Chapter 51
Daryl turned and ran for the ladder of the blind. He had to get down there, he had to –
A hard hand gripped his arm and yanked him back. "Daryl, wait!"
He turned and swung wildly at Rick, "Get away from me!" he hissed. "I can save her! I can – "
"He's got her. Do you hear me? He's got her!" Rick muttered frantically.
Daryl, his heart thudding in his chest and his breath whistling in and out of his throat, hurried back to the side of the blind.
He stared at the tree, his pulse cranking up another notch. Mattie, the belt still in his teeth and his right arm hooked around the branch above them, was leaning down. His biceps bulged in his left arm and he had his hand wrapped around Amelia's right forearm. Incredibly, he had managed to catch her as she fell, and Daryl was suddenly thankful for the man's intense physical training as the muscles in his arm bulged even more with the strain of holding Amelia's body weight. She dangled helplessly among the branches, her face hidden by the broad, green leaves, and Daryl's hands tightened into fists.
"C'mon, c'mon." he moaned quietly as Mattie, the cords in his neck standing out and his face bright red with exertion, pulled Amelia steadily upwards. Amelia's face came into view, it was pale but composed, and she reached up with her left arm and grabbed the branch that Mattie was sitting on, helping him to lift her up.
Daryl let his breath out in a harsh rush when she hooked her left leg over the branch and scrambled on to it, balancing carefully and holding on to the branch above her in a death grip as Mattie released her arm and then wrapped his arm around her waist. He pulled her forward until she was straddling his lap, her legs hanging down on either side of his hips, and she clung tightly to him as he pulled the belt from his mouth and wrapped it around them. It just barely fit around them, and Daryl could see Amelia wince as he cinched it tightly and buckled it around the middle of her back.
"It's a smart idea to belt them both to the tree." Rick whispered in his ear.
"Yeah." Daryl nodded and sat down himself, keeping his eyes on Amelia. She stole a quick look at him and he gave her another smile. She stared gravely at him before turning her face away.
"Okay?" Mattie whispered in her ear.
"Yeah." Amelia breathed. "I nearly wet my pants though."
"Me too sweetheart, me too."
She stared at him for a moment before kissing him on his cheek, "Thank you."
"Don't mention it."
She shifted against him, wincing a little when the belt dug into her ribs and back.
"Sorry it's so tight." He whispered.
She shook her head, "It's fine." She didn't tell him that with the belt digging into her and her chest smashed up against his, she could barely breathe. There was no point – the belt was at least allowing them to sit down. After four hours of balancing on the limb, it felt good to be sitting, even if it was threatening her oxygen supply.
Matthew grabbed her hips, lifting her a little, and she hissed as the belt dug in again. He gave her a look of apology as he brought his legs up so he could stretch them out along the narrow branch.
"Am I too heavy?" she murmured.
Mattie actually grinned a little, "We're trapped in a tree, Walkers taking a goddamn siesta below us, and you're worried you're too heavy?"
She flushed and he patted her thigh, "You're fine. If it gets to be too much, we'll switch places for a while."
A small grin crossed her face. Leave it to Mattie to make her smile after she had nearly died. She paused - she had nearly died. The reality of what had just happened finally sunk in and she began to tremble violently against him.
"Hey, relax." He whispered.
"Sorry, delayed reaction." She muttered. She couldn't stop shaking, the branch they were sitting on was actually beginning to sway a little and Mattie cursed under his breath and pushed her head down on his shoulder. He rubbed her back roughly.
Amelia turned her head so she could see Daryl. Despite her anger with him, she needed to see him, needed to know that he was there. He was sitting on the edge of the blind, his arms resting against the railing and his legs dangling over the edge of the platform.
He was giving her a helpless look of fear but as soon as their gazes locked, he smiled at her. The fear in his eyes disappeared and he nodded confidently to her. "You're okay." He mouthed.
She didn't reply but she continued to stare at him, soaking in his familiar face and taking courage from his small smiles of encouragement. Mattie continued to rub her back but it was staring at Daryl that finally helped quell her trembling.
