Sammy refused to sleep or talk about the dream she had. Instead, she had gone to the back of the truck and dug through a few of her boxes until she found the Redbill energy drink she wanted. She sat there, not wanting to sit awkwardly between Daryl or Scout or be pestered about her dream. Daryl had tried telling her it was all in her mind, but she knew her subconscious was right. Sammy had been the one to point out where the town was. She would have done almost anything to get him away from her when they had been in the forest. Though, looking back, she should have insisted he stay and have Daryl put a bullet between his eyes. Maybe then their town and her grandparents would still be fine.
When the truck came to a stop, Sammy lifted her head as Scout told her they were stopping at a train yard. She didn't understand why they needed to stop unless it was to fill up on gas, but even trains were hard to scavenge through unless they had an idea of what those trains were carrying. Their food supplies were great and could last them a long while if they rationed properly. The only thing that was starting to worry Sammy was water, but they still had enough to last awhile.
Daryl came around the back of the truck, gathering up his bag again. It was still dark out and Sammy's brain was starting to fog over her perception of time. She stared at the Redbill cans that surrounded her, reaching out a hand to pick them up and toss them out of the truck, noticing her hand was shaking from the jitters. "You stayin'?" It sounded like he was just trying to make conversation, but they both knew he wasn't any good at it.
"Yeah, I don't think it would be all that smart for me to go out right now." She shook the empty cans at him, not looking up at his face.
"Sleep, Sam." He shouldered his pack, having emptied the contents quickly. She wanted to go with him, but felt she might be more of a burden, especially with her mind a jumbled mess. She wasn't the type to sit and stew in her feelings and had done a good job of keeping herself awake, but she was still afraid of the Walkers. She knew she didn't have it in her to form plans like she had in the bathroom and sat huddled in the truck.
Once Daryl was gone, she moved back into the passenger seat, watching the dark with Scout, both women silent. She was doing her best to keep awake, but even the Redbill's were starting to not work. She resorted to slaps across her face until Scout forced her to stop.
She had just started nodding off, the battle to stay awake becoming too taxing, when Scout shook her. "I can't reach Daryl. I think his radio broke. It looked like he fell on some track." Her voice was panicked, eyes darting around in the dark of the truck.
Sammy grimaced at the idea of chasing after Daryl in the dark. She didn't see him fall or even know which direction he went. She hadn't even thought he was capable of getting hurt. She wanted to be the type of person to run out after him, to find out if he was fine, but she felt her selfishness swell at her own safety. "I'll go find him." Her words felt like the right thing to say, but her body forced her to stay seated.
Scout was staring at her, "I'll stay with the truck. My dad might radio me." Sammy cringed, knowing Daryl was the only one she had left, other than Timmy. She sucked in a shaky breath and slowly opened the passenger door of the truck, grabbing her flashlight off the seat. She forced herself to hurry around to the back of the truck, emptying her backpack before shouldering it and moving to where Daryl had been last seen.
Peering down a small drop, Sammy saw scattered supplies and dead undead. She slowly lowered herself down, trying to be as quiet as she could. She grabbed the bolts Daryl was forced to leave behind, wiping off the blood and gore as best she could before putting them in her bag. She held a machete firmly in her left hand, ready to swing at the next Walker that tried to bite her.
She heard a garbled yell a few cars over, but still moved carefully around the large containers. She checked out a few that were open, shining her light in them but found no signs of life or any supplies. She had come across a handgun that was barely thrown inside one container but found no ammo boxes or security guards around. Stopping to listen for any type of noise, Sammy heard nothing, not even the grunting she thought was from Daryl.
Eventually, she found a security guard turned Walker with a bullet hole in his head slumped against a tipped over train container. She bent over him, trying to hold her breath as she dug through his pockets for any spare ammo. Coming up empty handed, she put the gun in her bag before continuing on. Daryl's trail was easy to follow, all she had to do was trail the Walker corpses.
