Beatrix
"Keep your right arm locked in place, and use your left to move around," Shane instructs me as he moves my hands to the correct position. It feels weird using my right hand to do things, but Shane knows what he's talking about so I'll trust him. Just like he trusts me with the blood.
"Which hand do I use to pull the trigger?" I ask, aiming at the bottles lined up on the fence.
"Right hand," Shane says as he steps back from me. "Now focus, aim, and fire."
"Alright," I nod my head and take a deep breath.
I close one of my eyes and aim for my target. My hand is shaky, so I can't get it quite right, but I pull the trigger anyway. I'm so far away from the target, and I still don't hit it after completely emptying the chamber of rounds.
"I'm hopeless," I sigh and shake my head.
"You're gonna' need a few days of work," Shane laughed and took the gun from me. "Rick's getting ready to head back to the farm with Beth and Patricia, and the rest of us are gonna' stay a little longer. You should go with them and come back tomorrow."
"If you think that's best, that's what I'll do," I smile and walk off to find Rick.
"Work on your stance!" Shane calls after me as I walk away.
"Shane said I should go back to the farm with you," I tell Rick once I've reached him.
"That's fine," he nods and rubs the stubble on his face. "We're just about to leave."
"I just wanted to let you know before I went to get Hershel. I'm going to bring him back here to talk to you," I tell Daryl once I've reached out tent.
"Wish you wouldn't," he grunts and rolls over on his good side to face me. "You should just stay here and read."
"I'd love to stay and read, but you need to talk to Hershel," I tell him. "You need to be nice to him too. I know that's hard for you to do and all, but at least try. He could kick us off of his land at any time."
"I'll be nice," he mumbles as I get up and head out of the tent towards the house.
"Hello, Hershel," I smile as I walk up to the porch.
"Beatrix," he nods his head towards me in acknowledgement.
"You said I should come get you when it was good time to talk to Darl," I push a piece of hair behind my ear nervously. "It's a good time. He's stable, but he still can't get up. You'll have to go to our tent, but it's kind of far out."
"That's not a problem," Hershel stands up and motions for me to lead the way.
We take our time walking over to the tent. I don't know why, but I'm actually nervous for Daryl. I don't want Hershel to be mad at him or kick him off of the land. I like Daryl, and I know he's a good man, even if everyone else doesn't.
"You can go in and sit down if you want," I tell Hershel once we reach the tent. I push the tent door open and we both take a seat beside of Daryl.
"Beatrix, I'd like to speak with Daryl alone," Hershel looks to me and I nod, getting up and leaving the tent.
I pace back and forth all around the tent while they're in there. There's no shouting so far, so that's a good thing. My eyes land to the sticks beside of the fire pit and I decide to attempt to make Daryl some more arrows. Not that I have the slightest clue how to make them, but I've seen Daryl do it and it doesn't look that hard.
Daryl's knife is still hanging on my left thigh, so I unsheathe it and take a seat with my back to the bricks. My knife slides down the stick as I hold it with my right hand. The more I carve up the stick, the more it starts to look like one of Daryl's arrows, and I feel proud of myself. That is, until I accidentally push the knife over a little too far and slice my right thumb open.
"Dammit, Beatrix," I mumble to myself and immediately clutch my thumb in my left hand to stop the bleeding.
"Have a nice day, Daryl," I hear Hershel say from the other side of the bricks.
I contemplate asking Hershel to help me, but I wouldn't want to risk making him mad again. He seems like he's in a good mood, and I do not want to be the one to screw that up. However, my thumb is bleeding profusely and I desperately need it to stop.
"Daryl," I whisper-yell and I run around the bricks and into the tent, with my thumb dripping blood as I go.
"The hell happened to you?" Daryl asks, sitting up the best he can.
"I need you to stitch my thumb up," I say as I grab my first aid kit and hold my thumb out to him. "Put pressure on it while I get the supplies."
"I ain't got no idea what the hell you think I can do about that," Daryl's eyes widen as he quickly wraps a random one of his shirts around my thumb and holds it as tight as he can.
