Last night hadn't gone the way that I had intended for it too. I hadn't slept a wink at all last night. Not that I had been expecting to once I had seen Lori. She was completely distraught. She didn't know what to say or do. Not that I blamed her. What was there that she could say or so? Nothing that wouldn't make people furious. Nothing that wouldn't make Shane or Rick lose their minds.
Mostly last night I had just comforted Lori and tried to offer her my help. But there was a lot of things that she needed help with. She didn't know when the baby had been conceived. It had to have been over two weeks ago. She was already having morning sickness. That meant that she wouldn't know whether or not it was Rick's or Shane's. The hopeful part of me thought that it was Rick's. The sane part of me knew that it was Shane's. Rick hadn't been back in Lori's life long enough for it to be his.
I hadn't told her that though. She didn't need to hear it. Not tonight. Maybe not ever. I had finally left and said goodnight when Lori had cried herself out. It had been well past two in the morning when I had stumbled back into my tent. My thoughts were only on Lori. Would she keep it? She had told me that she had gotten Glenn to get Plan B pills just in case. But would she have the heart to do it? I knew that I wouldn't. Either way there was no point in me sitting here and thinking about it.
I'd be there to help her but this wasn't my problem. It was Lori's. So I stood and crawled out of my tent. I had probably slept late today. I could tell because I was starving. I needed to eat something. Although just as I walked out of the tent nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw that Daryl was standing there. He had been about to walk into the tent. "Good God, you need to stop doing that," I sighed.
He really was going to give me a heart attack one of these days. Daryl merely laughed at me and shook his head before stepping back to allow me to exit the tent fully. "C'mon princess, it's late. Almost lunch time," he told me.
How was it already lunchtime? I hated sleeping in that late. "What?" I shrieked before launching myself out of the tent and dragging Daryl by the hand as we headed towards the main fire pit by the Winnebago.
As we walked I saw Dale turn towards me. He walked down the ladder from the roof. He dropped into the RV for a moment before coming back out. When he did he handed me a small nutrition bar. It wasn't much but it was more than nothing. I supposed that it was the best that I was getting this morning. "Sorry dear, but you missed the main breakfast," Dale told me.
I had always hated granola bar breakfasts but this was better than nothing. So I quickly opened it and scarfed it down. "That's okay this'll do," I told Dale while scarfing the bar down. It was gone within the minute.
Dale and Daryl both laughed at me and I rolled my eyes. I was starving! Since this whole thing had gone down I had barely eaten. We really needed to get more food. Or wake me up when I was missing breakfast. "I had an idea I wanted to run by you," Carol said, looking over at Lori.
All heads turned towards them as we waited to hear what it was that Carol wanted to run by Lori. Both women were in better moods since yesterday. Carol had been better since Daryl and I had told her that we might have found something indicating that Sophia was still alive. I was pretty sure that Lori felt better once she had told someone about her pregnancy. Or maybe she was doing what most women in her situation did. Ignore it until it can no longer be ignored. Or maybe she did take those Plan B pills.
"What's that?" Lori asked, breaking me from my thoughts.
I was a little curious to hear what it was that Carol was thinking about. "That big kitchen of theirs got me thinking. I wouldn't mind cooking in a real kitchen again. Maybe we all pitch in and cook dinner for Hershel and his family tonight. Kind of looking for things to keep my mind occupied," Sophia told me.
Honestly I couldn't blame her. She needed to think of something other than Sophia. She was going to go insane if she kept thinking about Sophia. And it was a good idea. We owed them a thank-you. Despite the fact that one of their men had shot Carl and I. "After everything they've done for us, seems like the least we could do," Lori said with a smile.
She was a mother. She probably wanted to be able to cook for people like she once had. "You mind extending the invitation?" Carol asked. I cocked my eyebrow at the girl. What did that mean? "Would just feel more right coming from you," Carol explained.
I still wasn't sure what she meant. And it seemed pretty obvious that Lori didn't know what she meant either. "How so?" Lori asked. I was curious to hear that explanation as well.
Carol gave a small shrug. "You're Rick's wife. It sort of makes you our unofficial first lady," Carol explained. I supposed that was true. Although my ego wanted to butt in and say that the only person that deserved to be an 'unofficial first lady' was someone that busted their ass around here.
