Hello everyone!
I can't even begin to explain to you guys how many times I've rewritten this chapter. The writing Gods had sentenced me to eternal torment with this damn chapter and I finally said "SCREW IT" and just sat down to edit it. I hope it turned out okay for you guys, and I apologize that it took a lot longer to get out than what I had originally planned. I almost thought about breaking this chapter into two parts but figured you all deserved a decent-size chapter from the procrastinator that I am.
A huge thank you to Garrawolf, BloodyKirai, Lee Slayra Rogue, loverofcreepythings, MajorKO, Harlie 09, TheAmazingMaya, and lpwdfan for favouriting/following the story! As I've said before, the support you guys show means the world to me, so thank you very much!
For reviews,
devoncarman: ah, your reviews always make me so happy! God bless you, seriously. Your feedback helps me to actually sit down and write, so thank you so so much! I'm glad you thought the ending to season 1 turned out well, I was pleasantly surprised as well. Season 2 is gonna be a shit show lol I'm very excited to write it and to improve Scarlett's relationships with everybody, especially Daryl. Haven't planned it all our yet, but I'm usually pretty good at thinking out plot points on the spot. Thank you so much for the kind words! xo
Well, I'll stop my yapping and let you guys get to the chapter. A lot of shit goes down in this one so hopefully it's not too all over the place for you guys.
Here's to the beginning of season 2~
Enjoy!
She knew immediately where she was. Even in the darkness, even with the old flooring and worn yellow wallpaper that hadn't surrounded her in years, she knew exactly where she was. It was how she remembered it; the dusty front windows, the ragged rug that remained on the floor under the oak coffee table, the couch that had one too many holes in it, the crumbling brick around the unlit fireplace. To fresh eyes, nothing about the living room appeared too damaged, but her own worn ones recognized every flaw.
Everything in the old living room had been under the gaze of Scarlett's eyes to the point where she could reimagine the place from the ground up. Some people, most normal people, would consider this to be odd. She would never argue with that, but when it came to avoiding her father's eyes, she'd rather count the loose threads on the rug or memorize the patterns on the walls until she saw stars.
This isn't real.
Even with her father not in view, Scarlett was uneasy. Memories of how their living room had looked before had her stomach turning over on itself. She had broken out in sweats without really realizing it and the sudden urge to vomit hit her like a freight train. She was paralyzed even before she heard the slam of his bedroom door upstairs.
This isn't real. It's just a dream.
Tarring at her hands violently, she could feel the blood gathering under her nails as she heard each step he took down the staircase. With her face remaining emotionless, she could hear the man's prayers dripping off of his lips in soft whispers. She wanted the cry; the sound of his hushed religious chants causing fear and dread to spread through her veins like wildfire. His heavy footsteps came to a halt and Scarlett somehow found it in herself to look over in his direction.
His face was warped into something hideous and barely recognizable. He held a single candle in his hand, the slight tilt of his neck giving her the impression that he was examining her. She had stopped breathing altogether.
Don't, please don't…
The candle blew out, a quiet sob bubbling up from the depths of her throat. She couldn't hear or see anything, the darkness suffocating her as if she had a noose tied around her neck. Except it wasn't a noose, it was a hand.
And his voice spoke to her.
"'Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.'"
As she sat up in her bed, alarm running through her system, the forest green surrounding her blown out pupils met the curtain-clad windows of the RV. The wheezing that escaped her mouth rattled through her bones and the sweat that dripped down her neck spilled along the collar of her shirt. When she glanced over to spot an alarmed T-Dog staring right back at her, a groan escaped her lips as she placed her head in her hands.
Scarlett wondered why one could never close their eyes in their dreams.
"Are you alright?" She heard him ask, worry wrapped around his words.
"Yeah just – give me a second."
While she was distraught to the core, all Scarlett could feel was disappointment. It had been a while since she'd had that nightmare and had begun to think that she was past it all. A part of her hoped this was a one-time thing, but she knew better than to believe that. With one came many, which immediately informed her that she would be getting no sleep over these next few weeks.
The ragged hum of the engine told her that the group was still on the road, headed for Fort Benning. A day and a half had passed since the fallout at the C.D.C. and most people had gathered what was left of their wits and continued on. The dread was still easy to see, playing at the corners of everyone's eyes, but they kept going forward. There wasn't much else to do anyways.
Feeling the sting at the back of her left hand, Scarlett winced as she gazed down at it, only to see four jagged lines running along her skin. Small pearls of blood had made their way to the surface, but other than that she would be fine.
A frown molded onto her lips. She'd never before scratched her hands hard enough to draw blood. Sure, red marks and burning were a common occurrence, but this was on a whole different level.
The familiar sound of the hose giving way had them rolling to a stop, Dale's curses ringing through the whole RV. T-Dog quickly got up to check and see what the deal was, most likely trying to get away from whatever mess was brewing between Scarlett's eyes. All she could do was let out a shaky breath as she slowly got up from her cot and walked to the front of the vehicle as well.
Looking out through the front window and onto the highway, the first thought that came to Scarlett's mind was 'graveyard'. Cars were littered along the road as far as the eye could see, abandoned by those still living. The only movement she could see was from where the rest of the group stood just outside the door to the RV, staring at the smoke that rose from the engine.
"I said it, didn't I say it?" She could hear Dale cursing as she left the RV to join the rest of them. "A thousand times. Dead in the water."
"Problem, Dale?" Shane asked, not even looking at the man as his eyes remained on the highway in front of them.