"Maybe don't hold it that hard," I say through gritted teeth, and he lets up pressure a little bit. "Okay, I need you to take this needle and just thread it through the skin. Do it tight and close it up. I'd do it, but I've learned the hard way that you shouldn't do any form of medical procedure on yourself."
"Ain't this gonna' hurt?" Daryl asks, removing the shirt and sitting all the way up.
"Very much," I nod and attempt a smile. "But you have to do it now. I don't want to pass out from blood loss."
"How'd you even do this?" He tries to distract me as he threads the needle through my thumb.
"I was nervous about you talking to Hershel," I said while taking deep breaths. "So I tried to distract myself by making you more arrows."
"You what?" Daryl raises his eyebrow while still focusing on stitching up my thumb.
"Never let me try to make you more arrows again," I shake my head and finally let out the tears I've been trying to hold back.
It's not that I don't like crying in front of people, I just don't want Daryl to think I'm weak. Daryl seems like the kind of guy to think that crying is weak, but I'm far past the point of caring. Plus, my thumb is actually starting to go numb from hurting so bad.
"Shh, don't cry," Daryl tries to soothe me as he finishes up with the stitches. "You're fine, Trixy."
"I know," I let out a small laugh and wipe the tears from my face. "Can you wrap it? I have the stuff, but I can't do it with one hand."
"Yeah, give it to me," he grabs the gauze from the first aid kit and wraps it around my thumb, taping it off. "Good thing ya taught me how."
"Thank you," I smile, then give him a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'm gonna go see what I can help with around camp."
"You sure ya don't wanna stay and read some more?" Daryl asks as he lays back down.
"I will if you want me to," I smile and move myself into my criss-crossed leg position.
"You've got me curious to what happens," he throws one arm behind his head and places the other on my knee.
"You'll want to punch somebody when you find out," I tell him and reach for the book.
"Damnit, Trixy. No spoilers," he jokes as he gives my knee a small squeeze.
"Calm down, I'm not ruining anything," I I'll my eyes jokingly and turn to the page I was on.
"The remainder of my schooldays were no more auspicious than the first.."
It's been a full week since my first shooting lesson with Shane, and I still suck. No matter how hard I try, I just can't hit the target. Honestly, I'm not even anywhere near the target. Today is different though because I finally told Daryl he could get out of bed and start helping out again. He was hell bent on going to look for Sophia some more, but he's still not in the best condition to be doing something like that, so he's settled for coming to the shooting range with us.
Shane has been acting super weird too. He's been coming to me at least twice a day, demanding more blood. Then when I don't always give it to him, he gets mad and randomly goes to yell at somebody. Most of the time it's Rick, so at least he knows why Shane's acting like a pregnant lady.
At first I thought he was addicted to it, because he's showing all the symptoms of addiction, but then I decided to give him some of my blood instead of the infected. I knew it wouldn't hurt him because I'm O-Negative, so I done it and he didn't notice. So now I'm just going to chalk it all up to the world changing him for the worse and praying that he doesn't go completely crazy. He's my ginny pig and I honestly don't think anybody else would be crazy enough to let me do it to them.
"The hell are ya doin' with your right hand?" Daryl asks from right behind me. I'm startled by him, and I accidentally pull the trigger before turning aroung.
"What?" I ask, pointing my gun at the ground.
"You're left handed, so why are you using your right hand to shoot?" Daryl raises an eyebrow as he steps closer to me.
"Shane said to use my right hand, so that's what I've been doing," I shrug. "How'd you know I was left handed?"
"All I've done for the past week is lay around and watch you do stuff. It wasn't that hard to figure out," he lays his crossbow down. "Jackass didn't think to ask if you used your left or your right. Do the same position, just with your left hand instead."
"Okay," I mumble and try to stand in the right position. "Like this?"
"No," Daryl grunts before wrapping his arms around my body and moving my arms to where they need to be. "Like this. Now shoot."
"Okay," I take a deep breath and point my gun at the glass bottle on the fence line.
The first time I pull the trigger I miss, but Daryl readjusts his arms around mine and I aim again. I can feel his breathing on my neck as he waits for me to shoot, and it sends shivers down my spine. My shoulders relax, and I pull the trigger again. This time, the glass bottle shatters and a smile spreads across my face.
