*** Thanks for reading everyone *** As per usual I OWN NOTHING - except Linney, she's mine :) ***
They continued on their way towards Atlanta, the process much slower than it had been a day or two before. It seemed that proximity to the city meant roads were in worse and worse shape. Accidents littered the roads, main, highway, back roads; they had all suffered. After the first 3 days, when they had only managed 50 miles due to all the back-tracking, studying the maps to find new routes, then back-tracking some more, it was decided that they would start attempting to clear the wrecks themselves, if they could.
"I'm just saying, that last one on the highway looked like most of the cars could've been started up and moved a little out of the way." Dale insisted, looking around the crowded RV. They were in the middle of a huge parking lot, the truck and Merle's motorcycle parked close next to it. They had been unable to find a suitable house, and they were frankly all tired and irritable, so Merle had insisted they park in the middle of the lot, to get the best view of their surroundings on watch, and have everyone bunk down inside the RV for safety.
Andrea nodded in agreement from her place next to Dale at the table. She swallowed her mouthful of ramen noodles. "He's right, we really only need to clear just a big enough path for the RV to make it through, not the whole road or anything." Daryl, sitting in a lawn chair in the tiny space between the dinette and the kitchen counter, tipped his bowl up to his mouth, noisily drinking the last bits of his soup.
"I'm not sayin' it's a bad idea Blondie," Merle spoke gruffly from his seat across the table from her, "Those fuckers are goin' to be everywhere, 'specially now that we're movin' through bigger towns." Andrea shrugged and her eyes darted over to Daryl and back to Merle, before she said, "I think with the three of you, plus me and Dale, we can handle just about anything."
Linney was drooping and hunched on the booth seat next to Merle, barely awake. She'd been taking Andrea's pills for the past two nights and she wasn't dreaming anymore, but she was tired and groggy all the time now. She couldn't seem to time taking the pills right, either. Andrea said they were best to take with food, so Linney took hers at the same time Andrea did, at dinner. But unlike Andrea, she couldn't sit up and be sleepily relaxed with everyone for another two hours. Linney became a limp, drooling mess after about 40 minutes. She watched Andrea talk, barely understanding her, her vision fuzzy and her head feeling like it was full of cotton.
She didn't realize that she had nodded off until Merle was shaking her gently off his arm, where she'd slowly slumped in exhaustion, until her head had come to rest on his sleeve, her cheek mashing up against his t-shirt.
"Hey, quit droolin' on me, kid." He grumbled, pushing her into a sitting position. She squinted at him, giggling quietly as he split into two Merle's and then merged back into one. His face registered mild disbelief, coupled with brief concern. Dale and Andrea were gone, and she realized that Andrea and Amy were probably both in bed. She glanced up at Daryl, who was leaned against the kitchen counter, and with these two here, she had to assume that Dale was taking first watch. Merle got up from the bench seat and moved to the couch, pulling the cushions down to convert it into the single bed it doubled as.
"You need to get up." Daryl said. She took a moment, slowly absorbing his words, briefly concerned at how hard it was to focus, wondering if she was getting fuzzier and fuzzier the more nights she took the pills. Daryl's forehead was crinkled with worry. Linney nodded and started sliding out from the booth. She ran out of booth seat before she realized it and ended up on the floor with a jarring thud.
"Lightweight." She heard Merle mutter from his bed. Daryl loomed way above her, the lantern light making parts of his face fall into eerie shadows. Linney shuddered and tried to get to her feet again, only to fall back down.
"Dammit." Daryl muttered. He reached down and picked her up off the floor, under her arms, like a child. When he had her balanced on her feet, he gently steered her over to the couch bed and pushed her down to sit in top of Merle's shins.
"What the fuck?" Merle growled, his legs tensed. "Jus' let 'er sit there til I got this damn table made into a bed." Daryl said, his voice filled with impatience for his brother.
"Fine, whatever." Merle said in irritation. Linney looked over at him before blinking. The blink seemed to take forever and she realized as her eyes opened up that she was slowly leaning way too far in the opposite direction of Merle's face. She felt herself fall backwards, landing briefly on her side across his feet, before she continued on to the floor. Luckily she passed out completely before she fell off Merle's legs and landed face first on the tile floor, giving herself a giant bruise and a nose bleed.
