Chapter 12:
What could she say? Amber pushed herself up off the hard bunk bed and placed her clammy feet to the concrete below. She had been hiding herself in the little cell since she had been back. And she had slept... She had slept through gun shots. But Hershel had come to check on her and to let her know that they had won. Whatever that meant.
Would she ever really win when it came to that town's ridiculous Governor?
She had shot him in what she had thought to be his heart. But seeing as the man was still standing it proved one thing; he had no heart. He was just a body, moving through life with nothing more then the urge to dominate. He would take what didn't belong to him and use it to hurt others.
Amber knew he would only be the beginning for her group. The person who would make them see that people were what they should fear more then anything now. At least they could track the dead.. She ran her hand up through her knotted hair and winced realizing her fever hadn't quite broken yet. Her hands were hot. As she stared down at them she could really see the damage that had been done to her. She wasn't so sure that it was all physical...
"You look like shit." Beth said, watching Amber through the blanketed doorway of her cell. In her hands she held tight a water bottle and some aspirin. "Daddy sent these for ya."
"I feel like shit... Thanks." Amber half smiled, taking the meds from the girl. She seemed stronger then normal these days. One kill after the other seemed to do that to a person.
Amber's throat was sore but she chugged the bottle down anyways. She was so thirsty but it hadn't quite registered until the liquid had hit her tongue. She hissed, pulling the empty bottle away from her lips, wiping her mouth casually on her checkered sleeve.
"Hurts?" Beth asked her.
"When doesn't it?" Amber replied, pulling her boots on. "God... How long has it been since we have been able to take our shoes off?" She laughed, wincing as her ribs screamed angrily back at her.
"It's a change. But I still keep em on even when I sleep." They all knew about being ready. They had to be able to run at any moment. Doing that without shoes was hard. The time it took to put your socks on could mean your death.
"Lucky me then." Amber staggered to her feet, straightening out her stiff muscles. "C'mere." She motioned to Beth. The girl reached out and helped as they both moved towards the crowd below. Back to reality.
"We can't just over look those people Rick." Carol said, watching from the corner of her eyes as Beth walked Amber down the stairs towards the group.
"She's right Rick... The men they sent after us are only the start. But at the same time... Alot of those people have no idea what is really happening. They know only what their leader tells them. Lies." Lori touched Rick's arm, trying to get him to really hear what they were saying. But he tensed in response.
Yes Rick had his family back together. But nothing changed what happened before they were split up. Shane... Lori. None of it was gone from his mind. "What am I supposed to say to that? How can we ensure that the women and children stay safe while we exhaust our efforts on his men?" They didn't have the man power that the Governor did. Splitting up could mean the deaths of Rick's people.
"Rick's right." Merle drawled from the corner of the canteen. "The Governor is coming back for us. We ain't got the man power to be spreadin' out, saving lives."
Carol rolled her eyes at Merle's words. As far as she was concerned he wasn't supposed to be here. "You agree with this?" She turned to Daryl, her eyes searching for the man she had come to know so well.
His eyes trailed Amber and Beth as they moved to sit across the room. It was clear Beth had filled her in as she sat intently, waiting for her turn to speak. "We can't save them until we save ourselves." He cleared his throat, "We need to take out his men first. Clear a path."
"I agree." Amber spoke up. All eyes fell on her and she could feel each one checking to see if she was alright. She tried her best not to look up at Daryl, "We have worked hard to get here. Those people haven't done much other then follow blindly..."
"Amber what are you saying?" Carol squinted at the girl. "All people matter."
"Our people matter more." She knew her words weren't the nicest. But she also knew that this group would survive long after the people back at that stupid town. "It sounds harsh... I know that. But everyday that we fight we get stronger. And everyday those people sit around they get weaker. Right now we need strength. We need to fight that horrible... Man." She looked away a moment, then up at Rick, "We can't let him live Rick. He won't stop until he has more. He. Will. Never. Stop."
