Okay, so originally I planned on getting season 1 finished with this chapter and move on to season 2. But things took a different turn in the process of writing and so I decided to devide the chapter in two parts. Also I'd like to know what you think about getting Daryl's point of view now and again, since I think it helps understand some actions a little better (maybe it is just that I like to give his perspective on things from time to time).
Patching up Adam hadn't been such a big deal after all. Apart from the cut on his upper thigh, it was mainly bruises and sore muscles. The only thing that had changed was that Jacqui was now riding with T-Dog, and Andrea had taken her place in the RV while Carol was back with her daughter. I didn't really want to get into any conversation with Andrea though; since losing her sister, her moods seemed to change even more quickly than before. I looked over at Adam cleaning his pistol and realized that, in a way, I understood the blonde. Still I had no connection with her at all, apart from being in this together.
A nudge against my shoulder had me turning and I saw it had been my brother who nudged me with his shoe.
"What are you thinking about, squid?" I scrunched up my nose, I always hated that nickname since it reminded me of how tiny and helpless I once was.
"Just wondering how you managed to survive that long, idiot." He gave me one of his lopsided grins and turned his eyes back on his dismantled gun.
"For your sake, I had close calls more than once." I noticed Andrea looking between the two of us.
"Are you really siblings? You look nothing alike," she finally spoke up and Adam laughed.
"Yeah, we get that a lot. Same mom, same dad. We just came out two sides of one coin. And for the record, I got the brains." I rolled my eyes and slapped his healthy leg.
"Keep telling yourself that, genius. Your track record says differently." He chuckled and looked down at me again as I was still sitting on the RV's floor.
"Still, you're the one who thought it would be a bright idea to get into the military." My smile dropped and I looked at my hands in my lap before I got to my feet.
"Shut up, Adam!" I snapped and went to the front to ask Glenn to let me take the passenger's seat for a while. I could hear Adam and Andrea talk in the back while I stared out of the window. What a surprise… Put someone like Andrea in front of him and it's highschool all over again.
"A penny for your thoughts." I turned my head to look at Dale and then back into the exterior mirror through the slightly opened window.
"It's nothing. I love Adam, but sometimes he gets me all riled up without even trying because he doesn't think before he talks. Except for when he tries to get laid…" I responded dryly and watched Daryl's truck behind us. Something else I couldn't quite figure out. One second he is nice and the next he pushes everyone around him away. And what was that stupid comment about Adam being my boyfriend? The hunter was as frustrating as a book with seven seals and the keys scattered across the whole continent.
"... between brothers and sisters, especially with a younger sister." I shook my head and tried to focus on what Dale was saying. How long had I zoned out?
"Are you sure you are alright?" Dale suddenly asked, apparently aware that I hadn't been paying much attention.
"Yeah, peachy," I replied with a sigh and kept watching the vehicle behind us and tried to tune out my brother hitting on Andrea.
"What happened between you and Daryl this morning? It sure did get to you." I cringed. Of course he would have picked up on that.
"Nothing that needs to be talked about." I really didn't want to have this conversation right now.
"Rachel, if you ever need someone to talk to, I am told I am good at listening." I faced the older man again and gave him a forced smile.
"Thank you, Dale." He nodded and concentrated on Rick's car in front of us again.
"Whatever it was, Daryl will not talk to anyone about it, if that's what you're worried about. Boy likes to keep to himself." He clapped his hand on my shoulder without looking at me and I felt myself relax a little.
I sat up a little straighter once the first buildings within the Atlanta city limits came into view shortly before the sun started setting. Letting out a string of curses I leaned out of the window. The streets and the entire perimeter were littered with dead bodies, both human and walkers alike. I jumped out the second the RV came to a halt and grabbed my bow from Adam before taking a few hesitant steps to get a better look at what we were dealing with. Hundreds of bodies lay strewn around, the stench of death and decay almost unbearable and flies swarming around the bodies. Whatever happened here, it had been a massacre.
I flinched when Shane started giving orders to move along towards the huge compound that was the C.D.C., but stayed behind as our people started to follow the former cop's orders.
"You okay?" I gave Daryl a short sideways glance before I watched Glenn help my brother towards the building.
"Yes. Not the first time I've seen this many bodies. Still, it feels wrong. Not that something like this ever would feel right but…" I didn't know how to explain what was bugging me about this.
"Yeah. I get it. It's not war. It just feels like slaughter." I nodded at the hunter's statement.
"Hey! Get moving you two!" Shane waved at us since we were the only ones that had stayed behind a little. With an annoyed sigh I started walking. I hated this guy and his whole demeanor.
When we arrived at the entrance with the rest of our group, Shane and Rick were pounding on the shutters to open up, but to no avail.
"There's nobody here," T-Dog exclaimed and my stomach dropped. So much for this option.
