Another chapter and episode complete. I focused more on Marlie for this one, doing practically the entire chapter in her perspective. Yeah, most of the chapters are like that anyway, but...well...just read on. :) I apologize for not posting this yesterday, but I took an unofficial break from writing anything all day. It was hard, because I had so many one shot ideas for all kinds of things, but I restrained myself. it ended up being kinda nice. Anyway, without further delay, here is another chapter! Comment, enjoy, be happy. :)
DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. However, Marlie is of my own creation, so no stealing this sassy woman, please. :P
Necessary Knowledge to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse
Chapter Ten: Look Forward to the Good Days; They Do Exist
The next forty-eight hours proved fruitful for everyone. At least, almost everyone. The wound on Daryl's side had been treated quickly enough to prevent infection. Already, he had been feeling well enough to move out of Hershel's home and into a tent that Marlie had situated for him.
Carl was on his feet again, too, but was kept under close watch from both of his parents. After several, gut-wrenching days, he was finally out of the woods.
The rest of the group helped around the ranch and tidied up the little camp sight that they had dubbed as their own, positioned comfortably beneath several shady trees.
But Marlie was the least happy of them all. Sure, Daryl was feeling better and looking better, too, but there was still Andrea to deal with. The bitch had shot Daryl Dixon and there was no way in hell that that little incident was going to slide. It didn't matter that the blonde had missed or that Daryl was still alive. All she knew was that if Andrea stepped one foot too close, Marlie was going to snap.
"You're sexy when you're mad, did ya know that?"
Marlie was filling a plastic bottle with water beside Daryl's makeshift bed and her shoulders slumped at his statement.
"Seriously, though, Andrea was just lookin' out for the group."
Sighing, Marlie distracted herself by watching the hunter poke holes in the plastic window of the tent. "She shot you."
"I ain't dead."
"But she shot you."
Daryl sat up. "She grazed me."
"Why are you sticking up for her?" Marlie snapped, confused. "She shot you! If she had just stopped being cocky for one minute and let Rick and Shane deal with it, then you I wouldn't hate her so much." She stood up quickly and walked towards the tent's exit, no longer wanting to talk about it about anymore. She needed another distraction and watching Daryl stab holes into things wasn't cutting it for her.
"Where you goin'?" he asked, putting the arrow down.
Turning, Marlie answered, "I'm gonna look for that cat."
He snorted. "Whatever. Just don't go pickin' a fight."
"No promises," Marlie mumbled when she was out of the tent. Of course she wasn't going to storm after Andrea. The bitch was learning how to properly use a gun now and for all Marlie knew, she'd get shot next if she confronted the blonde woman. So she set out to do exactly what she'd told Daryl—look for the barn cat that he'd seen a few days prior.
A familiar voice caught up to her before she could even leave the cool shade of camp. "Hey, Marlie!"
She inhaled deeply at the sound of Rick's voice and her pace quickened when he hurried up beside her.
"Wait," he said calmly, but reluctantly stepped in front of the young woman when she didn't bother slowing down for him. "Could you stop for a sec?"
A drop of sweat fell into one of Marlie's blue eyes and she rubbed it away while she impatiently waited for Rick to speak. It wasn't like she was angry with him or anything; Marlie just knew the reason he was confronting her. "If it's about Andrea, I don't want to talk about it."
"It is about Andrea and you will listen," the deputy said sternly, pointing a finger at Marlie.
She straightened her shoulders, sensing the assertive tone in Rick's voice.
Rubbing his neck, the officer said, "Now I know you're mad about what happened to Daryl and you have a right to be, but it was an accident. Andrea's apologizin' to him right now and—"
Marlie's head whipped around. Sure enough, Andrea was poking her blonde head into Daryl's tent. Something bit at the edges of Marlie's heart like a venomous snake. She had never been so pissed in her entire life. When a hand fell onto her shoulder, she spun back around to give Rick an unsatisfied expression.
He sighed. "She's wants to apologize to you, too, Marlie. You best let her."
"Yeah, well, maybe when the pigs start flying I'll consider it." Her arms crossed over her chest as she glanced back over at the tent.