Sammy thought she was catching up with him, the Walker bodies thinning out, but she realized he had gone through the cars. "Daryl!" She whisper-yelled. She didn't think she would be getting a response, but she knew it wouldn't hurt to try. She heard something above her head, getting louder as it drew closer. She poked her head out of the other side of the car, looking up at the night sky and seeing a helicopter flying low. It had a large light focused on the train cars, passing over Sammy's car, causing her to throw a hand over her eyes.
She quickly jumped out and made her way over to a flickering light, recognizing it as a flashlight. She poked her head in, watching a Walker kick around the flashlight, making the light shake. She slashed at his legs, making him fall forward and rammed the machete against the back of his head. After freeing and cleaning the blade, she hurried to the other side. The train car suddenly shook as a loud explosion happened from the next car over, making her wobble on her already shaky legs.
Knowing she was closing in on him, Sammy tried to hurry after Daryl. The Walker's he left behind were increasing, forcing Sammy to try her best to get around them or expend her already depleting energy to knock them down. After pulling herself up on a car, she gave herself a moment to breathe, noticing that they couldn't pull themselves up to join her. The wound from the gunshot throbbed on her shoulder and she knew it was probably bleeding again. She didn't have any extra bandages in her bag to address it, nor did she want to risk any Walkers finding a way to crawl in the car.
Sammy hacked away at the hands reaching for her, kicking her leg at one or two Walkers to clear a path for herself. She wasn't a big risk taker for her life, but she wasn't gaining on Daryl like she planned. The endless stream of undead reclaimed her opening and she groaned, suddenly feeling like she was going to be abandoned herself.
Looking up at the top of the car, she spotted a hatch. There were crates pushed together and stacked but not directly under the hatch. If she could lean over enough and luck was on her side, she could push the hatch open and climb through. Of course, that meant it couldn't be too heavy or locked, if it was, she would have to risk more energy to dispose of the Eaters.
Tucking the large machete into the belt around her pants, she carefully made her way on top of the crates, ignoring the groans of protest behind her. She reached up and pushed as hard as she could against the hatch. It began lifting, giving a little resistance but not so much that she gave up. When it landed with a heavy thud, Sammy pulled herself up and through the opening, wiggling a bit when her backpack tried to prevent her escape.
Peering over the edge of the car, the undead were still pawing at the car, not noticing her escape. Sammy huffed out a chuckle, proud of herself for figuring out an escape. She moved on quickly, jumping across cars until she found a building that was level with the truck. Her way was clear as the Walkers couldn't keep up with her, getting stuck between cars.
Climbing off the train car was a little trickier for Sammy. She couldn't just jump off the side since she might twist an ankle or break her foot all together. Finding another hatch was easy enough, but after peering inside, she realized it was completely dark. The doors weren't open, so she wasn't able to see if there were crates inside. She took out her flashlight, shining it inside the car, spotting crates and a dozen bodies that looked immobile as they sat. Once her light passed over them, they began standing, groaning with the effort, and following the light like a moth to flame.
Sammy quickly shut the hatch, peering over the side of the car again. Her path to the stairs was clear, but she still worried about the drop. There was nothing around to break her fall, though she felt a glimmer of hope when she looked to her right at a leaning train car. If she slid down far enough and slowly lowered herself to arm's length, then the drop should be nothing more than a foot or two.
As she lowered herself down, she heard grunting and light scratching coming from below her. Looking down, she saw half a body scratching at the dirt, trying to lift itself to her. Sammy yelped, accidentally letting go of the train car, and dropping to the ground on her bottom. She scooted herself back, trying to make space between her and the half Walker. She hit something soft and firm, nothing like she knew a wall felt, and looked up to see the familiar face of Merle Dixon. "Merle?"
"Get yer ass movin', Baby Doll." His voice was harsh and mean but welcome to Sammy's ears. She couldn't believe he was really standing there, barking orders at her like he didn't abandon her and Daryl at the bar. She didn't know how long ago that was as her days had begun to run together without the proper sleep.
She was still sitting at his feet, staring up at him in awe. Something snapped inside her a moment later as she jumped up to her feet and pointed a finger at his chest. "You asshole! You left us behind!"