"Walkers!" I followed Daryl's gaze and readied my bow when he shot the one closest to us. All that pounding on the blocked entrance must have attracted them to us and more were gathering by the minute.
"You led us into a graveyard!" the hunter yelled back to no one in particular and Shane bellowed back.
"Can we talk about whose fault it is later?!" I yelled at them and shot an arrow into an approaching walker. Clearing a gap in between the approaching corpses I retrieved my arrows and plunged one of my knives into another one when suddenly a bolt soared past me. I looked back at Daryl and gave him a nod before taking out another walker.
"Everybody get back to the cars now!" Shane's voice cut through the tense air when it was clear that we were not getting into the compound. Cursing, I retreated to better shield the others.
"Rachel!" I was shoved back and landed hard on my butt, my brother now in front of me and struggling with nothing more than his bare hands to fend off the walker that had nearly torn me apart, unable to move, I watched in horror as its jaws snapped shut just short of Adam's jugular. A second later the corpse dropped with a bolt between its eyes.
"Hey. Ya done dreamin' around?" Daryl's gruff voice brought me out of my stupor and I let him pull me back to my feet. After checking Adam wasn't hurt, I resumed helping the hunter keep the walkers at bay so we would be able to get back to our cars. Right as we were ready to make a run for the vehicles the shutters behind us rose up, drowning the darkened surroundings and our group in bright light.
Rick and Shane started ushering our people inside, Shane ordering Daryl to bring up the rear which earned him an annoyed eye roll from the hunter, still he did it. I decided to stay back to help him keep the walkers off long enough which in return earned me another bark from Shane that I just ignored.
"Ya know he's gonna hand yer ass to ya for that later, right?" Daryl growled for only me to hear.
"I know." I slammed my knife into a walker that had gotten too close. "And I don't care." The hunter just hummed to that when I heard a loud thud behind me and turned to see Sophia on the floor, her ankle trapped in some wire and a walker almost on her.
"Shit!" I exclaimed and rushed over. Disposing of the walker, I cut the girl loose and brought her up into my arms once more.
"Come on, Daryl!" I yelled back and jogged over towards the others, arriving at the door together with him. I sat the girl down and she immediately ran to her mother. When Carol looked over at me, I gave her a reassuring smile.
"You got stuff to bring in, you do it now. Once this door closes it stays closed." I only now noticed the man with a lowered shotgun in his hands standing at the end of the short corridor we were in. Daryl, Rick, Shane and Glenn jogged back out to retrieve the duffle bags with our essentials and came back before the shutters slammed down again, closing us in and the dead outside. The man, who Rick introduced simply as Jenner, led us towards an elevator, just big enough to contain all of our group.
I stood to the back, arms crossed over my chest and nervously chewed on my lower lip.
"What's wrong squid?" I shot a glare at Adam.
"Stop calling me that. I'm not ten anymore. And nothing's wrong." I looked back to the front almost in the mood to bare my teeth and snarl at Shane when I noticed his eyes on me again.
"You sure as hell don't look like it…" Adam continued, despite my voice having that warning undertone he should know well enough.
"Something just feels off. Satisfied? Besides, What the hell were you thinking out there?!" Now I turned to face him as best as possible in the confined space and caught him making a face for a second.
"I am not going to apologize, Rachel. That thing almost bit you."
"You can barely stand on your own two feet, you idiot!" The people closest to us were starting to shift from one foot to the other uncomfortably at our dispute.
"What was I supposed to do? Let my little sister get chewed up by one of those freaks?!"
"I had it under control! I made it this far without you treating me like I don't know how to protect myself! You…" An arm snuck around my waist and gently shoved me a few feet back until the person was between me and my brother.
"A'right. That's 'nough for now." I gave Daryl a confused look and for once he kept his eyes on mine instead of looking away. There was no judgment in them, but rather some form of understanding from one younger sibling to the other.
"Fine…" I breathed, but still felt unable to turn my gaze from the hunter's blue orbs for another few seconds until I felt a small body wrap around my middle. I looked down and Sophia beamed up at me.
"You okay?" I asked her with a soft smile. I was starting to get quite attached to the blonde girl, maybe because she reminded me a little of myself. She nodded and tightened her arms even more around my waist.
"I was scared…" she whispered.
"It's okay to be scared, Sophia." I laid my hand protectively on her head and looked up to find Carol. The woman watched her daughter with a genuinely happy smile, one I hadn't seen on her often when Ed was still around.
Once the elevator came to a halt, Jenner led us through a longer underground hallway until we reached a darkened open room that turned out to be quite large once the light was on.