Rick shook his head. "Not good enough. She—"
"Shot Daryl," Marlie finished with a bite. "I don't care that she wants to say 'sorry'. Honestly, I don't. I'll be calmer once I have some time alone. In the meantime, please keep Andrea away from me. I can't promise that I'll be able to control myself if she gets too close." Every word was the complete and utter truth. Marlie knew, without a doubt, that something bad would happen if Andrea tried to approach her before she had the proper amount of cool down time.
In a stern voice, Rick asserted, "Don't do somethin' you'll regret, Marlie. I will restrain you if I have to."
She snorted humorlessly. "Whatever."
"I'm serious," he added, slightly irritated. It wasn't like Marlie to make threats against other people; listening to her now worried him. It wasn't that difficult to see that she and Daryl had a thing between them and that both would stop at nothing to protect each other. But that wouldn't excuse any negative actions that might take place later on between Marlie and Andrea. He wasn't about to let members of his group fight over something that could have been. After all, Daryl was alive and getting better every hour. What was there to be angry about?
Marlie sighed. "Please, Rick," she practically begged. "Keep Andrea away from me. Please."
The officer rubbed the bridge of his nose stressfully. "Fine," he finally said. "Fine, but don't go lookin' for trouble. You hear?"
The young woman nodded. Her path was unblocked a moment later and she carried on towards the stables in search of the feline that Daryl had mentioned a few days ago.
But almost as if to say that her patience could still be tried, Hershel crossed paths with Marlie before she could make it to the horse stables. He wore the same stiff face, like always, and it irritated Marlie further.
"What do you need in the barn?" he asked curiously.
Marlie gulped. The last she wanted was to get in trouble again. Her brain was already wracked with other worries and concerns. "Daryl said he saw a cat in there. I was just going to go look for it." She faked an innocent smile.
"Cat, huh? Was she sleepin' in the hay?"
The young woman nodded, recalling where Daryl had said he'd seen it. "Is it yours?"
Hershel shook his head. "No. Just a stray that wandered into the stables earlier this summer. Sleeps in the hay, catches mice around the property, leaves the chickens alone. She's a good cat."
Finally, something nice to think about, Marlie mused. Her favorite animal, on the farm, safe and apparently very content.
"If you're headin' out that way, then why don't you put a bale of hay in each stable for the horses?"
Marlie thought she noticed a hint of favor-asking in his tone. Somehow, it made her feel worthy, like she was earning her keep and gaining the old man's trust back. With a genuine grin, she said, "Yeah, no problem."
"And don't forget to put some in Nelly and Abacus's stalls," Hershel added, adjusting his sun-blocking, farmer's hat.
Marlie's brows wrinkled.
"They'll be back. They know the way home." He turned away then and headed back to the house.
Her blue gaze followed the sundrenched tree line along Mr. Greene's property, almost hoping that the two "borrowed' horses would come trotting back. She wondered if that's what they'd really do. They were fast on their feet, so outrunning a couple of walkers wouldn't be too difficult. Maybe they'd make it back okay.
The stable barn was typical of any other Marlie had ever seen. The building smelled of wood and horse manure. Dust particles tickled her nose and she sneezed loudly before she was even two steps in. It startled a couple of the horses, but they recovered quickly and trotted up to their gates, silently begging Marlie for food.
She reached up to a brown steed's stall and gently stroked its long snout. "Hungry?" she asked with a small smile. Behind her were several loads of hay piled onto each other into a metal crate. But Marlie found no cat resting there. With a shrug, she realized that it actually didn't matter to her whether or not the feline was around. She'd been given a new task of feeding the horses, something she was skilled at and happy to do, and she quickly forgot about the cat.
When every horse had a bale of hay, including the two missing steeds, Marlie moved onto replacing their buckets of water. The pales were heavy, but the animals had to drink. By the time she had dumped out every water bucket and put them back, filled and fresh from the well, every muscle in Marlie's arms was burning. Sweat dribbled down her face and back like a leaking faucet. Hay dust and dirt stuck to every part her and mused at how lovely a shower would feel right then.
Giving one last pat to each of the horses, Marlie headed out of the barn. A frail little meow spun her around. High up on one of the stable's rafters walked a petite kitty with calico coloration. Marlie smiled, more glad than she thought she'd be at the sight of the cat. "Come here, kitty kitty," she called in a kind voice.
