Jayce moved into Daryl's chest once more and tried to comfort him but he pushed her away and bent down, picking up Merle's hand. Jayce wrapped her arms around herself, feeling a little dejected.
The group soon headed back down in search of Merle, Daryl leading the way following the blood trail. He walked ahead and took out a walker in another room.
"Toughest asshole I ever met my brother. Feed him a hammer an he'd crap out nails" Daryl looked to Jayce who in turn was looking around the room, her arms wrapped around herself. He sighed but reloaded the crossbow and kept walking. They followed the blood to a kitchen where the flames on a stove were still going.
"What's all that burnt stuff?" Glenn queried.
"Skin" Jayce answered, "He cauterized the stump"
"Nobody can kill Merle but Merle" Daryl said, looking to a broken window.
"He left?" Glenn questioned.
"Why not? He's out there alone as far as he knows. Doing what he's gotta do, surviving" Daryl calmly spoke.
"You call that surviving? Walking around out there, possibly passing out?" T-dog asked, "What are his odds?"
"No worse than being left to rot, cuffed to a roof by you sorry pricks" Daryl said pissed off.
"Daryl" Jayce said calmly. Daryl looked at her and sighed.
His anger returned when he turned to Rick, "You couldn't kill him, I ain't so worried 'bout some dumb dead bastard"
"What about a thousand dumb dead bastards?" Rick retorted.
Jayce calmed Daryl again this time walking to him and touching his arm. They soon came up with a plan on how to get the guns. Glenn taking the reins since he seemed to know the city pretty well. Once Glenn finished talking Daryl looked to him,
"Hey kid, what'd you do before all this?" He questioned curiously.
"Delivered pizzas why?" Daryl stayed silent and nodded. Jayce nudged him gently, waiting for him to make eye contact before she gave him a smile. The five of them prepared to head out but Jayce held Daryl back for a moment.
"What?" He said a little harshly when she grabbed his bicep unexpectedly.
"I missed you" She said quietly. He put his arms around her waist and gave her a deep, hard kiss.
"I missed ya too girl" He looked at her eyes, "Why'd you stay with Merle?" Daryl asked.
"I'll tell you when we get back. Promise" She leaned in and was met with Daryl's hungry and eager mouth.
"Yo, you two!" Rick surprised the couple, "Reckon you could save it til we get back" They both nodded and followed the officer outside. Daryl went with Glenn and Jayce went with Rick and T-dog. Glenn was able to grab the guns but there was yelling coming from back in the alley. "What the hell is going on?" Jayce wondered. Rick, T-dog and Jayce all looked to each other, confused before running towards the noise. Glenn was heard screaming and a car screeched away. T-dog grabbed the teenager and pushed him into a wall while Rick pushed Daryl back to the gate.
"They took Glenn" He yelled and then focused on threatening the teenager.
Naturally, all the noise caused walkers to horde around them. Rick grabbed the guns and everyone headed to the roof once more.
They took the kid back inside and Rick questioned him; of course the boy wasn't saying anything.
"Man, what happened?" T-dog asked Daryl.
He was pacing back and forth, staring daggers and the teen, "Told ya this little punk ass and his mates jumped me"
"You're the one who jumped me, puto" He spat. Jayce growled, having taken Spanish she knew what the kid was saying, "Screaming about his brother"
"Well ya took Glenn ya coulda taken Merle too"
"Merle? What kinda hick name is that? I wouldn't name my dog Merle" Daryl rushed him but Rick held him back, although it didn't stop Daryl from trying to kick the snot-nosed punk.
Jayce went to the bag Glenn had previously been carrying, "You wanna see what happened to the last guy that pissed Daryl off?" Everyone watched her unwrap Merle's hand and throw it on the kids lap. He freaked out and fell out of the chair, backing into the corner. Jayce bent down, grabbed his shirt and got in his face, "I'll let him start with the feet this time" She whispered and felt an arm wrap around her waist and pull her back. She struggled a little but was no match for the man that was clearly bigger than her.
"Tell us where he is punk!" Jayce called, "I swear to god, I'll leave Daryl to deal with you" Daryl took her out of sight of the kid while Rick tried striking up a deal.
"You ready?" Rick looked to T-dog and Jayce.
"As I'll ever be" Jayce said as T-dog nodded. She walked to Daryl, who had his crossbow aimed to the kid. He looked at her briefly and kissed her cheek. T-dog left in the opposite direction, both taking up vantage points that overlooked the yard.
"Don't understand why that cute piece is with a puto like you" Miguel smirked, trying to get a rise out of Daryl. Jayce wasn't quite out of ear shot and turned back to him.
"Un hombre muy amorosa dispuestos a matar nada para mí" Jayce said tilting her head to the side, "Usted no son una excepción" Daryl was shocked as he listened to the woman speak back to boy. The expression on the kid's face wasn't good and he guessed that Jayce was probably threatening him. She scowled at him once more and headed to her post.