"Welcome to zone 5," Jenner welcomed us and told Rick that he was the only one left when the cop asked where everyone else was. It turned out the person he spoke to, Vi, was actually a kind of an intelligent computer system that reacted when spoken to. The only living resident asked us all to take a seat while he got everything ready to take blood samples from everyone.
I cringed and took a hold of Adam's hand when it was my turn. I hated needles and Jenner wasn't exactly gentle about the procedure.
"Son of a bitch, should have done it myself…" I mumbled when I stepped away, pressing down on the puncture to stop the blood from trickling out.
"Language!" I looked up at Shane and felt the heat rise in my blood again.
"Can you for just one day stop acting like a total dick?" I snapped in a hushed voice for the kids' sake, unable to keep my mouth shut.
"Can you for just one day not piss me off?" he shot back and I shook my head in disbelief.
"Excuse me? I am not the one constantly getting in your face. You know what? Forget it, I am so done with you for today." I tried to push past him, only for him to step in my way again.
"Drop the tough act, princess. Maybe your problem isn't with me. Maybe you're just not used to not getting what you want. Maybe you just need to get laid and that attitude fucked out of you." I started to tremble in anger at his words. Who did he think he was?
"I swear to God, Shane…"
"Let's grab some food." I almost fell on my face when without a warning Daryl grabbed my arm hard and dragged me with him and away from a fuming Shane. When we came across Adam, he gave me a confused look and I just shook my head and indicated to him to just follow us. Daryl only let go of me once we reached what must have once been the cafeteria. Rubbing my arm where I could still feel where his fingers had dug into my skin, I slumped down on a chair next to my brother while the others one by one filled the remaining seats.
Half an hour later we were having pasta and Jenner had even found us several bottles of wine. I was stuffing myself full with the pasta, not really able to remember when the last time was I had something this good and warm that wasn't rodents or canned food. Except for most of the others, I didn't touch the wine. I had never been one to care much for alcohol anyways, and I didn't plan on starting to drink now.
"Ya not gonna have a drink?" Daryl asked from two seats over, Glenn and my brother between us, with a bottle of whiskey in hand. I just shook my head, to which he shrugged and focused back on getting Glenn drunk. It made me smile a little; seeing him interact with the others for once was nice. On the other side of the table, a discussion broke loose when Carl stated that he also wanted to have some wine, which ended in him trying a sip and scrunching up his face in disgust.
"Good boy." I mumbled around another fork of noodles.
"Hey, Rach. What's with you and the redneck?" I almost choked on my food and gave Adam a hard stare.
"What the hell are you talking about again?" I hissed at him, glad everyone else was already too drunk or at least too occupied with their own to pay attention to our conversation. I knew my brother had also downed a couple of glasses already but still…
"Come on, sis. The way you two act around each other? I mean, I never thought you'd go for some redneck, but whatever suits you." He flinched when I hit his shoulder hard. "Ouch! What the fuck?" he exclaimed and rubbed his arm with a hint of tears in his eyes. Good! Serves him right.
"Stop calling him that, he is not one of those dumb, inbred, white trash hillbillies!" I snapped with a leveled voice, not wanting to draw attention to us arguing again. "And just so you know, you should take a reality check. I am not constantly looking to get laid, like someone else I know! She just lost her sister and you're already trying to get in her pants? What would mom say about that?" I hated fighting with my brother. I had just gotten him back and already I wished he wasn't here. It had always been like this with us - we couldn't live together, but couldn't be apart for long, either.
"Mom's dead, Rachel! She doesn't have an opinion on anything anymore." Adam's voice was slowly rising above a whispered shout, but at this point I had stopped caring.
"You are such an asshole, Adam Thompson! You haven't changed one bit. Have it your way or none! Just like always. Know what? Fuck you!" I yelled at him, ignoring that everyone's attention was on us now. I jumped to my feet so fast that my chair fell over and just stormed out of the room in a fit. I had no idea where I was going, not that I would have cared much, I just needed to get away.
Turning left, I found myself in some kind of library with a comfy looking couch. I let myself fall down on it and pulled my knees up, already feeling the hot prickling of tears in the corner of my eyes. I wasn't even sure if they were from anger or hurt. I buried my head against my knees and just let the tears flow freely. What did I care if someone came in? Nobody knew where I had gone anyways.
"Older brothers, huh?" My head shot up and through blurry eyes I could make out Daryl. I let out a frustrated sigh and tried to wipe the tears away, not wanting to let him see me like this.
"What do you want, Dixon?" Instead of answering he kept leaning against the doorframe with the bottle of whiskey still in his hand.
"Fine. Don't talk to me." I turned my head away and focused on the bookshelves there. Or at least I tried to until I felt the cushion of the couch dip down a little more under the extra weight. I looked back when I felt a tap against my elbow and stared at the bottle held out to me. With a scoff I grabbed it and took a swig despite my intention not to drink. I scrunched up my face when the liquid burned down its way from my throat to my stomach and washed the feeling down with another swig right after.
