "He said that if it was okay with you we could go practice tomorrow so I could get better with it."
"I didn't know you had an interest in the crossbow." Julie told him honestly.
"I didn't." Jace admitted. "But Daryl said that there were times when using a gun could attract too much attention and a crossbow allows you a distance kill without giving away your position."
"He's right." Julie told her son.
"So, can I?" He asked. This was the first time Jace had asked her for permission where she actually thought he was looking for permission and not doing it because he had to.
"You'll have to finish your chores first." He nodded. "And Daryl will need to check with Silas to make sure he won't be needed anywhere else." Jace nodded again. "And I want you to take Matty with you." Jace sighed but agreed without argument.
"Is that all?" Julie nodded.
"Thanks!" He said with a wide smile and started to run away. "Thanks Daryl." He said turning around to smile at Daryl once more before taking off towards the main house. Julie sighed as he ran away.
"How'd you manage that?" Julie asked in complete shock. Daryl shrugged.
"He wanted to be treated like an equal." Daryl said simply.
"So you let him have his way?" Daryl nodded.
"Or I at least made him think he was getting his way." Julie smiled.
"Thank you." She told him and she meant it. As much as it hurt to see, she'd rather have her kid attached to Daryl than Locke any day. "Maybe Silas isn't as crazy as I thought."
"No offense but your brother is bat shit crazy." Julie chuckled and nodded. "I should probably go turn in my stuff." Julie nodded. "And I definitely need a shower." Julie smiled.
"Need any help?" She asked suggestively. Daryl smiled at her and nodded.
Jace had finished his chores as quickly as possible the next day. He wanted to get out practicing as soon as possible. Daryl, however, was busy talking over some things with his uncles and that new guy Rick. He had no idea what they could be talking about since his mom was involved in the conversation. If it was about a raid, his mom would have been there. She was the one that Silas trusted to make decisions like that. Sometimes Silas made the decision but it usually came down to his mom.
Julie had spent most of the day with Matty and Allie. She'd tried convince Jace to join them but he'd been so focused on finishing his chores quickly that he'd passed. He usually did pass but today he'd at least been polite about it. Silas had wanted to throw her back into everything but she was still hurting from the gunshot and she wanted to spend time with her kids before she got thrown back out there. She knew she'd only get maybe a week with that excuse but she was going to milk it for all it was worth. She was hoping she'd get the chance to spend some time with Jace too but she wasn't sure how. She was pretty good with a crossbow herself but she didn't want to take that connection away from Daryl. She thought it might rub Jace the wrong way.
Currently, Jace was sitting under a tree reading the Army Survival Guide. Julie had given him the book a long time ago but it had been sitting on his desk since she gave it to him. It went over how to find and purify water, how to find food, how to identify poisonous berries and plants, how to treat various bites, basic and rather advanced first aid, how to tie knots, military takedown tactics, and even covered quit extensively various weapons that could be forged in nature. The book had interested him from the beginning but he'd refused to read it because it had been a gift from his mom. Now, however, he was hoping he'd get to make a few more trips outside the gates and he was hoping that if he read the book and was more knowledgeable about surviving outside the walls his mom would be more likely to let him.
Carl found him while he was in the middle of trying to tie a rather complex knot using the rope he'd gotten from the supply shed. He knew his mom or probably even Daryl or one of his uncles would have been able to help him out with it but he wanted to try to get it right himself. More than anything he wanted to try and prove that he could handle the world outside the gates. The boys hadn't had been around each other since the night Carl had gotten there.
"Need some help?" Carl offered. Jace looked up from his book and shook his head. He went back to the rope and Carl watched him for a minute. "You have too much slack." Carl told Jace after watching him try and fail a few more times. "Can I show you?" Jace sighed but handed Carl the rope. Slowly Carl went through the steps of tying the knot and when he was done he showed Jace and then untied it. "You try." Jace was slow about it but he got the knot right.
"How'd you know how to do that?" Jace asked Carl. Carl shrugged.
"My dad taught me all sorts of things like that."
"Before or after?"
"After." Carl admitted. "Before I didn't need to know. Now I do." Jace nodded. "I'm sure your mom could teach you way more than my dad could teach me." Carl said sitting down across from Jace and watched as Jace went through tying the knot again. Jace nodded without looking up.
"She treats me like I'm a little kid." Jace mumbled.
"Maybe she treats you that way because she's trying to protect you." Carl volunteered.
"How could she be protecting me if I'm not learning how to survive without her?" Carl shrugged. "Your dad taught you things because he knew you needed them in order to survive." Carl nodded.
"We were out there though." Carl said talking about the world outside the walls. "We didn't have walls to keep the walkers out and keep us safe. Learning how to survive was a necessity."
"What if the walls fall?" Jace asked. "What if I go outside the walls and get killed because she was too busy trying to protect me?"
"Have you talked to her about this?" Jace nodded.
"Of course I have."
"Have you talked to her without acting like an ass about it?" Jace thought about it and then shook his head. "It's kind of hard to take a kid seriously and treat him like anything other than a kid when he's acting like one." Jace rolled his eyes but privately agreed that maybe Carl was right.
"I'm not a little kid." Jace said in a hard voice.
"Tell her, not me." Carl said just as Locke came walking up. Carl hadn't formally met Locke but he'd been pointed out to him and Rick had told his son to stay away from the man as much as possible.
"Hey, Jace, what are you up to?" Locke asked. Jace looked up.
"Just practicing tying knots." Jace said holding up the rope. Locke took the rope and analyzed the knot.