Looking through the scope she watched the three males head slowly through the desolate yard, stopping when the wooden doors in front of them opened. More Mexicans came out, quietly talking, not making any aggressive movements. One man came out with a gun raised at the trio; shouting. The ringer leader calmed him down and slowly looked up at T-dog then to Jayce. He called out to someone a moment later and Glenn appeared on the roof, with two men at his side and a bag on his head. The men continued to talk for a minute before the Mexicans backed away behind the doors and Rick, Daryl and Miguel walked out.
Jayce sat by the door and listened to Rick, T-dog and Daryl talk about handing over the guns. The teen piped up and Daryl got stuck into him, "You apart of this? You wanna hold onto ya teeth" Daryl smacked him on the side of the head. The boys started loading the guns; Rick put one in his holster and picked up a rifle as did the other three.
When they made it back there was a small standoff before an old woman came up and lead Rick and his group through to an old people's home. Issues were sorted out and Rick being a soft hearted man gave them some of the guns and they left, headed back to the van.
"Ya gave away half the guns and ammo" Daryl said.
"Not nearly half" Rick replied
"The old farts are gon' die momentarily anyhow, I mean how long you think they got?"
"How many do any of us?" Jayce asked who up until that point had been quiet. She stopped suddenly, "This is where we left the van isn't it?"
"Who would take it?" Glenn asked nervously.
"Merle" Rick stated and Glenn's eyes flicked to him worriedly.
"He's gon' be takin' some vengeance back ta camp" Daryl admitted.
Night time was soon upon the group that was heading back to camp. The jogged up the hill back towards the quarry. Screams and gunshots filled the air around them and they pushed harder to reach the others. When they came through the trees, they started firing at any walkers they could find.
"Daryl!" Jayce screamed as walkers surrounded her, making it extremely difficult for her to kill any.
He spun around at the sound of his voice and for a second his stomach dropped and horror coursed through him before his face hardened and anger started pumping through his body. He started shooting left right and centre.
"Drop!" He yelled and without thinking Jayce hit the ground as the last one that was near her fell to the ground. Daryl came over and quickly checked her skin for any bites or scratches. When he found nothing he turned and started shooting again. Jayce followed his lead, the feeling of shock hadn't reached her yet.
The threat of walkers dissipated and everyone stared at the massacre sight that was previously known as home. Jayce used her arm and wiped her face as she faced the RV and found a horrific sight; Andrea was sobbing over Amy who was covered in blood and dirt.
"Oh my god" Jayce whispered. Daryl picked up on her voice and turned to look as well. Everyone followed Daryl's movement and looked at the sight before them.
The next day almost everyone was silent as they worked on disposing of the dead. Andrea hadn't moved from Amy even when Lori came over to her and said that it was time to take her. Daryl was slamming a pick into the heads of the corpses while T-dog and Glenn moved the walkers to a fire and the camp members to the graves that Jim had dug the previous day.
Lori, Shane and Rick were sitting at the fire
"She's been there all night, what do we do?" Lori threw the question out for anyone.
"Can't just leave her there. Gotta do something about Amy" Shane added in.
"I'll tell her how it is" Rick said as he walked over to the distraught girl, "Andrea" Before Rick could blink there was a gun aimed at his face.
"I know how the safety works" The gun clicked and Rick backed up a little.
"Ok" He said cautiously and left her to her misery.
Daryl had come up to the fire, pissed that no one would make sure that Amy had no way of coming back, "The dead girl is a time bomb and ya just gon' let her sister hamstring us?"
"What do you propose we do?" Rick put his hands to his hips.
"Take the shot. Hell I could hit a turkey between the eyes from here" Daryl grumbled.
"No. For god's sakes just leave her alone" Lori got her firm 'mum' voice going as she spoke to Daryl.
He shook his head and huffed before walking over to yet another dead camp member, helping Morales drag him to the fire. Glenn stopped them,
"What are you doing? This is for geeks" The older men dropped the body and looked at him, "We don't burn them, we bury them. Understand?" Both bent down and dragged the body away, leaving it with the others who were to be buried before blowing up.
"Ya'll left my brother for dead! Ya had this comin'" He yelled, storming away. Jayce followed after him.
"Daryl" She jogged after him and stopped in front of the angered man.
"What the hell do ya want?" He wouldn't look at her.
"Ok I know you're pissed about Merle but just take it easy on them. They aren't as strong as you, they can't just deal with the problem at hand and be sad for those that died later. They do it all at once"
"Piss of Jayce, I don't wanna talk to ya. I'm allowed ta be pissed off that they left him there, cuffed to a roof" He stared her down, "I don't give a shit about how they deal with it but right now they ain't doin' shit 'bout the dead girl"
"They left me there too Daryl"
"No you stayed there, you stayed with him and ya didn't do a thing to try and help him" Jayce took a step back.