But that was rude and I didn't want to start a fight. So I rolled my eyes and turned to walk away. Just before I could walk away I was startled by Lori calling out to me. I turned back around and cocked my head. "Huh?" I asked her stupidly.
It was slightly rude. I really hadn't meant to say it like that. So I smiled at her as a somewhat apology. She grinned at me and walked up to my side. But it was Carol that actually spoke. "Would you mind maybe helping us out with dinner?" The older woman asked.
Bad idea. A seriously bad idea. She was not going to enjoy me trying to cook dinner with them. We hadn't had a worse idea in a long time. "Uh I wouldn't mind at all but I'm pretty sure you don't want to poison them." Everyone stared at me like I was insane. "Sorry but I'm not much of a cook. Over the last six years I've been living off take out and frozen foods." The women both laughed and nodded, freeing me from any kitchen duties.
Thank God. Setting the Greene's house on fire after they'd saved our lives would probably not be taken very well. Daryl walked over to me and I smiled at him. "But yet you can hunt just fine?" He asked me.
They were two completely separate things. I was determined to get him to see that. "Well yeah!" I yelled. He shook his head at me. "I don't have to put spices and shit like that on them. Hunting and skinning I can do. Cooking and baking? I'm pathetic," I told him.
"You're only a little pathetic," Daryl told me. It was one of the few times that I'd ever really heard him joke. My jaws dropped as I stared at him. That was not what I was expecting. I laughed and shoved into him roughly. I couldn't believe that he had said something like that. He took a few steps to the side and I laughed once more. I knew that he wasn't really a stick in the mud.
We laughed and shoved at each other for a few minutes until Rick called us over. Daryl slung an arm over my shoulder as I hip-checked him. It didn't do much though. We laughed softly together as we walked to where Rick was standing. "Morning, guys. Let's get going," Rick said as we all gathered round. With the exception of Carol and Lori we were all here. "We've got a lot of ground to cover. All right, everyone's getting new search grids today. If she made it as far as the farmhouse Daryl and Rain found, she might have gone further east than we've been so far." Rick said.
It was a good thing. It meant that now we had renewed the chance to find Sophia. "I'd like to help," I heard a man say. It was one of Hershel's men. His younger daughter's boyfriend. Jimmy I thought that it was. "I know the area pretty well and stuff," he told us awkwardly.
He couldn't have been that old. Jimmy looked about seventeen or so. And he did not look like he really knew what he was talking about. He probably just wanted to handle a gun and get out of here for a little bit. "Hershel's okay with this?" Rick asked the younger boy.
Jimmy shuffled his feet for a moment. He was such a liar. "Yeah yeah. He said I should ask you." Of yeah. Definitely a liar. But hey it really wasn't my place to call the kid out.
"All right then. Thanks," Rick said, buying into his lie.
I couldn't believe that he had bought into the lie. "Nothing about what Daryl and Rain found screams Sophia to me," Shane said. My head snapped over to him. What the hell was that about? "Anyone could have been holed up in that farmhouse," Shane said. I glared and was about to snap at him when Daryl cut in.
He liked Shane about as much as I did right now. "Anybody includes her, right? Whoever slept in that cupboard was no bigger than yay-high," Daryl said, motioning to just above his hip. It was where Sophia stood compared to him. It definitely could have been her.
And we were going to go back out there to check and see if it had been her. We owed it to Sophia. "It's a good lead," Rick snapped at Shane. He was about as determined to get to Sophia as we were. "Maybe we'll pick up her trail again," Rick said hopefully.
It wasn't a maybe. We were going to get to her. "No maybe about it," Daryl snapped. It seemed that he shared my sentiment. "I'm gonna borrow a horse, head up to this ridge right here, take a bird's-eye view of the whole grid. If she's up there, I'll spot her," Daryl said with confidence.
It was a good idea. One of the best ideas that I had heard from any of the group in a while. "Good idea," Rick told him. Daryl simply gave a short nod.
I had to go and help him. He wasn't going to find her by himself. "I'll go with you," I spoke up while I looked up at Daryl.
He nodded at me to go with him but before we could head off Lori spoke up to me. "Actually Rain, I was going to ask. We're running low on fresh meat. For the dinner and just for meals in general. I hate to ask but do you think you could go hunting today?" Lori asked me. No way. I had to help Daryl get Sophia back. "I would ask Daryl but he's the better tracker and is more likely to find Sophia. You, being our only other hunter, were our best option. I'm sorry but we really need it," Lori asked me. She looked extremely guilty.
