I don't own Total Drama and The Walking Dead.
Sorry if you find any grammar mistakes. I'm still learning English because it's not my first language.
Ms. Sleepy Clover: Rick slowly starts to become the badass we know and love from the future seasons.
Someguy2020: Thank you and I'll do my best :)
Lori opened her eyes, awakening from her slumber. She looked around her tent, only to find out that her husband and son were nowhere to be seen. She reached out to her side and picked up a clock to see that she slept in. She put the clock down and quickly got herself ready for the day. She slipped into her shoes before stepping out of her tent, offering a quick good morning to Dale, Owen and Noah who happened to be walking by.
She turned her attention to Carol, Bridgette and DJ who were all busy hanging the clothes to dry. She walked over to them, "I can't believe I slept in."
"You must have needed it." Carol stated.
DJ nodded his head in agreement, hanging some wet clothes on the line, "Everyone needs a good sleep once in a while."
"Feeling all right?" Bridgette asked Lori.
"Next time wake me, all right?" Lori said, placing some wet clothes on her shoulder, "Especially on laundry day."
"Don't worry about it." Carol assured her, "DJ volunteered to do this for you."
"I didn't had much to do." DJ explained to Lori, turning to look at her for a second, "And I could share the idea I got with Carol and Bridgette."
Lori titled her head, "What idea?"
"That kitchen of their got me thinking. Maybe we all pitch in and cook dinner for Hershel and his family tonight. To show that we're grateful for everything." DJ said, a hopeful grin forming on his lips.
"I wouldn't mind cooking in a real kitchen again." Carol said, already agreeing with DJ's idea.
"And after they'll taste DJ's cooking, then they will surely understand that we're grateful for everything they did for us." Bridgette added, agreeing with DJ's idea just like Carol.
Lori nodded her head, "After everything they've done for us,seems like the least we could do."
"You mind extending the invitation? Would just feel more right coming from you." Carol said.
Lori raised her brow, "How so?"
"You're Rick's wife. It sort of makes you our unofficial first lady." Carol explained, making Lori grin a bit at how she called her.
"Morning,guys. Let's get going." Rick's voice sounded across the camp and everyone turned to see him walking along with Shane. Everyone stared at him for a second because it was the first time when they saw him without his sheriff outfit. Andrea, T-Dog, Tyler, Duncan, Alejandro, Izzy, Chris and Daryl all stopped what they were doing and followed them to Carol's cherokee.
Rick placed a map on top of the vehicle, and started explaining to everyone gathered around him, "We've got a lot of ground to cover. All right, everyone's getting new search grids today. If she made it as far as the farmhouse Daryl and Duncan found, she might have gone further east than we've been so far."
"I'd like to help." A new voice rang out behind him and everyone turned their attention to it to see Jimmy, a teenager that was staying at Hershel's farm and Beth's boyfriend approaching them, "I know the area pretty well and stuff."
"Hershel's okay with this?" Rick asked, wanting to be sure.
"Yeah." Jimmy assured him with a nod of his head, "He said I should ask you."
Rick offered him a grateful nod in response, "All right then. Thanks."
"Nothing about what Daryl found screams Sophia to me." Shane stated, "Anyone could have been holed up in that farmhouse."
"Anybody includes her, right?" Andrea asked him.
"I doubt that it was an adult. The sleeping spot that we found there was made for a child." Duncan stated.
"Whoever slept in that cupboard was no bigger than yay-high." Daryl added, moving his hand to his stomach to clarify his point.
"Good lead." Izzy stated. She'd go with Duncan and Daryl yesterday to look for Sophia with them but the entire situation with the walker in the well kept her occupied, and she had no idea that they were going out to look for Sophia in the first place.
"It's better than nothing." Tyler stated.
"Maybe we'll pick up her trail again." Rick stated.
"No maybe about it. I and Duncan gonna borrow a horse, head up to this ridge right here,take a bird's-eye view of the whole grid." Daryl said, pointing at the said spot on the map, "If she's up there, we'll spot her."
T-Dog nodded his head in agreement, "Good idea."
Duncan turned to the younger Dixon, remembering something from the first days of all of this, "And who knows, maybe you'll get to see your Chupacabra up there too and maybe I'll get to see him for the first time."
Rick narrowed his eyes, "Chupacabra?"
"You never heard this?" Alejandro said as he pulled out a rifle out from the bag of guns and placed it on the car, a grin forming in his lips at the mention of Daryl seeing Chupacabra, "It happened right after the bombing of Atlanta. It was during our first night in camp, Daryl tells us that the whole thing reminds him of a time he went squirrel hunting and he saw a Chupacabra."
Jimmy laughed, angering Daryl, "What are you braying at, jackass?"
"You believe in a blood-sucking dog?" Jimmy asked him.
"Do you believe in dead people walking around?" Daryl retorted, before gesturing towards Chris, Izzy, Duncan, Tyler and Alejandro, "And these ones here had a freaking yeti on their show."