"I have to agree here." Glenn sighed, taking Maggie's hand in his. "That man is capable of more then anyone we have met. If we thought that that kid back at the farm could do damage... We had no idea." They had no clue what was really out there. Not until they felt it themselves. He was sure now that they had things far worse to fear then the things that circled their fences day and night.
Rick moved back on his feet, wiping his forehead. "We prepare. We find weapons and we ready the prison." He looked at Daryl, "If we win, we go back for his people." He could see Amber roll her eyes, placing her hand on the table to ground herself. Why? Rick wasn't so sure... But he couldn't worry about it now. He had to protect what was his. He would think about it after.
Amber finally crawled up from the bench were she sat talking to the group. As they dispersed she felt a weight lifted off her shoulders. It wasn't enough for her to feel normal, but at least for now she would be sure that things would go as they should. Hopefully Merle would go through with his... Storyline. She growled under her breath realizing that she had sacrificed everything only to hope he would die anyways. She had wasted her sanity on the man.
"Amber?" Daryl's voice was gravelly as he called her name from being where she now stood. The doorway out into the courtyard felt as though it began to shrink upon hearing his voice. She stiffened, "Ya look a little better."
She didn't speak, instead she shrugged out of the doorway and away from him. As quickly as her feet would take her she moved to the fence line. Her chest was pounding as she leaned down into the bruise at her side. She didn't know why she had to run from him. But the need was clearly there. Her face felt hot but she shrugged it off.
How could she face him. He had some idea of what Merle had done, didn't he? Why didn't he care? Why did she want him too? She growled as she began to jab her knife through the fence line, taking down one walker at a time. Did it make her feel better? Yes. For now that had to be enough.
Daryl wasn't sure what to do as he watched the small blonde ignore him. She walked off as quickly as she could, leaving him behind. He grunted, waving her off and heading back inside. He didn't have time for whatever was wrong with her now. His brother had just come back safe and they were now all in danger of being attacked by Woodbury.
"She's just a little raw. Things haven't exactly been easy these days." Beth muttered, watching Daryl move grumpily away from the doorway.
"Things ain't been easy since all this shit started." He told the young girl. "Don't matter anyways, I ain't lookin for friends." He lied hoping she wouldn't look to much into it.
"It's to bad Daryl, you have lots." She half smiled, not looking up at the redneck. He didn't head towards the stairs, instead he stood off to the side of the table where Beth sat quietly mixing up formula. She sighed and looked at him finally, "Merle hurt her Daryl. Bad."
"He isn't easy, I get that. But he's my brother, what am I supposed to do?" He asked her, sitting down across from her.
"I am not so sure what things were like with Merle before you came to our farm. But I have noticed how far out of your shell you have come. It just seems... That now that Merle is back that you have tucked yourself back into it." Merle was a strong person, he seemed to take up a whole room. "Just... Don't forget about the people around you who care Daryl. Life doesn't have to be the way it was." However that may have been. She assumed maybe not the best. Was Merle the only one who cared about Daryl? And if so how healthy was that for him? "What I am trying to say is that Amber cares about you. Right now she is just a little raw. The things that happened to her... If you could have seen how bad she was when she came in. Just keep an eye on Merle."
He scoffed, "He's my brother." Was all he could say to her. In a way he knew that he should listen, that if he really knew how madly she was hurt... That he would be angry. But right now he had the option to push it aside. Worry about his brother instead. After what happened to Merle they owed him that, didn't they?
It didn't take very long, Amber slid through the long grass beyond the prison fence. After the final blow to a group of what felt like ten walkers she dropped to her knees. How long had she walked before realizing how far she had gone? She didn't remember telling anyone that she was leaving. She had just sort of... Wandered off into the woods.
