Curative

By Kaimaler

On the road again. :D

Part of the Atlanta group is headin' back to the ATL. Good luck fellas. :D

Oh god, best news of the day:

Apparently there is a very strong flu virus floating around, it's so horribly bad that it has killed a few people.

And the actual CDC issued a pandemic, telling anyone who had the flu with a sore throat and/or a cough needed to just stay at home. Not go to work or anywhere really until they got better.

Shit if I didn't get the flu they issued the pandemic about. For fuck sake guys, I don't wanna be a zombie. xD

Review Replies:

CeliaSingsSongs:

Oh thank you! I was hoping people might like this idea. :3

And I intend to be nicer about Merle in the future, it's just, for first impressions with Laura, Merle didn't do the greatest job. x3
That'll change later on though, she'll get to talking to Daryl and learn more about Merle as a person rather then just knowing him by his actions of that roof in Atlanta. So far all she knows about him is that he attacked T-Dog and hurt him really bad and wasn't particularly nice to other people.

As time goes on, Laura will figure out that Merle ain't all bad. ;3

Hope you enjoy this chapter!

The drive wasn't too long, but when they got on the railroad, Laura practically bounced a foot in the air with every bump. She groaned in annoyance as they drove over the rails.

"Better be okay, i's my only word on the matter." T-Dog didn't want to repeat himself again, but Daryl's persistence made him do so. "I told you, geeks can't get at 'im. Only thing that's gonna' get through that door is us."

Laura pulled at a lock of her hair, "Even if h-he is okay, I o-owe him a b-black eye." She smirked, earning and amused look from T-Dog.

"Black eye?" Daryl questioned, "B-bastard j-jumped T-Dog, t-tried ta' g-get him off. Y-your brother c-can throw a punch." She rubbed her sore eye, as if showing him what went down on the roof.

The hunter nodded, he was only really interested in finding Merle, the rest will be sorted out later.

The truck came to a stop. "We walk from here." Glenn said, turning off the van. Daryl jumped up and lifted the door, he got out, then T-Dog, and Laura followed them closely.

She remembered the stairs, they weren't so good to her. They would have to climb that same stair well to reach Merle, she hoped Rick wasn't against carrying her up those stairs one more time.

They jogged up to the gate and swung it open. She followed them to a hold in the fence that Glenn had most likely made quite some time ago. Smart kid. She smirked and they all ducked through the fence and hopped the railing.

"Merle first, or guns?" Rick looked to Glenn for the answer.

"Merle, we ain't even havin' this conversation." Daryl protested, only for Rick to glare at him. "We are." He snapped and Daryl didn't pursue it any further.

"You know the geography, it's your call." Rick told Glenn, the group gaining speed as they headed into the city. "Merle's closest, the guns would be doubling back. Merle first." Laura knew Daryl was at least somewhat pleased with that answer. Even though he didn't get to make the demand.

They had to duck in and out of a few places, to keep the walkers off their backs, but other then that they didn't have much of a problem reaching their destination.

Finally arriving at the department store, Laura took note that it hadn't taken long to get here, she didn't like the idea of them being in the city too long. The longer they stayed, the greater the risk and she despised the idea of them getting hurt for someone like Merle. Shane and Lori were right, that racist, sexist, ass would probably try and kill them when they showed up.

When they were just outside the door, Rick waved for her to come to him.

"Laura, go in first and tell us where the walkers are." He was already using her to his advantage. She nodded and opened the door, she walked straight in without a care in the world. Well, except the image of them in the back of her head being bitten and turned. That would be bad.

Daryl threw them a confused look, wondering why they were sending her in first.

Rick used hand signals for Daryl to cover her back, his crossbow was silent and wouldn't alert the walkers outside if he fired an arrow. He got the idea and did as asked, keeping close to her back.

She paused and looked around for a moment before jogging forward, faster then Daryl had expected her to go. He just figured she was suicidal.

Then, she approached a walker like it was an old friend and pointed to it, but it didn't react to her, it completely ignored her existence. Still confused, Daryl aimed the crossbow at the walker. "Damn, you are one ugly skank." The walker hissed at him right as his arrow pierced its skull and it fell.

Daryl grabbed the arrow and they continued on through the department store.

At the stairwell, Rick did the same thing. She wasn't intending on him doing so, but he just took it upon himself to pick her up and start running up the stairs. They were about to reunited with Merle, a terrible idea, but at least the asshole wouldn't suffer before he died.

