Chapter Nine:
Farming Is Where It's At
Carol wouldn't budge on the matter, despite what everyone was saying. I had to give her some brownie points; she was a mother…a true mother.
"I won't do it," Carol insisted again. "We can't just leave."
Dale sighed tiredly. "Carol the group is split. We're scattered and weak."
"What if she comes back and we're not here? It could happen." She pointed out and Andrea nodded in agreement.
"If Sophia found her way back and we were gone, that would be awful." Andrea agreed and I rubbed the bridge between my eyes, leaning against the RV on my good ankle.
"Okay," Daryl nodded, an idea forming in his head. "We gotta plan for this. I say tomorrow morning we rig a big sign. Leave her some supplies."
"I'll do it tonight," I offered and Daryl inclined his head in agreement along with Dale.
"If the RV is staying I am too." He added and Carol gave us a bitter smile, her eyes filled with tears.
"Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you both."
Glenn had a troubled look on his face. "Well, if your all staying—"
Dale and I exchanged a look before shaking our heads at the Asian kid. "Not you Glenn, you're going. Take Carol's car."
Glenn looked shocked. "Me? Why is it always me?" he demanded and I sighed, propping myself better against the RV and into a comfortable position.
"You need to find the farm, meet up with Rick and find out what's going on," I told him bluntly, gesturing to T-Dog. "T-Dog needs medical attention."
"Minnie—" Glenn started to whine but I cut him off with a sharp look. I had no time to deal with this bullshit.
"T-Dog's cut has gotten worse, to the point of a blood infection. He needs help and he needs antibiotics. If he doesn't get them he'll die. Do you really want that laying over your head for the rest of your life?" I asked him seriously as Daryl dug through the bag attached to his motorcycle.
"Why'd you wait till now to say anything?" Daryl asked, throwing an oily rag at Dale before placing a bag full of pills onto the hood of the RV. "I've got my brother's stash."
He pulled out an orange pill bottle, quickly read the description before throwing them to Glenn. "Got some kick ass pain killers."
The throbbing in my ankle was beating like a drum, to the point where I eventually parked my butt on the steps of the RV, Artemis sitting on my lap as she continued to play with her doll.
"Minnie, do you need…" Glenn broke off when I shook my head. He turned his attention to T-Dog as both he and Dale started to look after him while I continued to sit down. My eyes found Carol's shaking body, seeing she was on the verge of tears.
"Why don't you comfort Aunt Carol? Momma needs to check on T-Dog." I whispered into Artemis's ear and she nodded. Artemis hopped off of my lap and ran over to Carol. Carol saw that and pulled her into a tight hug, the distraction was working.
I slowly got up, careful of my ankle and walked awkwardly towards T-Dog, seeing him shivering. I placed a hand on his forehead and saw it was heating up.
"Glenn, do we still have the water Shane found?" I called, looking around the RV and Glenn nodded. "Could you go get me some?"
Glenn went off just as T-Dog snorted. "Who'd knew you'd be the doctor."
"Not a doctor, chef," I corrected him with a small smile. "If you die on me now, who's gonna make shit eggs?"
T-Dog smirked as Glenn brought some water and I made T-Dog drink it. Glenn and I both watched and exchanged a knowing look.
"Take him," I nodded when Glenn opened his mouth. He looked at Dale who was watching us carefully from the doorway of the RV. He also nodded, somehow knowing in his weird 'Dale way' what we were discussing. "Keep making him drink the water as much as you can, get his temperature down."
I sat on the hood of my car and played with my arrows that Daryl picked up. He and Rick found them on their way to tracking down Sophia while I was missing. Something I was truly thankful of, if they were gone…
"You should be resting too," Dale whispered loudly enough from the top of the RV. I glanced up, seeing him watching me intently before turning my attention back to my arrows. "Not sitting out here in the cold."
"I'm not cold," I told him. A total lie but I didn't let it show. "Besides, I can't sleep anyway…all exposed like this doesn't really put one to good dreams."
The RV door opened and out walked Daryl, a determined look on his face with his crossbow slung over his shoulder. He shined a torch and nodded at me as Andrea followed him out.
"I'm coming too." Andrea told him in a matter-of-fact tone. Dale looked at them in disbelief.
Daryl looked up at Dale. "I'm gonna go for a walk, shine some light in the forest. Gives her something to look at."