She closed her eyes, She wasn't sure how long she had them closed; she thought she might have even dozed a little, but she abruptly popped them open, suddenly positive that Daryl would be gone. The panic bloomed in her belly but it was stopped by the familiar sight of Daryl still sitting on the blind and still staring at her.
She gave a shuddering sigh of relief, the belt tightening around her ribs and Mattie's, and stared silently at Daryl.
Emotions warred within her. She was still angry with him; still upset over what he had said and how he had treated her, but she loved him deeply and she wanted desperately to be in his arms.
"Don't leave me." She suddenly mouthed.
He shook his head, "I won't." he mouthed back.
She nodded with relief and closed her eyes once more.
"We need to come up with a plan." Daryl muttered to Rick who had just finished climbing the ladder to the blind. He and Ethan had gone to alert the others in the camp as soon as the sun had risen and he had spent some time with Hannah and Carl before coming back.
"How's it going with Judith?" Thomas asked quietly.
He and Nathan had come to the blind as soon as they found out what happened; Rick knew that Thomas was concerned about Selena and Nikki.
"Okay. Hannah's got her in the bedroom farthest from this side. We've put blankets over the windows and stuffed them against the door, trying to muffle the sound as much as we can. So far, Judith has been pretty content but it's the afternoon where she tends to get," he hesitated, "loud."
"What about Selena?"
Thomas glanced at the others, "Nikki gave her some Children's Tylenol with her breakfast; it's been keeping her pretty sleepy and quiet."
"That was a good idea." Nathan whispered.
Thomas shrugged, "We hate doing it but desperate times right?"
"They can't stay up there much longer." Daryl whispered anxiously.
"How long has it been?" Nathan looked across at Mattie and Amelia. They had been taking turns dozing and it was Mattie who was trying to sleep now; his face was hidden in the curve of Amelia's neck, and his arms were clasped loosely around her waist. Amelia had her head on his shoulder but she was facing the blind and Nathan could see her staring at them.
He gave her an encouraging smile and wave and she nodded back wearily before wincing. She held onto the trunk of the tree and swung her legs a little.
"Nearly fourteen hours." Daryl grunted.
"Shit." Nathan muttered.
"They ain't gonna just move on. We need to figure out how we're going to move them away from the camp." Daryl whispered fiercely.
Rick sighed, "I know. But how the hell – "
Matthew made a soft snoring noise, it sounded unbelievably loud to Daryl, and Amelia jerked against him before clamping her hand across his mouth. She shook him lightly and he looked at her blearily, blinking with confusion. She shook her head and released his mouth. He gave her another look of tired confusion and she leaned forward, her lips against his ear, and whispered something.
He tensed and Daryl could see Amelia flinch when Mattie's hands tightened involuntarily around her waist. Even from the blind he could see the way the belt was digging into her upper body. She would have a hell of a bruise if she got out of this mess. His face blanched. When, when she gets out of this, he reminded himself.
Amelia and Matthew looked down at the Walkers below them. About an hour ago, five of them had simply wandered away. Daryl, sweat dripping down his face and his hands in tight fists, mentally urged more of the Walkers to follow. They hadn't and he could have screamed with frustration.
He watched as Mattie rubbed his face wearily before whispering into Amelia's ear. She nodded and reached up, grabbing the branch above her. Daryl could see her arms shaking with exertion as she lifted herself a little so that Matthew could shift beneath her. He put his hands on her ass, raising her a little more so that he could bring his legs back up along the branch, and Daryl could feel another ripple of jealousy going through him.
He tried to shake it off but it refused to leave, hanging off of him like a dead weight and bringing his already taut nerves to a shorter edge. He was deathly worried that Amelia was going to die at any moment and he was grateful to Mattie for helping to keep her safe, but underneath that gratefulness was a slow burn of jealousy.
Amelia and Matthew were fighting for their lives; they had been stuck in a tree for over 14 hours, it was hotter than hell and they had no water, and he was bothered by the fact that she was sitting on Mattie's lap. Bothered that he was touching her ass; jealous that she was pressed up against him so tightly a piece of paper couldn't be slipped between them.
