Chapter 10: Wildfire Part 1
Everyone worked through the night, while the kids and women got some sleep. I worked with the men, although a few of them mostly tried to avoid me. After what happened the night before, I don't blame them. Ronnie and Matt also helped out. They had told me the night before that Ronnie had saved Shane, Lori, and Carl while shifted, and Matt had saved Carol and Sophia; just great. Rick and Daryl seemed to be the only two people that were okay with being around Ronnie, Matt, and I. Although, before going to bed, Carol and Sophia were okay with being around Matt.
Rick had pulled me to the side away from the others, to discuss something, halfway through the night. He had wanted to know where I stood with my family, and I told him that I was their Alpha. Rick told me that he wanted to have a meeting in the morning to explain to everyone what we were. I was a little hesitant, but he explained that letting them know that we weren't going to harm anyone would make them feel a little at ease. I was very unsure about this plan, but I eventually agreed.
When we went back to the others, I pulled Ronnie and Matt aside to tell them the plan. They didn't exactly like the idea either, but they trusted me and agreed. So, we continued working through the camp. Daryl and I each had a pickax, and put it through each walkers head. Then two people would come up behind us, pick up the bodies, and take them to the front of the camp to be burned.
We had almost gotten through all the walkers when Rick called us over for the meeting. We all gathered around a campfire pit, and it was obvious that everyone was nervous and on edge. Lori and Carl were next to Rick on his left, while Dale, Carol, and Sophia were on his right. Morales and his family were next to Lori and Carl, and Shane and Jackie were next to Carol and Sophia. I sat on the other side of the pit across from Rick. I had Abby with Alex and Leah on my left, and Ronnie and Matt on my right. Daryl stood in between Jacqui and Matt, and Jim stood between Morales and Alex.
"Now, I asked you all here to discuss something that happened last night," Rick began. "Mainly what you all discovered about Gale and her family."
Everyone turned to me nervously. I was sitting in a chair with my elbows resting on my knees. I looked Rick in the eye, and when he nodded at me, I sighed. "Rick wants me to explain what we are, since ya'll found that we aren't exactly human," I started. "My family and I are werewolves, with the exception of Alex and Leah."
Everyone stared wide eyed at us, except Rick, Daryl, and Shane. Shane was glaring at us, and I heard him mutter, "Freaks" under his breath.
"I would appreciate it if you didn't call us that Shane," I said, calling him out on it. Everyone turned their attention to Shane, and he looked surprised, and then looked around the circle in embarrassment.
"You see," I explained. "Being werewolves, we each have heightened senses, which includes greater hearing. So, muttering under your breath won't help. To answer the main question, can we turn into actual wolves? Matt, Ronnie, and Abby cannot, but I can. I am the Alpha of our family at the moment, while these three are Betas. They will listen to what I say, and only what I say." I stopped talking to let it all sink in.
After a moment, Morales spoke up. "Will you hurt anyone of us?"
I figured someone would ask that, and I shook my head. "Before the world went to hell, werewolves were forbidden from taking the life of humans. Even hurting a human is an offense, because that exposes us. Those are rules that I intend to keep."
Morales seemed to think about this, and relaxed somewhat, nodding.
Lori was the next to speak up. "What did you mean by the exception of Alex and Leah? Are they not werewolves?"
Again, I shook my head. "Born werewolves are not determined until puberty. Since neither of them has reached puberty yet, they are still human."
Lori let out a heavy sigh, and nodded with a slight smile on her face. I gave a small smile in return. 'She must have been worried for Carl,' I thought.
"Why didn't you all tell us when you got here?" Shane accused.
I looked over to my family, and saw them look down in shame. I sighed again. "Like I said before, we were not allowed to expose ourselves. And what exactly would you have done if they did tell you?" I snapped at him and Shane looked down. "I know for a fact that if they had not been here, most of you would have become victims of last night's attack.
"As for me," I said. "The last group I was with tried to take my head off when I told them." That make everyone look at me in surprise, and I saw Daryl frown out of the corner of my eye. "I was careful after that, but I did tell Rick when it was absolutely necessary." When everyone looked at him in shock, I intervened. "Do not blame him for not tellin' ya'll. I had made him promise that he wouldn't tell anyone, even if we found his family."