Her arm was bleeding badly and Amber looked down to assess the damage done. It wasn't a bite, but looked more like a tree branch had caught skin and pulled angrily. It bled down onto her fingers, hitting the grass below. "Dammit, DAMMIT." She scolded, ripping at the bottom of her shirt. She felt it tear into a long strip, tying it tight around the cut.
She sighed, running her hand up through her rough blonde tangles. "There goes another shirt." She grumbled, looking down to find her exposed belly button. It wasn't much, just a black shirt with no sleeves. Now it came across her stomach on a jagged angle, showing the dark colorful bruise left behind from her vacation to Woodbury. She wiped her hands on her dark black jeans and climbed back off the forest floor. Looking up at the sky she wondered if she would make it back before it got dark...
"He just wants to meet with you Rick, nothing more then that. I promise you." Andrea's voice drifted out through the dark field. Amber had been walking for a few hours, slipping silently through the forest to avoid any more walkers. Hey body was exhausted from strain. But her blood turned cold when the women's voice drifted towards her.
The last time she had heard it was when she had taken her shot at the Governor. The entire time Amber and Glenn had been locked up Andrea had been screwing that awful man. How could she not see who he really was? It was all over his stupid psychopath face. He was evil.
"Jesus." She muttered, "Why is everyone one just staring at me?" Andrea asked the quiet room.
Amber turned into the prison and joined the group in the armory.
"Amber." She said, eying the blonde warily. "Look I just wanted to come reason with you guys. This is all just a big misunderstanding."
"Which part?" Amber asked her calmly, one hand on her still bloody trench knife. The other hand holding her tired body up right.
"Maybe it would be best if you went to lie down?" Hershel said, starting towards the sickly girl. She had been gone for hours, the group unable to locate her.
"No." Amber replied, holding her hand out to stop him. "No I wanna hear what Andrea has to say." Her eyes grew deadly as she looked from Hershel to the unwanted blonde woman. "What are we misunderstanding?"
Andrea cleared her throat uncomfortably. It was clear that these were not the same people she had lost back at Hershel's farm. They had become colder, more careful even. "The Governor was just trying to protect his people. He thought you were a threat..."
"We were on a run Andrea. We had to get food because we were starving." Amber seethed, "Something you clearly haven't had any issue with as of late." Amber tapped her fingers on the handle of her trench knife.
"He said you tried to shoot Merle. You tried to kill him." She argued.
"You think Merle didn't deserve that? You think we just shoot people for no reason?" Amber snapped.
"No.. I-"
"How was it?" Amber continued, cutting Andrea off. This time she pulled her knife out of it's holster and held it tightly at her side. "You know? Sleeping with that man?"
"There is nothing wrong with that man!" Andrea saw her draw her weapon, shocked that everyone stood and watched in silence. "He thought you were a threat to Woodbury. He did what he should have done! You tried to kill him, only proving him right!" Her hand shot out, trying to emphasize how right she was.
Amber's body moved like a wounded lion, fast but hobbled, tackling Andrea straight to the concrete floor. "AMBER!" Rick yelled at his friend.
Amber's face moved close to Andrea's, her hand clasping the woman by the throat with one hand. "He tried to rape me. He tried to kill Glenn." She seethed, almost whispering. She raised her knife, slicing into Andrea's shoulder. "But that's alright because we were a threat..." She muttered.
"That is enough Amber." Carol threw in, leaning down to pull the rabid girl off of their old friend. "Please."
Amber's head shot up, a sort of feral look in her eye. "She's not part of this group anymore."
"No, but she doesn't deserve this." Carol said softly, reaching her hand out to Amber.
The small blonde looked at Carol, breathing heavily. "Fine." She grumbled, slipping her weapon back were it belonged and taking Carol's hand.
As she moved to stand her shirt slid back, showing the large colorful bruise to the group. As she hobbled from the room with Carol the room went cold. The reality of what Amber had really been through soaking in.
Daryl felt his fists clench as he tried his best not to make matters worse by turning on the now smiling Merle.