"Told ya you could do it," Daryl whispers into my ear before removing his arms from around me.
"Only because you helped me," I laugh and wrap my arms around his neck before quickly letting go. "I probably shouldn't hug people with a gun in my hand."
"That's probably a good idea," Daryl shows a hint of a smile and backs up some more. "You need to practice some more, then I'll take you to practice on moving targets."
"Sounds good," I nod before getting back into my stance and using the rest of my ammo to shoot down the remaining bottles.
"Hi, Beatrix!" Carl waves and smiles at me from his seat beside the fire.
"Good morning, Carl," I smile back at him while Carol hands me a plate of eggs. "You're looking a lot better."
"I feel better," he nods and pats the seat next to him, where I go and sit down. "You said you'd give me doctor lessons when I was doing better."
"I did say that," I say after taking a bite of eggs. "We can start today if you want. I'm supposed to back to the shooting range with Daryl after breakfast, but I'll teach you when I get back."
"Awesome!" Carl smiles and I ruffle his hair a little.
Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Glenn pacing back and forth in front of the campfire. He keeps on looking back and forth between Dale and Maggie. Maggie seems to be shaking her head, while Dale is vigorously nodding his. He looks so distressed, and I kinda just want to go give him a hug.
"Glenn, are you okay?" I ask, walking up and placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Yeah," he stops walking and runs his hand over his face. "I've gotta do something."
"What are you talking about?" I question as he steps forward in front of the entire group.
"Um, guys," Glenn nervously looks from Maggie to Dale one last time. "There's walkers in the barn."
The group simultaneously drops what they're doing and runs to the barn, myself included. Shane is the first one there, and he starts banging on the doors. Sure enough, we start to hear the moaning and groaning of walkers. Then Shane starts yelling, and the walkers start beating on the doors and poking their fingers though.
"Oh god," I mutter and turn around, bumping into Daryl. He pats my back as Rick and Shane start arguing.
"You can not tell me that you're okay with this," Shane says to Rick.
"I'm not, but this isn't our land," Rick shakes his head.
"We need to go in there and make this right, or we've just gotta go, man. That's all there is to it," Shane yells.
"Lower your voice," Glenn whisper-yells.
"Shane, you know we can't leave," Rick sighs.
"Why not, Rick? Why not?"
"Because my daughter is still out there," Carol says from the back of the group.
"Alright, now maybe it's time that we maybe start to consider the other possibility," Shane rubs his head like he always does.
"You don't know what the hell you're talkin' about," Daryl drops his hand from my back and walks over to Shane. "I found her damn doll a few days ago!"
"That's right, Daryl. You found a doll," Shane lets out a sarcastic laugh. "You get a lead in the first fourty-eight hours, maybe. And that was before."
"Shane," Rick scolds him while trying to keep him and Daryl apart.
"I'm just sayin' what needs to be said," Shane yells again. "And let me tell you somethin' else, man. If she was alive out there, and that is a big if, and she saw you comin' all methed out with your buck knife, and geek ears around your neck, she would run in the other direction."
"Shane, stop," I say, trying to get inbetween them.
"No, Beatrix. You tell your damn redneck boyfriend to stop," Shane points to Daryl. "He's the one that's all delusional thinkin' he's gonna find a little girl we all know is dead."
Before I can even register what's happening, Daryl lunges at Shane and punches him in the face. Rick tries to step in between them, but it's useless. I have to take a few steps back as Daryl knocks Shane to the ground, throwing punch after punch.
"Daryl," I walk up behind him and attempt to put a hand on his shoulder to try and stop him before he seriously injures Shane.
Daryl draws his arm back to punch Shane again, but since I'm standing behind him, his elbow lands right into my stomach. I wrap my arms around myself as my butt lands on the ground. Daryl immediately stops and pulls himself off of Shane, then walks over to me.
"Oh hell," his eyes dialate as he looks at me. "Are you alright?"
"Peachy," I sarcastically reply as I hear Rick say he's going to talk to Hershel.