Merle smacked her hand away, pushing her towards the stairs as he growled at her. "You best be movin' now. For I leave your dolly ass behind again." He kept shoving her until she jogged ahead and up the steps. Once at the top, she noticed the road was empty; Daryl didn't wait for her.
"Daryl!" She yelled out, wet tears threatening to spill out of her eyes. A hand suddenly clamped over her mouth as her ear was filled with an angry hush from Merle.
"The hell ya think yer doin'? That'll attract more than we can kill right now." He shoved her forward toward a group of abandoned cars. "Get in one of those. Anyone that opens first."
Checking the locks on the doors, Sammy found a truck that was unlocked and scrambled inside. She threw her backpack down on the floor by her feet and hunkered down in the empty truck. A moment later, Merle climbed in on the driver's side and sat low, reclining his seat back. "What's the plan?" Sammy asked after a moment of silence. By the way Merle was positioned it looked like he might fall asleep.
"Goin' ta sleep. What's it look like to you, Doll Face?" He folded his arms over his chest, closing his eyes, and attempted to sleep.
Sammy was getting angry. Sure, she was tired, bordering on fatigue even, but she wanted to find Daryl as soon as possible. "There's no time to sleep, Merle. We need to meet up with Daryl as soon as we can. I know where he's going, so let's hotwire this vehicle –"
Merle waved a lazy hand at her to stop. "Ya think we're goin' to be any good at meetin' up with him if we don't got the proper kind of sleep? Get some rest. I ain't sayin' it again." He threw an arm over his eyes, shutting down any more conversation from him.
All at once she felt like she might cry, hit Merle, or just pass out. She didn't know which to choose and closed her eyes, trying to be calm without letting Merle know she was about to cry. She didn't know if it was luck or not, but sleep claimed her before anything else did.
Sammy didn't have dreams. She didn't even have nightmares. She felt like she was asleep for maybe five minutes in a pitch-black part of her unconscious before she was jostled awake. She glanced at her surroundings, noting her bag was still at her feet, she wasn't wearing a seat belt, and Merle was grinning as he sped down some road, probably going way over the speed limit. She figured the vehicle they were in was the cause for waking her, especially with how Merle was driving. "You're going to get us killed." She said after licking her top teeth, ridding herself of her dry mouth.
"Well, g'mornin' Baby Doll!" Merle spun the wheel a hard left, forcing Sammy to collide with the rough metal door of the car. She glared at him before yanking her seat belt over and across her chest.
"Where are we going?" She noted they weren't taking the back roads like Daryl had, leading her to believe they weren't following Daryl's trail, but she kept her mouth shut.
Merle chuckled a little, "we're goin' for a pit stop at my buddy's place outside Atlanta. Don't ya worry about lil Darylina. We'll catch up with him after."
Sammy was too tired to argue with him, deciding to just go with it and try to get some more sleep. She watched the scenery outside the window, counting the undead they passed. Once she got to two hundred, she gave up on the idea of rest and sat up in her seat, looking forward at the large city of Atlanta. She had gone on a few dates in the city but hated the city life. She was a born and raised country girl through and through, preferring cows and rolling hills over flashing lights and nightclubs.
Merle had to do a bit of crazy maneuvering with the truck they were in since Walkers came in clusters now. They hadn't reached the city, though they could see it close by, and the amount of undead made Sammy feel a little panicked. "Which buddy of yours did you say this was?" She knew Merle's friends list was short because of his one-sided personality.
Pulling up behind a medium sized building, Merle kept his mouth shut as he quickly climbed out of the truck and pocketed the keys. He grabbed his backpack from the back, pulling out a large machete knife and moved for a side door covered in graffiti. Sammy quickly followed after him with her own backpack and knife at the ready.
Throwing the door open, Merle and Sammy hustled inside, letting the door slam behind them. "Hey, Martine! Ya in here?" Merle called out. Sammy could smell the rotten stench of death in the air mixed with the potent smell of marijuana.
