Author's note: I won't lie I am so disorientated from hormones right now-thanks mother nature. That I've probably skipped over twenty-five hundred grammatical errors here for which I apologize for. Seriously I could use a beta-reader here. :P Anyway this chapter goes out to my little sister Dvora. I love you so much girly girl-happy birthday! On another note my Boondock Saints story finally seems to be coming along thanks to the much needed help of Eminemchick19-thanks for helping me figure out the good, the bad, and the ugly of my ideas. Anyway hopefully it'll be up as soon as I get the courage to post it.
Question: If Mara had a theme song, what would it be? Just curious as to what people think.
Question 2: I'm thinking about trying to update once a week, what do you folks think?
Lastly ignoring question 2 just this once I would seriously like to break an hundred reviews on this story so if I do, I swear I will update no later than tommorrow night.
P.S: Thanks for all the reviews last post. It appears that other than the team Mara/Daryl and Team Mara/Rick conflict you all enjoyed it. That makes me sooo happy to hear.
~Cassandra
Disclaimer: If I owned the Walking Dead, I wouldn't be paying Netflix $7.99 a month to watch it.
"Morgan, I don't know if you're out there. I don't know if you can hear me-maybe you're listening right now. I hope so… I found others-my family, if you can believe it. My wife…my son-they're alive. Just as Mara said they would be. She was right-right about many things. I just hope she's right about you and Duane being alright too-if I had to put my money on anyone though it would her. She's special that way…even if it does scare me sometimes how she just knows things." Rick took a deep breath, "There's something you need to know…Atlanta isn't what we thought. It's not what they promised, the city is-do not enter the city it belongs to the dead now. We're camped a few miles northwest, up by a big abandoned rock quarry. You can see it on a map. I hope you come find us. But be careful. Last night walkers came out of the woods. We lost people….watch yourself, Morgan. Take care of your boy. I'll try you again tomorrow at dawn."
Rick let go of the button listening for a few seconds only to hear static. He looked down his thoughts starting to run amuck. Morgan's and Duane's fate seemed dismal to him after everything Rick experienced. After all Rick barely managed to stay alive as it was and that was with his strange future telling friend on his side. "They'll be alright. Morgan's a smart man and Duane's a tough kid. I'm sure they'll be fine." Mara's voice came from behind.
He turned around slightly surprised by her presence. In all honesty Rick hadn't expected her to check up on him like she normally did. Not after their long put off talk about her visions last night. While Mara obviously preferred to speak about her visions than her family issues, it didn't mean she enjoyed the talk. A lot of Rick's questions prodded on things Mara didn't know herself. Things Rick could tell scared Mara by the way she tried to either dismiss the question or play it off as a joke. Eventually their talk ended up with a fight thanks to Rick wanting her to share that fear. "I thought you weren't talking me." Rick mentioned, but his tone was light.
Mara shrugged, her dark brown eyes meeting his. "Can't act like kid forever. I'm twenty-two years old, the world has gone to shit, and I could die at any moment." She bit her lip frustrated; the toe of her left toe dug nervously into the dirt below. "What I am trying to say, but am not succeeding at is sorry. It was wrong for me to act the way I did-especially when you were just trying to considerate."
It went silent. Rick stared at her somewhat shocked and confused. As bad, as it sounded the idea of a woman apologizing or admitting they were wrong was kind of an impossibility to him. At least it was when it came to any fight he and Lori had. Their fights had always ended with either Rick apologizing or a mutual silent argument that the fight was over. Never something like this. But then again Mara and Lori were as different as night and day when compared to each other. "Are you going to say something? Cause I'm really not good enough at this stuff to go on." Mara pleaded.
Rick cracked a smile. "Don't worry about Mara. You giving me the silent treatment last night was nothing compared to your punch."
"Hey, I apologized for that like a million times already! I refuse to apologize again." Mara protested. A worried look on her face.
Rick just laughed walking back to camp. Mara followed him, her steps more fluid and quieter than his. He made a mental note to ask her later how she walked so quietly like that. It was something that could one day be useful to him. When they returned, Daryl was crushing another walker's head in with his pickaxe before leaving it for poor T-Dog and Glenn to deal with. Silently Mara glanced over at Shane, Lori and Carol who hadn't moved a muscle since she went to find Rick. Mara frowned, while she could understand Lori and Carol's objection to the job-she couldn't understand Shane's. He was man-but even more so, he prided himself as a leader of the group. Therefore, to Mara, he should be off his ass helping with the dirty work. Just as she did before she went off to apologize to Rick.