Damn her. I knew that what she was asking me was important but I also wanted to go and try to help. I didn't like the thought of having Daryl go out alone but we needed the food. Honestly we needed the food more than we needed Sophia. So after deliberating for a moment I nodded. "Sure. I should be back in a few hours then. No promises on what I catch though, I haven't seen many animals out around here," I told her honestly.
There were hardly any animals out here. Too many people around. But I would try my hardest. We needed some food to hold us over. "No problem Rain. Thank you," Rick told me with a smile.
I got ready to head into the woods but before I could I heard Dale speak up. "Maybe you'll see your chupacabra up there too," Dale said. He was looking at Daryl with a smile. Daryl wore a dark scowl. I could tell that it was not something that he wanted mentioned.
But what did he mean? The blood-sucking dog from the Spanish legends was the only thing that I could think that he meant. "Chupacabra?" I asked Dale with a smile.
They had gotten me curious. It was killing me that I didn't know what he meant. "You never heard this?" Dale asked me. Rick seemed about as confused as I was. We both shook our heads. "Our first night in camp, Daryl tells us that the whole thing reminds him of a time when he went squirrel hunting and he saw a chupacabra." I smiled at Daryl, knowing it was something that he would say. Jimmy on the other hand full out laughed.
Daryl did not appreciate being made fun of. "What are you braying at, jackass?" Daryl snapped while glaring at the kid. I swear I'd never seen the blood drain from one person's face so fast.
The normal tan that was on his face was gone within seconds. It looked like he had died and we were speaking to his ghost. Of course if he laughed again at Daryl there was a chance that he would become a ghost. "You believe in a blood-sucking dog?" Jimmy asked.
So I was right about what the chupacabra was. "Do you believe dead people walking around?" Daryl snapped. That was actually a rather valid point. If someone had told me that one day I would be fighting the dead that had come back to life I would have laughed. It sounded like such crap.
Jimmy didn't respond but he did reach out to grab one of the rifles that was on the edge of the hood of the truck. Thankfully he didn't reach it before Rick stepped up and shoved the younger boys hand back. "Hey hey. Ever fire one before?" Rick asked Jimmy. I could almost guarantee that he hadn't.
I was slightly surprised to see that Jimmy turned back to snap at Rick. "Well if I'm going out I want one," Jimmy told Rick with a slight snarl.
It didn't look like Rick wanted to take what Jimmy had said but before the Sheriff could say anything Daryl butted in. "Yeah, and people in hell want slurpees," Daryl muttered. I couldn't help but smile at the small comment. He had good one-liners. It was too bad that more people didn't realize that.
It seemed that Shane wasn't overly fond of someone that wasn't trained with guns. "Why don't you come train tomorrow?" Shane suggested. "If you're serious, I'm a certified instructor. For now he can come with us," Shane said. That was good. At least we had someone to watch after him until he was trained properly.
Daryl scoffed and began to walk backwards. "He's yours to babysit then," Daryl growled before stalking off back towards the woods.
There was nothing else to say. No one knew what to say except to head out and get started on the hunt for Sophia. Unless you were me, that is. I was unfortunately stuck here having to go on a stupid hunt. We all split up and I followed behind Daryl out to the barn. He was few yards ahead of me. I picked up my speed to meet him at the doors of the barn. He was already saddling up one of the horses.
I figured that he hadn't asked Hershel if he could take the horse out but I knew that it wasn't my place to say anything. Daryl finished saddling the horse before turning to where I was leaning against the barn doors. "Wish I could go out there with you. I wanna help look for Sophia not hunt for food which we have," I groaned.
Daryl walked the horse over to me. The horse looked slightly nervous. Maybe it was because Daryl didn't really like horses. He had told me that one night during a drive. "Gonna need more food for when she's back," Daryl grunted as he began to tighten all of the straps.
He was right about that but I didn't want to admit it. "I guess," I mumbled. I really did need to get some meat for all of us. We were running dangerously low. We were running mostly on dry foods for now. "Hey Daryl?" I called. He turned to face me and I walked up to him. I wrapped my arms around him and gave him a tight hug. Like I'd expected he tensed up but after a moment he slowly relaxed. To my shock he even put an arm around my upper back. "Please be careful," I begged him before stepping away.