When she awoke the next morning, she was wrapped up in her sleeping bag, laying in bed, staring at the wall of the RV, an inch from her face. Her face twitched and a flare of pain shot through her nose.
"Owwww..." she moaned softly, freeing a hand from the bedding to pat at her nose. She winced at the feeling of puffy, tender skin across her nose and under both eyes.
"What's goin' on? You ok?" She heard Daryl grumble from beside her and she slowly sat up and looked over at him, laying on his side inside his own sleeping bag. His eyes widened when he saw her face, just for a moment, but long enough for her to realize something was wrong.
"What happened?" She asked, wincing again as she felt momentarily light-headed. Daryl sat up and pushed out of his bedding, steadying her with a hand on her arm.
"Yer done takin' those fucking pills, is what's happened." He said, angrily. Linney looked up at him.
"I agree, I don't get it, Andrea has no problem with them." Daryl smirked at her as he got up and moved to a drawer in the kitchen, yanking out a washcloth.
"That's 'cause yer a midget and she ain't." He said, a low rumble of laughter in his voice, his back to her as he wet a washcloth with water and squeezed the excess out over the sink.
"Here," Daryl stated, folding the washcloth and sitting down on the edge of the bed. He leaned forward and gently placed the wet cloth over her nose. "Hold that there for a bit. It ain't ice, but it's cool enough." Linney nodded and put her hand on the cloth.
"So what happened though, to my nose, I mean." She repeated as Daryl bent to put on his belt and gear. He looked over.
"You were all drugged up. I sat ya down to get this bed made n' ya fell n' hit yer face." Linney's upper lip curled in distaste at her own stupidity. Daryl thought it was anger at him though, clearly, because he snapped, "Hey - I didn't know ya'd be throwin' yerself offa shit." Linney held a hand up at him.
"Calm down, it's my fault. I probably shouldn't have taken those pills at all. It's obviously too much for me." Linney met Daryl's eyes and saw the blue in his cool off at her explanation. He nodded and reached out to take the cloth from her.
"How are you feeling this morning, Linney?" Andrea spoke from the doorway to the back bedroom and when Linney looked over, Andrea grimaced. "Ouch, that doesn't look so great." She came and sat on the edge of the bed, glancing up once to Daryl before looking back down at Linney. "I'm sorry, I overheard most of your conversation," she gestured at the accordion door leading to the bedroom, where they could all clearly hear Dale and Amy snoring, "Thin walls you know." Daryl snorted and bent to lace up his boots.
Andrea cast a look at him before turning back to Linney. "How much were you taking? Of the pills?" Andrea had given Linney her own pill bottle of the pills, saying she had a huge amount of them squirreled away. Linney got to her feet and made her way to her bag sitting on the passenger seat of the RV, she dug in the bag until she found the pill bottle and walked it back over to Andrea, only wavering slightly on her feet once. Daryl was leaning against the fully re-made couch and she knew he was listening carefully.
"See? Here? It says take two with food, once per day." She held the bottle up to Andrea, showing her the label. Andrea's face went pale and she gasped.
"Jesus, Linney, this bottle isn't for these pills, it's just a bottle from an old set of antibiotics I had to take! I thought you knew that I've only been taking half a pill each night!"
"WHAT?" Linney and Daryl both yelled at the same time. Linney forced the pills back into Andrea's lap.
"Take them, I don't want them anymore, I can't believe you never thought to clarify it to me." Linney shook her head and stomped over to her pile of gear on the kitchen counter, strapping on her belt and other accessories. She found her shoes by Daryl, and threw herself down on the couch to cram her feet into them.
"I've been taking 4 times the normal amount, each night - what the hell! No wonder I feel like shit all the time!" Linney was mad, at Andrea, and also at herself for not thinking to double check. When someone hands you some official looking pharmacy bottle, it's easy to assume the pills inside match the label! She thought to herself in indignation.