"We can't leave just leave Amy like that. We need to deal with it. Same as the others." Shane's voice brought Mara back to reality. Her eyes drifted other to where Andrea crouched over her dead sister. Mara felt her heart ache. The poor woman lost her sister, probably the only person keeping her going in this rotten world. It was something Mara couldn't imagine having to go through. If one of her brothers were to die…Mara had no idea what she would do.
Mara opened her mouth to speak, but Rick cut her off. "I'll tell her how it is." He sighed walking over.
"Rick, wait." Mara called out but he ignored her. She shook her head looking away. Even if it wasn't her telling Andrea to let go, Mara still felt guilty. And by the understanding look Lori was giving her, she wasn't the only one. Luckily, Mara's thought were short lived by the sound of Andrea cocking her gun at Rick. With a small amount of satisfaction, she watched Rick slowly back away from the grief stricken woman. Mara liked Rick a lot, but having siblings herself, Andrea's move was totally justifiable to her.
"You should have left her alone." Mara said as Rick came back, "Her sister just died. She needs time to mourn."
"Yeah well time ain't a luxury we have." Shane replied hotly.
She shot him a glare. "No todo el mundo es tan rápido a olvidarse de sus seres queridos como eres."
Both Lori and Shane looked at her confused. While Rick shot her a warning look. After all, he knew from experience what happened when Mara spoke in Spanish rather than English. Mara glowered turning away. She meant to say it in English, but her dislike of Shane caught up with her. Which now that she thought about it, was probably a good thing. Telling Shane that not everyone was as quick as to forget about their loved ones as he was, surely would end up in another sharing time with Rick. Something Mara was so done with. The man was her friend not her older brother.
Unfortunately, her outburst drew the attention of everyone else. "What's going on?" Daryl asked walking over.
Mara glanced at him tiredly. Although Daryl had a brother, Mara doubt he would be on board with 'Team Leave Andrea the Fuck Alone'. It just wasn't who he was. "Mara here, wants us to leave Andrea and Amy alone. Despite the dangers of Amy being a walker." Shane said as if trying to humiliate her.
Daryl shot her a look clearly asking her if she were stupid. "Ya can't be serious. Let that girl hamstring us? The dead girl's a time bomb."
"What do you suggest?" Rick asked.
"Take the shot-clean in the brain from here. Hell, I can hit a turkey between the eyes from this distance-"
"No." Lori intervened, "For God's sakes, let her be."
Mara couldn't help let her respect for Lori grow a little. Even if she annoyed the hell out Mara, the woman did have her good moments. Plus she could do something Mara couldn't-make Shane and Rick agree with her. Daryl glanced at the two men as a silent agreement between them was made. He turned spitting as he ahead back to work. Mara sighed grabbing the gloves she stuffed in her back pocket. "I'm gonna go help them bury our dead." She muttered.
"You sure that's wise to do with your back?" Rick asked.
Mara shrugged. "Doesn't matter. They're fallen comrades, you don't leave them behind even in death."
"Funny hearing you say that, seeing how you never made it." Shane snorted.
Rick shot him a look. Shane had a habit of making enemies whether he meant to or not. And while Rick lost hope of Mara and Shane becoming great pals, he would settle for mutual acquaints. "I made it further than you ever did, puto." Mara called out as she walked away.
"If I didn't know better I'd say you have a crush on her." Rick said.
Shane snorted, "On her? Nah man, not my type. Sorry I know how much you wanted us together in some happy little family shit. But I don't do children."
"She's not a child, Shane. She's an adult and deserves to be treated as one."
"Rick, she's the same age as Glenn and you see him as a kid." Lori remarked, her eyes staring at him full of puzzlement. Her husband was far from sexist, but this was the first time she ever heard her husband defend some woman so passionately.
"Hell, compared to her-Carl's more mature." Shane continued.
"I'm not asking you to become best friends with Mara. I'm asking you to respect her. Especially seeing how if it weren't for her, I would never have found you guys. Even more so if it weren't for her vision yesterday we would have never come in time to help with the attack." Rick said, watching Mara help with the bodies. After everything the young woman had did for the group, Rick still couldn't understand his wife's and best friend's need to treat her like a child. But whatever their reason was, Rick refused to let it continue.