He gave me a surprised look but smirked at me after a moment. "Me be careful?" He asked me. I nodded yes to him. "I ain't the one who got shot," he said with a laugh. A moment later he pulled himself up into the saddle of the horse. I hated the little butterflies I got in my stomach when he did that. I liked a man that could handle themselves outside of the city and a three-piece suit.
He settled himself into the saddle and I shook my head at him. "Oh shut it Dixon," I snapped. Daryl laughed and gave the horse a small kick. It only took the horse a moment to go racing off into the woods. I sighed but followed him to the wood line slowly disappearing from eye shot of the farm.
For a few minutes I followed the hoof prints of the horse that Daryl had been on. Although after about three or four minutes I knew that it was time to deviate. The horse was too loud. It was probably going to scare off anything else in the woods. I would have to be somewhere other than where they were. Daryl and the horse were going to be too loud.
Once I had gotten about a half a mile away from where I had deviated from the trail that Daryl had gone down. After a minute I pulled my bow from my shoulders and pulled out an arrow. A bush rustled in the distance and I nocked it. There had to be something out here. I needed it if we were going to get any meat for the dinner that Lori and Carol were planning on making. God that was going to be strange.
Honestly I couldn't even remember the last time that I'd been to a nice dinner. My program had held a few during my time in college but I had always avoided them. I tried to avoid anywhere that had a bunch of people. I supposed that it was being from my slightly antisocial personality. Although it had changed since I had been here with my new group. I supposed that the last time that I had been to a nice dinner was when I was back with my family. We had been to a nice restaurant a few weeks before my sister was born. It was a night that I liked to try to remember. It was good to try and fool myself into thinking that I'd had a good family.
But they were not people that I liked to think about. Walking forwards for a few minutes I heard the first definitive rustle. Aiming my bow at the bush that had rustled I prepared for whatever it was. With lightning speed a rabbit shot out from the bushes and I had to release almost blindly in order to hit it. I cringed when I realized that I had hit the rabbit but it was in the leg. The poor thing must have been in so much pain. Walking up to the rabbit I apologized to it softly before bringing my knife up to its throat and slicing. At least I had put the thing out if its misery. Strapping on the rabbit to my belt I kept on walking.
At least it was gone from this cruel world now. Nocking a new arrow I moved forward once more. For hours I walked and hit small animal after small animal. I didn't have anything big but I did have plenty of rabbits, squirrels, and birds. Making my way back to camp I finally allowed my mind to wander exactly where I didn't want it to. Daryl.
What did I think of him? I definitely liked him. That wasn't up for debate. But how much did I? It wasn't really like how it was with my past relationships. I mean I had always liked the guys I was with but I was never very emotional with them. My relationships had almost always been physical. Not saying that I was whoring around all the time but hey, I wasn't the most virtuous person around. I guess I could blame it on the 'daddy issues'. Nah, I wasn't one of those girls. It was just easier to blame him. But no. It was my tendency to emotionally separate myself from people. But to my surprise I was very connected with my group.
They were the first people in a long time that I'd found myself close to. But Daryl. What was I with him? I knew that I got the butterflies with him and he occupied my thoughts a lot of the time. I got bubbly and grossly giggly with him, and I smile a lot more and... Oh my God. I knew it now. I loved him. I loved Daryl Dixon. But how did that happen? I wasn't planning on ever falling in love with anyone.
No! He didn't feel the same way. We were friends that were closer with each other than we were with the rest of the group. It was just because we both had similar personalities. We were a little too nasty to others to actually get along with others. We managed for a few minutes at a time but not for hours. Not like we could with each other. But we couldn't try it. I couldn't. He didn't like me. He never would. I would just have to lose the feelings. Yeah, that'll work. I'll just lose the feelings.
As I walked I glanced through the woods. If I was going to be out here I might as well look for any signs of Sophia. She had to be out here somewhere. I wasn't far from the farmhouse that we had found the signs of her in. There had to be some sign of her. I was going to find her. We had to find her. We owed it to Carol to find her daughter. I should have been there to save her with Rick. Maybe I should have let Daryl run instead. He would have been able to catch her. He was better than I was with those sort of things. He was a protector. I wanted to pretend that I was a protector but I wasn't. I wasn't even close.