When they reached the door, Rick set her down and made for the cutters. The chain snapped and they burst through the door, back onto the roof they very nearly died on. They, not her.

That sounds so conceded. She hated herself for thinking that, it was a horrible thought.

"Merle!" Daryl called out, expecting to find his brother cuffed.

The moment they saw the other side of the pipes though, well, it wasn't pleasant. Daryl screamed, crying out for his brother. Laura, T-Dog, Glenn, and Rick all just stared at the disembodied hand of Merle Dixon.

What a hell of a way to start the day.

The blood soaked hand, cuffs, and saw told them that he hadn't been devoured, nothing so strange, but actually cut off his own hand to escape. He must've thought they weren't going to come back for them, that'd they just leave him to die and, while in some cases that would've been true, they had actually risked their lives to come find Merle.

Daryl was angry, sad, lost, he didn't find his brother, he found his brother's hand. Which is probably one of the single most disturbing things to find when looking for something.

She could barely believe Merle severed his own hand with a hacksaw. There it was again, she always had to correct herself when thinking about Merle. He was exactly the type of person who'd cut off his own hand. Laura couldn't see him being any other way.

With a pained growl, Daryl aimed his crossbow at T-Dog, who put his hands up. Rick reacted fast and aimed his gun at Daryl's head, making the anguished man pause.

"I won't hesitate. I don't care if every walker in the city hears it." Laura was on the platform above the pipes as she brought out her gun and aimed it at Daryl too, but didn't say anything to them. It was for added insurance in case Daryl wanted to try his luck.

She could see Daryl's face, it was twisted in anger or rage, he was destroyed. His brother was gone, he was hurting.

He lowered his crossbow easily, as if it he didn't care for shooting T-Dog in the first place.

Daryl looked at his feet and Rick holstered his gun, keeping a watchful eye on the unstable man. Laura put hers away as well, there was something about Daryl that told her he wasn't going to shoot even if Rick hadn't put a gun to his head.

T-Dog and Daryl were looking straight at each other for a few seconds before Daryl blinked and shook his head, he was trying to not let anyone see tears in his eyes.

"You got a do-rag or somethin'?"

He cautiously handed Daryl a piece of material, to which Daryl took and whipped out. He laid it flat in front of the hand, "I guess the, uh, saw blade was too dull for the handcuff."

Laura felt so bad for Daryl, Merle may have been a jackass and delivered one hell of a blow, but the only reason Daryl was snapping at everyone, aiming crossbows and swinging knifes at them, was because he was worried about his brother. Laura never had any siblings, but she knew what it was like to lose someone.

Perhaps she would try to talk to him later? Would he even listen or bite at her like Merle did?

He wrapped the hand in the bandanna and stood back up, turning around to see them all a little sickened by the severed hand. He cut it off himself, it must've been excruciating.

Daryl walked up to Glenn and put the wrapped up hand in the backpack. Laura hadn't a clue why the hand was important to him, but he wasn't going to leave it here. Glenn did not look too happy about it, he'd have to deal with knowing he had Merle's hand in his pack.

Once satisfied with the safety of Merle's hand, he inspected the area.

"Must'a used a tourniquet, he would've lost more blood if he didn't." Daryl followed the trail of blood, Rick and Glenn behind him.

T-Dog went over and collected the tool bag, she noticed him holding his side whenever he moved too much. "T-Dog, you alright?" She asked, seeing him wince as he bent down to gather tools.

She went to help him, finding bits and pieces scattered all over. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Just... Dixon, y'know? Not Daryl, but Merle. Why'd he have to go an' do that shit?" Laura shrugged, "I guess he felt like he had to."

"Guess so, did kinda' leave him on a roof." He frowned, they'd gotten all the tools and Laura offered to carry them, on account of T-Dog's bad side. He relented, the bag was a little heavy, but T-Dog's side must've been hurting pretty bad too. Merle did quite the number on the man and Laura knew how difficult it was to even move around when having to deal with pain.

They caught up with the group up ahead going down another damn stairwell.

She'd have to deal with this on her own, they needed to be alert for walkers. She moved slowly, one step at a time, but T-Dog put his forearm under hers so she could use him to balance better. Laura moved a little faster with T-Dog's help and when they caught up with Rick, Glenn, and Daryl, they watched Daryl drop another walker.

They came through a doorway and saw two walkers dead on the floor, Daryl walked around the corpses. "Had enough in 'im to take out these two sum'bitches. One handed." She saw a wrench next to a pool of walker blood, she assumed that was Merle's weapon of choice.