Andrea nodded at her, her cheeks turning red, "I'm sorry, Linney, I'm an idiot, I never thought to explain it..." Andrea rubbed a hand over her eyes, "Can you forgive me? For being an idiot? For being very, very distracted?" Linney stood up and breathed in a deep breath, so relieved at the explanation for why she'd been feeling so awful lately, she was mostly finished being mad already.
"Yeah, fine, whatever." Linney answered. Daryl got to his feet, moving towards the bed, obviously looking to put it back to a table. Andrea got up and stepped out of his way. Linney met Daryl's eyes briefly when he glanced back at her and she could see he was definitely still pissed. Linney snatched up her bag, slinging it over her shoulders and then pushed the RV door open and stepped outside quickly, happy to leave the tension of the RV. She tossed her bag into the back of the pick-up, probably with more effort than was required.
Fucking drugs; this is why I don't take anything, she thought, angry with herself for being such a chicken about the dreams that she had turned to narcotics. She looked around the empty parking lot, shuddering at the sight of the handful of slain walkers that the different people on watch must have killed in the night. She could hear Daryl getting mad at Andrea inside, their voices muffled, but still loud enough for her to understand that Andrea's apology didn't mean shit to Daryl.
How'd ya feel if me or Merle gave Amy a bunch a pills and let 'er take 'em with no instructions? Let 'er fry her brains?
Andrea murmured something in response that Linney didn't catch, but Daryl's response was much more clear. Ya, well you keep away from her then, if you 'just can't help being distracted'!
Linney made a face, somewhat pleased that Daryl cared enough to chew someone out over her safety, but she felt bad for Andrea; how could anyone not be a little distracted these days? She worried that this might create a rift between Andrea's group and her own, just when they seemed to really be drawing together.
She flexed and stretched from side to side, letting her joints loosen up and her muscles warm up a little bit. Stretching up towards the sky she saw dark clouds and realized that it was probably going to start raining today. Bleh, I hate rain, she thought, sniffing the air to see if she could 'smell' a thunderstorm. The air felt humid enough for it and she thought back to her father's boasting to his friends when she was little, about how she was so scared of them that she could smell them coming for her.
"Hey, how's 'bout you get me some coffee, sweetheart." She heard Merle call from behind her and she turned to see him relaxing in a lawn chair, his back to her. Linney shook her head and wanted to tell him to screw off, but realized she wanted some as well.
"Extra spit, coming right up." She replied, her voice overly chirpy. She heard Merle chuckle dryly as she pulled the door open on the RV and climbed back inside. Daryl was finishing up putting the table back together and Andrea was in the tiny washroom, probably brushing her teeth over the miniature sink. Amy was at the kitchen counter and Linney realized she was gathering together everything to make coffee on the camp stove outside. Dale must have still been sleeping.
"Morning!" Amy exclaimed, her face lighting up with a friendly smile. Linney nodded and smiled back at her before helping her carry everything outside.
"So, I hear today we're going back to that highway and moving some cars?" Amy asked her, as she bent to the stove resting on the tailgate of the pick-up truck. Linney nodded absently, "Yeah, I guess so." She reached up and felt the horrible rats-nest of her hair. She carefully climbed over a back tire of the truck to access the truck bed, without jostling the stove. She rummaged around for her bag and dug out her hair brush. Hopping off the edge of the truck she took a few steps away from Amy and removed her hair elastic, so she could brush her hair out.
Amy watched her out of the corner of her eyes, "You have very lovely hair, Linney." Linney glanced up at her and smiled in thanks. Amy clapped her hands and danced a step closer.
"Ooh! I know! Let me french braid it!" Linney was already shaking her head no, and Amy frowned at her playfully. "Let me finish!" She said insistently and Linney nodded slowly, forcing herself to remember that Amy was still a girl and Linney herself was some kind of hybrid of girl, street urchin, and undead killer. She grinned at the thought and Amy thought it was for her.
"Awesome! Ok, I'll do two braids, and start them up near the front," Amy reached out tentatively and tapped the spot on Linney's head, "It'll shorten the braid and I can tuck them in on themselves to avoid having it on your neck, alright?" Linney nodded reluctantly, it did sound good and she had to admit that the bun gave her headaches.