Chris raised his brow, pulling out his Glock from the bag, "How do you know that?"
"I never thought of you as the type of a guy guy that watches reality shows." Andrea stated.
"It's because I didn't. Izzy and Duncan told me about it when we were out hunting back when we were in Atlanta." Daryl clarified, slunging his crossbow over his shoulder.
Just then Jimmy reached down to pick up the rifle, but was stopped by Rick who was the first one to notice it, "Ever fire one before?"
"Well, if I'm going out, I want one." Jimmy said with a small shrug as Rick picked up the rifle for himself.
"Do you even know how to fire one?" Duncan asked him.
Jimmy shook his head, "No."
"Then stick to the knife." Duncan told him, before walking away with Daryl to get a horse.
"Why don't you come with us to train tommorow?" Chris asked Jimmy, "Shane is going to teach us."
"That's right. I'm a certified instructor." Shane confirmed with a nod of his head.
"For now he can come with us." Andrea said, pulling out her pistol from the bag, and checking if everything was okay with it.
"He's yours to babysit then." Shane told her to which Andrea nodded her head in response.
"All right, Andrea, Chris, Tyler T-Dog,I want you guys..." Rick began, starting to split everyone in teams. The teams split into Chris, Andrea, Tyler, T-Dog, and Jimmy. Izzy and Alejandro. Shane and Rick. And lastly Daryl and Duncan, but Rick didn't had much to say about the last team, because Daryl and Duncan already left to get a horse.
Shane and Rick have been walking through the part of the forest that they were assigned to by the latter, looking for Sophia for a while now and they couldn't find anything that could lead them to Carol's daughter.
"You remember the name of that waitress at the Dairy Queen when we were in High School?" Rick said, trying to start a conversation with his best friend, because they've been walking in complete silence for a while now, "I know you, Shane, well enough to know that there is only one sure-fire way of engaging you in a conversation,and that is to start asking you about girls you did in High School. I don't want to,but I'll willing to do it if that's what it takes."
Shane looked at him, "Maryanne. I told you about her?"
Rick shook his head, "In excruciating detail."
"Excruciating,my ass." Shane grinned, "You used to live for those details back in the day."
"I was impressionable." Rick stated, making his friend chuckle, "And I may have been living vicariously through you."
"Why wouldn't you,with my impressive list of accomplishments?" Shane said, proudly, "I was an artist in his prime. A protege."
"You mean prodigy." Rick corrected.
Shane smirked, "Maybe. Is prodigy what you called a young High School stud that bangs 30-year-olds on the regular?"
"What 30-year-old were you banging in High School?" Rick asked with a small scoff.
"The P.E. teacher." Shane answered.
Rick raised his eyesbrows, "Mr Daniels?"
"Mrs. Kelly." Shane corrected, his smirk not leaving his face.
"The girls volleyball coach? Wasn't she married?" Rick asked, not believing him.
"You know what I just remembered?" Shane told him, "Why I never ask you about this stuff. Why don't we talk about your High School love life then,huh?"
Rick hung his head a bit, "Well, that's a short conversation. It may even already be over."
That right? There was Holly, right?" Shane said as Rick stayed silent. Shane quickly realized one thing about Holly, "Nope, that was me too, and then there was Sheila. That's the one you lied to me about."
"I never lied about Sheila. I just got mixed up about what the bases meant." Rick explained.
"Just so you know,a home run, that usually means a sexual act. That's intercourse." Shane pointed out, "And I think what you did was more like a ground rule double or something."
"I'm aware of the judge's ruling." Rick told him.
"Shouldn't be talking about this stuff. That life,it's gone and everyone in it." Shane stated, a bit coldly, "Sheila. Maryanne. . It's like we're old folk. All the people in our stories are all dead."
"We can't just forget them." Rick stated.
"The hell we can't. It's hard enough accepting what's happened without digging up the past." Shane said, taking off his hat, "I'll tell you what it is. It's nostalgia. It's like a drug. Keeps you from seeing things the way they are. That's a danger. You got people depending on you."
"You think I don't know that?" Rick asked him, stopping.
Shane shrugged his shoulders as he stopped as well, "I don't know. What are we doing? You got every able body at your disposal out scourging these woods for a little girl we both know is likely dead."
"You think we should abandon the search?" Rick replied with a bit of defiance.
"It's not my call, is it?" Shane remarked.
"I'm asking." Rick said as Shane moved past him, starting to walk again, "I'm asking."
"Survival, Rick. It means making hard decisions. But you've got this knack. You spread us thinner and thinner. I'm trying to save lives here and you're out saving cats from trees." Shane said, raising his voice.
"Is that what you think Sophia is?" Rick asked, moving ahead of Shane to stop him from walking further, "A cat in a tree?"
"Don't do that,man. Don't twist my words." Shane said, shaking his head, "How many times we get called up to look for a missing child, man? You got 72 hours. 72 hours,and after that you're looking for a body. And that was before. I mean honestly think we're just gonna find Sophia alive?"