"Just a small matter of being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no hope of-" Dale had begun explaining, but his words fell silent as everyone took a moment to look around at their surroundings. While their passage through the highway might have been blocked, the abandoned cars around them held plenty of things to scavenge through. To put it simply, one man's loss is another man's treasure. Daryl had been the first one to jump on this philosophy. "Okay, that was dumb."
"If you can't find a radiator hose here…" Shane trailed off, still observing the sight in front of his eyes.
"There's a whole bunch of stuff we can find." Daryl concluded, still digging through the trunk of the closest car.
"Maybe siphon some gas from the…?" Scarlett began; only to see T-Dog with a gas can and a hose in his hands, ready to go. "And he's already on it."
"Gotta be faster than that, firecracker."
She let out a soft chuckle as approaching footsteps reached her ears, causing her to glance over her shoulder to see the rest of the group walking their way. They all looked tired, but seemed to understand the situation at hand from the tail end of the conversation.
"We should try to find some water." Carol spoke up timidly, Sophia by her side.
"And food." Andrea threw in.
"This is a graveyard."
Scarlett didn't even need to look to know who had spoken. She'd known almost the second that they started scavenging that Lori would not be keen on it. The former paramedic understood; the older woman wanted to respect the dead, not sort through their belongings for their own benefit.
However, they needed food and water. They'd been running extremely low on consumables and if they didn't find anything of the sort in the next few days to come, the outcome would be more or less catastrophic on their health.
"I don't know how I feel about this." Lori mumbled to Rick.
The only thing the redhead could do was sigh, being the first one to wander off amongst the cars despite Lori's negative view on their situation. They needed supplies, and if that made Scarlett a grave robber in the older woman's eyes, then so be it.
"If anyone finds any medical supplies, please bring them to me." She called out to the group before turning on her heel and beginning her search.
Everyone split up to do their own thing. Scarlett wasn't exactly sure what the others were getting up to, but she figured whatever was taking up their time would be a valuable resource for the group. These people weren't stupid, and they'd know to keep something important if they came across it.
With Stella tucked under her arm, the redhead was looking specifically for medicine. Painkillers, gauze, anything she figured would come in handy if she needed to fix someone up. Of course she still had some supplies in her bag, she hadn't really needed to save anyone's life as of yet. She prayed she wouldn't need to anytime soon.
After going through two cars that were full of only bloodied clothes and the bodies in which the blood had come from, Scarlett had come across kids toys in the third. Thoughts of the gas station that both her and Rick had come across a little while back came to mind, remembering all the tents and the scattered playthings around them. It had felt horrid back then and it still did now.
She'd almost turned away from the car at the memory, but her tired eyes had fallen on something interesting. A medium sized box sat amongst the bloodied luggage in the back seat of the car, it's exterior made of wool that appeared to be knitted by hand. Scarlett recalled seeing something very similar in her mother's room when she had been younger, and if it held the same contents that had been found in her mother's, then maybe the paramedic had acquired a bit of luck.
Grabbing ahold of the box and placing it on the roof of the car, Scarlett managed to smile at the sight inside.
"That a sowing kit?"
Being too occupied with the box in front of her, Scarlett had barely registered that someone had approached her from behind. Even though she heard them coming, it was still difficult to hold back any sort of surprise.
Looking over at him on her left, Scarlett sent Shane a mild glare.
"Yeah," she replied simply, only to watch him raise his eyebrow in mild amusement. Her frown deepened at the sight of his smug expression. "Don't give me that look."
"I thought you were supposed to be looking for medical supplies."
"I am, so unless you want me stitching you up with dental floss, I'd shut up if I were you."
"You expect me to believe that you can stitch someone up with thread from a sowing kit?"
"Wouldn't be the first time."
By the pause in their less than pleasant conversation, Scarlett could tell that her words had confused him.
"What, the hospital didn't provide you with proper stitches?" Shane tried to joke, seemingly still confused.
"I did it before working at the hospital, idiot."
"On yourself? Why would you need to stitch yourself up with thread?"
Now she was the idiot. She'd walked herself right into a corner without even realizing it. She couldn't exactly come out and give him the reason behind knowing how to stitch someone up using alternative methods. Telling that story to anyone was out of the question, especially Shane.
"None of your business." Scarlett managed to say calmly before grabbing the needles and thread from the kit, turning her back to him and moving on to the next car.
She expected him to continue pestering her for answers, but it seemed that even Shane knew when to leave something be.
Shoving the needles and thread into her back pocket, Scarlett went through a few more cars before the stench finally got to her. In her endeavors, she managed to come across a few half empty bottles of aspirin, a couple boxes of Band-Aids, a container of alcohol wipes, tweezers, a third of a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, and a thermometer. While it wasn't much, it was definitely more than Scarlett had thought she'd come across.
Grabbing a small bag from one of the cars and dumping its contents into the backseat, she filled it with her findings. Pausing momentarily, she spotted Glenn and Shane hunched over a car, most likely looking for the spare part for the RV. On her way over to them, her eyes fell on the larger truck parked behind the two men. It wasn't until she got closer that her eyes could make out the words on it's back.
"Hey, you find anything good?" Glenn asked when she finally reached them.
"Yeah, a few things," Scarlett mumbled back, eyes still fixed on the truck. She dropped her bag beside Glenn's feet and walked around the side of the large vehicle, spotting a leaver at the bottom to open it up. "Shane, could you give me a hand?"