The sudden realization of who's place this was, hit Sammy. "You seriously brought me to a drug den?" She seethed at him, but her anger was ignored as Merle deemed the place abandoned and started snooping around.
"Don't start your bitchin'. I left my stash behind at the bar in favor of gettin' those rat bastards from the gang. Fucker's sold me out so o'course I gotta get me some revenge." Merle continued to sift through things until he found things he wanted, shoving them in his backpack. "Drug lords don't just have drugs, ya know. At least, not Martine, I know he got some meds and shit from the black market. Go look for some."
She didn't want to admit it, but Merle had a point. If there was any kind of antibiotics or ibuprofen, it would be a great thing to save up on for a sick day. There's only so much a first aid can do. Following Merle's lead, Sammy starts looking for anything useful, even grabbing the harder stuff, figuring she could use it to her advantage. The drugs could be used for other things rather than recreational use.
Sammy ventured off into another room, ignoring Merle's personal destruction. Once she had the door open, the smell of death grew, and Sammy instantly saw why. Dozens of bodies were thrown carelessly on top of each other, buzzing flies swarming to lay eggs, a few maggots already forming on their clothes. Clapping a hand over her mouth and nose, Sammy backed out of the room, closing the door again before turning and emptying the contents of her stomach all over the floor.
Merle gave her an odd look that was met with her middle finger. "There's a bunch of bodies in there, they stink."
He only laughed at her. "Don't they teach ya nothin' in school? The human body releases all sorts of fluids and shit once dead." He brushed by her, taking a quick peek inside before locking the door. "There. Now, yer dumb ass won't open it again."
"Like I would." Sammy scoffed. She shoved past him into a corridor that only had two doors on either side. She opened the first one on the left side, finding a decently clean bathroom before moving on to the first door on the right. She found a large weapons stash, large amounts of 9mm guns and so many boxes of ammunitions she would have assumed it was for a war.
A whistle sound came from behind her as Merle stood in the doorway. "Martine was planning on going to war with another Spic gang. Guess he won't be needin' some of it now."
Sammy didn't say anything as she spied a decently sized pile of knives, a small one that could easily fit as a clip inside a boot had caught her eye. She was fixated on it, playing with it in her had for a moment before bending down to clip it to the inside of her shoe. It wouldn't serve for much when it came to killing the Walkers, but if she ever needed to break some rope or cut twine, it could work. Any form of protection was better than nothing and left Sammy with a feeling of comfort.
Eyeing a larger knife, she was reaching for it when Merle let out a strangled yelp. Sammy spun around to the doorway where a skinny man got the jump on Merle. He was looking at Sammy while holding a knife to Merle's throat. "Step outta my weapons room, hussy, or I'll gut your friend here." He had a thick Spanish accent and a firm note in his voice let her know he wasn't kidding.
Sammy stepped away from the knives, raising her hands up and looking at Merle like he was an idiot. "What kind of dumbass doesn't check the place out first?" She couldn't help but be sarcastic and irate with the redneck.
"Hey, now. The same could be said of you, Baby Doll."
The skinny Spaniard suddenly let go of Merle, lowering his knife just a little as he got a good look at the man he held hostage. "Dixon? Come to steal some drugs, huh? Where's my money from last time?" Merle went to answer, raising his shoulders in a half shrug. "I told you last time, there was no more freebies." The Spaniard raised his knife again but was patiently waiting for Merle's response.
"The world's gone to shit, Martine. Money don't matter no more." Merle tried for a smile, still giving a half shrug to brush off his lack of funds. "I'll tell ya what. I'll leave behind all our food supplies for some of your good stuff, yeah?"
"Hell no, Merle. I'm not trading any of our supplies to feed your stupid addiction." Sammy turned to the man named Martine. "Who are you going to sell all of this to anyway? There are more undead than people with a drug addiction. Merle is probably your only customer within a hundred miles of the city at this point. So, we will take what we can carry, and you can either choose to come with us to the shelter or die here alone."
Both men looked at her like she grew another head for a moment. Martine recovered a little quicker than Merle though. "Did you see that room of bodies? Those were the people I caught trying to steal from me. Ain't no one running off without payment."
