Curative
By Kaimaler
Wow, a lot happened in such a short time. x.x
Review Replies:
Little Meep (in reply to all your reviews:
Huh. And also. AH! I published a few chapters of this before I was on YouTube and saw the trailer for Warm Bodies. All I could think at that scene where he walks up to her and says:
"Come on, say something human!"
"Uuuughhhh."
"Nailed it."
My heart crippled, it was so cute and funny. xD
And I'm a little disappointed not a lot of people are reviewing, but the number is steadily increasing and my other stories are here to collect reviews, this story is here for entertainment sake. Both for me and the reader. :3
Yeah, I'm plannin' a little Jenner and Laura interaction, but I don't think it'll be what people expect! No spoilers, but I can't wait for them to hit up the CDC. :D
OH MAN, I never even THOUGHT about that. What the hell guys, they're not bright, are they? xD
That's an excellent point Meep, I wish I'd thought about it, at least I could've made them seem not so dumb. 3
I hope you really enjoy this latest chapter! The last one was a good long one, but we finally get some Laura/Daryl interaction :O
Jalenvictoriaxo:
Thanks! I'm trying to keep him "Daryl" but also have to alter him just a tiny bit in order to make this story possible. I'm not changing him, I'm changing some situations and a few moments here or there, not Daryl as a character. He will remain the same as always. :3
And you are most certainly welcome, I don't have a lot of people checking this story, but hopefully some of them might take a stop at your stories. :D
A Quick Thank You to everyone who had read, followed, favourited, and reviewed!
Also, Curative is now in a C2! How awesome is that?! WOOO!
Gettin' a little more pumped here, more people coming in. :D
Thanks everyone! :3
A little pre-warning for this chapter. Not a lot gets done it in. xD
Literally, it's just to create some interaction between characters and move the story from one point to another. ;3
So it may be boring to a few of you, but the next few chapters will be rather long... Soooooo, yeah.
A long day it had been. Burning bodies, digging graves, losing members; Laura had heard everyone moving around passed her tent and she came out to walk with them.
It was time for the funerals.
She was never big on funerals, not seeing the point in them. It was an old belief that people should bury their dead, she preferred cremation and laughed internally at the thought that, when she died, if she was killed, that her body would be burned and Daryl might not flip the fuck out like he had done earlier when they burned walker dead and buried dead group members.
It's the little things that make the all the difference.
Laura never said anything, not like she had time to, but she really started to like Daryl. He was rash, rude, and downright difficult to talk to at times, but all around he was a good guy. Back in Atlanta he'd tried to stop the men from taking her, he shot one in the ass. Still hilarious when she thought about it. He did little things that showed he wasn't heartless but he wasn't going to baby anyone.
She was fine with that, in fact, she liked that most about him. Laura could handle herself and while she had been hurt in the past because she couldn't fight back, that was more of a case of physical strength and, let's face it, Laura wasn't very strong and she was never going to be very strong. At least, not enough so to fight off large men like the one who grabbed her or when she was dragged away by the Vatos.
But she could be fast and agile, if it were not for her brace. For now, she dealt with being fast. Laura was not very, she wasn't going to beat around the bush, she wasn't very knowledgeable about fighting nor did she know much about how to see a bad situation coming and how to avoid it.
Let's face it, on those topics, she was downright retarded.
Didn't mean she couldn't handle her own. When she listened to that Voice in her, she could turn into a wild animal or someone else completely, like there was another person living inside of her and it was only when the Voice talked to her that this other person came out.
Her hand messaged the back of her neck, it was a little sore from the strenuous activity, but they'd be here for another night then head off to the CDC. Perhaps tonight she'd get her first hunting lesson from Daryl? If he chose to go out that is.
Reaching the end of the path, Laura saw they'd already filled a few graves and covered them. The last on was Amy's and she saw Andrea dragging her body to the grave.
Dale stepped up to help her, but she refused at first, claiming that she could do it. Eventually though Dale was able to help put Amy's body in the grave and pull Andrea out of it.
Nothing was said, no eulogies, just silence. Laura felt so bad for Andrea, to lose her sister like that? It must be heart breaking. As far as Laura knows, Amy was Andrea's only surviving family member.
After some time up there, paying their respects, they filled the grave and left.
It wasn't long before the camp took up it's chores again, only this time everything was much quieter and the downtrodden looks on everyone's faces made them all seem a little dead. They were all terrified, Laura remembered being scared of the man that bit her, but it was before the outbreak, before all of this. It was just another thing she couldn't relate to these people with, she felt like the outcast that didn't want to be the outcast, but had no other choice.
Well, she had another choice, but she wasn't about to get herself killed by telling everyone that she was a walker.
She could just see how well that would go down. Like Daryl said, zero tolerance for walkers.