The man seemed caught off guard by her request before he glanced at the writing on the truck, his eyebrows raising as he slowly approached her.
"Better not get our hopes up." He muttered to her as the both of them grabbed a hold of the leaver.
"I'm trying real damn hard not to." She replied, and the two of them managed to pull up the metal door of the truck.
She took one look at the contents of the truck and started laughing.
"Glenn," Shane mumbled out, his stunned gaze still on the liters of water packed into large jugs. All remaining untouched by the world. "Were we short on water?"
Managing to stop her small laughing fit, Scarlett sent Glenn a smile as she watched him freeze at the sight before him. When Shane popped open one of the containers to dose his face with the wonderful liquid, Glenn started laughing too.
"Hey! Save us some." Glenn said through his laughs.
"It's like being baptized, man." Shane said back, a large smile on his face.
Scarlett managed to move the man out of the way to get a taste of the water as well, letting the clear liquid run over her dirty face and through her sweaty locks. When it came into contact with her hand, she felt the sting almost immediately, remembering the scratches she'd given herself not too long ago. She winced softly at the feeling but nonetheless rubbed her hands together under the water. She couldn't remember the last time she'd washed her hands and the thought made her cringe more than the cuts on her hand had.
Stepping out from under the water with Shane taking her place, Scarlett's gaze fell on Glenn, whose content face was now one of mild concern.
"What did you do to your hand?" He asked her, nodding his head down at the appendage.
"Did it in my sleep." She replied honestly, looking down at the four red marks.
Glenn gave her an unimpressed look and held out his own hand to her, ushering for her to show him the injury. A sigh of defeat passed through her lips before she placed her hand in his.
It only took him a few seconds of inspection before he spoke again.
"Jesus, Scarlett. You should really clean that up." He said as she pulled her hand away from him.
"It's fine. I don't want to waste the gauze." She replied simply.
"Do you even remember what we talked about a few days ago?"
Scarlett winced slightly at his words. She remembered what they'd talked about all right; she'd probably never forget it. He'd somehow managed to plant it in her head that the rest of the group cared about her as much as she cared about them. The thought made her feel selfish, like she was giving into untrue facts just to make herself feel better. However, if she was making the group worry about her well being when she was doing nothing to help herself, that would be selfish of her as well.
Another defeated sigh escaped her.
"I'll wrap it up when we get back to the RV, alright?" She stated, a hint of a smile playing at her lips as she saw Glenn nod at her.
"Good."
As she was about to make a crack at her friend, the sight of Rick crouched down and hurriedly making his way towards them had her freeze. She watched as he said something to Lori and Carol, before he turned and met her eyes.
Panic. Something was wrong. Rick pointed down at the ground before crawling under one of the cars near his wife. Scarlett turned to warn Shane, but the man had already grabbed ahold of both her and Glenn, shoving them under the large water truck.
"What?" Glenn hissed at Shane. Scarlett was squished between the two men, but she couldn't muster up a complaint. All she could do was throw a hand over Glenn's mouth and watch forward for whatever was coming.
Then she saw them. First it was only one pair of slow shuffling feet, then another, and then ten more, and then another dozen. A whole herd was headed towards them, all they could do was hide and wait for them to walk by. Scarlett could only hope that everyone else was taking cover too.
Slowly taking her hand off of Glenn's now silent mouth, Scarlett managed to slide her hand down to her belt, freeing the hunting knife that was strapped on the opposite hip as her Colt. She brought it back up and kept it a firm grip on it as the first wave of walkers began shuffling past their truck.
Both men on either side of her attempted to get as far away from the sides of the truck and the dozens of undead feet beyond them. All Scarlett could do was turn on her side to give them more room, no matter how uncomfortable she felt being squished between them, she'd rather that then be walker food.
The familiar moans from the undead had her closing her eyes, trying to focus on her breathing rather than the impending doom that was waiting for them only a few feet away. After a few minutes, the shuffling and moans began dying down, fading off into the distance behind them.
It was only when it got completely silent that both men moved away to give Scarlett some breathing room. Glenn managed to send her an apologetic look, but they were both too busy trying to listen to see if the coast was clear.
The sound of someone screaming and crying reached their ears, to which Scarlett gave both men a panicked look. It sounded like Sophia, Carol's little girl, who had most likely caught the attention of a walker. The three of them rolled out from under the truck and quickly made their way over to where they'd heard the screams, only to find a sobbing Carol holding on to Lori for dear life.
"Lori, there's two walkers after my baby!" Carol cried out, the other woman trying to calm her down.
"Shhh," Lori muttered back. "Rick went after her. He'll get to her before they do."
"Is everyone else okay?" Scarlett managed to say through her heavy breaths.
"Andrea had a run in with a walker in the RV," Dale said, causing everyone to give the man a panicked look. "She's alright, but she's shaken up pretty bad."
"I'll go check on her."
Scarlett carefully jogged through the cars, keeping an eye out for any walkers that might have wandered away from the heard. With none in sight, the redhead slipped into the RV with ease.
Andrea sat on the floor of the vehicle, covered in blood with a screwdriver in her hand. When Scarlett had entered, the blonde had stiffened and raised the small tool in defence, only to burst into tears at the sight of the former paramedic.
"Shhhh, it's alright," Scarlett said as she crouched beside her. "Let's get you cleaned up."
Heading to the back of the RV, the redhead managed to find a few rags to wipe away the blood that seemed to cover Andrea from head to toe. Even when she got down to cleaning the blonde of the red liquid, there always seemed to be more than the last time. She sat their silently as Scarlett cleaned her up, quiet tears rolling down her cheeks that the former paramedic wiped away too.