"You think that's a good idea right now?" Dale asked them carefully and Andrea gave him a sharp, unamused look. "Minerva, tell them it's not a good idea."
All three looked at me and my eyes found Daryl's. There was a determined fire in them, something that my words would extinguish. I looked at Andrea's and saw the sadness still creeping back every now and then. She needed the distraction. Dale's were full or worry and hope that I'd back him up.
I looked at Daryl once more before sighing tiredly. "If you're not back in thirty minutes I'm coming out there myself."
"On that ankle?" Andrea scoffed and I raised an eyebrow at her, my face still neutral.
"Thirty minutes." I repeated before turning back to my arrows. All three took my silence as an indication that the conversation was over and Andrea and Daryl disappeared into the woods.
"You're just going to let them go?" Dale exclaimed in disbelief and I got off the hood.
"They're adults Dale, old enough to make their own decisions." I answered as Carol came out of the RV, wiping her tears away and giving me a weak smile.
"I'll take over, you go get some rest." She offered and I glanced down the road before nodding, getting into the RV and closing the door. Artemis was sleeping peacefully on the bed at the end of the vehicle.
I limped over and climbed into the bed, pulling her small warm body close as my eyes shut and welcomed the darkness.
I was running.
The wind hitting my face and I saw the familiar figures of kangaroos in the distance. A excited laugh from behind me as Xavier ran beside me, boomerang in his hand.
"I'll hit it before you!" he bragged, throwing the boomerang with a perfect shot but it missed and came back. I laughed at his attempted and grabbed an arrow, aiming down and releasing it. Just as it got closer, a high pitched scream caught my attention and I looked to my left briefly before back to the front.
Artemis's dead body with my arrow through her head.
My eyes flew opened and I sat up immediately, breathing in sharply. My body was shaking in fear, a cold sweat down my back as Carol came into the RV, her facing saying it all.
They didn't find Sophia.
"Carol…" I broke off as she ran over, sitting on the bed and I pulled her into a hug. She sobbed into my shoulder as the door opened again and Daryl walked in. He took one look at the scene before turning his attention to his gear, placing it on the table.
"We'll find her," I told Carol but my eyes were on Daryl. He looked up and saw I was addressing both of them, unknowing to Carol as she continued to cry.
"First light yer goin' to that farm," he grunted and I opened my mouth to protest. "Don't argue, I need you out there helpin', not on yer ass."
I closed my mouth and nodded without saying another word.
Carol took over driving my car since I wasn't able to as we pulled up at the farm. Daryl was riding his motorcycle in front while Dale and Andrea were in the RV behind us.
I climbed out of the car as soon as it stopped and grabbed Artemis. She whined from being woken up but didn't say anything as I placed her on my hip. Rick and the others came out, along with a few strangers.
Rick's eyes found mine and he smiled in relief that I was safe. I gave a firm nod at him as Dale stepped beside me.
"How is he?" he asked, referring to Carl's condition.
"He'll pull through," Lori nodded, a small relieved smile on her face. "Thanks to Hershel a-and his people—"
"And Shane," Rick added. "We would've lost Carl if it hadn't been for him."
I looked over and took Shane's new haircut. "You look like shit." I commented at him and he glared at me.
"You're not a beauty yourself." He countered and I smirked as Dale and Rick quickly hugged. This soon quickly became a hug fest as everyone was hugging each other in relief at seeing the other still alive.
Hershel, the old man, looked at my ankle and sighed. "Come on, let me get that treated."
I nodded, bringing Artemis with me as we went inside the house. He sat me down on a couch in the lounge room and quickly wrapped it up in some bandages.
"It should be fine soon, try not to overuse it," He instructed and I nodded as we both stood up.
"We'll try to be out of your hand as soon as we can," I told him and he shot me a grateful but tired smile.
We were holding a small funeral for Otis, the guy who shot Carl by accident and then died trying to get the medicine for him. With the way Shane twitched, his uncomfortable aura he was giving off and the guilty look in his eyes, something told me there was more to the story.
I stood in between Carol and Lori, holding Artemis on my hip still as Beth placed a rock on the pile.
"Blessed be God, father of Our Lord Jesus Christ," Hershel read off and closed the Bible. "Praise be to him, for the gift of our brother Otis. For his span of years, for his abundance of character. Otis, who gave his life to save a child's, now more than ever our precious asset. We thank you God for the peace he enjoys in your embrace. He died as he lived…in grace. Shane will you speak for Otis?"