Everyone was quiet as they let all the information sink in. Then Carol decided to speak up. "If one of you bites us, will we turn into werewolves?"
I looked at her, and shook my head once again. "Only an Alpha can give the Bite to someone, and it must be deliberate in order for it to change someone."
Carol then nodded in understanding.
*What Walks the Earth*
Everyone went back to what they were doing. Morales, Jim, Jacqui, Daryl, T-Dog, Glenn, Ronnie, Matt, and I kept working on the walkers, while the others rested. I paused what I was doing while T-Dog and Glenn dragged away the walker's body, and looked towards the RV. In front of the RV, was Andrea sitting over the body of her sister Amy. She had been there all night and hadn't moved. Lori was trying to get her to let us take Amy's body, but Andrea didn't even acknowledge Lori's presence.
I sighed and went back to work. Rick had gone off to call the man that had saved him, so he wasn't here right now. Ronnie, Matt, Abby, and I were keeping our ears open and trained on around the forest. Right now, Abby was on top of the RV keeping a lookout for walkers. Carol was looking after Alex and Leah.
I looked towards the road when I heard someone approaching the camp, and watched as Rick came out of the forest and into view. I smiled at him and continued to put an axe in body's heads. My head snapped up and in the direction of the RV when I heard the click of a hand gun, and found Rick was halfway crouched next to Andrea. Andrea didn't look to happy to see him, and once again had her Ladysmith stuck in his face.
"I know how the safety works," I heard her whisper threateningly to Rick.
"I'm sorry," Rick whispered. He said it a couple more times as he backed up, and Andrea put her gun away before turning her attention back to her sister's body.
I moved to where Rick, Lori, Shane, and a few others were sitting around. Daryl also walked over to where they were. "Y'all can't be serious," he scoffed. "Let that girl hamstring us? The dead girl's a time bomb."
"What do you suggest?" Rick asked tiredly.
Daryl took a step closer to Rick. "Take the shot," he proposed, aiming at Amy with his hands. "Clean, in the brain, from here. Hell, I can hit a turkey between the eyes from this distance."
"No," Lori disputed. "For God's sake, let her be."
Lori sat down and I turned to look at Andrea. I couldn't help but feel for the young woman. Lifting my gaze up to the roof of the RV, I looked at Abby carefully. She was healthy and alive. Turning my gaze back to Andrea, I made a decision, and began to make my way over to where the blonde sat over her sister.
"Hey, where you goin'?" I heard Daryl call after me, but I just ignored him.
I walked over and sat down next to Andrea, next to Amy's head. Andrea looked over to me shocked and suspicious of why I was over here. "I just came to talk to you," I told her. She didn't look convinced, but looked back to her sister anyway. "You don't have to say anything, but I want you to listen to me, okay?"
I didn't get a response, which I knew I wasn't going to get one. I could tell that the others were listening in to what I was saying, because no other noise could be heard. I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, I was about to tell her some things that only a few people knew.
"I understand what you're going through," I told her. "Making someone the center of your world, and then to have them taken away from you; it hurts, more than a physical wound does."
I paused when I saw that she was looking at me from the corner of her eyes, so I kept going. "Growing up, my father never really liked me. He was harder on me than he was on the rest of my siblings. But all I really cared about were my younger siblings. You know, making sure they did their homework, or going to bed on time. I made them my reason to keep going.
"The day I turned eighteen though, that's when it all changed. My father threw me out of the house, with all my clothes and all my other possessions. He even got a moving van to haul all of my things to an apartment. Now, on the outside, that was great, but he told me that I was never to set foot on their property or see any of my siblings ever again. And if I did, then he would shoot me. It was a month later that I was recruited by the Marines.
"At first, I was cold, only followed the rules, and didn't talk to anyone unless addressed by my superiors. But after awhile, I started to open up. I think it was because Marine units are like their own little families, and before long, I had made them my world. Then the world had to go to hell."
I heard a quiet snort come from Andrea as a laugh, and I smiled a little then looked up at the sky. "I became a part of a group of survivors that I saved in my neighborhood. There was this teenage girl, Rebecca, who had lost her parents in a car crash the week before everything went to shit. I guess that she looked up to me, because she would constantly ask me to teach her things. She was like a younger sister to me.