Scarlett hadn't really had a chance to talk to the blonde about what happened back at the C.D.C., how she'd been ready to throw her life away in a fiery explosion. Of course, Scarlett couldn't imagine the pain Andrea must have been going through after the death of Amy, but she was almost positive that suicide was not the answer. They still had time on their internal clocks as far as Scarlett was concerned, and she would make sure that everyone lived for as long as they could.
She'd almost finished when the door of the RV was violently thrown open, revealing a panicked Glenn.
"Scarlett, T-Dog's hurt real bad."
The redhead turned to give Andrea a pained look, but the woman only shook her head in response.
"I'm fine. Go." She said faintly, and those simple words had Scarlett running to the back of the RV to grab her first aid kid before bolting outside.
Scarlett followed Glenn past a few cars before coming to a stop, spotting the group standing around T-Dog, who was leaning against one of the cars with his shirt soaked in blood. When she saw the huge gash running up his forearm, she knew it was his own.
"Fuck," was all she could say as she crouched beside him. The man's eyes were barely open and he looked ready to pass out at any moment from blood loss. Not having the time to gingerly look at the wound, she quickly grabbed his arm and took a look at the wound more carefully. "Shit, you nicked the artery. Shane? Go grab me one of those water jugs and Glenn, I need you to go grab that bag of supplies I gathered today. Please be quick about it."
The two men ran off to gather what she asked for, leaving her be to sort through her bag. The wound was still pooling with blood, which meant that her first job would be to stop the bleeding. At least he hadn't completely severed the artery; otherwise he would have been dead by now.
"How did this even happen?" She attempted to ask T-Dog, but the man was barely functioning.
"He sliced it on a car door."
Scarlett managed to spare a second to look up a Daryl, who was watching her carefully. She could see mild flecks of worry in his eyes.
"Did you bring him here?" She asked him, turning back to T-Dog and keeping an iron grip on his arm.
"Yeah."
"Would you mind holding his arm level? We need to keep as much blood in him as we can. He's already lost way too much."
Without a word, Daryl dropped his crossbow and crouched down beside her, grabbing ahold of the man's bloodied arm and doing as she had asked of him.
Thankfully, both Shane and Glenn returned with the water and her supplies and placed them beside her.
"Shane, can you lift that jug and pour some of the water onto his gash? Not too much, but enough to wash away the blood," Scarlett asked, sending the man a quick glance. "I need to see if anything is still stuck in his arm."
"Yeah, sure. Of course."
Shane quickly undid the cap on the jug and lifted it over T-Dog's arm, tilting it just enough so that the water could spill out. The moment the water hit his wound, T-Dog immediately winced and groans of pain began falling from his lips.
"Okay, that's good. Thank you." She said as she bent over his wound. As she peered into the large gash, Scarlett reached her clean hand into her first aid to grab a few sheets of gauze.
As soon as she saw nothing foreign in his arm, she unfolded the gauze sheets and placed them over the injury. Since the gash was essentially the length of his forearm, she could need both hands to keep the pressure. The blood soaked through almost immediately.
Informing Daryl to let go of T-Dog's arm, she rested his arm on her thigh and attempted to clean as much of the blood away as she could. She hadn't really realized that she'd gone quiet until Shane had spoken up.
"Holloway, do you need us to do anything else?"
"No, I'll be fine," she said, eyes still fixed on the wound as she threw away another gauze that was completely soaked in blood. "I should be able to get this to stop soon. You go find Rick and make sure Sophia is okay."
Nobody argued with her and with a quick glance up, Scarlett watched as Shane, Daryl, and Glenn disappeared into the woods in search of Rick and Sophia.
A soft sigh left her lips as she looked around at the others. Lori was still holding on to Carol, who continued to sob horribly. Carl was staring at T-Dog's wound in a mixture of awe and horror. Andrea was still in the RV, which meant the only able body in proximity was Dale.
"Anything you need?" The older man asked as he sat down beside her on the pavement.
"Yeah, would you mind passing me that tape?"
She couldn't have been luckier to come across that sowing kit when she had. Since she didn't have any closure strips, medical staples, or sutures, closing up T-Dog's arm would have been almost impossible without her needle and thread. It had taken longer than she'd liked for the bleeding to stop, but once she'd managed, she began stitching. Dale had made himself busy by attempting to keep T-Dog awake and when Andrea had emerged from the RV, she sat by Scarlett to give her a hand.
No one else could watch as she stitched the wound up. The redhead knew that she needed to do single stitches on opposite ends of the wound in order for it to come out as clean and proper as possible, under the circumstances at least. Wiping down the needle with one of the alcohol wipes, Scarlett had then begun pushing the needle through both flaps of skin. Andrea looked ready to be sick the moment she had begun, and Dale's eyes had widened double the normal size. Scarlett wasn't exactly enjoying it either, but the one who was really suffering was, of course, T-Dog himself. Every stitch had the man crying out softly, too weak to really make any real sense of the situation. Thank god he hadn't looked down at his arm, because Scarlett was almost positive the sight alone would have made the man pass out for days.
After finishing with the stitches, which came out rather well, she wiped around the wound with a wet cloth before placing two sheets of gauze over the stitches. Then, after acquiring the tape from Dale earlier, fastened the gauze to his arm and came to the conclusion that was the best she could do. She could only hope that the wound would stay infection-free, otherwise they'd be in deep shit.