Oh shit. Laura's eyes went wide, she asked to go hunting with him when she was a walker herself? The fuck was she thinking? What would happen if he found out while they were out there? Would he just kill her and get it over with like he was going to do with Jim? Maybe Daryl would give her the same chance Rick had?
Ha, that's as likely as Merle wearing a dress. She groaned, fuck, Daryl was going to kill her.
What if I just don't go? Stay here, tell him you don't want to go hunting. Make an excuse, something! Her foot tapped mercilessly on the ground. Crossing her arms, she started pacing a little. She didn't want to ditch on hunting, it was such a useful skill to have, something she wants to know, but she also didn't want to die.
Then again, what were the chances that Daryl would find out while they were out? After all this time, what would be the likelihood of him just finding out her secret while hunting? Glenn had seen her face before, he didn't care at all. T-Dog and Daryl had tried their hardest not to look when they were leaving Atlanta. Didn't work out too well though, she could easily tell they were staring.
Of course, this was exactly when Daryl had to show up. Of fucking course.
He saw her pacing and he was able to pick up that she was nervous about something. He stood nearby her, biting his thumb while looking around them, checking to make sure there wasn't anyone else within earshot. "Somethin' eatin' at ya'?"
Laura stared at him, she'd stopped pacing when he approached her, but she thinks... did he just...? Nah Daryl didn't make jokes. Did he? "Did you just...?"
"Bad joke." He confirmed her suspicions, looking at the ground rather awkwardly. She smiled. "No, no. That was- It was actually pretty good." Laura giggled, a wide grin plastered on her face now.
Daryl gave a slight grin, looking up from the ground to her now. "I'm headin' out, gotta' go huntin'. Came by to see if you wanted to come with me."
In light of Daryl's joke and Laura's inability to realize the world was still spinning while she was looking at him, she nodded. "Yeah, anythin' I should bring along?"
"Nah, just something to protect yourself with, case of walkers." She almost didn't catch herself from cringing. Laura had to remember why she was worried in the first place. Play it cool and careful, so she wouldn't end up with either his knife or his arrow in her head.
Laura patted the hatchet on her belt. "Done. Let's get then."
He nodded and lead her out of the camp. She was more then eager to follow, but kept herself back a few feet in the off chance that something were to happen and she couldn't risk him by being so close that they tripped over each other.
The trip was spent mostly in silence, Daryl would crouch down every now and then, she would follow, when he moved she moved. Laura did everything she could to keep up his pace, trying to make sure she didn't hold him back from doing what he normally did.
He had gotten a few small critters that were going to be part of dinner.
Though even while he seemed completely focused on his hunt, Daryl would send her a look here or there that told her he had something on his mind, but didn't quite know how to say it. Instead of poking the bear, she just followed him around, stayed quiet as she could and waited to hear him bring whatever it was on his mind up.
Apparently now was the time to deal with the complications that arose from her previous experience with his brother.
"How's the eye?" Daryl spoke lowly and Laura wasn't sure he said anything until he looked at her like he was asking her again. "Oh," She rubbed her black eye, "Fine, I guess. Still sore, it'll go away."
"You get it checked?" Laura smiled, "Yeah, Rick was pretty adamant about looking at it when we got back to camp. Merle hits like his fists are made of fuckin' iron, but apparently not even that was enough to cause any real damage."
Daryl scratched the back of his neck, glancing around the woods before looking to her. "Sorry 'bout that... Merle ain't like that most of the time."
That caught her attention. "Oh? How was Merle before all this? I only knew the man for about an hour on that roof. He left a lasting impression, a shame it wasn't a good one."
The hunter just seemed to withdraw to himself a moment, like he was thinking real hard on something. They were still combing the woods and Daryl was paying close attention to everything around him, but he had something on his mind.
"Few years ago me and Merle were at a local bar," Oooo, a story. Laura grinned contently, listening in. "Just sittin' at the bar watchin' the game when this guy and his woman walks in. Guy looks about late thirties, girl had ta' have been early twenties. I knew there weren't somethin' right moment they walked in. Girl's all mousy and the guy acts like he owns the world." He scoffed, "Well, a while later the guy is blowin' up at his gal, talkin' shit. Nobody paid any real attention 'til he took her outside."
Laura's closed for a second, she could only imagine the reasons he'd take her outside.
"Merle drinks down the last of his beer, gets up and goes outside too. Takes me a minute to catch up with 'im, but when I do, there's Merle, the girl, and the guy's on the floor cryin'." Daryl smirked, "The man was beatin' on his woman, Merle said he figured it out quick. I don't remember much, had one too many, but the next mornin' I go in Merle's room and see Merle and the woman asleep, using her dress as a quilt."
Laura laughed, "Are you fuckin' serious?"