Shane looked at Hershel in shock, looking around at Rick for some help but got none. "I'm not good at it…I'm sorry."
"You were the last one with him," Otis's wife Patricia pointed out. "You shared he final moments. Please I need to hear…I need to know his death had meaning."
Shane was at a loss of words, swallowing and glancing down at the ground before looking at her. "We were about done. Both of us out of ammo, we were down to pistols by then. I was limping…it's bad. 'We gotta save the boy' he said. He gave me his back pack and shoved me ahead. 'Run' he said, said…'I take the rear, I'll cover you.' Then when I looked back…" he broke off, staring into Patricia's weeping eyes that were hanging off his every word.
I looked at Dale who was watching me; both of us knew he was bullshitting.
"If not for Otis," Shane limped over to the wheel barrel and picking up a rock. "I would've never made it out alive. And that goes for Carl too. It was Otis…he saved us both. If any death had meaning, it was his." He added, placing a rock on the pile as Patricia sobbed again and Maggie and Beth comforted her.
I looked at Patricia. "May I say something?" I asked and she nodded. My mind was cast off to my mother's voice, remembering our customs.
"My people believe that when you die, your spirits continues to live on into the land. That it is possible to re-enter the world as an unborn child. My tribe, Wardaman believe that the Lightning Brothers Yagjagbula and Jabirringgi guide the spirits into their new life," I spoke in a calm, storytelling voice. "Just as Wandjina brings the wet seasons, the cycle of rebirth will continue. Yaluu maliyaa (Goodbye friend.)"
With that, the funeral finished and everyone went off to find something to do. Patricia hugged me and said thank you, mentioning that my words gave her some peace.
"Minerva, we're organising a search party for Sophia." Rick called and I followed. Maggie, Hershel, Rick, Daryl Shane and Andrea were crowding around Carol's car.
"How long has this girl been lost?" Hershel asked Rick.
"This will be day three," he answered tiredly as Maggie placed a county map on the hood of the car and explained what it showed. It was all foreign to me so I hadn't had a clue what they were talking about.
"Perfect, we can finally get organised." I said and Rick smirked at me in amusement.
"You have no idea what this says do you?" he asked and I shook my head.
"Nope." I answered, popping on the 'p'.
"We'll grid the whole area, start searching in teams," Rick said, back into business mode.
"Not you, not today," Hershel objected. "You gave three units of blood. You wouldn't be hiking five minutes in this heat before passing out."
He then turned his attention to Shane. "And your ankle, push it now and you'll be laid off for months. Goes for you as well." He added, looking at me and I shrugged my shoulders.
"Guess it's just me," Daryl grunted. "Imma head back to the creek, work my way from there."
"I can still be useful. Drive up to the interstate and see if Sophia wandered back." Shane pointed out.
"Alright tomorrow then." Rick said, not happy about the outcome but didn't want to push it.
"Can't have people out there with just knives," I told them. "Since you two are cops, how about a little gun lesson?"
"I prefer you not carrying guns on my property. We've made it so far without turning this into an armed camp."
Shane opened his mouth to say something when I held up a hand. Someone had to take this calmly and a political approach and that dumbass was going to say something stupid and rude.
"We're guests here," I reminded Shane in a blunt tone before turning my attention to Hershel. "This is your property and we will respect that. If you are fine with it, we'll keep the guns locked away in the RV, bringing them out only for the search and training which we can do far away from the house."
Hershel nodded at my proposal and Rick placed his gun onto the hood of the car, Shane reluctantly doing the same.
"I hate to be the one to ask this but what happens when we find her and she's bit?" Shane asked. "We're still not clear on how we handle that."
Rick was looking at Shane with a hard face. "You do what has to be done."
"With Carol's permission." I added, looking at them both. Shane grunted and walked away with Andrea. Daryl gestured for me to follow him as we walked away a further away.
"Back there, with what you said about yer people's belief. Do ye still think it applies to the shit that's gone down?" he asked me seriously and I swallowed the lump in my throat, looking at him in the eye with my arms crossed over my chest.
Did I still believe in the Dreamtime stories my Mum told me?
"It's the only hope and connection I've got left to my family," I told him, holding back the tears that threatened to appear. "The world's gone to shit, people need hope."
Well, things are getting interesting. I had to google some thing about the Aboriginal Dreamtime stories and hopefully it's accurate. Hope y'all enjoy it :)