Watching as Dale practically forced T-Dog to drink some water, Scarlett began wiping her hands free of the man's blood. The slightest touch of the alcohol wipe against her scratches had her wincing horribly, but she needed to get the blood off whether she liked it or not. The alcohol wipe was already bright red and ready to be thrown out. With a sigh, she grabbed another one and continued wiping away, regardless of the pain that shot through her hand.
Glenn and Shane returned soon after, their eyes full of concern even though they were trying their best to hide it. They approached her first before speaking with anyone else. After all, it was just T-Dog and her at the moment. The others had gone off to do something else.
"How we doing?" Shane asked, looking over at T-Dog, who was currently resting.
Scarlett lifted her hand and placed two fingers against the side of the man's neck.
"Good." She sighed when she felt a pulse.
"Did you stop the bleeding?" Glenn asked, his worried eyes on her own tired ones.
"Yep. Stitched it up with a needle and thread. He should be okay, I think." Scarlett said back, scratching at her temple mindlessly.
"Well I'll be damned." Shane muttered.
"Told you it would come in handy," she gave him a look before addressing the both of them. "Any luck finding Sophia? Where's Rick and Daryl?"
"They found her prints, so the two of them are tracking her down," Shane explained with a sigh, eyes squinted as he gazed at the sunny sky. "We're gonna continue scavenging up here on the highway for now."
"Glad we have Daryl for these kinds of things." Glenn mumbled.
"About time the son of a bitch came in handy." Shane replied, only to cause Scarlett to frown.
"The man can shoot a dozen squirrels in an afternoon and you think he's only handy now?" Scarlett gave a half-hearted chuckle.
"Well of course you think he's all great." He shot back at her, completely destroying the bit of humour they were sharing a moment ago.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" She demanded, her anger slowly building up.
"Okay, let's knock it off. She just finished stitching up a dude with a needle and thread, and we got shit to do besides argue." Glenn spoke up before anything else could happen. Scarlett was mildly impressed; perhaps her friend was coming out of his timid shell.
With a huff, Shane stormed off to god knows where and Scarlett didn't really give a shit. She wanted that man as far away from her as humanly possible, but she supposed a couple hundred feet would do.
Glenn raised both his eyebrows at her before a sigh escaped his lips and he walked off to most likely find Dale.
"What was that about?"
Lori had appeared from around one of the cars, a few small items in her hands that she'd probably gathered from a few vehicles. All Scarlett could do in response was sigh.
"It's Shane, what do you think?"
"Drama."
"Bingo."
The two women remained in comfortable silence for a little while, simply enjoying the sunshine around them.
"How's Carol doing?" Scarlett asked after a moment, slowly getting up from her place on the pavement.
"Not well, but she did stop crying for now," Lori responded, rubbing the space between her eyebrows. "I pray that Sophia is alright."
"She's a tough little girl from what I've seen," she stated, staring at her red-stained hands. "I'm sure she's been through worse."
"What do you mean?"
"Come on, Lori. I might be new to the group but I'm not blind. Ed was an abusive prick to the both of them, and God knows how long that was going on for," Scarlett said bitterly. "A part of me is more than pleased that he's gone."
"You're not the only one," the older woman sighed, leaning against one of the nearby cars that didn't have blood on it. "I just hope things will get better from here on out."
"Me too, Lori. Me too."
That was all the two women had to say on the subject. Scarlett could see the worry brewing in the older woman's eyes, but didn't push her to voice her concerns. Lori would come forward if she wanted to discuss anything, especially regarding what was going on with her and Shane, so the redhead didn't pry. However, if Shane continued to stir shit up, Scarlett was going to have that conversation sooner than later, whether Lori wanted to or not.
After a while, the group began making itself busy once again. Shane and Andrea were moving cars off the highway in order to make a path for their convoy of cars, Dale continued to work on the RV, and everyone else got back to scavenging for supplies. With Glenn's help, Scarlett had managed to move T-Dog into the RV so he could rest on something more comfortable than the pavement. She would check in on him every once in a while to make sure he was stable, and she spent the time in between sat atop the RV with binoculars fastened to her searching eyes. Keeping an eye out for Sophia was top priority, and so was making sure that another herd didn't creep up on them again like last time. Every time she spotted a rustle of bushes or heard the occasional sound, Scarlett's heart would pick up in the hopes of it being the little girl. The paramedic couldn't imagine being out there on her own at that age, let alone with walkers wondering around.
And then there was Carol, standing at the side of the highway staring off into the tree line. The woman hadn't moved since the attack on her daughter, eyes looking desperately amongst the trees to find her. It was heartbreak; Carol had already been through enough with Ed, and now the fact that her daughter was missing made it seem like the whole world was against her. Nothing was going right for her, and Scarlett felt a deep sense of sadness for her.
It was only after she'd spent five minutes staring at a rustling bush at the far end of the highway, only to reveal a small rabbit come out instead of a little girl, that Scarlett noticed that Carol had moved. The woman was now standing at the front of the RV, eyes locked on Dale in confusion.
"Why aren't we all out there looking? Why are we moving cars?" She asked him tensely, arms wrapped around herself as if she were cold.
"We have to clear enough room so I can get the RV turned around as soon as it's running," Dale attempted to explain to the distraught woman. "Now that we have enough fuel we can double back to a bypass that Glenn flagged on the map."
"Going back's gonna be easier than trying to get through this mess." Shane commented, appearing from around the side of the RV.