"I ain't lyin'. That frilly little yellow thing barely covered anythin', but there he was, wearin' a dress." He chuckled, "Never thought I'd see the day. Told 'im 'bout it later, denied everythin'."
She stopped dead. As likely as Merle wearing a dress. Her jaw cocked to the side and crease on her forehead, Laura just couldn't count the odds of this. It took her a moment, but she ended up shaking her head side to side.
"What?" Daryl noticed she stopped once he was a few steps ahead and waited for her.
"Oh nothin', that's just... hilarious." Laura beamed at him and continued to follow him through the woods.
After about a forty minute silence, Daryl had stood completely still before slowly lowering himself on his haunches. "There." He spoke quietly, pointing to a low hanging branch with a squirrel on it. The animal wasn't moving a lot, too busy with it's food. "Hood off."
Laura stared at him for a second, he'd seen her face before, it wasn't anything new. She'd just have to pull it back up when she was done, before he got too good of a look at her.
On the contrary... Merle wore a dress. Might as well keep her side of the bargain.
She pulled the hood down, averting her eyes and face for the most part.
Daryl held out the crossbow and, while quite surprised at his willingness to just hand it over, she took it and tried to hold it like he did. She's never even fired a gun, Laura wondered what possessed her to think trying out a crossbow would be a better idea. It was heavier then she thought, but she could work with it.
He corrected her, pulling up her arm a bit and resting the crossbow against her shoulder. "Use the sights." She closed her left eye and stared at the squirrel. There were two things she assumed were used for aiming. A circle... thing and a small straight line. She lined up the squirrel's body with both of the sights.
She remembered once, while playing a video game of course, that you should take steady breaths and, once ready to fire, breathe out calmly. Unfortunately, she was so excited about being out hunting with Daryl that calm and steady weren't exactly her strong suits.
But, she would give it her best shot. Knowing her luck, she could be fire a shot South and it would go North.
Taking a deep breath, she let it out calmly.
And pulled the trigger.
The kickback almost knocked her down, but she was able to hold on and when she heard a light crunch of leaves, she knew she hit it. She looked up from the crossbow, Daryl got up and grabbed the squirrel. She did it. I did it! Laura jumped up from seeing the squirrel in his hand.
"I got it..." She stared at it breathlessly. "I got it!" Laura bounced, holding the crossbow firmly in her hands.
Daryl nodded, "Good shot." He held out his hand, waiting for her to return his crossbow. She absolutely loved it now, but gave it back to him. Daryl tied the squirrel to a rope and handed it to her. She put it over her shoulder, amazed that her first shot with a crossbow actually hit her target rather then Daryl or herself.
She could see shooting herself, because she'd never fired anything but a nerf gun before.
It was actually a minute or two before she realized they weren't doing anything but staring at each other. Well, she was staring, Daryl seemed to be scrutinizing.
My hood. Dammit, really! We've only been out here a few fucking minutes and already you fuck up! Laura's smile faded and her eyes went wide. Moving like lightning, Laura yanked her hoodie back up and shoved her fists into her pockets forcefully. She looked down, her face covered again.
This only seemed to make Daryl more interested.
"Stop staring." She took a few cautionary steps back. Daryl stayed where he was, "Why do ya' look like that?"
"I don't look like nothin'! Shut up." She snarled, trying to sound angry but still sounded more scared then intimidating. Laura didn't want to show herself and almost immediately after lecturing herself about it, she went and stared directly at him. Laura had accidentally gave Daryl plenty of time to see her and figure her out.
It grew tense, she had a hatchet, but she had no intentions of hurting him, but she still didn't want to die. That never changed.
"Do it now, he knows," She screwed her eyes shut, lowering her head further. "You're so hungry. Satisfy yourself."
Daryl was still as stone, making no movements to her or from her. Laura wasn't going to risk anything else, so she slowly started to back away, to head straight back to camp and hopefully Daryl would forget all about this.
She turned her back to him and began to stalk away.
"I won't say nothin'."
Laura froze. She almost thought she imagined it, he said it so quietly that it was barely louder then their breathing. She turned around and shared the silence with Daryl. He had this nervous tick, he'd bite his thumb or tighten his jaw whenever thinking about something that warranted the usually stoic hunter to get worried over something.
There was nothing to be said at that moment, if she didn't know better she would've thought they were statues.
"Back in Atlanta, figured somethin' was up. I ain't stupid." He continued, "You were standin' around walkers and they didn't do anythin'. Got me thinkin' how anyone could do that. When we were headin' out of Atlanta, got a good look at you. I see you here now, guess I was right."
She sighed shakily, wrapping her arms around herself. Laura turned around, heading back to camp.