"When we got attacked, she ended up getting bit. Rebecca went through so much pain and agony, and sometimes I wish that she had bled out instead." Andrea's head shot up to look at me in shock, and I decided to explain. "That way she wouldn't have had to go through the pain of slowly dying. When someone gets bit, the fever the bite creates slowly eats away at their body and their mind.
"Rebecca would become delusional and would think that I was her mom sometimes. Other times, she would be crying because of the heat and pain going through her body." Andrea looked down at Amy's face again, this time with a thoughtful expression. "There were times when she was fully aware of her surroundings, and she told me once that when she turned, she wanted me to kill her. And I wanted to do it.
"Because I considered her my family, and I wanted to be the one to do it instead of someone else doing it. So, I did. When Rebecca died and came back, I was the one to shoot her in the head." I put my hand on Andrea's shoulder which made her look at me, and I looked her directly in the eyes. "I would never wish this position on anyone because I know the pain it puts you through, but here you are.
"If you don't want someone else to shoot her, then be the big sister and don't let her suffer anymore." With that, I stood up, and I was about to walk away when Andrea's voice stopped me.
"Did you mourn her?" she whispered in a hoarse voice. "Did you feel like you should be in her place?"
I looked down at her. "Every day," I whispered, and Andrea looked up at me to see the sadness, the regret, and the determination in my eyes as I looked at Amy's face. "But wishing that I had died in her place wouldn't honor her memory. It wouldn't be what she would want for me. Rebecca was always telling me that I would find my family, and always encouraged me to do so. So, when the others cast me out, I left to find them.
"Now, you have two decisions to make. One, you let someone else finish her off or you can do it yourself. And two, you can either live in her memory or stop fighting all together. Your choice." Then I walked away. I picked up my pick axe that I had dropped, and then looked around at everyone that was staring at me.
I looked at Rick, and his eyes held sympathy and pity. I sighed. "I don't need anyone's pity, and I certainly don't want it," I told them, and looked at Rick again. "She knows what needs to be done." I then looked at Daryl with a hard expression. "Andrea will do what has to be done, but in her own time. Give her a chance to say goodbye her own way."
Daryl held my gaze for a while, before scoffing, which to everyone else he was disagreeing with me. But, his eyes held respect and understanding in them, and not just for my decision. He then walked away to see that Morales was having trouble with one of the bodies, and started to help him drag it towards the burn pile.
"What are you guys doing?" Glenn demanded. "This is for geeks. Our people go over there."
"What's the difference?" Daryl snapped. "They're all infected."
"Our people go in that row over there," Glenn told them adamantly. Morales and Daryl turned to look at him, dropping the body. "We don't burn them! We bury them. Understand? Our people go in that row over there."
Daryl and Morales grabbed the body again and dragged it to the row of people we lost. "You reap what you sow!" Daryl exclaimed.
"You know what? Shut up, man," I heard Morales tell him.
"Y'all left my brother for dead," Daryl called out. "You had this coming." Daryl's eyes met mine and he quickly looked away, finding the pick axe he dropped when he helped Morales.
I kept working until I heard Jacqui yell out to the rest of us. "A walker got him. A walker bit Jim."
I immediately looked towards him, and sniffed the air while walking towards him. Underneath the smell of death and burning flesh, I could smell fresh blood on Jim. I could also smell his fear rising, as well as his heart beat. Everyone began to circle him, and that only made his heart rate rise even more. Jim began to repeat "I'm okay" over and over again.
"Show it to us," Daryl demanded.
In response, Jim picked us a shovel from behind him, and held it defensively in front of him. At that, both Shane and Daryl started to shout at him; Shane shouting for him to put the shovel down, and Daryl shouting for someone to grab him. T-Dog came up from behind Jim and grabbed both of his arms, making him drop the shovel. Daryl came up and lifted up the front of Jim's shirt, showing the full dental impression of the bite on Jim's left side. Just as quickly, Daryl let go of his shirt and backed away like he would get infected by just touching him.
Jim fell to his knees when T-Dog let go of him, still muttering that he was okay. I looked around seeing that everyone was just standing there staring at Jim, and I sighed. Putting down my pick axe, I walked up to where Jim sat on his knees. I placed the back of my left hand to his forehead where there was a steady heat coming off his skin; all the excitement seemed to get the fever going. Sighing again, I grabbed Jim's upper left arm, and lifted him easily to his feet.