"We're not going anywhere till my daughter gets back." Carol answered in a much calmer voice than Scarlett was expecting. The woman had every right to be hysterical at this point, but she was holding together pretty well considering the situation.
"Of course not." The paramedic said from the top of the RV, catching some of the group off guard by her presence.
"Scarlett's right. That goes without saying." Lori confirmed as she rested a hand on Carol's shoulder. Everyone was starting to gather in front of the RV after another scavenging run, which made Scarlett hang her legs off the side of the vehicle to take part in the conversations to come.
"Rick and Daryl, they're on it, okay?" Shane spoke up after a moment. "It's only a matter of time."
"Can't be soon enough for me," Andrea approached the group, speaking up for the first time in a while as she tossed Glenn a water bottle. "I'm still freaked out from that herd that passed us by, or whatever you'd call it."
"Yeah, what was that?" Glenn asked, undoing the lid of the bottle in his hands with a furrow in his brow. "All of them just marching along like that."
"Safety in numbers probably," Scarlett threw in, which seemed to confuse a few people. So she continued. "Better chance of getting a meal if there's more than a dozen walkers against a few of us. Or maybe they just congregate because they all hear the same sound, which would lead to them all wandering off mindlessly together."
"A herd. That sounds about right," Shane mumbled to himself as he nodded at the redhead's words. "We've seen it. It's like the night the camp got attacked. Some wandering pack, only fewer."
"All we know is that they're dangerous, so we better keep our wits about us." Scarlett concluded, eyes staring at the tree line wearily.
"Agreed," the man sighed, which surprised her. They were actually agreeing on something? "Alright, come on, people. We still got a lot to do. Let's stay on it."
Again, the group dispersed and Scarlett let out a sigh. Things honestly seemed to only get worse and worse. She wasn't the most optimistic of people, that was Glenn's job after all, so looking forward into the future or past always made her melancholy show through. However, living in the moment wasn't the most pleasant either. All she could do for the time being was keep a watch out for walkers. Peering through the binoculars, she did just that.
Scarlett hadn't realized how much time had passed until the orange glow of the sun was slowly sinking behind the horizon. The sound of movement from inside the RV had pulled her from her thoughts, a frown of concern on her lips. Leaning over the side of the vehicle, the redhead watched as T-Dog slowly made his way out of the RV.
"What do you think you're doing?" Her words startled the man, causing him to turn around and glance up at her.
"Damn it, Scarlett. You scared me!" T-Dog breathed out, trying to shake the surprise from his bones.
"You should be resting." She informed him, eyebrows furrowed as she watched him with concern.
"I've been resting all day. I want to help find supplies."
"You tore open your arm and lost almost half of your body's overall blood. The only thing you should be finding is some sleep."
"Scarlett, please. I'll go out of my mind if I have to sit around doing nothing."
The former paramedic sighed. While T-Dog didn't look great, he sure as hell looked a lot better than he had a few hours ago. She understood his need to want to help out better than anyone honestly, and saying no was going to prove more difficult.
"No heavy lifting. If you start to feel anything that seems off, you stop what you're doing and come find me. If I find out from the others that you're not doing great, I will drag your ass back to this RV myself and strap you to the back bunk. Got it?" She informed the man, eyes narrowed to insure he understood her warnings. There wasn't anytime to take risks with health, especially now.
"Yes, ma'am."
With a huff, Scarlett watched T-Dog saunter off to speak with Shane about the supplies. Her former friend sent her a look of concern after exchanging a few words with the injured man, but the redhead simply nodded. Scarlett could tell that Shane was weary of letting T-Dog work with his injury, but the man had her permission as long as he followed her instructions.
After a while, Scarlett's thoughts wandered towards Rick and Daryl. It had been hours since they'd left to go search for Sophia, and a part of her was worrying that they wouldn't come back. It was irrational, feeling that way when she knew both men were capable of taking care of themselves, but the thought of that herd made her uneasy. What would happen if the two of them ran into more walkers than they could handle? She hoped that neither of them would try and be the hero, putting themselves in danger. That was more likely to happen with Rick than Daryl.
The sound of someone climbing up the side of the RV registered in the back of her mind, but she kept her eyes forward on the long stretch of highway ahead. It would be dark soon, and she hoped the two men would be back in the next hour or so, but before her mind could dive into that horrid thought, a head of blonde hair came into her peripheral view.
Andrea didn't say anything to her at first; she only sat there to watch the sunset as well. Scarlett could feel the frustration coming off of the other woman, and immediately knew that she wanted to talk.
"How are things?" The first words that left the blonde's mouth sounded tired, which wasn't exactly a surprise.
"I truly don't know how to answer that question," Scarlett replied dryly, taking a sip from her water before eyeing Andrea. The woman's face was warped with irritation. "You seem peachy."
"Dale took my gun and won't give it back."
Scarlett already knew, she'd heard the argument about an hour ago. She probably could have said something, but figured it wasn't her place. However, now that the blonde was sitting beside her obviously wanting a conversation about it, the redhead would have to say her bit.
"My father gave it to me as a gift and he has no right to keep it away from me." Andrea continued, glaring at the horizon.
"I'm going to assume that you're still angry about the C.D.C. thing." Scarlett concluded, watching as the other woman turned to finally meet her gaze.
"Of course I'm angry. He tricked me into leaving when I'd already made my decision!"