My thoughts were interrupted when I heard the familiar snarling of a walker. Shit. Shit shit shit. Turning to the sound ready to fire an arrow I saw that it wasn't just one. It was four. "Oh shit," I mumbled before scrambling to fire the first arrow. It hit the closest walker who dropped right in front of me. I was tempted to make a mad dash for the farm but I couldn't drag these things back there.
No one there right now could fight them. And I didn't have my gun on me either. Not good. This was so not good. Stumbling back I managed to pull out another arrow and shoot down the second one. Two down, two to go. However, before I could get the third one it reached me. The horrid creature barreled into me and knocked me on my ass. Okay that hurt. Keeping my bow in front of it's head I kept it's jaws from closing around my neck. Struggling to keep the walker away from me I let out a small whimper as the other fell next to me.
I was going to die. There was no way that I could get the two of them away from me. Struggling to keep the walker on top of me away from my neck with one hand I reached down for my knife with the other arm. As I tried to grab it I felt a small cry escape my lips. After a moment of fighting against the two walkers I finally managed to pull my knife free of the holster. Unfortunately as I blindly grabbed it and pulled it up to the walker it caught painfully on my leg. I watched as a large gash opened in my thigh. I cried out softly as I thrust it roughly into the head of the walker. After a moment I ripped the knife out of the walkers head and thrust it into the one on top of me.
Both walkers fell and I panted heavily. I let out a few deep breaths before I threw the walker off of me and stood weakly. Once I got back to my feet and finished wobbling I shouldered my bow. I dropped onto the ground once more as I tried to pull myself back up. The cut on my leg was deeper than I had originally thought. Sighing, I ripped off the bottom half of my shirt while showing off the belly button ring I had. Taking the extra fabric I wrapped it around my thigh where I had cut myself. Within seconds I had already bled through the binding. I tightened the wrap once more and began my limp back to camp. The whole time I was resisting the urge to cry out whenever I put my weight on the injured leg. This was so not good.
Meanwhile with Daryl...
Everything had been going fine. I'd even found the girls damn doll. Then that damn horse had bucked me off. I swore if I got that thing back I was gonna cook it. Horse meat was always good. It was Merle's favorite. Now with an arrow in my side I was laying at the bottom of the ravine. And I had no idea what to do. There was nothing that I could do. Not without someone here to help left me up.
But that wasn't an option. There was no one here to help me get back up the ravine. There was no one here to do anything for me. If I wanted to get back up to camp the only way that I was going to do it was by myself. I was fading in and out of consciousness and I didn't have the energy to make it up the hill yet. That was a problem. I needed to get back to the farm before the sun set. Damn that had been a big ass fall.
As I laid there I saw a figure stalking over to me. Someone was out here. I could shout at them. They could help me get back to the camp. I squinted my eyes to get a better look as the man walked over to me. "Why don't you pull that arrow out, dummy? You could bind your wound better." I knew that voice.
I knew that I knew that voice. I had listened to that voice for over thirty-five years. "Merle," I said in genuine surprise. How had he found me? And how did he get his other arm back? Something was wrong here.
Merle leaned down in front of me and stared at me. He looked incredibly pleased to see me in such a pathetic state. He always enjoyed seeing me at my weakest. "What's going on here? You taking a siesta or something?" Merle taunted. Classic Merle for ya.
He always had to be an asshole. I had never known Merle to be a halfway decent guy. Especially not when I was injured. "A shitty day, bro," I growled.
Just like I had expected Merle laughed. "Like me to get your pillow? Maybe rub your feet?" He asked me. Asshole, I'd like to see you down here with an arrow in your side.
"Screw you," I snapped at him.
Merle shook his head. "Huh-uh. You're the one screwed from the looks of it. All them years I spent trying to make a man of you, this is what I get? Look at you. Lying in the dirt like a used rubber. You're gonna die out here, brother. And for what?" He asked me.
I was not going to die out here. Not if I could help it. I wasn't ready to die yet. "A girl. They lost a little girl," I told him, referring to Sophia.
Merle snorted loudly. "So you got a thing for little girls now?" Merle taunted.
He never could take anything seriously. Not even someone losing their child. "Shut up," I snarled at him.
It was crucial that we found Sophia. I hadn't needed anyone looking for me when I was her age. Despite what Merle thought I was tough enough to survive out here. She wasn't. "'Cause I noticed you ain't out looking for old Merle no more," he told me.