It was Glenn's screaming that distracted Mara from helping Jacqui with their next corpse. She hadn't even worked five minutes when another morale controversy came up. The controversy on whether to burn or bury the people they knew. And like always for whatever reason the writers of the show had, Daryl had something to say about it. Causing Morales to rebuttal with a shut up and hence the chaos of two year olds. "Y'all left my brother for dead!" Daryl yelled storming off, "You had this coming!"
Mara sighed looking at Jacqui. "Someone should try and reign him back in. I know he's still understandably pissed off about his brother, but now's not the time to be starting fights."
"Well then you better get going, causing no one else is. Sides' I don't think that man listens to anyone other than you." Jacqui smiled slightly, "Even if it's cause he's trying to translate everything you say using that redneck brain of his."
"Nah, believe it or not I think Daryl's actually rather underestimated around here. He ain't a stupid man and he's sure as hell not a dumb man." Mara replied, "He's just…damaged somewhere inside. Probably thanks to his asshole of a father saying 'your mother's death was your fault' or 'you were never supposed to be born' or my favorite 'you'll never amount to anything as long as you can't pass basic training. You'll forever be useless.'"
"We are still talking about Daryl right?" Jacqui asked eyeing her.
Mara blushed looking down somberly . "Yeah, we're talking about Daryl. I think I'll go find him now. Make sure he doesn't go Jeffy Dahmer on us all-" She cringed, "Sorry that was a bad example."
Then without another word Mara left Jacqui to tend to the bodies. It wasn't what Mara wanted to do, but her accidental slip about her father brought back too many truths to handle. In ways her and Daryl weren't that different from each other. A fact that honestly scared the bejesus out of her. "Go away lil' bit, I ain't in the mood for you." Daryl's voice came catching her attention.
She looked up her eyes meeting with Daryl's blue ones. It hadn't been her plan to run into Daryl-even if she claimed it was to get away from Jacqui. What Mara really wanted was to be alone for a little while. But being in a group with about fourteen people the privilege of being alone was near impossible. "I wasn't planning on bothering you actually. I just wanted some space." Mara admitted, "You aren't the only one with baggage you know."
"I don't have an fuckin' baggage lil' bit, I ain't a girl." Daryl snorted.
Mara rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well this girl has some baggage. And she would love it if she could handle it for one fucking second-without running into you or Rick, who so desperately wants to help me."
Daryl cocked an eyebrow at her. "First off that's yer own damn fault cause I sure as hell don't wanna be around ya. Secondly' I thought you and Officer Dickwad were friends."
"His name is Rick and yes we are." Mara affirmed, "But that doesn't stop me from wanting some space from him now and then. It's not like we're attached at the hip or something."
Daryl muttered something under his breath along the line 'it looks that way to me.' Mara shot him a pointed look, but couldn't laugh a little. Although Daryl had way of driving Mara nuts, he also had a strange habit of making her laugh. Even if it was definitely not intentional. He eyed her slightly peeved and slightly amused. Making someone laugh or smile wasn't something Daryl was used too-let alone sure he liked it. After all Daryl had a reputation of being an unfriendly loner to withhold. One he didn't need to be messed up thanks to little miss-likes-everyone making people think he was some big teddy bear. "I don't know what yer laughin' about. Ain't said nothin' funny." Daryl grunted.
"No-I know. It's just funny cause it is kind of true." Mara admitted.
"Kinda? You're like a lost puppy woman." Daryl couldn't help but tease. She laughed more causing his to smirk a little. Perhaps making someone laugh wasn't such a bad thing.
"Come on, I'm not that bad. I came over here to help with the bodies didn't I?"
He snorted. "I don't see ya doing any work, Lil' bit."
She pouted, "I have a good excuse for that-"
"A walker got him!" Jacqui's voice cried, "A walker bit Jim!"
Mara felt her blood run cold as everyone in the group now eyed Jim. Daryl moved forward walking towards Jim pickaxe in hand. Without a second thought she followed after him. Pickaxe and Daryl equaled trouble-even if Daryl's intentions were out of some type of skewed goodness. "Show it to us!" Daryl demanded coming towards Jim.
