Chapter 50
"You look much better." Carol smiled at Amelia and Amelia grinned back at her.
"I'm feeling much better."
"Good, I was worried about you." Carol hesitated, "How are things with Daryl?"
Amelia shrugged and finished wiping the dining table. "Okay. He still won't talk about what happened."
"Yeah, that's not surprising." Carol said lightly. She stared into the main room where Ethan was sitting with Jacob and Ellie.
"Ethan's not much of a talker either. It can get frustrating."
She stood at the sink and dried the rest of the supper dishes as Amelia began to put them away. "Where is Daryl?"
"He's napping. He was on watch this afternoon with Nathan and when I went back to the cabin he was passed out in the bed. He hasn't been sleeping well so I didn't want to disturb him. I'm going to take him a plate of food." Amelia replied.
"In fact, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll go check on him right now." She smiled at Carol, picked up the plate of food and left the lodge.
Amelia placed the food on the table and walked quietly to the bed. Daryl was still sleeping in the same position he had been when she left him and she hesitated before creeping back to the couch. She sat down and picked up a book, leafing through it idly before getting up and glancing out the windows. It was almost dark and she slipped outside and closed the shutters, waving at Carl and Rick who were closing the shutters on Sara's cabin.
She wandered through the cabin, tidying the already neat kitchen before moving back to the couch. She was just picking up the book again when a low moan from the bed sent a shiver down her spine. She stood up and moved to the bed quickly.
Daryl, his tanned face pale, was tossing back and forth. He was covered in a fine sheen of sweat and, mindful of the last time he had a nightmare, she kept away from his arms and shook his leg gently. "Wake up honey."
He cried out softly, his brow furrowing as his hands curled into fists. "Don't Merle. Don't do that." He muttered.
"Daryl? Wake up honey." Amelia shook his leg again, this time more roughly.
"Don't hurt her." Daryl tossed back and forth. "Don't make me do this. Amelia! NO!" He suddenly sat straight up, his eyes wide and blank with fear.
"It's okay honey." She said soothingly. She moved to his side, sitting down and putting her arms around him. His back was soaked with sweat and he leaned into her, burying his face in the curve of her neck and shuddering all over.
"It was just a nightmare honey; you're safe." She whispered.
He nodded and gripped her tightly for a moment before leaning back. "Yeah, I'm okay."
She stared at him worriedly as he scrubbed his hand across his face. "You don't look okay."
"Don't start Amelia." He warned.
"Don't start what Daryl?" she asked, suddenly furious with him. "You're falling apart in front of my eyes but you seem to think I should just keep my fucking mouth shut about it."
He glared at her, "That ain't what I meant."
"Then what did you mean?" She folded her arms across her torso and stared at him.
"I just meant… never mind, I'm just tired." He picked at the bed covers.
"You're tired because you're barely sleeping. You have nightmares every night; you're sullen and withdrawing from everyone. We can all see it."
She suddenly cupped his face, "Daryl, there's no shame in being afraid, in showing a bit of weakness every now and then."
He wrenched his face free, "I'm not afraid Amelia."
"You are!" she insisted vehemently. "You had to do a terrible thing and it's eating you up inside. You need to get it out, to talk about it. Aaron could - "
"Jesus." He groaned, "Not this again."
"Yes, this again!" she said angrily. "I know you're tired of hearing it and believe me I'm tired of saying it but this isn't going away. You can't just bury this and hope it gets better. Can't you see that?"
Daryl moved away from her and slid out of the bed. "Enough Amelia! Jesus, did you ever stop to think that maybe my problem is you? Always on me; always after me to talk about what happened with Merle. You just can't leave it alone can you?"
She stood as he walked angrily to the bathroom, "Daryl, don't walk away from me. You're acting like a ridiculous – "
"Ridiculous?" Daryl shouted. "I saved your goddamn life, killed my own fucking brother and you're calling me ridiculous?"
"No Daryl, I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that – "
"Just leave me alone Amelia. I'm tired of listening to you badger me. If you want someone who will talk about his feelings with you like some pansy-ass woman, maybe you should go find that idiot ginger. I'm sure he'd be more than happy to talk about all the feelings he has for you."
Amelia, her face completely white, stared at him, "You bastard." She whispered.
"Ya just figurin' that out now?" he sneered and disappeared into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.
Amelia hesitated and then turned and fled the cabin. She ran down the steps, hot tears burning in her eyes, and ran blindly across the clearing. She ran into the woods, her heart thumping madly in her chest as Daryl's words echoed in her ears.