We had tried. We had all tried. Hell, even Rain had wanted to come and try. "Tried like hell to find you, bro," I told him honestly.
This time Merle actually seemed angry with me. "Like hell you did. You split, man. Lit out first chance you got. You lit out," he growled.
That was not the truth. I had never wanted to leave Merle. No matter how mad he made me he was still my brother. I hated having to leave him in Atlanta. "All you had to do was wait. We went back for you. Rick and I, we did right by you," I told him.
He didn't seem to appreciate my dragging Rick into this. "This the same Rick that cuffed me to the rooftop in the first place? Forced me to cut off my own hand? This him we're talking about here? You his bitch now?" That was where my blood started to boil.
"I ain't nobody's bitch," I snarled at my brother.
The days had come and gone when I was his. I was better than that. I knew that now. She had taught me that. "You're a joke is what you are, playing errand boy to a bunch of pansy-asses, niggers and democrats. You're nothing but a freak to them. Redneck trash. That's all you are. They're laughing at you behind your back. You know that, don't you? I got a little news for you, son. One day they gonna scrape you off their heels like you was dog shit."
No, not her. She had proven time and time again that she was better than anyone else that I had ever met. She was even better than Merle. She treated me more like family than my own family ever had. And it wasn't even fair. Not after all of the times I had screamed at her and called her names that would have made other women run for the hills. She wouldn't leave. Not after everything. We were friends. She was my only friend.
"Hey. They ain't your kin, your blood. And that little bitch don't give a shit about you. She sure as hell don't love you either." Maybe not. But she would still be there for me. I knew that she would. "Hell, you had any damn nuts in that sack of yours, you'd got back there and shoot your pal Rick in the face for me. Now you listen to me. Ain't nobody ever gonna care about you except me, little brother. Nobody ever will. Come on, get up on your feet before I have to kick your teeth in. Let's go," Merle taunted.
He was shaking my foot roughly and I growled at him under my breath. He always had been a pain in the ass. I was about to yell at Merle to knock it off and stop shaking my foot when I realized that it was not Merle. He had been a mirage. It was really a walker that was chewing on my boot. I scrambled back and kicked the walker as hard as I could. Even moving was hurting like hell. I scrambled back a few more feet before picking up a large tree branch that was laying near me.
Without taking a chance to screw something up I swung the branch back towards the walkers head. I hit the fucker one, two, and three times until its head was mush. Once I was sure that it was dead I looked up. I was panting so hard that I was sure that I might pass out at any second. Right as I looked up I groaned. A second walker was headed straight for me.
"Shit," I muttered. With no idea of what else to do I gritted my teeth together and ripped the arrow out of my side. Thankfully I didn't make a noise to draw even more over to me. The pain was too much for me to move so I waited for the walker to reach me. Once it was a few feet away I raised the arrow and drove it into the bastards head. I grunted from the pain if the opened wound as the walker fell next to me.
Now that they were all gone I went to work on fixing myself to get back to camp. Taking Merle's advice I tore the sleeves of my shirt off and wrapped them around my torso effectively making a makeshift tourniquet. Leaning over to the walkers I had taken down I pulled out my knife and cut off their ears, stringing them on a piece of linen from my shirt. I could tell that walkers moved primarily on scent; not on noise. If I smelled like one of them then they might think that I was one. I had a feeling that I wouldn't be able to fight off any more walkers if they happened to stumble by.
As I dragged myself back over to the bottom of the ravine I dropped once more. I still wasn't able to move very well but it was better without the arrow in my side. "Son of a bitch was right," I growled. Putting all of my strength into my arms I gritted my teeth once more and attempted to pull myself up the side of the cliff. I had made it about halfway up when I lost my grip and went tumbling back down painfully. Fuck. I was not making it back up there. I huffed and laid there while trying to pull myself back together.
Just what I needed, Merle came back over to stand at the top of the ravine. "What's the matter, Darlina? That all you got in you? Throw away that purse and climb," Merle taunted as he leaned onto his knees.
I wanted him to get the hell away from me. "I liked it better when you was missing," I snapped at my brother.
"Come on, don't be like that. I'm on your side," Merle told me.
