I do not own, nor do I profit from anything having to do with "The Walking Dead, be it TV show, or comics. I am writing this for personal reasons only.
Huge thanx go out to each and every person who has started following this story, or commented, you all rock! This is a prettylong chapter, and covers a lot of ground, enjoy!
In the Nick of Time
Chapter 11 Revised
Gaelynn woke to the sounds of someone moving around outside
the small tent. She poked her head out to discover Daryl working
hard to erase every trace that there had been a campsite in this area. 'Maybe he was telling the truth about not wanting Merle to be able
to track them.' she thought to herself. He had also kept his work
as far as 'Keeping his hands to himself' went as well. If he had
wanted to hurt her, he had his chance when she passed out from complete exhaustion. She would try to cut him some slack as far
as her bitching went, but she would keep her guard up.
She crawled out and said "Morning." Not 'Good morning' just
morning. She was not ready to be BFF's with this redneck hick
just yet and wanted him to know as much.
He turned and looked at her for a moment, gave her a curt nod
and went back to work.
"Ain't nothin to eat for breakfast if that is what's on your mind.
Best that we just get a start on the walk back to the farm as soon
as possible. Merle will be figuring out that his plans ain't working
out like he'd hoped. He will be able to track us this far. "Daryl
warned.
"But I got my own way to a make sure he can't follow us any
further" he added.
Once he had everything of his campsite packed and ready, he turned
to her as she was picking up the two backpacks that were her responsibility, when Daryl asked "Can ya fit everything in one of
them?"
She dropped down to one knee and opened her pack, pressed down
as a hard as she could to push everything further towards the bottom, then picked up Tristan's pack and began to pull all the contents out.
She could not help but get a few tears in her eyes as she did this; he
had so few items to his name, this on top of everything else made
her loss more painful. But luckily, everything he owned fit down
inside her pack.
"I need ya to go stand over there, and stay still, don't be tramplin' around and shit, just stand in one place and wait fer me to finish up."
He instructed her almost harshly, as if she were a child that needed
have everything spelled out to her. She was slightly offended but
then again, he was the one that had to sleep on the ground with only
one blanket, so she cut him the slack she thought he needed.
"This is how we are gonna work this, you're gonna have ta climb
on my back and hold on tight, I ain't gonna be able to hold onto you,
my gear and this branch all the same time." He turned towards her
and he was right, his hands were full. He had put his backpack on backwards so that it covered his chest; his crossbow was hanging towards his right side rather than on his back as it normally did,
and in his hands he held a large tree branch.
As she stood where he told her to stand, he took the large branch and swept the whole campsite clean of tracks, his and hers. When he was finished, he moved backwards towards where she stood, covering the tracks he made as he approached her.
"Alright now, you need to hop up on my back and hang the fuck on"
he instructed.
She put the single pack on her back and hoisted herself onto his
back, wrapping her arms and legs around him as tightly as she dared,
not wanting to choke him. It was not easy to wrap her legs around
his waist with his backpack and crossbow in the way but she was not about to complain. She was amazed he thought he could carry her
for very long with all the weight of their gear on his back as well as having to force the large branch from side to side in order to obscure
his own steps as they set off, walking backwards, in the direction of what she guessed was the farm. She figured he might last about
half an hour at the most.
She was surprised it was almost two hours before he said he was
going to take a break. He was so much stronger and had so much
more stamina then she originally thought. This was not a man she wanted to ever piss off.
She eased herself off his back, taking it slowly, knowing he had
to be somewhat sore by now. He then took off his pack and collapsed
to the ground, groaning only slightly.
He pulled out his last bottle of water, took a long pull off of it then handed it to her saying, "Finish it if ye need too, we ain't too far
from the farm now".
She had a sudden thought and said "Can I ask you something?"
"You can ask all ya want, don't mean I gotta answer though" he
replied in return.
She hoped he was going to be less of a prick after they had arrived
at this farm he told her about and got to sleep in his own bed, he
sure was being a complete grouch since that morning. What she
didn't know was that at some point in the night, Daryl had woken
up, found he was having a hard time getting back to sleep, so he
decided to check on her, see if she was sleeping ok, he told himself.
He quietly moved closer to the little tent, she was laying in it feet
first so her head was at the end where the tent flaps were. There
was a great deal of moonlight that night allowing him to see her
features clearly.
She lay on her side, one arm tucked under her head, the other laying
out in front of her, her fingers clutching the blanket. She made a soft moaning sound, then a tiny whimper; she was having a nightmare it seemed. He wanted to wake her, to rescue her from the demons she faced in her sleep but that would mean she would know he had gotten that close to her as she slept. He could do nothing as he watched her struggle to escape whatever pursued her as she tried to sleep. After
only a few minutes her struggle ended and he could see her body,
and facial features relax. She was so damned pretty when she wasn't glaring or frowning at him. He watched her only for a few more moments before returning to his bed roll feeling like a creep for
looking at her when she was aware of it. That was so unlike him.