"Easy. Leave me somethin'." The man next to me took the bottle back and we sat in silence for a few minutes, both just staring at the carpet.
"Big brothers can be a pain in the ass," Daryl finally spoke up.
"Yeah, tell me about it," I whispered back, my voice hoarse from the yelling and the whiskey.
"Just thought ya were glad ta have 'im back. 'Least seemed like it back on the road."
I let out a snort. "Don't get me wrong. I was glad at first, but right now I just wish he never showed up. He will just abandon me again at first sight of trouble anyways…" When I didn't get a response I looked over just for Daryl to look back with a solemn expression on his face.
"He did that before?" he finally asked.
"More than once. When my Dad had an accident fifteen years ago and ended up in the wheelchair, he just took off with some buddies. Left me and my mom to deal with the aftermath. Came back two years later, totally broke. I wanted to go to college but Adam persuaded dad to give him some money because he had this crazy idea of opening his own restaurant. Of course, that fell through, and then he up and left and there was no money to give me the chance to study medicine. It was a mere coincidence I got enlisted then, and after basic training and such, I switched carriers and became a paramedic for the army. Every dollar I earned, I spent on my education and on paying my parents back for what Adam took. Then there was the incident in my company and… Never mind." I finally stopped talking, only now aware that I had just rambled on without considering that Daryl might not even be interested in my family drama.
"Ain't nothin' like fam'ly… What happened in the military?" He still had that thoughtful expression on him and watched me with interest.
"Not gonna talk about that. Bad enough Adam knows and keeps blaming me for it." I closed off immediately, well aware that I should have been more aware of what I said.
"That the reason why ya act 'round Shane the way ya do? 'Cause what happened t'ya?" I tensed up and felt myself digging my nails into my skin. Daryl seemed to pick up on my discomfort, "Forget 'bout it."
"I'm sorry. I just can't talk about it… I buried it all deep inside, and am afraid of what might happen if I let it back up… I learned to live with the consequences." I tried to justify my unwillingness to talk about it.
"Don't need ta explain ya self." He held out the bottle to me again and I took it.
"Sorry for dumping my shit on you. I know you keep to yourself because you don't exactly want people crowding you with their problems." He only hummed to that when I handed back the bottle, already feeling like I'd had more than enough alcohol.
"For what it's worth, I hope Merle is alright. I might not have known him for long, but I understand he is your family and you want him back."
Daryl leaned forward on his knees and shook his head. "Ain't the first time he just left me. He's an asshole, but he's the only fam'ly I got. Should've left with him, saved the others the trouble…" I caught him by surprise when I took one of his hands without thinking.
"You are nothing like your brother! The others might still only see Merle's brother and someone that doesn't care to be part of the group, but that doesn't make it true unless you let it. I understand why you keep to yourself, hell I did it most of my life. But you are a better person than your brother will ever be." He stared at my hand still holding on to his and started biting the insides of his cheeks again.
"Ya don't even know me," he accused and pulled his hand out of mine while getting to his feet.
"Right. I don't… Sorry I don't think of you as just the dumbass redneck and Merle's tag-along everybody else seems to have labeled you as." I got to my feet and made to leave, frustrated by the direction this conversation had taken. Maybe he was right and I had read him completely wrong.
"Wait," he sighed and held his arm out to keep me from leaving. I looked up at him, realizing how close we were standing. He opened his mouth when someone poked their head in.
"There you are. Doctor Jenner told us there are hot showers. Thought you two might want to know… I can come back later." Carol's voice thinned out towards the end. I stepped around the hunter without sparing him another glance.
"A hot shower is exactly what I need," I exclaimed and Carol took my hand with a smile to show me the way.
"Oh I put your things in this room. Adam didn't seem like he would do it…". She pointed towards a room to our right where I could see my backpack and weapons.
"Thank you, Carol."
"It's the least I can do for you, honey. You saved my daughter twice now. I don't know how I could ever make it up to you. Sophia has taken quite the liking to you, she keeps talking about you a lot." Despite my sour mood, I felt a smile play along my lips.
"The feeling is mutual. She is a smart kid, strong like her mother when she isn't afraid." The older woman gave me a look that said she wasn't so sure she agreed. "Look, I have a pretty good idea what your relationship with Ed was like and I am sure Sophia suffered from it as well. But you survived it, you endured it for your kid. If that's not strong, I don't know what is." We stopped and Carol embraced me again.
"Thank you, Rachel. I am still adjusting to not being afraid of my own shadow anymore. I wish I could have been more like you when I was younger. It might have saved me some years of hardship." I squeezed her hand.
"Whenever you need to talk." She nodded thankfully and showed me where the showers were before we parted ways.