"Toughest asshole I ever met my brother." Daryl reloaded his crossbow with a loud snap. "Give him a hammer and he'd crap out nails."

Somehow, Laura didn't doubt that.

"Any man can pass out from blood loss." Rick pointed out, he wanted to find Merle, get the guns, and get back to camp without complications. "No matter how tough he is."

They continued through the building, only a few walkers here and there that Daryl had quickly dispatched.

Laura nearly jumped when Daryl called out, "Merle!"

"We're not alone here." Rick was politely telling Daryl to shut the hell up.

"Screw that, could be bleedin' out. Said so yourself." Daryl lead the group into another room, one that smelled like gas fire. She was right about that, because when she saw the stove, it's rings still burning, Daryl went to check the room and Rick just stopped at the stove.

"What's that black stuff?" Glenn almost regretted asking it when he got his answer.

"Skin." Rick grimaced, looking between Glenn, T-Dog and her. "He cauterized himself." Glenn turned away, the sight of it made his stomach churn.

Daryl stood next to Rick now, looking over the stove. "Told ya' he was tough." He almost smirked, "Ain't nobody can kill Merle, but Merle." Daryl was smug about it, looking proud of his own brother for taking care of himself.

"Don't take that on faith." Rick put the iron back back. "He's lost a lot of blood."

"Yeah?" Daryl walked over to a window, "Didn't stop him from bustin' outta' this death trap."

Glenn was freaked, seeing the broken glass. "He left the building? Why the hell would he do that?"

"Why wouldn't he? He's out here alone for all he knows." Daryl backed away from the window, "Doin' what he's gotta' do. Survival."

"You call that survival?" T-Dog shook his head, "Just wanderin' out on the streets, maybe passin' out. What are his odds out there?" He made a valid point, but Laura knew what it was like to survive on ones own.

"No worse then bein' left to rot by you sorry pricks." Both Glenn and T-Dog looked like they just got slapped.

Laura rolled her eyes, "D-Daryl's gotta' point. W-when you're o-out there alone, y-you do what you m-must to s-survive, e-even if it looks like ya' ain't gotta c-chance in h-hell at s-survivin'." That got her a few interested looks from T-Dog and Glenn, Daryl just nodded back to her.

Daryl faced Rick. "You couldn't kill 'im, ain't worried about some dumb dead bastard."

"What about a thousand dumb dead bastards? Different story." Rick and Daryl kept very tense eye contact, Laura was worried another Merle-like incident was about to happen, but Daryl didn't do anything that she would've expected Merle to do.

"Why don'tcha take a tally? Do what ya' want, I'mma go get 'im." He was about to walk passed Rick, but the sheriff put a hand in his way and shoved him back, Rick made it look like he didn't even try.

"Get yer hands off me! You can't stop me!" Glenn made a shushing sound, Daryl was getting louder and louder; they didn't want to get trapped in another building again.

"I don't blame you, he's family, I get it. I went through hell to find mine, I know exactly how you feel." Laura felt a little out of place at this, these two people, Rick and Daryl, had a commonality now, one she didn't understand very well. She shifted uncomfortably on her feet, it was another one of those moments where she felt she was prying into other peoples' business.

Daryl looked like he wanted to say something, his mouth twitching to find a retort. "He can't get far with that injury. We can help you check a few blocks around, but only if we keep a level head."

He calmed down, no longer looking like he was ready to kill them all. "I can do that."

Rick looked to the others, "Only if we get those guns first, I'm not strollin' through Atlanta with only my good intentions." They could understand that.

Laura shrugged once she saw Glenn wasn't going to say anything. "Y-you know I'm here f-for whatever you a-ask of me. I'm better s-suited to stroll around A-Atlanta with my g-good i-intentions. Walkers a-appreciate mine I g-guess." She smiled at T-Dog, she knew where he was coming from. This group, these humans, were hunted by undead, she was not.

Rick got the idea, he knew it was only them in danger and Laura had chosen to stay and help out of sheer good will.

They wanted to plan, but Laura didn't need one, she had an idea of where the gun bag was and didn't need to do any fancy tricks to get to it.

They all rested in the next room while Laura made her part known. She was here for this express reason, to remove danger and lend her hand in the only way she knew how, by walking through walkers.