Jim turned away trying to avoid the pressure to show his wound. Desperate Jim grabbed a shovel . Screams from Shane to put the shovel down filled the air as Jim became surrounded by camp members like a herd of wolves about to pounce. He swung the shovel towards Shane only to end up in a hold by T-Dog. Daryl swooped in lifting Jim's shirt up to reveal a nasty gash made by a walker. They dropped him scooting back as if by just being near him, they would get infected.
After a sad moment of Jim crying that he was okay over and over again, the group eventually separated from the isolated Jim to speak of his fate. It reminded Mara a little of her high school years where the strong picked on the weak. She understood the reason of concern-after all only an idiot wouldn't. But the idea of killing someone who only minutes ago was their friend horrified her. They were supposed to be people not animals. "I say we put a pickaxe in his head." Daryl suggested unsurprisingly, "And the dead girl's and be done with it."
"Is that what you want if it were you?" Shane questioned. Mara nodded actually agreeing with Shane for once, but she already knew Daryl's answer.
"Yea, I'd say thank you while ya did it."
"I hate to say it-" Dale said, his eyes wide in contemplation, "I never thought I would-but maybe Daryl's right."
Rick frowned, his head obviously spinning with the same conation as Mara. "Jim's not a monster, Dale, or some rabid dog."
"I'm not suggesting-" Dale protested.
"He's sick. A sick man." Rick snapped, "We start down that road, where do we draw the line?"
"Line's pretty clear. Zero tolerance for walkers, or them to be." Daryl retorted.
Mara glared at him. "Jim was your friend-he was all of your guys' friend. Now look I get that everyone's scared about walkers and being infected with whatever this disease is, but you can't just decide to kill someone cause you're scared. That's what animals do. And last time I check we were human beings not animals."
"Oh yeah, and what do you suggest we do lil'bit? Wait around to get killed?" Daryl snapped.
"No, we try to make Jim as comfortable as can be during however long he has and when he becomes a walker, we deal with it. Not before, not soon-after he turns." Mara argued, holding her ground.
Rick rubbed his chin frustrated. While he agreed with Mara about not killing Jim until after he transformed, Rick couldn't simply let the idea of Jim's fate being inevitable go. There had to be something he could do to save the poor man. He was a police officer-God damn it! It was his job to save people not mercy kill them. "What if we can get him help?" Rick suggested, "I heard the C.D.C was working on a cure."
"I heard that too." Shane said, "I heard a lot of things before the world went to hell."
"What if the C.D.C is still up and running?" Rick pressed.
"Man, that is a stretch right there." Shane dismissed.
"Why?" Rick questioned, "If there's any government left, any structure at all, they'd protect the C.D.C at any cost. Wouldn't they? I think it's our best shot. Shelter, protection-"
"Okay Rick, you want those thing, all right? I do too. Now if they exist they're at the army base, Fort Benning-"
"Oh please, just because it's an army base doesn't mean it's as invincible as you think it is." Mara muttered, earning a glare from Shane, "Look I am all for the awesomeness of the military, but I can tell you right now that the only difference between an army base and Atlanta City is that you have a walkers in uniform rather than civilian clothes."
"An army base has more weapons." Shane argued, "They're more adapt to handle these situations-"
"You're right they do have a better armory and they are slightly more adapt when it comes to killing things than we are. But that only makes the chances of them falling siege to this horror slightly less than ours." Mara spoke.
"Besides that's one hundred miles in the opposite direction." Lori backed.
"That is right, but it's away from the hot zone. Besides you going to believe Ms. Army Reject here? If any place is operational it's that place-and as I keep saying it is heavily armed… meaning we'd be safe there." Shane continued.
Mara frowned. She was starting to get pissed. It was one thing to disagree with her thoughts, it was another thing to insult her-especially in front of others. If Shane kept this shit up, he would soon find himself missing his family jewels real fast. "Mara's right. The military was at the front lines of this-they've got overrun we've all seen that!" Rick backed, "The C.D.C is our best choice and Jim's only chance."
Daryl nodded, but Mara caught the impatient look on his face. "You go looking for aspirin, do what ya need to do. Someone needs to have some balls to take care-"
Without a second thought Mara lurched forward blocking Daryl's path to Jim, just in time for Rick to place a gun to Daryl's head. Mara held her ground as she heard Rick mutter the words, 'We don't kill the living.' Cockily Shane walked up to where Mara was. She rolled her eyes as he gave her a look clearly stating that this was no business of a 'woman.' But much to Shane's dislike Mara ignored him. There was no way she would be moving anytime soon. Daryl looked from them to Rick before reluctantly lowering his pickaxe. "That's funny coming from a man who just put a gun to my head." Daryl retorted.