That was a damned lie. Merle had never been there for me. He was always either in juvie or the few times that he was around me he was laughing at me or making fun of me. "Yeah? Since when?" I asked while pulling myself up and beginning the climb to the top again. I had to get to Rain. I made her a promise that I'd be back. I had to get back to her.
I had promised her that I would be alright. "Hell, since the day you were born, baby brother. Somebody had to look after your worthless ass," he told me.
He never took care of me. Our father didn't take care of me. Our mother hadn't even taken care of me. I had taken care of me. "You never took care of me. You talk a big game but you was never there. Hell, you ain't here now. Guess some things never change," I told him.
"Well, I'll tell you what I'm as real as your chupacabra," Merle teased.
Damn him it had really been there. I wasn't insane, no matter how much Merle thought that I was. "I know what I saw," I grunted. I knew that I had seen that thing that day.
Merle of course simply laughed at me. "And I'm sure them shrooms you ate had nothing to do with it, right?" He asked me.
I had not taken shrooms that day. Or maybe I had. Most days with Merle in my youth ran together these days. I wanted to forget them. I wanted to move past them. I wanted to be better than them. "You'd best shut the hell up," I threatened.
"Or what? You're gonna come up here and shut my mouth for me?" Hell yeah I was. "Well, come on and do it then, if you think you're man enough. Hey, kick off them damn high heels and climb, son. You know, maybe if you don't make it to the top, I'll give that little girl of yours a right pounding, show her how a real man does it." He wasn't going to dare lay a hand on her. "You know what else? If I were you I'd take a pause for the cause, brother. 'Cause I just don't think you're gonna make it to the top. Come on. Come on, little brother," Merle repeated.
Infuriated with Merle I screamed and finally pushed myself over the top of the ledge. Jumping up ready to kill Merle, I looked around but he was nowhere in sight. I guess he at least gave me the motivation I needed to get to the top. Now I needed to get to Rain. With that last thought I started off back to the farm and back to her.
Back at Camp...
I gave a soft grunt as I finally made my way back into camp. It had taken me well over an hour to get back to the campsite with the horrible pain in my thigh. I had just broken the wood line when I saw my group seated around the Winnebago. With Rick in immediate eyesight I called out to him. "Rick, help!" With their heads whipping around to see me I dropped in the grass and waited for them to get me.
There was no need to worry any more. They were here. They were going to get me help. "Oh my God, Rain! What happened?" I heard Rick shout. I tried to open my mouth to say something but all that came out was a pathetic groan. "Get her some water!" Rick called as he picked me up and started carrying me back to camp.
"Another damn accident," I moaned. "I was lost in thought headed back to camp when four walkers surprised me. Killed the first two easy but the third one fell on me and the other crawled over to me. Had my bow above me fending the one on top of me off and I pulled out my knife to kill the last one. When I did it caught my leg pretty bad," I explained while gulping down the water that Shane had given me when we made it back to the fire.
Thankfully Rick helped me sit down on one of the wooden logs. I was taking in deep breaths and feeling much better. After a few minutes a thought popped into my head. "Daryl. Where is he?" I asked Rick.
He had promised me that he would be back soon. He had damn well better be back. I was going to kill him if he got himself injured after being injured for so long. "He's not back yet Rain but don't worry, I'm sure he'll be back soon," Rick reassured me.
Not fully convinced I nodded anyways and handed Lori my bag and belt of catches. She smiled at me and leaned down in front of me. She looked like she was about to cry. She probably figured that the whole thing had been her fault. It hadn't been. I was the one that hadn't been paying attention. "I'm so sorry Rain, I would have never sent you out there had I known that that would happen," Lori exclaimed.
I shook my head and smiled at her. It really wasn't her fault. "Don't worry about it Lori. You didn't know and it was my fault. Now go get started on dinner with Carol." I smiled and received a small smile back. Lori stood up, giving her husband a kiss before she disappeared into the house.
I was just about to ask Rick when the dinner was going to be done when I heard Andrea shout from the top of the RV. "Walker. Walker!" She shouted.
Everyone straightened out at the news. That was not a good thing. Walkers never came to this side of the creek. They couldn't make it through. That was not good. If they were getting through here it was going to get dangerous for us. "Just the one?" Rick asked.
As I turned back I saw that it really was only one. At least it wasn't a whole group of them. "I bet I can nail it from here," Andrea said with an overconfident tinge to her voice.