"Not bad." He said tossing the rope back to the boy. "I was going to go practice shooting. Want to come?"
"I can't." Jace said.
"Because your mom says you can't?" Locke asked in an annoyed tone. Jace shook his head.
"Daryl is going to take me out to practice with his crossbow."
"I didn't know you had an interest in the crossbow." Jace nodded. "I could teach you how to use it."
"No thank you." Jace said in a polite tone. "Daryl already said he would."
"He might be a while still." Locke said pointing to the house.
"I can wait." Jace said with a shrug.
"Well why don't we practice a little while you wait?"
"No offense, Mr. Locke, but if I go with you and my mom finds out she may not let me go at all."
"So you're just going to do what that woman tells you to do?" Locke asked, as if that was the craziest thing he had ever heard.
"She's his mom." Carl said in a hard voice. Locke looked at the other boy for the first time and forced a small smile at him, along with a nod.
"If you can call a woman who abandons you a mom then sure she is." Carl glared at him.
"She didn't abandon him."
"What would you know about the situation, kid?" Locke asked Carl. "You weren't around."
"Neither were you." Carl snapped. "Look, Jace, why don't we go back to my house and play some video games while we wait for Daryl?"
"Well…" Jace said.
"I don't think that's a good idea." Locke said to Carl. Carl ignored Locke.
"Come on." Carl said standing right next to Carl. "It'll be fun." Locke grabbed Carl by his upper arm, very hard. Carl didn't complain just glared up at him.
"I said I don't think that's a good idea."
"You're hurting him." Jace said standing up and dropping the book and the rope. Locke didn't look away from Carl and didn't even seem to hear Jace. "Let him go." Jace said giving Locke a light shove. Locke looked over at Jace for a long moment before releasing Jace's arm. "Come on, let's go." Jace said to Carl and the two boys started to walk off. Jace looked over his shoulder and saw Locke staring at them.
"That guy's a jerk." Carl said in an angry voice. Jace sighed and for the first time he didn't have anything to say in Locke's defense.
These damn new people were upsetting the balance at the compound, Locke thought to himself in anger as he walked away from the tree he'd found the two boys under. Before they had come, Locke hadn't even had to ask if Jace wanted to go with him to do something. The kid would have just done it. Part of it had been because Locke had let the kid do things his mom wouldn't let him and that he probably shouldn't have been allowed to do. And part of it had been because Jace knew it irritated his mom that he hung out with Locke. Now with this new people here, Jace was being allowed to do more things and he was getting on his mom's good side. How long before Jace started doing everything his mom said? How long before that bitch had Jace believing her instead of him?
Locke wasn't going to let that happen. Locke knew that Julie wasn't to be trusted. She had too much power within the compound and she had too many people loyal to her. While Locke had some control of her son, Julie couldn't just get rid of him. She'd do it if she thought Locke was a real threat to Jace's safety but Locke had been very careful to avoid becoming a threat and kept himself simply as a nuisance. Now, with that freaking redneck and his group inside the compound, Locke worried his hold on the kid was weakening.
He got back to his room, which was housed in the older worker's quarters from back when this place was an operating plantation. Locke was surprised to find a visitor sitting on his bed. It was one of the new women that had come in when Julie brought the redneck in. He didn't know her name. She was older than the others. She had short gray hair and intense blue eyes. She wasn't pretty in the traditional sense but Locke had a feeling she wasn't like the others. He could sense a little bit of crazy in this woman and that was something he could relate to.
"Can I help you?" Locke asked, pouring himself a glass of scotch
"Actually, yes." The woman said. "But I don't think we've been properly introduced. My name is Carol." Locke took a long swig of his scotch as he stared at her.
"David." Locke said. Carol smiled and nodded her had. "Now that we've got the formalities out of the way, care to tell me what the hell you're doing in my room?"
"Well, David," Carol started. "I think you and I have the same problem."
"And what problem would that be?" Locke asked.
"Julie." Carol said simply. Locke stared at her and then drained his glass before responding.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Of course you do." Carol said. "She's got too much power and too much hold over the people here." Carol told him, which Locke had to agree with.
"Can't argue that." He agreed.
"Something needs to be done about it." Locke nodded his agreement.
"And what do you suggest we do?" Carol smiled.
"I have a plan." She told him. "I'm going to need more inside help, however." She told him standing up and grabbing the empty scotch glass from him. She filled it up before turning back to look at him. "My question to you is, are you willing to do what is necessary to cleanse this compound?" Locke chuckled and took the glass from her. He drained it in one long gulp and then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
"Just tell me what I have to do." Carol's smile widened and she nodded her head.
A/N: Another chapter up. This one didn't have much action but it showed things from different perspectives and introduced a few plot lines that will become incredibly important in the next few chapters. I want to thank you all for the reviews and for sticking with me. I hope you enjoy this chapter and I'll get the next one up as soon as possible. AS always, review if you liked it, loved it, hated it, or have suggestions.
gabby871: When I read your reviews I sometimes wonder if you can read my mind, as this chapter might point out. I want a love interest for Rick and I'm working on it but that might not happen in this story; perhaps there will be a sequel. I'm not sure yet but I agree that Rick needs a love interest to help balance out the crazy that sometimes goes on in that head of his. As for Father Gabriel, well his fate will be decided soon, I can promise you that much. Thank you for the great reviews every time and the suggestions. It helps knowing what my readers want to see from my stories and makes a huge impact on my decision making process.