She ran past a large tree, nearly braining herself on a thick low-hanging branch and darted around a fallen log. She let out a breathless scream when a figure appeared in front of her and grabbed her. She opened her mouth to scream, her hands beating frantically on the hard chest and a hand fell across her mouth.
"Amelia! Stop! It's me!" a familiar voice said in a loud whisper.
She stopped struggling, "Mattie?"
"Yeah."
She went limp against him. "What are you doing out here?"
He patted her back, "I'm on watch tonight. What are you doing out here?"
"I um – " she hesitated, "Just taking a walk."
"Bullshit." He scanned her face in the moonlight before rubbing his fingers across her cheek. "You're crying. Did you get into a fight with Daryl?"
She pulled away from him, "I don't want to talk about it."
He sighed and took her upper arm, pulling her roughly back towards the clearing. "C'mon, you need to go back to your cabin."
She yanked her arm free, "No."
"Amelia, don't argue with me." He took her arm and pulled her forward a few more feet.
"Stop it Mattie!" she hissed at him, "I'm so tired of being told what to do. Just leave me alone. I'm going for a walk."
"Like hell you are." He said mildly. Before she could stop him he had stooped and tossed her over his shoulder. His shoulder dug painfully into her stomach and she punched him hard on the back.
"Put me down you asshole!" she snarled.
"Quiet!" he muttered. "There is no way in hell I'm letting you wander around the goddamn woods in the dark."
"You have no right to tell me what I can and cannot do Matthew! I'm sick of – "
There was a soft noise of static and then Ethan's voice was coming from the radio attacked to Mattie's belt.
"Matthew! Come in Matthew!"
Mattie put Amelia down, keeping a firm grip on her arm and spoke into the radio. "What's wrong Ethan?"
"Climb the tree! Right now! Do you hear me? Climb the goddamn tree!"
Without hesitating, Matthew boosted Amelia up onto the branch of the tree she had passed by a few minutes earlier. "Climb!" he hissed.
She pulled herself up onto the next limb as Matthew scrambled on to the lowest branch. She climbed higher until she was standing on a limb about halfway up the tree. Matthew joined her on the limb and she stared at him with wide eyes. He put his finger to his lips and she leaned against the solid trunk of the tree. When he took her hand in his, she didn't resist, wrapping her fingers around his and holding them tightly.
They waited in silence for a few minutes. Amelia slapped at a mosquito that was buzzing near her ear and gave Matthew a questioning look. "Should we – "
He clapped his hand over her mouth as a low groaning could be heard. Her pulse fluttering rapidly and adrenaline shooting through her veins, she looked down. She made a quiet moan of dismay against Mattie's hard hand.
Below them, wandering through the trees was the largest herd of Walkers she had ever seen. She watched as they walked slowly through the woods. She counted at least twenty and there was still more coming through the trees.
She gave Mattie a frightened look and he gave her a small, pale smile. "It'll be okay." He mouthed and she nodded as he moved his hand away from her mouth. He stared down at the Walkers stumbling past them and she could feel his body tensing when they slowed down.
"No," she prayed frantically, "Keep moving…keep moving."
Her prayer went unanswered. A group that had grown to at least forty Walkers were clustered in small groups around the tree they were trapped in.
Matthew eased his hand down to his belt and quickly shut off the radio.
"What do we do?" she breathed into his ear.
"Just stay quiet." He breathed back. "They'll move on soon."
Daryl opened the bathroom door, "Amelia? I'm sorry, I shouldn't have – "
He stared at the empty cabin, frowning in confusion. "Amelia?" His glance fell on the cabin door and understanding flooded through him.
"Shit!" he yanked his boots on, grabbed his crossbow from its spot by the door, and ran out into the night. He sprinted across the clearing towards Rick and Hannah's cabin, hoping that Amelia had gone to Hannah. He was only halfway there when the door opened and Rick came running out.
"Rick! Is Amelia in there with ya?" Daryl called.
Rick winced and waved his hand at him frantically, signaling him to be quiet. He joined Daryl in the middle of the clearing.
"Ethan just radioed me from the north watch tower. There's a herd of Walkers, close to fifty of them, not far from the camp." He said in a quiet little whisper.
"Shit." Daryl pulled his crossbow from his shoulder. "Is Amelia in there with Hannah?"
Rick shook his head and Daryl felt a thread of fear go through him. "She ain't?"