With a squeak, the feline bounced between the many wooden beams, onto a stall gate, and finally onto the concrete floor. Her tail was high and swishing lightly as she trotted up beside the young woman standing there. There was a hesitance as she approached, but was otherwise unafraid.
"Are you a nice cat?" Marlie asked, feeling a little silly speaking to a cat. Then again, nobody else was around and she doubted that the horses would care. Crouching down slowly, Marlie reached out to the calico, whose golden yellow eyes stared back shyly. She made kissy noises to further attract the animal.
But the cat wasn't in the mood to be pet. She backed away from Marlie, meowed loudly, and watched as the woman shrugged and stood up.
"Alright, you know where to find me if you change your mind." She rolled her eyes at herself for having just spoken to a cat as though it was a person. It was better than nothing, though. And the horses were too interested in feasting and drinking to provide any kind of conversation for Marlie, so that feline had most certainly been better than nothing at all.
Waving stupidly, Marlie left the barn and wandered into the warm sun. She wondered how long she'd been in there, since the sun was already at the other side of the clear sky. Hours, Marlie realized. But every second had been worth it. She had possibly earned back some trust from Hershel by taking care of the horses, the fiery anger built up inside had dwindled to a dull flame, and now she was going to go spend the rest of the day with Daryl, who certainly wouldn't mind the company.
And for a moment, it was as though Marlie had no reason to be upset with Andrea. For a moment, they were on good terms. But then her name was called and Marlie recognized the voice instantly. There was a slim figure approaching quickly and Marlie brought a hand up to her forehead to get the sun out of her eyes. She frowned deeply at the sight of the blonde. Already, the stitches in her temple were beginning to pound.
"Marlie, hey," the blonde woman said kindly, stopping in front of Marlie.
Growing irritated with the fact that everyone felt the need to step in front of her all the time, Marlie weaved around the other woman impatiently.
Andrea was beside her in an instant. "Hey, I know how you must be feeling."
"No you don't," Marlie muttered, still frowning.
"Well, I can imagine it."
She snorted and shook her head. "I really don't feel like talking right now, Andrea." Even the woman's name set her off.
Andrea didn't care, though. She crossed paths with Marlie a second time and refused to let her pass. "Will you just listen to me?"
"Do I have to?" Marlie asked sarcastically, the fire in her heart returning even hotter than before. "Because I'm thirsty and I want to get back to camp."
Without hesitation, the blonde woman handed Marlie a water bottle.
"I don't want your water, Andrea." She tried to step around again, only to be further blocked. Marlie closed her eyes and breathed deeply, an attempt to calm herself down.
"I want to apologize."
"And I told Rick to keep you away from me."
Andrea nodded. "Yeah, he told me. But I'm still gonna apologize." Her slender hands went to her hips and she cocked her head slightly.
Marlie's arms folded over themselves, waiting. "Well?"
"I'm sorry."
"Great. I'm leaving now."
"No!" Andrea said, a little too loudly for her own liking. Her hand went up to Marlie's chest to prevent her from escaping. "I said I was sorry. What else do you want from me?"
"I want you to not touch me, for one." Marlie glared into Andrea's eyes until she finally lowered her hand. "Secondly, I think you should let Rick and Shane carry the guns from now on. You obviously haven't figured out how to use one properly." There was a venom in her words that, for a moment, she regretted. But only for a moment. Andrea deserved Marlie's harsh words.
Andrea looked at the younger woman with brows furrowed and a disgusted expression etched into her mouth. "I know exactly how to use a gun. If the sun hadn't been in my face, I coulda aimed better."
"Really? And you still would have pulled the trigger on Daryl?"
"You know I wouldn't," Andrea huffed, slightly irritated. "If you don't wanna accept my apology, then don't. Daryl did; I just thought you'd do the same."
Her fists clenched at the sound of the hunter's name. "No, I don't have to accept anything from you. I don't have to forgive you right now and I certainly don't have to talk to you." God! She just wanted to walk away and go scream into a pillow and wait until nightfall when she could snuggle up close to Daryl's warm body and fall asleep to the sound of his heartbeat. That sounded so wonderful, but Andrea was preventing her from doing anything. It was getting beyond frustrating.
