Chapter Thirty-Two: Wildfire (pt2)
"Goo' point Chinadoll." Merle agreed as he threw his arm over her shoulder and pulled her closer to him. "Still, we need ta figure out what ta do with Jimbo firs'."
"I still say we take 'im an' the gurl out." Daryl grumbled out almost petulantly.
"We don't kill the living." Rick snapped angrily.
Shane sighed, "We may disagree on some things, not on this."
"I'm borrowing your RV, Dale, gonna get Jim comfortable in there," Rick stated as he pushed past them and towards an anxious-looking Jim.
"Let's get back to work." Shane grunted. Merle and Daryl scoffed dismissively as the group broke away.
"Chinadoll, I 'eard some whining from th' kids 'fore I came here." Merle grunted. Marie sighed as she followed him back to their camp.
Ailani had woken up and was hungry. Marie used up the last of the bread to make all the children peanut butter and jelly sandwiches; Carl and Sophia promised to give the other - still sleeping - kids their own sandwiches when they woke up. Iolani had briefly woken up just as she'd been about to leave, so Marie changed his diaper before plopping his pacifier in his mouth. Marie had shown Sophia how to feed him the day before so she prepped up a bottle before putting it in the fridge with the instruction to warm it up and give it to him if he started crying again... or to at least tell Merle so that he could call her over.
Marie made it out just in time to see Amy briefly reanimate before Andrea shot her sister in the head. She looked away from the blonde and helped Daryl drag away the pretty unrecognizable corpse of Ed Peletier towards the pyre her brother and Morales were building. Jacqui, Lori and Dale wrapped the body up in an unsalvageable bloodied sheet before asking them to pile it up with the others. The next hour or so went by in a similar manner until there were no more bodies to discard. Andrea had wrapped up Amy's body on her own before shakily dragging her sister's corpse to the pyre. Lori was the one to tell everyone to get ready for the funeral. Shane had brought up a couple barrels of water with his jeep so Marie filled up a bucket before bringing it over to her van. Glenn and Daryl were already tiredly plopped down by the fire pit.
She only shot the men a similar exhausted smile before she grabbed two rags, dumped them in the bucket and finally sat by her brother's side. She squeezed the excess water out of one of the rags before dragging the cloth across a red stain of blood on Glenn's arm until it came out. Her brother shot her a small grateful smile before he grabbed the other rag and did the same to her. Once she deemed her brother clean she motioned for Daryl to get closer to her, the younger Dixon rolled his eyes before sulkily sitting in front of her.
He didn't flinch when she gently dragged the rag across his forearm, Marie pushed down the feelings of pride that came with the realization that Daryl wasn't afraid of her touch. There'd be time to not reflect on that later. Merle left the camp for a moment only to return with another bucket of water and some of the soap Marie had made out of the yucca root. Marie shot him a grateful smile.
The parents of the other children had picked up their kids now that there weren't any bodies lying all over the place. Leilani and Ailani were content to stay inside of the van for once, probably still shaken from the events of last night, as they quietly watched them from where they curled up on the pullout couch. Once Marie was finished washing away the blood from herself, both the Dixons - not even Merle was able to escape from her impromptu washing, though he'd grumbled good naturedly the whole time - and Glenn she told the men she was quickly changing before the funeral. Marie carefully shrugged out of her dirty clothes, leaving them on the floor of the van after telling the Māhoe girls not to touch it.
Glenn was kind enough to grab them and toss them into the dirty laundry bag outside. She grabbed the closest pair of clean clothes, a beige t-shirt and green cotton overalls, before pulling it on and then adjusting the baby sling onto her form before slipping a wide awake Iolani to her chest. Marie helped the girls get dressed before passing Ailani into Merle's arms. She did not want Ailani roaming around the camp, Marie was not going to be taking any chances.
As a group, the Rhees and Dixons along with their charges huddled together with the others as Andrea - who'd insisted on being the on e to - lit the match for the pyre, burning away the people that they knew. Small sobs came from the children in attendance though no one was left without tears in their eyes. Not even Marie was immune to the grief.
Leilani had buried her face in Marie's leg, not really understanding what was happening but knowing that something was very wrong. Glenn had wrapped his arm around Marie as the Dixons boxed them in protectively. She felt weirdly safe with them all at her side. The sun was still high above them, not a cloud in the sky. After a few moments of silence, everyone began to disperse from the burning pyre.
"Marie..." Miranda, the mother of the Morales children, called out, "I just wanted to thank you. For giving my kids something to eat."
"Oh," she hummed, before shooting said kids clinging to their mother's skirts a small tired smile that they returned, "It was no problem."
The Hispanic woman shot her another grateful smile before turning to Merle, "Mr. Dixon, you as well. Thank you for watching over them while I helped my husband."
The older Dixon looked floored as he shuffled Ailani into his other arm, "Ain't nothin' woman." before walking past her, Daryl on his heels, towards the fire pit where everyone else was starting to surround.