"I'll agree with you on the fact that what Dale did wasn't exactly fair…" Scarlett managed to get out, but paused at the end. She'd had a lot of time to think about what had happened back at the C.D.C. and what Andrea's choice had been, but talking about suicide was always a tricky subject. Scarlett had her opinion on the topic, and knew it would be hard for Andrea to hear.
"I'm sensing a 'but' somewhere in there." The blonde said, her tone a little more curt than before.
"You're not going to like what I have to say, so I'm just going to leave it at that."
"Scarlett, for Christ's sake, just tell me."
The redhead bit at the inside of her cheek, watching the blonde carefully. Andrea was asking her to pick a side, to tell Dale that what he did was wrong, but Scarlett couldn't completely agree. There were faults on both sides, and she let out a long sigh before looking Andrea in the eye.
"What you do with your life is ultimately your decision, no one else's. You're the only one who can figure out how much is enough, and losing your sister was a big blow. Finding out from Jenner that the world is essentially doomed was the final straw and he gave you a way out, but in my opinion, your decision to stay was the wrong one," Scarlett explained calmly, watching as the blonde's eyes twitched at her final comment. Andrea looked ready to argue, but Scarlett held up a hand before she could speak. "You wanted my opinion, I'm giving it to you. Suicide is never the option, ever. Nobody should sit around waiting for death, and I know it's hard living knowing what is and isn't in this world, but that still should never drive you to end your own life."
Anger and sadness were the only thing's Scarlett could see in Andrea's eyes, the confliction between which emotion to act on was easy to spot. The redhead waited for the other woman to yell at her, to say that she had no idea what she was going through. She was even expecting a slap at that point, ready for whatever reaction drove the blonde to act. Andrea couldn't meet her eyes.
"I still want my gun back." The blonde finally uttered, gaze directed anywhere but where Scarlett was sitting.
"Have you been properly trained on using one?"
"Look, just because of-"
"I'm not asking because of what happened at the C.D.C. All I want to know is if you've ever had training."
Andrea paused for a long moment. She didn't look pleased with her answer.
"No."
Scarlett nodded slowly, and as she was about to open her mouth to speak once again, Glenn's voice cut through the otherwise quiet dusk.
"Oh God, they're back."
Words dying in the back of her throat, both women atop the RV turned to look towards the trees. Relief washed over Scarlett as she saw that both men had returned in one piece, but the lack of a little girl with them had her quickly descending back down onto the pavement. Everyone approached Rick and Daryl as Carol quickly began panicking once again.
"You didn't find her?" The woman muttered, her breaths coming out in short huffs.
"Her trail went cold," Rick explained, climbing over blockade at the side of the road, Daryl right behind him. He sounded extremely exhausted. "We'll pick it up again at first light."
"You can't leave my daughter out there on her own to spend the night out in the woods." Carol answered, tears building at the corners of her eyes and threatening to spill at any moment.
"Out in the dark's no good," Daryl spoke up, surprising everyone a bit. "We'd just be tripping over ourselves. More people get lost."
"But she's twelve. She can't be out there on her own," Carol continued to try and convince them to go back out to find her, but her pleas were pretty much pointless. "You didn't find anything?"
"I know this is hard, but I'm asking you not to panic," Rick pleaded with the woman, catching on to her rattled cries that only seemed to get louder. "We know she was out there."
"And we tracked her for a while." Daryl threw in.
"We have to make this an organized effort. Daryl knows the woods better than anybody," Rick turned his attention to the group. "I've asked him to oversee this."
"Is-is that blood?" Carol stuttered, eyes cast down at the younger Dixon's boots. Even in the last light of day, Scarlett could definitely see that it was blood that had stained his boots.
"We took down a walker." Rick said calmly, but it only made her panic more.
"A walker. Oh my god." Carol muttered, eyes distant as she leaned against the railing along the side of the road.
"There was no sign it was ever anywhere near Sophia."
"How can you know that?"
Neither men said anything for a moment, the both of them looking at the other as if debating amongst themselves. To Scarlett's surprise, Daryl was the one to speak up.
"We cut the son of a bitch open, made sure."
Even though she thought the act itself had been smart on both men's behalf, Scarlett could only close her eyes and cringe. Cutting up a walker's insides was next to last on the list of things she wanted to avoid doing if possible, and hearing that they had done just that made her shutter. Upon opening her eyes, people's reactions were nonetheless the same as hers.
Lori had taken a seat beside Carol on the metal railing, gently rubbing the woman's back in circular motions. Carol looked ready to pass out, but instead turned her pained and melancholy eyes to Rick.
"How could you just leave her out there to begin with?" She whispered to him, her sadness now turning into that of anger. It surprised everyone, seeing the usually quiet woman taking it out on the group's leader. "How could you just leave her?"
Scarlett frowned before she could control it. Rick had risked his life to go after Sophia and get those walkers away from her. She knew that Carol was lashing out without better judgment but she was being unreasonable. The redhead bit the inside of her cheek to remain quiet.
"Those two walkers were on us. I had to draw them off. It was her best chance." Rick explained, a pained expression on his own face. Obviously the man felt bad enough as it was, he didn't need the mother of the child that was lost going after him too.
"Sounds like he didn't have a choice, Carol." Shane spoke up, once again having his best friends back. Scarlett still found it odd.
"How was she supposed to find her way back on her own. She's just a child," Carol sobbed, still giving the man heat. "She's just a child."
"It was his only option, Carol. He did what he could with the little time he was given." Scarlett said calmly, watching the woman carefully.