"I wandered all over that roof. I went through the second door that lead to the kitchen but we weren't left any guns, I had nothing except a hacksaw and a hammer. In the hours before I fell asleep I constantly watched that door to make sure that nothing came through it. So don't you dare tell me I did nothing to help Merle. I tried cutting through the cuffs, he tried cutting through the cuffs. Nothing worked"
It was almost like Daryl hadn't taken anything in when he got right up close to Jayce, "Why is it that ya decided to stay with him?" She figured out what Daryl was implying quickly. He might as well actually asked her, "Did you just want to fuck him some more?" Jayce slapped his face and spat,
"I stayed because he is your brother and leaving him behind is far worse than anything he might have said or done to anyone in camp" Jayce stormed back to camp to help out, leaving Daryl standing alone with a sharp stinging in his cheek that would soon form a perfect hand mark.
Jacqui was soon calling out that Jim had been bitten and Daryl came bursting around "Show it to us" Jim picked up a shovel but T-dog came up behind him and hooked his arms while Daryl lifted his shirt. There on the right side of his torso was the perfect bite mark.
The small group gathered while Jim sat at the end of the RV and half overheard them talking about the CDC and how it was his best chance at survival. Jayce was against the RV keeping out of the current drama, having a cigarette.
"You go look for aspirin or whatever ya gotta do" Daryl turned around and headed to Jim, "Somebody's gotta have some balls to deal with..." Jayce watched him and stood in front of Jim as Daryl lifted the pick and Rick cocked his pistol and aimed it at Daryl.
"We don't kill the living" He said firmly.
"Funny, coming from a man who's got a gun aimed at me" Shane made him drop the axe and Rick took Jim inside the RV. Jayce moved back to her spot and watched as everyone moved around still cleaning up the mess. Dale came over to Andrea and was able to get her talking for a few minutes before he left. Daryl was throwing the pick into more heads before Carol came over, tears streaming down her face, and took the axe from him. She threw it into Ed's head over and over again, Daryl winced a little while he watched her either take out her built up anger or make sure that Ed really had no way of ever attacking her again.
Jayce noticed Andrea bend down close to Amy's face and she pushed herself off the vehicle interested in what was going on but prepared in case the worst was to happen. Amy's arms started to move and Jayce took another step closer, her hand on her 9mm. Jayce watched Amy's milky eyes open and her hands slowly came up to Andrea's hair. Jayce pulled the Beretta from her waistband and cocked it as she slowly moved towards the pair. Andrea had drawn her gun and put it to the side of Amy's head.
"I'm sorry" Andrea whispered huskily and pulled the trigger, Amy fell back to the ground.
Jayce uncocked the gun and set it back in her waistband and sat where Jim had been. She was still pissed off at Daryl and wanted nothing more than to be far from him at that point in time. T-dog and Glenn with the help of others, started loading the truck with the deceased and Daryl backed it up the hill where the graves were. Soon after, the camp members started up the hill but Jayce stayed firmly in her place, keeping an ear out for Jim.
The fires that night were burning low, lower than normal and everyone mostly kept silent.
Jayce was in bed early that night she was exhausted. After not eating anything the night before, being abandoned on a roof, killing walkers and being mad at Daryl everything was starting to take its toll on her body. Unknown to her, Daryl was standing outside the tent, debating whether or not to join her or sleep in Merle's tent. The former won out and he sighed as he opened the flap door.
"Thought you might have gone to the other tent" Jayce said facing the wall, her eyes open and flicking up to where he would be standing.
"Thought 'bout it but I need ta talk to ya" He admitted. Once he had stripped to his boxers he climbed in, not overly surprised that she was in a tank top and a pair of panties.
He laid on his side, facing her, "I'm...I guess I...I'm..."
"Daryl stop" He met her blue eyes, "Me too"
"What you got ta be sorry for?"
"For being a bitch to you. I know how you react and I should of let you deal with it inside of getting in your face and slapping you"
"Hell wouldn't be the first time a woman slapped ma face" He smiled. The pair lay there, quietly talking and Jayce would occasionally giggle.
"Hey what were ya saying to that kid today?"
"When?" She asked.
"When ya talked Spanish"
"I said that you were a very loving man willing to kill anything for me" Jayce smiled.
"What was the second bit?"
"He was no exception" Daryl chuckled, "Where'd you learn to speak Spanish?"
"High school. I was getting myself ready for the big trip that was going to take me right through the south and to Mexico but only got me as far as here"
"You an ya friend, Apple?"
Jayce started laughing, "You mean Cherry?"
"Yeah her" He smiled.
"Yeah, she was in a band and needed a break and some time to escape from her crazy, famous, rock n' roll lifestyle. So we took off and wound up separated because I was still seeing Mr. Crazy. When I got back to the apartment I raced in looking for her, since the streets were a mess but there was someone chewing down on her arm. I managed to kill it with my gun but she was dead. Of course I didn't realise that there was a good chance she could come back so I packed some shit and left" Jayce tried hard to hold back the tears that threatened to fall. Daryl could sense that the time for talking about the past was over and pulled her in, onto his chest.
"Ya know you were kinda bad-ass today" He smiled, "Threatening that kid about me killing him...Twice" Jayce just giggled into his body and drifted off.