"Camp's that way." Laura looked at Daryl, he was pointing to his right. She followed his directions and he was right behind her the whole way. He was never less then ten feet close to her. She didn't know if that was because he was unsure about her or because he was protecting her while letting her have some space. It wasn't everyday you discovered someone you know is, or was, a walker.
Once they stepped into the edge of camp Daryl was near her, bitting his thumb and nodded to her. "You look hungry, let's go cook us some squirrel."
Laura officially hated skinning and gutting now more then ever. Before being bit she would've thought it disgusting, but after being bit, and so hungry she was ready to eat that squirrel alive if she could've and found no forms of disgust or hesitance at the thought of it.
Probably would've freaked people out if she did though.
Once the squirrels were being cooked all she could think about was reaching in and taking them for herself.
At least now she had an idea of how to hunt. She can skin and gut now, but if she was ever on her own, forced to find her own food, then the only real issue would be hunting. She needed something to hunt with.
When Daryl handed her a small plastic plate of squirrel surprise, as she so lovingly called it, she devoured it all in a few bites. The entire squirrel was picked clean, her teeth shredded the meat like paper and when she was done, she just held her plate out for more.
Daryl barely got a few bites in before she was done. In mid bite of his squirrel he saw her plate in front of him. While they didn't talk, didn't even make much eye contact, he wasn't avoiding her.
He put more squirrel on for her when she asked, spoke only when she initiated a conversation, which was once for maybe twenty seconds, and sat near each other. What happened in the woods still fresh in her mind, Daryl hadn't reacted to her like he did with Jim.
What she didn't know what that Daryl didn't believe her to be a walker, she may look like one and walk with them, but that didn't make her a flesh eating undead monster. She spoke to people, to him which he found particularly strange at first, and he'd seen her show emotion before, no walker does that. And a bite doesn't make you look like a walker, it turned the victim.
She'd looked like this the entire time. Probably a long time before they met too, a bite doesn't take that long to turn a person. He's never seen it take longer then a few hours, everyone said that, but she was with them for almost three days now and she wasn't turning.
Daryl understood that, if he was wrong, he'd deal with it. Otherwise, she wasn't hurting anyone. So far.
The rest of Laura's dinner went by uneventfully and they both parted ways. It was dark and Daryl needed sleep before his watch. Laura climbed up the RV to see T-Dog on the chair this time.
"Hey girl, what're doin'?" He smiled at her, he was actually hoping for a little company tonight.
"Can't sleep, just thought I'd join watch until I can." She sat down near him. "Hope you don't mind."
"Nah, I like havin' another person on watch. Double watches are only done when we have a pretty damn bad walker problem. Otherwise, it gets a little lonely up here." He adjusted the gun in his lap. "Saw you went out with the younger Dixon."
"Yeah, we went huntin'. Girl's gotta' eat y'know." Such an odd idea, one she immediately regretted after such a short time with him. She almost outed herself, on complete accident. She was just so proud of hitting that squirrel.
"Hold up now, he took ya' huntin'?" T-Dog looked at her oddly. "Just to be sure, this is Daryl Dixon we're talkin' 'bout, right?"
Laura gave a playful huff, "Yes T-Dog, Daryl took me huntin'. Why is that so hard to believe?"
He just laughed, not loudly on account of everyone sleeping, but he couldn't help himself. "Man, he doesn't take anyone huntin'. Don't think we haven't tried either, people wanna' learn, they ask 'im. He always says no, throwin' 'round tough talk, but he ain't never took a single person huntin'."
"Really? I asked him if I he'd show me and he kinda' agreed. Came to me after everythin' that went down and asked me if I wanted to join him." T-Dog's eyes nearly bugged out, the man was barely holding himself back now. He held a hand over his mouth as he laughed.
"Laura, I really don't know what to say 'bout that. Daryl never took anyone huntin'. For him to just pop up an' ask ya' to go huntin' with 'im? I'm worried he's schemin' against you now." Laura chuckled, "T-Dog, Daryl's rough around the edges, but he ain't so bad."
"Looks that way, huh?" He calmed down, a few huffs of laughter here or there. "Well, that's not somethin' I expected to hear tonight. I think my day is officially done." He was still smiling at her. T-Dog propped the gun on the side of the chair and the both of them spent the rest of T-Dog's watch in silence.
Laura would be up there all night, waiting anxiously for tomorrow. Wherever it was they went. CDC or Fort Benning. Laura loved the camp, the woods and the quarry, but the humans were right; the undead always moved and while it does take a long time to shuffle limply out of the city, they can and will do it. The walkers were leaving Atlanta, not purposefully really, just because they did.
When T-Dog went to sleep, Shane came up, when Shane went to sleep, Glenn came up. The shifts continued well into the night and once morning came, Laura couldn't wait to leave.