"I'm sure nobody doubts that." Shane said.
A moment of silence passed through the group with all eyes on Carol, who was getting more distraught by the minute.
"My little girl got left in the woods."
With those final words, Scarlett realized that anything that would be said to Carol would be left incoherent to her frantic ears. It was difficult to blame her; the only person she had left in her life was Sophia, who was now god-knows where in the deep woods with the dead walking around. While she had been quiet about it for a while, she had settled on blaming Rick for the whole thing and was now sticking with it. It was only when the man himself got up and walked away that Scarlett felt herself get angry. She was angry with the situation, angry that the walkers had gone after a child of all people, angry that Rick and Daryl had had to waste their whole day looking for Sophia only to come up with nothing, and finally, angry that Carol was pointing fingers. In other words, Scarlett was conflicted and struggling to deal.
But something in the tree line had her heart stop beating and her head going blank. Something had moved amongst the vegetation and tall trunks, but had disappeared before she'd had a good look at it. At first she'd thought it had been Sophia, but the shape had been too large to belong to the young girl. It couldn't have been a walker because it had moved too fast and was now nowhere in sight. She wanted to pass it off as a trick that her mind had played on her, but it had felt too vivid, too real. The unmistakable feeling of dread that washed over her had her breaths coming out it short puffs, eyes still locked on the trees.
What in the world had she seen?
The feeling of a hand wrapping around her shoulder had her jumping slightly, her gaze pulling away from the trees before her. Tired blue eyes stared back into her tense green orbs, the panic in her system leaving at a surprising fast rate and turning into calm haze.
"What's wrong?" Daryl asked her after a moment, removing his hand from her shoulder and following her gaze into the trees.
"I thought I saw something." Scarlett said with a sigh, noting that they were the only two standing by the edge of the road. The rest of the group must have wandered off to do their own things.
"You seem pretty shaken up from somebody who only saw 'something'." He replied, looking at her from the corner of his eye.
"My asshole mind is playing tricks on me," she concluded, wanting to talk about anything else besides what she thought she saw. "Thank you for helping Rick look for Sophia."
"You shouldn't be thanking me. We didn't find anything." He huffed, a grim look falling over his tired face.
"Spending a whole day tracking a little girl with the dead walking about and essentially putting your life on the line deserves a thank you," Scarlett countered. "We're lucky to have you with us."
She didn't get an answer right away, which didn't exactly surprise her. Scarlett simply continued to stare at the trees, especially near the trunks. The feeling that the shadow she saw could come back at any minute had her twitching slightly, but the slight breeze was helping to calm her down. She needed rest, but she was almost certain that she wouldn't find any tonight.
"T-Dog's moving about."
Scarlett smiled to herself. Of course Daryl wouldn't say anything regarding her compliment. She'd noticed that he got quiet whenever someone spoke highly of him, which she found quite endearing. It was only then that she wondered if the reason he never reacted to the praises is because he never received them before. The thought made her sad.
"Yeah, I managed to stitch him up," she answered after a moment. "We can only hope he doesn't get an infection."
"He'll be fine. And if he does, he has you to fix him."
She blinked once, then twice, trying to register his words. Praise from Daryl Dixon? That was definitely a first. While it was true that he was nicer to her than he was to everyone else in the group, she hadn't expected his kind words. It even got the corner of her mouth to tug upwards.
"Come on, you should go get some sleep," Scarlett said, deciding not to bring attention to the compliment for his sake. "We'll need to rest if we plan on going after Sophia in the early morning."
"You actually plan on sleeping?" He questioned, meeting her eyes again as if he were poking fun at her inability to find any rest. She let out a soft laugh.
"I'd like to, but I probably won't," she answered him honestly. "If you find yourself in the same boat, you know where to find me."
She'd been right. Sleep was something that evaded her and would continue to do so for a long time. With too many thoughts and no way to stop them, she ended up relieving Shane of watch duty halfway through the night. On top of the RV, where she'd pretty much made the spot her own, her eyes lingered amongst the stars. With no city lights nearby, she could pretty much see the entire galaxy laid out before her. It made her realize how insignificant she truly was, even in their messed up world, but she didn't mind. It calmed her down enough to find a sort of limbo, where no good or bad thoughts could reach her tired mind. It was lovely, something she hadn't felt in a long time.
The numb feeling wasn't shattered the moment she heard someone climbing up the side of the RV to join her. Already knowing who it was, she slowly adjusted herself to allow him more room atop the large vehicle. If it had been anyone else to disturb her, she would have regained her state of fatigue and anxiety in the blink of an eye. Scarlett would find this odd farther down the line, but in that moment she didn't care about peculiar things like that.
When he sat down beside her, they didn't talk or even glance at each other. The two pairs of eyes stared at the night sky in silence.
And she was okay with that.
Yaaaay, first chapter of season 2 is complete!
Thank you all for reading, hopefully it turned out okay. Not a lot of interactions between Scarlett and Daryl, but it was more about her relationships with everyone else this chapter. Plus, a blast from Scarlett's past was hinted at and you'll be learning all about that this season which is exciting.
Also, I'm not a doctor and have no medical training whatsoever. When I wrote the scene in which Scarlett stitches up T-Dog, I don't know if it's medically accurate or not. I tried my best to do some research, but you can only know so much from looking up stuff on the internet lol
Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed! If you did, feel free to leave a review cause I'd love to hear your thoughts.
I'll do my best to update with another chapter as soon as I can.
Take care,
- GuiltyCalamity