It seemed as though the hits just kept on coming for the group of survivors as they soon learned that Jim had gotten bit during the attack the previous night and no one knew exactly how to handle that situation. He was still alive; still a living, breathing human but who knew how long it would be before he would be trying to devour their flesh.
Everyone looked to Rick for a solution, a silent notion of him being dubbed the new alpha wolf; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was his answer, in order to maybe find a cure for Jim before he turned.
Harley almost wanted to laugh in Rick's face when she heard that one from Daryl who had informed her of the ongoing situation. A lot of preventing that place has done in the last few weeks. Daryl also mentioned his attempted murder upon the infected man to which Harley just shook her head and called him distasteful.
Daryl stood in the entry way of Harley's tent as she packed what little she had into a duffle bag and messenger bag. She had already packed Anna's belongings and placed them outside the tent almost in a way to avoid looking at them.
"Y'know..." Harley began as she shoved the final piece of clothing into the duffle bag, "I thought it'd get easier... losin' people..." Daryl stayed silent and studied her face as her eyebrows crinkled together, "It doesn't. Not even a little bit." The only sound that resonated throughout the tent was the zipper of the duffle bag being shut, "Ya get close to people only for them to end up dead. What the hell's the point?"
Daryl grabbed the duffle bag and messenger bag off of her bed, setting out to put them in the back of his truck, but before he did that he turned to her, "Even though all this..." He gestured around him, "... happened, don't mean you get to start closin' yerself off ta people. Ya can't be afraid ta care just 'cause some bad stuff happens. Tha hell kind of life is one where yer afraid ta care about other people?"
Harley bit her lip as she tried to push back the onslaught of tears that were welling up in her eyes, "Ain't no one prepared you for this kind of stuff in school. There were no Zombie Survival courses or How to Deal with Everyone You Love Dying classes." As she rambled the tears began to fall from her eyes, "I'm just a fuckin' kid still. Ain't nothing I want more than my Daddy right now, but he blew himself to fuckin' kingdom come. My dad, my brother... Anna... Why the fuck am I still alive when they're dead?" She choked back a sob and Daryl couldn't do anything but listen, "I feel like I have this obligation to keep on fightin' for them, 'cause I got to live and they didn't, but I don't even wanna live anymore, not if it means livin' like this."
The bags had dropped from Daryl's hands which were now wrapped around Harley's shoulders and he held her about half an arm's length away, urging her to look at him. Her watery brown eyes met his and she should've felt embarrassed about breaking down in front of him like a child, but all she felt was ashamed at the disappointment in his eyes.
"Don't ya say that." He mumbled, "Don't think ya wouldn't be missed if you were gone."
"Are you sure you want to ride with Daryl?" Dale had asked Harley for what seemed like the hundredth time.
It was decided by Harley that she would be driving with Daryl in his truck, not wanting to interrupt quality family time between the Grimes and certainly not wanting to ride with someone who's been infected.
Harley simply disregarded the question as she had the first time he asked, "Rather take my chances with Daryl than with someone who got bit."
And that was the end of the discussion.
Daryl came up behind Harley, tossing the rest of his bags into the bed of his truck, next to Merle's bike, "What was that about?" He asked.
Harley gave a shrug, "Askin' me if I was sure I didn' wanna ride in the RV with them."
"Are ya sure ya don't wanna?" Daryl asked, suddenly second guessing his decision to invite her to ride along with him, "Ain't gotta ride with me just 'cause ya feel obligated."
Harley quirked an eyebrow, "Who said I felt obligated? Wouldn't be ridin' with ya if I didn't wanna, don't be such a girl." She remarked as she placed her last piece of luggage, the old guitar her and Anna had found, into the back of the truck.
Daryl gave a snort at her playful insult, but effectively changed the subject of the conversation to the guitar she'd just placed in the back of his truck, "What's that?"
"Something I came across before some asshole put a bullet in my leg." She explained, "Y'know, I was a Music major back in college, could play all sorts of instruments... guitars were my favorite though..." She trailed off.
Music was something that always came easy to her; some people could add, subtract, multiply, and divide numbers in their head within milliseconds, others could express their thoughts and emotions in wild ways with just a pencil and a piece of paper, but Harley... Harley had an ear for music and that was apparent even at a young age when her mother signed her up for piano lessons and within a few months she had surpassed the kids who had been taking lessons for years.
Her father used to joke that she was his little child prodigy.
"You'll have ta play me somethin' sometime."
Harley thought back to when she had told Anna she'd play a song for her, "Yeah, I'll play you a little tune sometime." She assured him.
For the most part, Harley and Daryl rode in a comfortable silence, the only background noise was the quiet buzz of the radio which was tuned in to the Emergency Broadcast Channel, it was set only loud enough to hear the crackle of the white noise.
"It was just you and Merle, then?" Harley finally spoke after about a half an hour of driving, breaking the silence.