He sighed and rubbed at the scruff on his jaw. He felt like he was going insane; his worry for Amelia, his guilt for his part in what was happening to her, and now his jealousy over Mattie was enough to make him feel like screaming. He took a deep shaky breath as Rick looked at him.
"Maybe you should go and take a break." He whispered.
Daryl shook his head immediately, "I ain't leaving her."
Rick sighed and looked over at Nathan, "How much ammunition do we have left?"
"Not enough to kill all of them." He struck his thigh with his fist. "If we could have taken back the damn SUV from the hotel, we would have had plenty enough."
Thomas stared thoughtfully at Nathan, "We probably have enough to take out half of them. After that, we could go in and take out the rest by hand."
"It's too dangerous. And it'll leave us with no ammunition." Rick shook his head.
"We could make a run back to the hotel. See if we can scavenge the rest of the ammunition and guns from the SUV. I doubt anyone survived at the hotel and even if they had, the only ones who knew about the guns were Anna, Luther and Warren."
"Are you nuts Nathan?" Rick muttered. "You nearly died back in that hotel. Do you really want to go back there?"
Nathan shook his head, "No, but I won't leave Mattie to die in a tree."
"It's a crazy idea." Rick muttered again.
Thomas raised his eyebrow, "Do we have much of a choice? Amelia and Mattie can't stay up there forever and what happens if there's," he hesitated, "noise from the camp?"
"It's the best idea we have." Daryl said with a tinge of desperation in his voice.
"We can hike further into the woods, away from the camp, and fire some shots into the air. That'll draw them away." Rick said.
"There are nearly fifty of them." Thomas frowned. "If that even works, which it might not, how are we supposed to double back without getting caught up in the herd? Besides, do you really want that many of them, all riled up and hungry, just wandering through the woods? What if they stumble back into the camp?"
"We kill them." Daryl said suddenly. "It's the only way. I'll make a run for the hotel once Amelia is safe; bring back the ammunition and the guns."
"Daryl – " Rick started.
Daryl glared at him, "If it was Hannah in that tree you'd be all over this plan."
Rick hesitated and then looked at Nathan, "Grab the guns and Glenn, Maggie and Ethan. We'll need them."
Nathan nodded and started for the ladder.
"Wait!" Thomas suddenly hissed.
Daryl stared down at the Walkers. They were still standing nearly motionless in the shadow of the tree, but as he watched more than half of them raised their heads and sniffed the air.
"Jesus, do you think they're starting to smell them?" Daryl whispered. He stared at Amelia and Mattie. They were clinging to each other like lost children and staring mesmerized at the Walkers. Daryl could clearly see the fear on Amelia's face.
He raised his crossbow but before he could release the bolt at the closest Walker, there was a rustling noise.
"Could we be this fucking lucky?" Thomas breathed.
They watched as a buck, it was large and well-fed with an enormous set of antlers, emerged from the trees in front of the Walkers.
Daryl held his breath as the deer sniffed delicately at a berry-dotted bush before nibbling lightly on it. One of the Walkers made a low moan and the deer froze. It lifted its head, sniffed delicately and, as the Walkers began to move towards it, turned and bolted into the trees.
The Walkers shambled after it, falling and tripping over bushes and running into trees. They left tattered strips of clothing and shreds of grey flesh dotted with black, viscous liquid, on the hard bark. Although the buck had disappeared from sight, they continued to surge in its direction.
Even before the last Walker had disappeared behind a large oak tree, Mattie was unbuckling the belt and hoisting Amelia from his lap. She dragged herself awkwardly to her feet, hanging on to the branch for support. Daryl bolted for the ladder of the blind.
"Go Amelia." Mattie indicated frantically for her to climb down. She hesitated and then began to descend. Her legs felt weird, like they didn't belong on her body, but she ignored it and began to slide her way down from branch to branch. She used her arms to support most of her weight as Mattie urged her on from above.
They shimmied their way out of the tree in less than 2 minutes and Amelia nearly started crying when she felt the ground under her sneakers. Mattie landed with a thump beside her and gave her a light push.