"You don't have to be a bitch about it. It's not like I killed him."
Her fists squeezed tightly until her nails cut into her naked palms. Through gritted teeth, Marlie locked eyes with Andrea and suggested, "Don't quit your day job, Andrea; stick with washing clothes." The conversation was over and Marlie decided that it was time to remove herself from Andrea's presence before something bad happened.
It didn't matter; Andrea's fist connected with Marlie's cheek and slid over it painfully. It wasn't a direct hit, which saved the blonde's hand from getting broken, but it was enough for retaliation.
Marlie's head snapped to the side from the impact, but her own fist was up a moment later. She threw her tired left arm forward and connected her center knuckle to Andrea's eye. Luckily for the blonde, Marlie had used up most of her strength to tend to the horses, weakening the punch enough to keep her own hand in one piece, although her knuckles would definitely be bruised.
Both women stumbled back, breathing heavily as Rick and Shane and several other witnesses swiftly made their way over to them.
Something strange happened to Marlie then. Instead of rushing Andrea for another punch—or visa versa—Marlie hung back and caught her breath. She could feel the familiar sensation of blood rolling down her left cheek. There was a painful pulse where she placed her finger on the cut. It stung against the touch and she flinched, but otherwise, she felt good. Not angry, not furious, not regretful. Marlie was surprised to feel peaceful. It was like all of her unhappiness towards Andrea had gone along with the punch and now that it was over, all of those negative feelings went away with it.
And Andrea had the same sensation. She was panting at the adrenaline that had accompanied the attack, but she was calmer than she had been all day.
"Marlie!" Rick shouted.
She cocked a brow at him. The fight was over and that was that. Submissively, Marlie raised her hands to show that she was finished. Much to her surprise, Andrea did the same. Marlie cringed at the woman's face, now that there was a swollen shiner growing rapidly around Andrea's right eye.
Rick was quick to step between the two women, who suddenly appeared to be okay. "I told you both to play nice," he growled, frowning deeply.
"What the hell is goin' on?" Shane took a step forward.
Behind them, back in the camp, Marlie watched Daryl emerge from the tent and make eye contact with her. She shifted uncomfortably beneath his gaze and turned away. Sighing, Marlie said coolly, "We had a…scuffle," eyeing Andrea calmly, without the fiery gaze that she held earlier. "But it's over."
"Definitely over. It's nothin' to worry about, Rick."
The officer eyed the two curiously, brows furrowed in confusion. He tilted his head slightly at Marlie, hardly believing that everything was suddenly alright.
"Well how do we know that you two ain't just gonna swing around and 'scuffle' again?" Shane asked, disbelievingly.
"Because we said we won't," Andrea answered immediately, glancing over at Marlie as if nothing had happened.
Rick sighed and shook her head. "I don't quite understand this new peace between you two, but as long as no more fists fly, you can go." He stepped aside and nodded at Shane and T-Dog, who were blocking the two women from leaving freely. "Get your faces looked at by Hershel some time today, please."
No one said anything more.
With a calm feeling nestling itself deep into her stomach, Marlie walked back to her tent with Andrea following behind her. They were quiet, but it wasn't an uncomfortable silence. Just peaceful. Marlie smiled crookedly at Daryl, whose brows wrinkled slightly.
Andrea nodded to them both before disappearing into the RV to get ready to join Shane on a Sophia-hunting expedition.
The rest of the camp watched them before losing interest and carrying on with the day's chores.
"What happened?" Daryl asked when Andrea was gone. He brushed a finger beneath the cut on her cheek with extreme gentleness.
Marlie shrugged. "Andrea and I exchanged words and then fists, but I think we're on good terms now."
"How did that happen?"
"Not exactly sure, but I'm okay with it. I hate having enemies."
Daryl nodded slowly. "It was an accident, you know."
She frowned slightly. "Yeah, I know. But it was the thought of almost losing you that just…I don't know…it set me off." It was strange, really, because Marlie had always considered herself a passive soul, choosing words over violence any day. But she had also never been so mad in her entire life. She'd only punched one other person before and that had been back in third grade when she was sticking up for a bullied friend.