"I got food but that's it. I ain't got money, man. Never had any a day in my life. Hell, this one here always gave me free drinks at the bar." Merle pointed a thumb at her, but no one was laughing at his poor jokes.
Martine gave Sammy a once over, suddenly realizing that she was a female. "I'll take her as payment. Leave her with me and you can have all the drugs you want." He was giving her a suggestive smirk, feeling confident that she would be staying.
Merle turned to look at Sammy, seeming to contemplate actually leaving her. She glared at Merle before giving Martine her middle finger. "She's not staying, pig." She sassed.
Licking his lips, Martine nodded at her and gave her a wolfish grin. "Feisty. That's how I like 'em."
"It ain't happening. Merle, you have two seconds before I leave you here." Sammy moved to push past both men, but Merle suddenly threw out his arm, not looking at her as he kept silent. "Merle…" She was hesitant now, as he made no move to side with her. She knew he had a serious problem with drugs, but she never thought he would actually consider leaving her in the hands of a pig for a few pills.
Merle shifted the pack off his back, bending down in front of her. "A'ight, I'll leave 'er. Let me just make some room in my pack." As Merle spoke, he took his right hand and grabbed the small knife she had put in her boot. She was glaring at him as he used his left to shift around in his backpack, taking out a few items and placing them on the ground.
"Hurry up, man." Martine started shifting around anxiously, wanting to shove Sammy in another room. "Take all of the drugs you want. Let's get started, girl. It's been a minute since I had a girl in my bed." Martine ushered her forward, expecting her to just follow him.
"It's not happening, dude." Sammy took a step back from Merle once he had the knife from her boot. "Merle isn't leaving without me and I'm not trading any kind of service for drugs. It's not the 1500's where old men sell pretty girls. I'm my own person, dipshit."
Martine wasn't taking no for an answer though, "Merle, just leave the shit in the other room and get your drugs, this bitch needs a lesson right now." He moved forward, hands dropping his weapon to tug at the belt holding up his baggy pants.
Merle spun around, hand firm on the small knife, and lunged at Martine, quickly swiping the blade across his neck. Sammy kept back, watching Martine's eyes widen as he gripped at his neck, trying to stop the blood flow. Merle ignored the gurgling noises from the man, cleaning off the blade on the back of Martine's shirt before shoving the man forward on the ground. "I never liked the spic anyway."
Sammy ignored Merle's chuckle at his own vulgarity, deciding to just leave the room and completely ignore what just happened. She knew Merle brutally murdered a man, but she was doing her best to chalk it up as self-defense. If she were to actually process all of it, she would be a panicked mess. Merle would never turn around and kill her, but she had to wonder if he thought this was the end of the world. "Nothin' is gonna be the same, Baby Doll. The world ain't comin' back from somethin' like this, ya hear?"
She hadn't been hiding her true feelings as well as she thought if Merle could read her so easily. "Sorry, I guess killing people is hard for me. The Walkers took some getting used to, too." She nodded her head a little, feeling her ponytail swish lightly on her back. "Thanks though… For, you know, not leaving me behind." She gave him a half shrug, not meeting his gaze as she checked out her dirty cuticles.
Instead of answering her, he moved on to another door in the hallway. She followed his actions and checked the final door which had been a huge pantry of food and water. Now she understood why Martine refused Merle's offer of food. At a slight loss of what to grab, Sammy went looking for any kind of extra bags she could use to tow along all of these supplies. She found three duffle bags about the same size and decided to load ammo and guns into two of them, using the last one for food and water.
Once they had everything bagged that they could take, Sammy left the bags for Merle to carry while she locked the door behind them, doing her best to hide the door with any kind of junk that had been laying around. It wasn't hard to do since it looked run down anyway, but she still felt a little successful when she looked for the door as they started back on the road. She took a mental photo of what to look for if they ever came back or were in desperate need of supplies. She was still holding on to the small flame of hope inside her that the shelter was where they would remain for a while and then eventually be told to go home.