"Beatrix," Lori appears from behind Daryl and offers me and hand to help me up. "Come on, honey."
"Thanks," I mumble and take her hand. She helps me up and walks me back to her tent, leaving Daryl standing alone at the barn.
"Are you okay?" She worriedly asks. "It looks like it hurt."
"It does hurt," I try to laugh it off. "But I'm fine. He didn't mean to hit me."
"Are you sure?" She raises her eyebrow and I nod. "If you say so. But I need to tell you something, and I need your help with it."
"What is it?" I ask, sitting down across from her at the small picnic table they have in their tent.
"I'm pregnant," she sighs and my eyes widen. "I had Glenn get me some abortion pills, but I just don't know what to do. Rick doesn't even know yet. You, Glenn, and Maggie are the only ones."
"Lori, I can't tell you what to do, but I can tell you that abortion pills aren't the right answer," I shake my head and grab her hand from across the table. "If you want rid of it, at least let me do an actual abortion. You're probably too far along for the pills to work unless you took a lot, but then you could take too many and it could cause the uterus wall to rupture and I would have to do an emergency hysterectomy. Trust me, you don't want me to have to do that without any anesthesia either."
"I don't know," she sighs and wipes a few tears from her eyes with her free hand. "If I keep it, do you think you can deliever it?"
"Of course," I nod. "I've helped deliver babies before, and I have the supplies to do it either way."
"Thank you so much," she smiles and I let go of her hand, taking that as my cue to leave. "Please keep this between us."
"Your secret is safe with me," I tell her as I stand in front of the tent door. "But I do think you should tell Rick. He has a right to know, and this isn't a decision you should make alone."
At that, I leave Lori alone in her tent and go to find Shane to see if Daryl gave him anything that needs medical attention. I couldn't imagine what Lori is going through though. She's pregnant and its the end of the world. Bringing a child into this would be a terrible thing to do, but not giving it a chance would be worse. All I can say is that I'm glad I'm not in her position, though I'll be there to help her with whichever way she chooses.
"Shane, medical trailer. Now," I point to the trailer once I see him and he follows me in there. "Sit down on the bed. I need to look at your face."
"Give me more blood while we're in here," Shane says as I put my gloves on to clean up his face.
"You don't need any more," I tell him as I clean his cuts, none of them being bad enough to need stitches. "You're not addicted to it, so I can only guess that you're just really excited to get bit and try it out. And you're going a bit crazy lately, have you noticed? Like earlier, what was that about? I get that you want to keep us safe and all, but you honestly crossed the line, and half of that stuff you said was just unnecessarily rude."
"Beatrix, I'm keeping us alive," he lets out a sarcastic laugh. "If that means me being unnecessarily rude, then so be it. I'd rather have you all alive and pissed off than loving me and dead. You see, Rick doesn't get that. He's afraid to be harsh when he needs to be."
"Shane, I understand, but you seriously need to calm down," I sigh as I finish cleaning his face. "You should listen to Rick. I trust his judgement, and I've been following him for over a month now. I'm still alive. Rick might not want to be harsh, but he has good leadership skills. He knows what he's doing and you should trust him."
"That's bullshit and you know it," Shane pushes me out of the way as he jumps off of the bed.
"I need to know why you're being like this," I step in front of the door so he can't leave. "If it's the blood, I need to know so I'll know that I need to do something different."
"It's not the blood," Shane rubs his head and sighs.
"Then what is it?" I cross my arms over my chest.
"I slept with Lori," he says and I gasp. "We thought Rick was dead, and when he came back I- I wished he wouldn't have. I love and care about Lori and Carl like they're my own."
"Wow," I mutter and look down. "I'm not sure what to tell you about that, but I think you need to stop acting like a lunatic and talk to Lori. Then leave her alone. Shane, she is Rick's wife, and he's your best friend. You need to respect that."
"I know," he sighs and rubs his head again. "I'll go try to talk to her."
"Just tell her how you feel, but make sure to tell her that you won't interfere with her and Rick. She'll respect that," I say as he exits the trailer and walks off.
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