"Keep going, back to the camp." He whispered. He took a nervous look around them. Amelia paused, her legs were starting to shake and painful tingles were racing down her thighs to her feet. Also, after nearly 15 hours in the tree she was dangerously close to wetting her pants.
"Mattie, I'm not sure I can – "
Matthew took a step towards her and cursed under his breath when his legs collapsed under him. He fell against Amelia, knocking her to the ground and landing on top of her with a hard thud. Her bladder screamed at her in protest and she pushed against Mattie's broad shoulders. "Off my bladder!" she whispered frantically.
"Jesus Christ, I can't feel a fucking thing from the waist down." He muttered.
She started to laugh. It was tinged with a note of hysteria, and Mattie gave her a slightly alarmed look before pushing her hair out of her face and patting her cheek awkardly. Amelia snorted and giggled until the tears came to her eyes. She had just spent nearly 15 hours buckled to a goddamn tree, her legs had so many pins and needles that she wasn't sure they would ever be the same, and her bladder was so full she was about to pee her pants, but she couldn't stop the laughter from bubbling out of her chest.
Mattie, still lying on top of her, stared at her in confusion for a moment before beginning to chuckle. Within seconds he was snorting and laughing as hard as she was.
"Stop making me laugh." He whispered desperately. "I have to take a piss so badly I think my bladder is about to explode."
"That made her laugh even harder, despite her own painfully full bladder, and Mattie tried to shush her frantically. "Quiet! They're not that far away!" he whispered. He was still laughing himself and something about his almost girlish giggling, made her snort with fresh laughter.
He buried his face in her neck, muffling his laughter, and she gasped out, "We have to try and get up. Can you feel your legs yet?" She rubbed and patted his back gently as he shook with laughter against her.
Before he could reply, there was a low string of curses and Mattie was yanked away from her. Her giggles dried up as Daryl, his face red, threw Mattie on his back and knelt on his chest. "Get the fuck away from her!" he snarled quietly.
Amelia pushed herself to her feet, using the tree for support. "Daryl, stop it!" She whispered.
"Touch her again and I'll kill you." Daryl grabbed the front of Mattie's t-shirt and shook him roughly. "Do you hear me?"
Amelia tried to take a step, cursing when her legs gave out on her again and she fell down, banging her knees on the hard ground. "Daryl!" she hissed.
He paid no attention to her as he shook Matthew again. Mattie winced as his head bounced off an exposed root. "Get off me!" he tried to struggle free of Daryl's iron grip. "I just saved her goddamn life you asshole!"
Mattie's voice was rising with anger and Amelia looked around nervously. "Daryl!" she tried again as Thomas came running up and pulled Daryl off of Mattie.
"What the fuck man?" he shook his head and shoved Daryl away as Nathan and Rick arrived. He went to Matthew and helped him stand before hugging him hard.
Rick knelt next to Amelia who had plopped down on to her ass, "Amelia, can you walk?"
She shook her head, wincing as the pins and needles continued to move down her legs, "No. My legs are asleep, I can't – "
Daryl shoved his way past Rick and bent and picked her up.
"Put me down." She glared at him as he began to stride towards the camp. She looked behind her, relieved to see Thomas and Nathan helping Matthew to walk as Rick kept a careful eye out for Walkers.
"I mean it Daryl." She hissed.
"Ya can't walk." He glowered at her.
"Rick can carry me."
He gave her a look of hurt, "No! Amelia, I'm sorry. I didn't mean – "
She cut him off, "I don't want to hear it Daryl. Not right now. First you yell at me, tell me the only problem you have is me, and then you threaten the life of the man who saved mine not 10 hours earlier. I'm tired, I have a throbbing headache, my ribs feel like they're permanently bruised, and I've just spent the last 14 hours in a tree where for 12 of those hours I've had to pee. Just please, do me a favour and be quiet and take me to a goddamn bathroom before I end this whole miserable day by wetting myself."
He didn't reply and she closed her eyes and sighed wearily. She had spent the last 14 hours wanting desperately to be in his arms and now, less than five minutes after their reunion, she was so angry with him she wanted to punch him in the face. She sighed again and rubbed delicately at her temples as he carried her swiftly through the trees.