Warmth bloomed in her chest and she sent Miranda a wide and genuine smile that the woman reciprocated. Marie turned to exchange an amused glance with Glenn before joining the prickly Dixons with a light spring in her step. Finally , someone was thanking the brothers.
Marie leaned tiredly against Glenn's side. The only people missing were Rick, Shane and Dale... who were doing a quick sweep around the perimeter. Leilani was plopped onto Daryl's lap while the youngest Māhoe buried her face into the crook of Merle's neck. There was a solemn silence over the group as they all rested quietly. The children looked like they were all going to begin nodding off again now that they were all sitting, not that she could fault them. Marie was exhausted herself. Andrea had fallen asleep shortly after Dale had led her to a lawn chair and was cuddling against a clean blanket.
"Wha' we gonna do?" Merle piped up after a moment, "Ain't no way we can stay 'ere."
"I don't think we should head for Fort Benning like Shane wants." Glenn mumbled, "If they aren't overrun, they will be as more and more people get desperate."
Uneasy looks were traded around the group.
"We need to start thinking long-term," Marie whispered after a moment, "Somewhere we can fortify from the dead. Maybe find a way to start growing food so we won't always have to depend on hunting and going on runs."
Morales sighed, "Where would we find someplace like that other than one of the forts where there are already walls?"
"The CDC might not be such a bad idea." T-Dog said after a moment, "If they don't have a cure yet, they could at least tell us something about this disease."
"It is Jim's only chance too." Jacqui spoke up. Uneasy looks were once more traded amongst the adults as they eyed the RV where Jim was fighting against a fever.
Marie couldn't help but think back again to Kai Māhoe's devastated expression when he told her she wouldn't be able to help him. That there was no cure. To Hana, her big sister, and her horrified tone as she described her three-year-old patient rising from the dead and attacking her devastated parents. Marie did want answers - badly, desperately- but the city was not safe. Especially not for her young charges. There had to be other options.
"I've been thinking-" Shane started as he walked into the camp, followed by Rick and Dale. "I've been thinking about Rick's plan. Now look, there are no, uh, there are no guarantees either way. I'll be the first one to admit that. I've known this man a long time. I trust his instincts. I say the most important thing here is we need to stay together. So those of you that agree, we leave first thing in the morning. Okay?"
Quiet mummers of agreement filled the air.
"What-" everyone turned to her, "What if the CDC is a bust? We need to have a backup plan." Iolani cooed loudly against her chest, "I'm not bringing my kids into the city unless we have somewhere we can go to in case things don't go as planned."
"That's fair..." Shane grunted after a moment as he stared at the infant strapped to her chest.
Glenn suddenly blurted out, "What about the Vatos!"
"Shit, forgot 'bout them." Merle cursed under his breath, "Stupid fuckin' pricks."
"Who are the Vatos?" Dale asked.
"The Vatos are a group based in the city, protecting a nursing home." Rick explained, "We, uh, had a run-in with them in the city yesterday, that's why it took us so long to get back."
Marie's eyes narrowed just as Shane questioned, "Run-in? What kind of run-in was it that it took ya'll the whole damn day to grab a bag of guns."
"It was a misunderstanding." Glenn piped up, which instantly arose her suspicions because her brother was twitching , before either of the Dixon brothers could comment, "But we left on good terms. They're good people."
"They'd take us in for a night if it came down to it." Rick agreed.
"Hate ta agree with Officer Friendly, but them assho- um, Vatos wouldn' turn away women an' chil'ren." Merle grunted after a moment while Daryl nodded. There was something her boys were hiding. She could see it on all of their faces… but Marie was so goddamn tired ...
"Then we're all in agreement." Rick stated, "We're heading for the CDC first thing in the morning."
That night they ate the rest of the squirrel stew she made the day before. Daryl was impressed that she had been able to skin all of the squirrels he'd caught and then had the foresight to freeze them in the cooler until they would need meat again. The praise was enough to make her feel giddy, at least for a moment until weariness sunk in once more.
Marie conked out the second her head hit the pillow. She only woke up when Iolani cried for a diaper change or for another bottle… even then Marie had only been half-awake as she tended to her youngest charge. The morning felt like it came too soon.
There was still so much to do before they could leave. And they were leaving with Rick's group. Glenn had made a good case to her in the early morning before the Māhoe girls had woken up. Her brother wants answers and so do the brothers. The CDC is the best way to get those answers. Marie understood, she did - there are so many things she wants to know, like can the geeks communicate, is it possible for the geeks to somehow perish on their own, do they even decay, is their sense of smell better than humans, is there a way to prevent someone from turning, how did this spread so fast, is it really everywhere, are there military strongholds, survivors, will it ever end - but Hana's warnings kept ringing in her head. At least they have a back-up plan… even if Marie was itching to shoot all of the 'Vatos' in the ass for kidnapping her brother.