A few of the women back at the farm were sort of attractive, he
guessed, but he had never really given any of them a second thought. Not that they would have given him the time of day if he had.
What was it about this one that kept her in his thoughts? Fuck,
he needed his sleep, tomorrow was going to be hard enough on
him. He tried again to shake her from his mind, but that only led
to him remembering watching her while she dressed, that red set
of wings on her lean back, her thin but still shapely legs, as she
hurried to put on her clothes.
For whatever fucking reason, this girl got him stirred up in a way
no other female had and he didn't like it at all. He told himself it
was her fault; she had to be doing something to cause him to react
this way. She was start to pay for it tomorrow, in the morning, he
would start treating her like she was nothing, just a problem he
found he had to solve and once they reached the farm, she was
on her own. He would have nothing to do with her from then on.
He didn't need the distraction or the blue balls that came with
thinking about her too much.
Had she known all this, she would have realized why he was in
such a mood, and most likely it would have put her in just a bad
of a mood as well. The thought of a man looking at her or thinking
about her like that had always made her stomach queasy.
Daryl looked up quickly from his thoughts and began to stand
slowly, holding out his hand, indicating for her to stay still and
quiet. He stood that way for a minute or two, before Gaelynn started
to hear what had him all riled up. There was movement off in the
bushes to their right, the direction he was now facing with her
behind him. A few more tense minutes went by before they watched
as one of the dead broke clear of the bushes and began to shambling towards them. Daryl made a hand motion again, telling her to stay
down, while he picked up his bow from where he had set it down
when they stopped for their break. He didn't make a sound as he
pulled one of the bolts free and loaded the bow. He lifted it, hesitated only a second and let the arrow fly. It hit the walker square, middle
of the forehead, just above his eyes. Daryl stood there listening to
see if there were more from where that one came from, he was not taking any chances. When he finally relaxed he held out his hand
and helped her back to her feet. Without saying a word he loaded himself up again with his pack and bow, and turned his back so she could climb on again.
"Wait" she said, "Do you think we have come far enough so that
even if Merle did come looking for us, he wouldn't know which direction to go in after the campsite? I mean, do you really need
to carry me all the way to the farm?"
He stood there, quietly thinking about what she had said, what
he knew about Merle, and the chances he would come across tracks
this far from the camp, and decided she was right.
"Fine" was all he said, as he adjusted his pack and slung his bow
across his shoulder and started walking.
Gaelynn began to follow him, getting lost in her own thoughts.
When she saw that thing coming towards them, a 'Walker' according
to Daryl, it was one of first ones she had seen in a good while. She
and Tristan kept moving so they rarely were in one place long enough for any of them to gather. She was only a little frightened by this one. She could tell Daryl had had a lot of experience with these creatures
by the way he carried himself in the woods, and how quickly he
sensed the danger.
She had watched as he pulled the sting back on the bow in order to
load the arrow, and noticed how the muscles in his arms bunched, flexed, and rounded with the exertion. Here there was a walker
coming towards them and she was distracted by the movement
of a man's arm muscles. She passed blamed it on the heat; it was
filling her head with silly distractions, nothing more.
Though once again she was impressed at how quickly he reacted
when he sensed danger, how easy it was for him to kill something,
even if it was one of those dead things, yet how gentlemanly he was when he held out his hand to offer to help her up. He was a complex man, this much she was sure of.
They continue walking for hours without speaking, just walking.
It was getting close to dusk when he pointed off into the distance
and said, "There it is".
She could see this beautiful farm way ahead of them, with plowed
fields, a stable of horses, and some cows. She could almost make
out a few people walking around. There was a farm after all!
It was like something out of a dream to her. It looked so normal
and sane. She had not known normal for most of her life, and as
for sane, there were times she questioned herself on that topic.
She could not help but finally smile, a real honest to God smile,
and Daryl was glad he didn't miss it. It was amazingly beautiful
and made her entire face transform from the frowning, worried,
scornful person he had originally met, to a lovely young girl,
woman? He still had no idea how old she was, but he thought that
based on her behavior, this girl had not had a very long childhood.
Her smile brought a childhood grace back to her features, and even though he would not mention it, or even let on he had see it, it
warmed his heart in a way he had not felt in a long time, if ever.
He had never been the warm and fuzzy type, and was not about to
turn soft now, on the other hand, this feeling was OK; she had been through hell and deserved something to smile about.
He dropped all his burdens' and sat down on a fallen tree with a
small groan of pain. He told her they would most likely stay past
dark, just to make sure Merle was nowhere near.
Gaelynn stood starring off at the farm in the distance, thinking
that maybe, just maybe her life had finally taken a turn for the better.
It was about fucking time! She wondered what the people were
like. How many were there? Were there any girls her age? That
thought was immediately followed by the memory of all the other
girls she had met in her life following "Chapter Step-Father", and
knew that regardless of how close in age they were, she never felt comfortable around them. They either wanted to kick her ass for
some reason, or they seemed childlike and silly, and that they had nothing in common except the fact they could not go home. She had
been forced to leave silly behind years ago. Even though she would
soon be 18 years old, she felt like she was closer to 50. Even though
this farm held the possibility of a better life, she knew it would take
a long time for her to free herself from her demons and the shame
she lived with each day.