"Yeah, well life has a funny way of being ironic, when someone's being an asshole." Mara replied, curtly.
Shane shook his head obviously annoyed by Mara's unprofessionalism, but none the less let it slid this time. After all the girl just jumped in front of some crazy hick with a pickaxe-something Shane had to admit deserved some credit, even if it was just because she was an idiot. "We may disagree on some things, not on this. You put it down. Go on." Shane ordered.
Frowning Daryl smacked it down much like a two year old. Mara sighed shaking her head. Despite her comment about him being an asshole-which was partially true, she knew Daryl only wanted what was best for everyone. The sad fact was though….that sometimes intentions were best uncompleted. Rick glanced at her and Shane, before grabbing Jim harshly by the arm. "Come with me." He muttered to Jim.
"Where are you taking me?" Jim asked scared.
"Somewhere safe." Rick replied.
"Don't worry, no one's going to harm you." Mara assured as she followed Rick.
Rick took them to a room in back of the RV, where he ordered Jim to stay. A tired sigh escaped Rick as he pinched the bridge of his nose. It obvious Jim would need more protection than just inside the damn RV. Then there was also the matter of everyone else needing protection from Jim as well. If he were to turn, someone would have to put him down. A job obviously best suited for Shane or himself. But the absence of one of them only brought on a new variety of issues. "You're over thinking it, Rick." Mara said, as if reading his mind, "I'll watch over Jim."
"You're joking right?" Shane snorted, "Did you just forget that whole incident with Daryl over there? You think a little girl like you can handle someone like Daryl on your own?"
Mara frowned and took a step forward so she was now chest to chest with Shane. Something which shocked Shane. He was used to having women listen to him with no questions asked. Not having them confronting him. "First off Daryl ain't going to do shit. Admittedly he reacts to situations much differently than you do officer, but his intentions are just as good as yours. Secondly I may be an army reject, but that doesn't mean someone like you have the right to humiliate me in front of others. Thirdly-" Mara was now practically in Shane's face, "I help protect this camp just as much and accurately as you do. So why don't you be a good little boy and go grab my rucksack for me? Cause if you don't mind I'd like to give Jim some aspirin for his pain!"
Shane blinked like a fish out of water. He couldn't comprehend what he felt right then-embarrassed? Furious? Never in his life had someone talked to him like that without getting slammed into the trunk of his police car. Besides him, Rick stood with the same expression. Only unlike Shane, there was a hint of a smile of Rick's face. As much as he disagreed with Mara's way of handling Shane, Rick had to admit Shane deserved it. Unfortunately though, Rick was trying to keep peace amongst the group. Making Shane and Mara going at each others' throats the last thing he needed. "Mara, let's just-"
"And we are not talking about my feelings, Rick!" Mara snapped, walking into the room.
It went silent for a second. Shane gave a low whistle. "That woman there …" Shane pointed at her, "Is fucking nuts, man. I have a feeling she'll be trouble for us in the future."
Rick shook his head. "I'll admit she's hard headed, but Mara is the last person to cause anyone trouble. If anything she's too good."
Shane shifted awkwardly, his gaze still on Mara . "She ain't the only one."
Thanks for all the amazing reviews! I love hearing what you say!
Thanks to PeaceLoveUnicorn94, shreba MunkieMagic, Hope and Love, Rebel29, A. Alice-lacasse, Azrael Blood, Guest 22, Guest, and ScornedxRose for reviewing last week's chapter!
A. Alice-Lacasse: Thank you so much for your review, it makes me happy to know I haven't crossed the dread OC line yet. I try extremely hard not to do that. In fact it's my number one fear. So please tell me if I ever do cross it. Oh and I do plan to continue through season 2. I have plans. Muwhahahahha!
Guest 22: I look forward to your reviews each chapter. They keep me motivated and happy lol. And I won't lie before I became a Rick and Daryl fan I had a slight crush on Shane. Now unfortunately for him, I can't stand him. So me doing a Shane/oc story wouldn't be such a good idea, but I'm touched that you mentioned it.
MunkieMagic: Sorry for the scare, but no I do not plan for Shane to survive-spoiler alert ! lol. But in all seriousness I hate him just as much as you do, so him living is out of the question.