Daryl sighed and kissed her forehead. "Well, I'm still around, but I told her that if she shot me again, she best hope I'm dead."
There was a silly little grin on his face that melted Marlie inside and made her forget about anything bad that had happened the last few days. After all, there was so much to be happy about. Daryl was recovering, she'd made amends with Andrea, and was possibly on good terms again with Hershel.
Almost as a sign that things could continue to get better, Marlie heard the telltale sign of heavy footfalls. She broke away from Daryl to look beyond the camp. "Daryl," she breathed with a growing smile. "Guess whose back?"
With curiosity, Daryl followed Marlie's blue gaze and saw two horses galloping out from the woods and happily making their way around the field towards the stable barn. "Well I'll be damned."
"Hershel said they'd find their way home. I would go welcome them back, but I have a feeling they hate us now."
Daryl shook his head and laughed, flinching when the pain in his side acted up. "I was hoping they'd be long gone, the fuzzy bastards."
The young woman beside him giggled. "Outta the country, right?" she asked, using Daryl's words from a couple of nights before.
He nodded. "Yeah."
"And I found the cat, by the way. She was in the barn, watching me feed and water the horses. A pretty little calico with no name."
"Hershel's?"
"Nope. Just a stray. Kind of shy and vocal."
Daryl smirked and turned to Marlie. "You wanna get that checked out?" he asked, indicating the cut on her face.
"Nah," Marlie replied simply. She wiped away the blood that had dribbled down her cheek and winced slightly when her hand touched the wound. She'd clean it out and smack a Band-Aid on it. "I can handle a scratch."
"Alright," he stated reluctantly. "So what are your plans for the rest of the day?"
Marlie cocked a brow at him.
"Any plans for tonight?"
She knew what he was hinting at, but with a heavy heart, Marlie said, "You were shot a couple days ago, Daryl, and stabbed with an arrow. I think you're gonna need to rest a little while longer before…you know." It killed a little piece of her to say that, because honestly, Marlie had one hell of a night back at the CDC, when she and Daryl had been drunk and allowed crazy things to happen. She wanted more crazy things to happen, especially now that there were condoms! But he was still too weak, still too hurt to do a whole lot of anything. That being said, there were no rules against shower sharing.
When Daryl's face fell a little, Marlie added, "But I'm going to need to get cleaned up at some point today." There was a clever grin on her faces as she looked up at Daryl.
He returned the smile with his own and nodded. "After dinner, would you say?"
Marlie shook her head. "Before, or else everyone's going to loose their appetite with me at the table," she joked.
Daryl smirked. "If I say yes, will ya get your face looked at by Hershel? It could get infected."
Since when did anybody care about a tiny little scrape, Daryl least of all? He had been speared by his own arrow, grazed by a bullet, and hit his head during his initial fall back in the woods. What had Marlie gone through? I bumped head and now a punched cheek. Awesome. Daryl just had this ridiculously irresistible caring part of him that wanted to be sure that she was never not okay. A cut cheek wasn't merely a scratch for him. It was a painful abrasion that needed to be treated so that Marlie wouldn't have to suffer any more. It was one of many things she had easily grown to love about him.
"Fine," she gave in with a sigh. "I'm going to go put Frick and Frack back in their stalls." When Daryl raised a fuzzy brown brow, Marlie shook her head. "I know they hate us, but there's fresh hay and water and Hershel might not be so willing to ring my neck if I get his horses back in their place."
Daryl chuckled. "I'll help."
"Yeah right," Marlie mused. "Get back in the tent and rest. Seriously."
"I've been stuck in that tent all day. I'm coming with you." And that was final. He accompanied Marlie to the stables where, not unexpectedly, awaited Abacus and Nervous Nelly. "No hard feelin's?" the hunter asked quietly, stroking Nelly's snout.
The animal snorted, but otherwise remained calm as Daryl led him into the stall.
A couple of more chapters and this half of the season will be complete! I'll have a lot of one shots and nice little scenes between Daryl and Marlie popping up occasionally after I'm finished with this story, because I cannot just stop writing about this couple. Until then, enjoy what's left of this fic and comment comment comment, my dear readers! :D