"Ethan said they saw her running through the woods. Mattie went after her and they got trapped in the woods. They climbed a tree but the whole goddamn herd of Walkers is camped out below them."
"Fuck!" Daryl said in a harsh whisper.
"C'mon. I was about to join Ethan at the blind. Keep quiet." Rick motioned for Daryl to follow him and the two men crept quietly through the trees. They climbed the ladder and joined Ethan on the blind.
"Where are they?" Daryl asked urgently.
"There." Ethan pointed to his left and Daryl squinted in the direction he was pointing. The moon was full and the darkness was lit up with moonlight. It shone down brightly, even through the trees, and he had no problem seeing Matthew and Amelia standing together on a branch of a thick tree. Fear gripped his belly when his gaze fell to the ground below them. More than 40 Walkers were standing motionless, staring blankly into the dark and his stomach clenched as he remembered his own scramble into the trees last winter.
"Why was Amelia out after curfew?" Rick asked quietly.
"We got into a fight." He replied softly. "I didn't know she left or I woulda stopped her." His hands clenched into fists and he moved to the edge of the blind, staring anxiously at Amelia. He willed her to look over at him and after a few moments she did.
He gave her a small smile, trying to communicate silently with her, and winced when she looked away without smiling back.
Matthew glanced over and Daryl nodded to him. The redhead nodded back and shifted slightly on the branch, leaning against Amelia and putting a steadying arm around her waist. Daryl felt a thin ripple of jealousy go through him and shook it off. Matthew was trying to keep Amelia safe and when they got out of this, Daryl would thank him personally.
Rick joined him and Daryl looked up at him, "Do you think we have enough firepower to take them out?"
Rick shook his head immediately. "No. We can't risk making that much noise. They're too close to the camp. We can't get them all and some of them may move into the camp. As it is, we'll be lucky if there aren't any noises from the camp that draw their attention."
It was Judith that Rick was thinking of, Daryl could see it in his eyes. He wanted to say something comforting to his friend but he couldn't think past the dread that was yammering in his brain. All he could think about was Amelia and keeping her safe. He cursed himself for what he had said to her. He had been angry and had said terrible things. If she died before he could say he was sorry he –
He shook that thought off, "Can we create some kind of diversion?" he asked hoarsely.
"I don't know." Rick ran his hand through his dark hair. "Fuck. I don't think we can do anything until it's light out. Even then – I don't know how we can create a diversion and keep everyone safe. There's so goddamn many of them."
"We've got plenty of time to think of something." Ethan whispered. "It's a long time until dawn."
Daryl stared across at Amelia and Mattie again, "Think they can last that long?"
"They'll have to." Rick replied. "They have no choice."
"What's he doing?" Daryl frowned and whispered to Rick. Nearly four hours had passed. Rick and Ethan had sat down, dangling their legs over the edge of the blind and watching as the Walkers continued to stand passively. Daryl hadn't sat at all and he could feel the pain in his legs, and his lower back was burning. He didn't care. Amelia couldn't sit down and he wasn't going to sit down either. Both she and Mattie had been shifting more and more as the hours wore on and even from here he could see the strain on her face.
"I don't know." Rick answered quietly.
The three of them watched as Mattie and Amelia carefully switched places on the narrow branch until Mattie was leaning against the tree and Amelia was balancing on the thinner part of the limb. She held on to the branch above her as Mattie slowly undid her belt and pulled it quietly from the loops of her jeans. The buckle made a soft jingling noise and they both froze, looking down at the Walkers below them. After a moment, when none of the Walkers looked up, Mattie handed her belt to her. She held it loosely as he removed his own belt before taking hers back. He buckled them together, making a long leather rope, and Rick suddenly grinned.
"Clever." He whispered.
Daryl watched as Mattie, moving slowly and cautiously, sat down on the branch. He leaned his back against the trunk and Amelia, holding on to the branch above her for balance, bent and helped him string the belts around the trunk of the tree. Holding both the ends in his teeth, Mattie motioned to Amelia.
Daryl held his breath as she turned carefully, making sure her footing was secure, until her back was turned to Mattie. She started to sit down, Mattie's left hand on her hip to help steady her, and Daryl frowned.
"Is that branch wide enough for both of them to sit on it?" he whispered.
"It must be; they wouldn't try – " Rick's low voice cut off in a horrified gasp and Daryl's heart stuttered to a stop as Amelia's left foot slipped off the branch and she tumbled from the tree.