"What are you gonna do?" he asked, frightened by my actions.
I simply gave him a friendly smile. "I'm making sure that you get some shade," I told him, leading him towards the back of the RV. "Don't want you to pass out from overworking yourself, now do we?"
I sat him on a crate in the shade of the RV, telling him to relax, and then turned to make my way over to where everyone was in a circle. I stepped in next to Daryl.
"How is he?" Rick asked in concern.
I shook my head. "All of the earlier excitement seems to have kick started the fever. It's growing slowly, but steadily."
Rick looked down, thinking.
"I say we put a pickaxe in his head and the dead girl's and be done with it," Daryl commented.
"Is that what you would want, if it were you?" Shane snapped.
"Yeah, and I'd thank you while you did it," Daryl replied coolly.
"I hate to say it," Dale said. "I never thought I would—but maybe Daryl's right."
"Jim's not a monster, Dale," Rick argued. "Or some rabid dog."
"I'm not suggesting—," he tried but Rick cut him off.
"He's a sick—a sick man," Rick said sternly. "We start down that road, where do we draw the line?"
"The line's pretty clear," Daryl spat. "Zero tolerance for walkers or them to be."
"What if we can get him help?" Rick pleaded. "Gale, can't you bite him?"
I looked into his weary, pleading eyes, but I could only shake my head at him. "I had tried it with Rebecca when she got bit. Her body was already breaking down, and it just put more stress on her body. It didn't help any."
Rick looked down again. "I heard the CDC was workin' on a cure."
"I heard that too," Shane said. "Heard a lot of things before the world went to hell."
"What if the CDC is still up and runnin'?"
"Man, that is a stretch right there."
"Why? If there's any government left, any structure at all, they'd protect the CDC at all costs, wouldn't they?" When no one moved to agree with him, he turned to me. "Gale, you were with the Marines. What do you think?"
I could tell that he was hoping that I would agree with him. "I doubt that there's anything left of the government. But, the military would protect the CDC at all costs. There could still be a cordon there."
Rick gave me a grateful smile. "It's our best shot," he continued. "Shelter, protection—"
"Okay, Rick, you want all those things, all right?" Shane tried to reason with him. "I do too, okay? Now, if they exist, they'd be at the army base, Fort Benning." He then looked to me. "Am I right?"
I thought about it for a second. "It is possible," I finally answered. "But that's one hundred miles in the opposite direction."
"But it's away from the hot zone," Shane argued. "Now, tell me it isn't a good idea."
"It would be heavily armed," I sighed. "And we would be safe."
"The military were on the front lines of this thing," Rick reminded Shane. "They got overrun. We have all seen that. The CDC is our best choice, and Jim's only chance."
I could smell anger rise from Daryl next to me, and I looked over at him to see him looking at Jim. Instantly, I got a bad feeling. Daryl seemed like the type to take things into his own hands, and he was already angry enough with this group for what happened with his brother.
"You go lookin' for Aspirin, do what you need to," Daryl said, starting to move towards Jim. "Someone needs to have some balls to take care of this damn problem!"
"Hey!" Rick yelled after him, but he was ignored.
I used my speed to get in between Jim and Daryl, and I drew my CZ75 handgun. I had Jim behind me and Daryl in front of me, pickaxe raised behind his head. My handgun was pressed against his forehead, and Daryl looked at me in surprise. I could feel my eyes glow red as I glared at Daryl. A low growl ripped though my throat, and Daryl's eyes widened.
"We don't kill the living," I growled in a deep voice.
Daryl seemed to compose himself enough to speak. "That's funny, comin' from a girl holdin' a gun to my head."
"Would you have listened to me otherwise?" I questioned, my voice normal, but my eyes were still glowing. "Now, put it down."
Daryl hesitated when I removed the gun from his head, but he slowly put the pickaxe on the ground. When it was all the way on the ground, I put the safety back on my gun, and put it back in its holster. Daryl stood there staring at me as my eyes turned back to their normal color, before he turned and stalked away. I could have sworn that I saw his cheeks turn red a little, and I know that I heard his heart beat skip and rise. I shook my head to get rid of the thoughts that were forming in my head.
Now that the threat was gone, Rick walked past me, and grabbed Jim. "Come with me."
"Where're you taking me?" Jim asked worried.
"Somewhere safe."