"We were going to have Glenn make the run before you offered to join us back at camp." Rick explained, but Laura shook her head. "Y-you know f-fine well I can g-get those guns w-without a p-problem."

"You're not going out there alone." Rick insisted, she knew it would be safe for them in here though.

"I can g-get down t-there, grab the g-guns and be b-back in only a f-few m-minutes." Laura rubbed the back of her neck, "Rick, if y'all g-go d-down there, y-you'll be r-riskin' your necks f-for nuthin'. Y-you know I c-can do this."

"I can't just let you go down there alone, if something goes wrong..." She sighed, "Fine, t-then, I don't h-have any i-ideas about w-where y'all should g-go though."

"I do." Glenn spoke up, he was happy he didn't have to go out on that walker infested street again. He took up a marker from the desk behind him and drew out the streets the guns were at.

"This is the tank," He put a paper clip down, "This is the bag of guns." He used a little piece of notepaper.

He pointed to one of the alleys, "This is where Laura will be coming out of to get the guns." Glenn marked the spot. "That's where Daryl and Laura will go."

"Why me?" Daryl was leaning over, watching Glenn make plans.

"Your crossbow is quieter then his gun." Daryl understood, grinning and winked at Glenn. "Daryl will wait here in the alley, while Laura runs up the street and grabs the bag."

"But you got us elsewhere?" Rick was kneeling before Glenn's makeshift planning board.

"R-Rick, this is u-unnecessary. Y'all are risking y-your l-lives for s-something I can d-do alone." She didn't want them on the streets at all, she came along with this group to try and remove a risk factor, this is just as bad as if she hadn't come along at all.

"Laura, I can't knowingly let you risk your life for us again. Let us help in whatever way we can, call it insurance." She sighed, agitated at Rick's stubbornness. "A-alright, but t-they need to be s-somewhere that they can get away if t-they need to. There is a l-lot of walkers d-down there."

"Yeah, that's why we'll be here." He put an eraser down.

"Two blocks away, why?" Rick looked a little confused, that sounded risky.

"If something goes wrong, for whatever reason, and the walkers go after her. She can't lead a bunch of walkers back to Daryl, they'll both get swarmed." He pointed to Daryl's spot on in the alley, "Laura, if you get chased, you can't go back to Daryl, just keep going forward to T-Dog and Rick."

"No matter where she goes, she'll be covered." Glenn had a good plan, but she still hated the idea of letting them even get close to that horde on the street. "Afterwards we'll all meet back here."

"Hey kid, what'd you do before all this?" Daryl figured he must've done something to show for this.

"Delivered pizzas." Glenn looked inquisitive. "Why?"

Rick just looked a little bit surprised. A little bit.

It explained how Glenn knew all the streets though.

A little while later and Laura was heading out to the streets with Daryl at her back. T-Dog, Rick, and Glenn had already gone to the other alley Glenn planned out for them.

Daryl looked a little unsure about sending Laura out to get the bag of guns. "Ya sure you can run out there and grab those guns, on account a', y'know." He gestured to her braced leg.

"W-walker's don't c-come after me. I-it's you guys I'm w-worried about." They'd reached the small platform that Glenn, Rick, and her had been on just the day before. It was like deja vu, except without Glenn and Rick.

"Whadda' mean?" They climbed out the window, Daryl was actually holding out his hand to help her through. Very unexpected, but welcome, he took his hand and got through the window.

"I mean, w-walker's don't w-wanna eat me. N-never have. I c-can poke them, s-shove them, t-touch them, talk to t-them, all a-around do whatever in the h-hell I want to t-them. T-they don't give a s-shit. Unlike w-what would h-happen if you t-tired any of that s-stuff." She chuckled, time to climb down another stupid ladder.

"Serious?" He asked, he went down first, Laura not too far behind him. "Serious."

Near the bottom, Daryl jumped down and saw her hopping down one bar at a time. He got on the ladder, climbed back up a little ways and just like Rick had done yesterday when she was coming down off the RV, Daryl wrapped an arm around her legs and carried her down the rest of the way.

How could this man possibly be related to Merle?

"Thanks." She grinned at him, brushing herself off. He just shrugged her thanks off and pulled out his crossbow.

They headed to the fence, "Just s-stay hidden. W-walkers won't bother you n-none if you don't s-stand out in the o-open or m-make a ton of n-noise. I'll be b-back fast as I c-can."

Daryl loaded his crossbow and stuck himself behind a dumpster, he'd wait for her here. With any luck, walker's wouldn't take any notice of him and they'd be able to get out of there with the guns easily.