He didn't answer for a moment, "Yeah, just us. Lost my dad at the beginning of the outbreak and ma Uncle Jess not too long after." He glanced over at her for a moment before looking back at the road, "Were you alone? Y'know, 'fore ya picked up the li'l girl?"
Harley nodded, "Yeah, been alone for a while. My brother and dad died when the outbreak first started, picked up Anna a couple of weeks after that."
The truck fell into silence after that, neither one of them being able to start the conversation back up.
Every now and again, Harley would glance at Daryl out of the corner of her eye and when she wasn't looking, he'd look over at her.
This went on for a while.
When the convoy came to a stop, both Harley and Daryl shared looks of confusion before hopping out of the truck to see what the hold up was. When they approached the RV, a blast of white smoke billowed up from the engine as Rick and Dale opened the front to inspect what was causing the overheating.
"That don't look too good." Harley commented as she rested against the side of the RV.
Daryl snorted, "Got that right."
"Told you that hose wouldn't last long. I needed the one from the cube van." Dale said as he and Rick discussed their options.
"There's a gas station up ahead." Shane told the group who had gathered in front of the van as he looked through his binoculars.
Jacqui suddenly rushed out of the RV, "It's not good." She said worriedly, "I don't think Jim can take anymore."
Harley felt sorry for her. Jacqui was one of the few people at the camp who had opened herself up completely to everyone. She cared for each and every person in their group, save for the likes of Merle Dixon and Ed Peletier.
T-Dog and Shane decided to go ahead and see if they could find any supplies at the gas station Shane saw, while the rest of the group, except for Daryl and Harley, ventured into the RV to see how bad Jim had gotten.
"That ain't good." Daryl said as he jerked his head slightly to the RV, "Somethin's gotta be done."
Harley tilted her head to the side in a gesture of indecisiveness, "There ain't much that can be done in this situation, though." She sighed, "As much of a future danger he is going to be for us, right now, in this moment, he's still Jim. Morally, it ain't right to kill him while he's still... y'know... human." Daryl's eyebrows rose just slightly as he looked down at Harley, "If we go around all willy nilly killin' everyone, we're no worse than the walkers... Gotta keep our humanity, y'know?"
Daryl kept silent, not willing to admit he could see where Harley was coming from because it was just that type of thinking that would get you killed in this world.
"It's what he wants." Rick explained to everyone outside of the RV.
He had went in to talk to Jim about what Jim wanted to be done; something they should have done in the first place.
"So, we just leave him here?" Shane asked, "Take off? I don't think I could live with that."
Who knew Shane had such a strong moral compass? Harley mused to herself.
"It's not your call." Lori told him.
Harley nodded, agreeing with Lori, "You can't force him to come along when he's suffering so much." She spoke up, "It's selfish to make him suffer just because our consciouses can't live with it."
There was a quiet agreement amongst the group and it was decided what they would do.
Everyone stood solemnly around Jim, some people saying their final goodbyes to the dying man and after Dale spoke, they lingered there for a few seconds, unsure of what to do. Glenn was the first to turn away, heading for the RV and everyone followed suit, going to their vehicles. Daryl stood there a bit longer than everyone else, almost as if he was apologizing for the way he acted towards Jim at the camp.
Daryl's silence was odd as he got into the truck and started it up. Harley could tell by his demeanor that there was some inner turmoil going on with him.
"He doesn't blame you."
Daryl snapped, "How do you know that?"
Harley frowned, "Because you were lookin' out for yourself and everyone else. Jim's a sensible man, he understands that."
Daryl gave a snort of indignation as he pressed down on the gas pedal, following everyone else who had started moving and from the side mirror, Harley spared on last glance to Jim who was looking up through the tree branches at the sky, probably preparing himself for whatever lied ahead. She averted her eyes back forward and then to Daryl who was biting his thumbnail.
"Y'know, if ya ever need a shoulder to cry on, mine's always free."
There was a slight smirk that came across Daryl's face, "Ain't no crybaby like you are." He teased.
Harley's eyes narrowed, "Ain't no crybaby."
"Sure ya aren't." He replied sarcastically.
Harley gave his arm a whack, "Don't be a dick to the only person in camp that likes ya."
A muteness overtook the truck quite suddenly and Harley's face flushed with embarrassment at the fact she had completely put a halt to their pleasant conversation and then just as quickly Daryl piped back up, "So, ya like me, huh?"
His question caught Harley off guard and she realized just why the conversation was put to a stop. She stammered a bit, "O-o'course I do..." She looked away, finding something outside the truck very interesting all of a sudden, "Ya ain't bad company."
Daryl's lips just turned up even more into a barely there smile, "Ya ain't bad company, either."
I'm on a roll this week guys xD Mostly due to the influx of reviews, favorites, and people adding this story to their story alerts. Seriously, you guys keep me so motivated, so thank you! Keep 'em comin'!
I decided to do a chapter with a lot of Harley/Daryl interaction, so I hope you like it!