Merle and Daryl were filling up the water barrels down by the lake while Marie and Glenn boiled the rest of the water they already had and filled up the tank of the van. She'd gotten up early to do the rest of their laundry so that they wouldn't have any dirty laundry pending… besides who knew if they'd be able to waste water in the future to wash clothes. Marie had made them a quick breakfast of oatmeal for them, which she shared with the other children in the camp -much to the gratitude of their parents.
Leilani was eager to help Marie 'pack up' the camp while her younger sister played with the barbies in the bedroom. Most of the Dixons things were already inside the trailer, which worked since Merle decided to strap his bike onto the bed of Daryl's truck. An hour or two later the whole camp was ready to hit the open road.
"Alright, listen up!" Shane called out as he explained, "Those of you with CB's we're gonna be on channel forty. Let's keep the chatter down, okay? Now you got a problem, don't have a CB, can't get a signal or anything at all, you're gonna hit your horn one time. That'll stop the caravan." he paused for a moment, "Any questions?"
When no one spoke up, Rick nodded, "Let's hit the road."
Marie sighed as they all dispersed into their own cars. She'd set up the car seat in the back before strapping in Iolani. The girls would sit on the pullout couch where she'd buckled them in. Glenn decided that he would be the one driving the van, since Marie was a lot better at handling the kids than he was if something went wrong during the journey. Soon enough, they were pulling out of the quarry behind Daryl's truck and hitting the road.
Words 2456
(So... It's been a while. Sorry for the wait everyone! My life got super complicated. It started with my youngest sister's fifteenth birthday, which ended up with my sister getting COVID and being sick for over a week, which meant a week of cleaning the house like a madwoman and trying to take care of her without being in physical contact with her while my mom worked. And then two weeks of final exams, essays, and projects... I'm finally officially done with the semester and now have time to actually write for fun, so here I am!)
(flawsome4ever: ;) LOL thanks! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!)
(wolfviking: That would be telling *wink, wink* LOL. But something like that may be happening in the future.)
(NaRuKo-InuTaiSHo-XD: Thanks! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well!)
(Hi . Ruby: Yay! Thank you! This was a pretty long wait, LOL.)
(OldLonBird: You were right, Merle's actions did not go unnoticed. I didn't really write much of Carol in this chapter, Marie was busy with her own thoughts/day too much attention to Carol and Sophia, but Carol definitely thanked Merle too. And now so did Miranda. You're right. The only public dispute that the Dixon-Rhees had in public was when Glenn was freaking out about cremating all the bodies... and that wasn't really a dispute. LOL. I think I sort of showed how more people have voices in this chapter, but the majority of the Quarry Group is exhausted at this point, and don't mind being told what to do because of it. Though, I don't know if anyone noticed, but the Morales family, yeah, they didn't split up from the Quarry Group. That's a direct impact that Marie's had on the story so far. The idea of having a backup plan for the CDC, that Marie has been willing to take care of their children and feed them, that Merle was willing to stand guard over the kids night and day to make sure that nothing happens to them, that the Dixon-Rhees are willing to have actual in-depth conversations about the future... yeah, why would the Morales leave that behind for a one-in-a-million chance of finding family in Alabama? Rick hasn't had time to prove himself to Marie just yet... and yeah, he's gonna have to do something amazing to show Marie that he's really different from Shane. But, he is off to a good start. LOL. T-Dog in the dark side... LOL, we'll see! Thanks for reviewing!)
(MADStar529: I left you in suspense.)
(acetwolf94: THANK YOU! Here's an update!)
(GameofSuperwholockathogwarts: LOL. Facts. Thank you so much!)
(Illuminaax: The D-Rs (Dixon-Rhees) are a delight to write. And you're right at first the R-Ds really didn't care about the Quarry Group because of some of the more asshole-ish individuals, *cough, Shane, cough* but now with the arrival of Rick that dynamic has changed... The boys are more willing to work with Rick because of how he acted in Atlanta when Glenn was taken, he refused to leave Glenn behind and that's a good point in his favor. Marie is still on the fence but she won't go against what her menfolk want if she doesn't see another alternative... she'll just make sure that they have ample amounts of bac-up plans if things go to shit. I honestly don't know how the world of TWD will change Marie, because, yeah, she's a pretty level-headed person... but so was Glenn, and then the Governor assaulted Maggie and he exploded with rage. I think that when bad things happen, people change in one of two ways: they become hard, or they break. We'll see what happens! Again, this story is mostly writing itself, I have no control over Marie; "Like a lead balloon." LOL. Hope you enjoyed the update!)
(00esoteric00: Thank you, so am I, LOL. This is going to be a long-haul sort of fic. This first part is almost over and then I'm going to get started on season 2... I'm glad you found this now! The wait for new chapters can be torturous.)
(myharlequinromance321: Accidental Baby Acquisition is my jam. I love that tag on AO3. It honestly would be super devastating if they still lost Sophia in this fic. I'm happy to hear that you like Marie! Thanks for reviewing! I think I'm going to actually make a poll for the additional pairings...)