She really wasn't that good of a shot. I didn't want her to miss and draw over more walkers. It would be a better idea to keep any fighting against the walkers silent. "No no, Andrea. Put the gun down. You'd best let us handle this," Shane stated as he started heading for the walker. Myself, Rick Glenn and T-Dog followed.
"Shane, hold up. Hershel wants to deal with walkers," Rick called from behind. What was it that Hershel wanted to do with the walkers? It always seemed that he wanted to stay away from them.
It seemed that Shane shared my sentiment. "What for, man? We got it covered," he told his best friend.
We all began to pick up speed as we headed towards the walker. "Is that Daryl?" Glenn asked. I took a good look and realized that it was. It was his clothing. Oh my God. He was covered in blood and dirt, looked badly injured, and was limping. Please God, don't let him be a walker.
I was positive that I couldn't deal with him dying. He was my friend. He was my best friend. And I fucking loved him. "That's the third time you've pointed that thing at my head. You gonna pull the trigger or what?" Daryl asked. I sighed knowing that he was at least alive. I had been about to run over to him when a gun shot rang out and Daryl dropped to the ground.
What the fuck just happened? "No! No! No!" Rick shouted.
"Rick!" Shane called from behind as we all started running over towards where Daryl had fallen.
"Daryl!" I shrieked louder than I had thought was possible. "You fucking idiot!" I shouted as I pointed an accusing finger at Andrea. She was going to die if Daryl was dead. I hated her more than I had ever hated her before.
The door to the house opened and I turned back long enough to see that Hershel had stepped out of the house. "What on earth's going on out here?" Hershel yelled from his porch as he looked out at the scene.
I watched as Rick and Shane lifted Daryl from the ground. "I was kidding," Daryl moaned as they began dragging him towards the house. Oh thank God, her aim was so shitty she had just grazed his temple. He was going to live as long as they cleaned out the wound.
"Come on," Rick grunted.
Thankfully between Rick and Shane they were able to carry Daryl quickly towards the house. "Oh my God. Oh my God, is he dead?" Andrea cried, running up to the group of us.
No one bothered to look over towards her. "Unconscious. You just grazed him," Rick explained.
They were taking this much better than I was. I had never been very level-headed before and I was about to prove how heated I was right now. "He may not be dead, but you will be!" I screeched before running off and reeling at Andrea. She didn't have any time before I landed a strong hit on her left cheek. Moving back as she stumbled I launched all of my weight on her and knocker her to the ground.
She was not a good fighter and I was going to use that to my advantage. Taking hit after hit on Andrea I made sure that I had her arms pinned with my legs and feet. She was not moving until I knew that she no longer could. She, however was more flexible than I thought. She brought her knee into my back and I jumped while hissing at the pain. With my weight no longer fully on her she pulled back and scratched me across the neck and my chest. Hissing at the sharp pain I reeled my arm back and brought it down on her nose. Hearing the satisfying crunch I smirked, knowing that I had at least dislocated it.
Unfortunately the men began to separate me from her. Damn it I had wanted to keep going. "Alright, knock it off!" I heard Rick call as he pulled me off of Andrea and threw me over to Glenn. Glenn caught me and held on tightly as I tried to get back to the other blonde. Rick then helped Andrea up and handed her over to Shane. She definitely didn't look too good. She looked on the verge of unconsciousness. Good. But I wanted her done for. "Come one you, we need to get Daryl to Hershel. You and Andrea too," Rick said.
We were slowly being dragged back to the house. Well Daryl and Andrea were. I was more being forced. "But look at him. What the hell happened? He's wearing ears," Glenn told us.
Was he? I looked down and saw that he was indeed wearing a necklace made of string with walker ears attached at intermittent points. "Let's keep that to ourselves," Rick said as he tore the ears from around Daryl's neck.
We were all walking up to the house when T-Dog's voice startled us all. "Guys, isn't this Sophia's?" T-Dog asked. Everyone turned back to see that he was holding up Sophia's doll that Morales' daughter had given to her before they had left for Birmingham. Oh shit. This search was far from over. It was just beginning.
A/N: One more chapter down the drain! And in two days I get to go home for Thanksgiving Break! I should get done with the edited chapters while I'm home. I'm expecting about another eight or so edited chapters before I go to writing The Cell (Season 7, Episode 3). Until next time -A