"Fine, fine, let's dole out coffee and I'll let you do my hair." Linney nearly groaned the last few words but Amy was so pleased that Linney couldn't help but be in a better mood. When the coffee was all poured out, Linney carefully carried a steaming mug up to Merle, who was to remain on watch until they left for the day. He smiled eagerly at the cup and Linney handed him a granola breakfast bar from her pocket as well.
"Hear yer gonna be visitin' the beauty parlor." He sneered at her. Linney kicked the leg of his chair, almost causing him to spill his coffee.
"Shut up, Merle."
"I'll toss ya the hell off this roof if ya ever do that again... tryin'a spill hot coffee on me, ya little shit." Merle grumbled. Linney rolled her eyes and climbed off the RV. Amy had put away the stove and coffee maker and was sitting on the tail gate, a hairbrush and two mugs of coffee beside her.
"Over here, Linney, stand in front of me and I'll get started." As Amy got to work, Linney tried to relax, closing her eyes and sipping slowly on her coffee. It did feel nice to have some dragging their fingers slowly through her hair, over and over again. She had to pop her eyes open again to keep from dozing off on her feet.
By the time the braids were done, everything was packed up and they were ready to move on. When Linney escaped Amy's ministrations and sought refuge in Daryl's truck, she couldn't help but pat at her hair, feeling the woven bundle of it lining each side of her head. The tail of each braid had been neatly tucked into the main braid and the effect was tidy and rather cute, Linney had to admit to herself. When Daryl swung in his door and slammed it she patted a hand to her head and smiled at him, purposely trying to bait him.
"What do you think? Nice hair, right? I'm looking pretty good right about now, hey?" Daryl glanced over at her and rolled his eyes before looking back at the road, careful to keep up with Merle.
"You look five." He mumbled. Linney felt her jaw drop, and then pinched her lips together in consternation.
"Dick." She said, slapping the back of her hand on his arm. Daryl smiled and didn't say anything more.
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
"Ok, only one that doesn't start is that blue one," Daryl said, pointing back at a blue Corolla, "But we can move them other ones n' toss the blue one into neutral, roll it outta the way." The group nodded, all of them gathered in front of the RV. Before them lay a mess of cars, mostly involved in fender benders, but a bus in front of all the cars was seriously damaged, looking like it had smashed front-first into the concrete barriers on the side of the road.
The bus lay on it's side now and Linney imagined that a lot of the people in there died from the collision, and then crawled out of the windows and attacked the people standing around their dented cars. She didn't say that to anyone though, not wanting to get into such gory details in this graveyard.
"Jesus." Merle said, staring at the stinking piles of human remains scattered all around the crash site. He glanced down at Linney who was standing half-leaned against his arm, deeply disturbed by the sight of a minivan, the doors hanging open, little stick-people family stickers on the rear window.
"Merle," she said, her voice low, "do you think there were ki-" He cut her off, pushing her off his arm and clapping her on the back.
"Let's get these cars moved, now." He said, his voice carrying to the rest of the group, "We don't wanna be here any longer than we gotta, otherwise we're gonna be lunch n' I ain't goin' out like that."
He headed through the maze of cars, towards the truck at the head of the crash. Linney moved towards a small red two-door that Daryl told her to move, and everyone else went towards their designated cars too. She heard the sound of many cars revving up and carefully eased her own vehicle forwards, steering away from the bulk of the other cars.
When she had pulled up a ways, over to the shoulder, Linney snapped the car off and stepped out, pleased to see everyone else had been able to get out the way too. She felt a surge of hope as she walked away from her car, along the shoulder, towards the road; they might be able to make it to Atlanta faster if they were able to clear accidents this quickly. The momentary thought of an inviting refugee centre had her pleasantly distracted.
So, when she passed one of the crashed cars and tripped over something that was sticking out from behind it, she had no time to grab a weapon, as her hands shot out to keep her head from colliding with the pavement. Scraping her palms against the pavement made her cry out, and she wasted no time looking behind herself, over her shoulder. She was just in time to see a tall figure unfold from the shadows behind the car she'd just passed.
And it moved quickly straight for her.