She noticed Daryl motioning to her to sit down and rest so she
sat on the grass in front of him. Since they had to be here for
awhile, she might as well prepare herself for 'the farm'.
"So, how many people live on this farm?" she asked, now eager
to learn as much as she could.
"Damn, not really sure, there was about 10 that I was traveling
with, then there's about 5 or 6 living in the house when we got
there."
"Tell me what you can about each of them, please?"
He could see she was a little nervous as well as excited about
meeting everyone, he could understand that, him more than most.
"Let's see, there's Rick, he was a cop before the shit hit the fan,
he is sort of the leader of our group, him more than anyone else.
He has a wife down there, named Lori and kid called Carl. There's another ex-cop, used to be Rick's partner, but them two are as
different as night 'n day. Other one's an asshole. I'd stir clear of him
if I's you. There's a few more women, one has a little girl, a china
man, old dude, the nig… black guy. Don't recall everyone's name.
Up until recently, not many of them wanted much to do with me.
Can't really blame them, I acted like an ass most of the time in the beginning, especially when Merle was still around. Him and me
stayed to ourselves mostly, but Merle was always trying to get rile
things up, making comments, hitting on the women, he was a prick
most of the time.
As for them in the house, all I know by name is Hershel and Maggie. Hershel is some sort of doctor, and only reason I know Maggie is cuz she gets on with the China dude, and hangs out with us a lot. But
there is maybe another boy and girl, bout your age I guess, and maybe
a few others, not really sure. I ain't spent much time inside, never felt too welcomed."
"That's a lot of new people to meet, I doubt I will learn many names either." she sort of giggled, if was an awkward sound, coming from
her. Like she wasn't used to giggling. It really was more of a nervous titter than anything.
"Why did Merle leave the camp?" she asked.
Daryl sort of sighed a little and shook his head, "That's kind of a
long story, not sure now's the time for that, maybe later. That is if
you still want to keep company with me after you meet all the nice people, that is." Daryl said this to her but too himself, he knew he
would be staying as far away from her as possible. More than likely
she would never know what had happened to Merle, unless one of
the others told her the story, which he figured would make Merle
look like he deserved a lot worse than just being left on that roof.
She looked at him a minute while he seemed lost in thought, and felt
that pull again, the pull that broken people have between each other.
She sensed that he had had almost as hard a life as she did, before
the shit hit. He almost sounded a little lonely, but it was probably
a lack of really giving a shit that so many of those he'd been traveling with could care less that he spent most of his time trying to keep them
all alive by giving them fresh kills to eat.
This made her think of something she had wanted to ask him,
"You guys are living on a farm, and from here, it looks like it
has enough food to sustain a lot of people, why were you out hunting?"
"I's bored, not much to do around here. Not for someone like me anyways" he replied.
"Things are different now, not so much tension in the air all the time, folks are more relaxed since we found the farm. But the folks that
live there, I don't think they want us there much longer. Hershel's big
on bible stuff and is hard to talk too, most of us is happy to leave
dealing with him to Rick, he can talk to anyone, calm em down, be rational and all."
"You mentioned a few might be close to my age" she had try for
more information about them regardless of the slim chance she
would get along with anyone, she still wanted to know.
"Well, that would mean I'd have ta know how old you are. I put you
at about 16 or so, so maybe that younger boy and girl from the house might be close,"
"16? Fuck that! For your information, I'll be 18 in just a few months!" She shot back at him, stung and irritated that he thought she was such
a young teen".
"Well, that makes a big difference then, don't it?" he remarked sarcastically, "ya might get on well enough with the china man
and maybe Maggie, their sort of a couple now I reckon. They might
let you tag along from time to time, as long as you don't get the
way of them sneaking around to fuck, Hershel ain't real happy about
his daughter boning a near stranger. Seems there ain't a lot of time
for courting and shit."
They had been sitting there long enough for her ass to start hurting
from hard ground, so she was relieved when he stood up, stretched
a little and announced that he was pretty sure the they were safe to
move on down to the house and their campsite, which was set up
near the house, but not too close.
"Before we go, I need to ask you a big favor. I know I owe you a
hell of a lot by now, and don't really have the right to ask, but could
you not mention how you found me? I don't want to start off being
seen as the poor little victim. I would rather keep that part of my life
to myself for now, so please, just say you stumbled across me while
you were hunting or something?" Gaelynn asked.
He looked her in the eyes, those odd, amazing eyes of hers, and
could tell how important this was too her. She did not want to be
viewed as a wounded victim by everyone right off the bat, he
respected that. He just shook his head yes, and they started towards
the farm.
Ok, followers and reviewers, if you would, keep the comments coming, let me know if the pace is too slow, if I spend too much time on mundane details, because I write this for you, as well as a test of how well I can compose a story that keeps you guys interested and wanting more, Thanx!