She ran out into the street, the walkers didn't even look at her while she ran through them, shoving a few over in the process. She realized she kinda' did it for fun, because it was amusing watching them being knocked over only to get up and continue on like nothing ever happened.

With a snicker, she jumped over the sand bags and looked around for the guns. Glenn said they were just behind the tank in the middle of the street.

There, a big bag of guns and a sheriff hat.

She swung the bag on her back and stuck the hat on over her hoodie, she liked it, but it was far too big for her.

Heading back to the alley, she heard the distinct sound of someone shouting. She hadn't a clue what they were saying, but it wasn't good for whoever was making all that noise. It echoed through the alleyways, she couldn't tell where it was coming from.

That is, until she came back into the alley where Daryl was waiting for her.

He was still there, but getting beat up by two strangers who were distracted from beating on Daryl by her. "That's it, that's the bag! Take it!" She was so shocked that it took her a few seconds to react.

Everything happened so fast she could barely keep up.

She turned to run, but they were on her. The big one grabbed her and punched her clean on her ass, the other opting to whack her with the bat while she was down.

The fwip of an arrow caught one of the men who screamed as an arrow became embedded in his ass. He was too preoccupied with the arrow in his ass to grab the bag and the other one had grabbed Laura and used her as a shield from Daryl who was still aiming his crossbow at them.

He used the bat to hold her back as she fought to get free. "Let go of me! Let go!" He pulled harder, dragging her back with him. All she could think about was the men who had captured her before she met the group, she didn't want to go through that again. Rick was right, she regretted, if anything, not talking about it now.

"Daryl!" She cried out, trying to claw the man behind her. "Daryl help me! Please!"

She was shoved into the car before she even got the chance to see where it came from, the man got in behind her and they took off. "Get away from me, assholes!"

"Shut up!" She was forced between two men, one still crying about the arrow in his ass. "Let me go! You jackasses! Let me go!" She struggled to get out of their hands, but one man pulled out a roll of duct tape and stuck a piece over her mouth, pulled down her hood and stuck a sack over her head. She still tried to make some kind of sound, but it was useless. Instead, she tried to punch or claw the men.

"Damn, woman, calm the fuck down!" They got a hold of her arms, effectively stopping her from hitting them anymore and tied her hands behind her back.

Shit. She didn't like this, she was panicking, her mind going to very dark places in her head, her memories of the dark rooms and men who used and beat her. After her ordeal, she swore she wouldn't let it happen again, yet here she was in a car with strangers who'd attacked her friend and forced her into a car with them. Laura was at a loss, she didn't want to know what they were going to do with her.

The car was screeching around corners, they were all talking in another language and so fast she could barely tell it was a language. The man Daryl shot was practically shouting over the others who she could tell were trying to calm him down.

She thought telling Rick about being a walker was bad, within twenty-four hours she had joined a group, helped them out of a tight spot, told Rick about being a walker, made friends with a few of them, got her own tent, returned to Atlanta, found Merle's hand, and now she was in a strange car with people she didn't know.

They couldn't help her, wouldn't be able to find out where she was or where they were taking her.

It was just like Daryl said, only she'd hoped she wouldn't have had to do this again. She had to find her own way out, escape, again, and hopefully find her way back to the group.

Yeah, all that while riding a unicorn. She cursed to herself. This was not a good place to be in.

They pulled to a stop, her heart jumped. The doors opened and they pulled her out. She couldn't see anything, they just dragged her along until they sat her down.

Yanking off the sack, she looked around to see a large number of people standing around her now. Her eyes grew wide in fear at the sight of them, each one heavily armed and clearly looked very familiar with their weapons.

"So, what are you supposed to be? Some new kind of zombie?" A man walked up to her, they all seemed to stand back and let him talk to her.

She glared as best she could, her mouth still duct taped. He grabbed the edge and tore it off, she gritted her teeth as the tape came off. "So what are you? You look like one of them, but you can talk."

"I'm not a d-damn walker." She spat, she glanced around the room nervously.

"Walkers, huh?" He licked his lips, following her eyes around the room. "Tell you what, how about you tell us were your friends went with our guns and maybe I'll think about letting you go."

"M-maybe?" She scoffed, "Not m-much of a d-deal there."

"How about this then." He leaned in close. "You tell us where they took those guns and you get to live."

She just looked down and shook her head. "Well, we all g-gotta go s-someday, right?"