As they were driving towards the stadium, Merle was fiddling with the tuner for the radio, twisting it through all the channels at least twice before he finally gave up. "See any CD's anywhere?" He searched the glove compartment, visors, and middle console quickly, still not finding any music selections.
"All I need is a USB connection. I have my iPod so I can play music, though I'm not sure what you're into… I bet it's not Shania Twain." Sammy dug through her bag, successfully finding the slender device. "I had a USB cord in my truck but didn't think I'd need it."
Merle snorted, glancing at the road before making a right turn, carefully dodging three Walkers. "There ain't no way I'm listenin' to whatever crap music ya got on there anyway."
"It's not crap! I've got everything from classical music to today's number one hit. Your brother likes Lynyrd Skynyrd, so naturally, I added it for him." She shoved him playfully, bringing her legs up to her chest, holding the electronic in her hand as she scrolled through her choices.
Suddenly, Merle pointed a finger up ahead. "Well, looky there!" All thoughts of music were abandoned in favor of what caught Merle's attention. He was pointing at an army outpost, or what was left of one. It looked like it was barely set up before it was overrun. Walkers were still lined up by the sandbags, reaching their arms out for the flesh they smelt.
Shrinking in her seat, Sammy shook her head, keeping her eyes locked on the truck still loaded with sandbags. "That place is too heavy with Walkers, Merle. We won't make it in there—"
"I ain't lookin' to be buddy- buddy with them authoritarians. I am lookin' to steal their cars though. Ya got one of those, yeah?" He gestured at a large vehicle that was very similar to her own, though it was newer.
"Yes, but if we're going to head into the city, you might want one of those, instead." Sammy pointed at another vehicle, one that was more like a truck with a large gun mounted on the back. "One of us can drive and another can shoot if we need to. It probably doesn't take diesel like mine does, too." She felt odd for car shopping the Army's vehicles, but if it was the only way they could reconnect with Daryl, then she would do it. Plus, unbeknownst to Merle, Sammy figured it would also help finding out where Timmy was.
Merle pulled the car over, out of sight from the mass of Walkers, though some had been intrigued by the noise, slowly closing in on the pair. Once he climbed out of the car, Merle made quick work of the undead that had seen them. Sammy was by his side before they both made a run for the army vehicle. "I swear Merle, if we get into some serious trouble for taking a government vehicle, I'm blaming it all on you." She felt stressed and wanted the comfort of a cigarette but knew she couldn't just yet. It was one of the things she wished she could stock up on, but food and water were more important than any stress habit.
Once they reached the vehicle, Sammy threw her things inside the cab of the truck, climbing in the driver's side while Merle got familiar with his new favorite toy. He threw down his own pack by his feet before unleashing the first few rounds from the gun at the Walkers by the sandbags. The gun was loud, but Sammy could still hear Merle's whooping and excitement as he continued firing.
Sammy kicked the truck into motion after finding the keys sitting on the seat. They had been lucky with their vehicle choices so far and hoped they could keep up the lucky streak. She followed the signs to Firesign Stadium, not liking the silence surrounding the shelter. "Ah, shit, Doll Face, get ready for a mess." Merle hollered at her. Ducking her head to the right, she had seen the mess Merle was talking about.
Cars were on fire, people lay dead in the road in masses, some were getting back up on their feet, and Sammy held little hope for the shelter as the white tents were stained with blood. "We need to find Daryl, Merle. He's here somewhere. He said this is where he would be." Sammy didn't stop or wait for Merle to answer her, she just put her foot on the gas pedal and kept driving, running Walker's down like they were just inconvenient road bumps.
She had hoped that he was already here, waiting for her to catch up. She didn't see her truck around the entrance though and wondered if she had somehow made it to the shelter before him. She had to find him, even if it meant circling back over and over until the gas tank was empty.
Chapter seven! I'm sorry this is so late.. I've been super, super busy! Especially with three kids under three.. My youngest is still trying to get used to a sleep schedule and I'm trying to find a good rhythm for the older two to nap.. I apologize! But here's seven anyway! Hopefully the next one won't take as long? Maybe?