"Are you that sure we won't?" Rick asked, stepping closer to Shane.
"We being completely honest?" Shane asked back.
Rick narrowed his eyes,"I'm counting on you to be."
"It's math, man. Love or not, Sophia, she only matters, to the degree in which she don't drag the rest of us down." Shane said as Rick looked at him in disgust. Shane laughed at his reaction, "I thought you wanted honest. If we'd just moved on, man, we'd be halfway to Fort Benning right now and Carl wouldn't have gotten shot. You said so yourself. But we're out here, we're risking lives. Your own son almost died. Otis, he paid that bill. So did Chef. What the hell are we still doing this for?"
Rick stepped right up to Shane, angrily, "I had her in my hand, Shane. She looked in my eyes and trusted me. I failed her. If I hadn't,she wouldn't be out here. I think she's still alive and I'm not-I'm not gonna write her off."
Daryl and Duncan had already left the farm on a horse. Daryl sat in front of the animal while Duncan sat in the back. The two of them rode in silence for most of the time, spending most of their time looking around, trying to spot any trail that would hopefully lead them to Sophia, or trying to spot any small animals like a squirrel that would become a nice meal for the group.
They came across crossroads after several minutes of riding across the forest, but neither of them was suprised to see it. In fact this was how they were planning to check this area. They were planning to split up and check both of the paths at the same time.
"I guess." Duncan said, hopping off the horse and taking his bow off his back, "This is where we part ways."
"Remember how we planned this." Daryl told him, watching how Duncan walked towards the path on the right, "We'll met here in two hours."
Duncan nodded his head, telling the redneck that he remember how they planned this as Daryl turned away from him, motioning the horse to ride into the path on the left.
"Hey redneck." The juvie called out as Daryl turned to look at him once again, with a roll of his eyes at how he called him, "Good luck in finding her."
The younger Dixon gave him a small nod of his head in response, "Same to you, juvie."
Duncan watched how Daryl and the horse slowly disappeared from his view before slowly stepping into his path. For the next hour he proceeded to walk along the path, observing his surroundings for any possible traces of someone, possibly Sophia being nearby, and eventually taking out a walker or two on his way with an arrow from his bow.
He loaded another arrow into his bow and focused his entire attention on a small squirrel that was climbing up the tree. He breathed in when the small animal stopped in the middle of a tree and released the arrow. It flied right towards the squirell but didn't manage to hit it's target as the squirrel moved upwards, just moments before the arrow hit the three, landing right in the spot where the small animal was just a few seconds ago.
The juvie groaned in irritation, "You just had to move? Didn't you?"
He moved towards the tree and pulled the arrow out of it. He looked up to see the squirell on top of the tree. He decided to let it go. One hour has already passed since he parted ways with Daryl and he couldn't waste more time. He'd have to move back to the spot where they parted ways soon and he still wasn't even close to finding Sophia.
He walked past the tree and moved further, spotting footprints a few minutes later. He crouched down and eyed them for a few seconds. They were definitely fresh. Someone was nearby. He rised back to his feet and loaded an arrow into his bow. That could have been anyone. Someone alive or a walker and he had to be ready to take it down if this was the latter.
He carefully took a step forward, shouting, "Sophia! Are you here?!"
He heard how someone must have been starled by his scream shorty after. He carefully took more steps forward and spotted a person that must have been the person that was starled by his sudden scream. This person was definitely still alive and was a man around his age but he couldn't tell how this person looked like because he was turned around.
He took one more step forward and the person turned around, finally giving the juvie a good look at his face. Just like Duncan assumed, this person was around his age. He had messy blond hair that wasn't washed in weeks. He wore brown jacket, blue jeans and black boots. All of them were flithy. This guy must have been on the road for a long time.
"Stay back!" The unknown guy shouted, pulling out his pistol and aiming it at Duncan responded by aiming his arrow straight at his head.
Duncan didn't know why but he felt like he already met this guy. He knew that he knew that face from somewhere. It took him a moment to remember, but when he finally did, his eyes shot open in realization, "Timothy?"
The young man who was now recognized as Timothy narrowed his blue eyes at Duncan, before recognizing him, "Duncan?"
Daryl continued to ride through the forest on a horse, eventually stopping to shoot a squirrel. He just stopped to attempt to shoot one down, succeding in it. He pulled the arrow that was keeping the now dead squirrel stick to a tree. He placed the squirrel on the slot in his belt before climbing on the horse again. He rode for a few minutes before something caught his attention in a small pond.
He instantly recognized it as Sophia's doll that was given to her by Morales' daughter. He hopped off the horse and tied it to a tree to make sure it wasn't going to leave him all alone here before stepping down the hill towards the pond. He picked up the doll which was soaked and looked around.
"Sophia!" He cried out, hoping that Sophia was nearby, "Sophia!"
He waited for a few minutes, but Carol's daughter was nowhere to be seen. He knew she wasn't here. She made his way back to the horse and untied it from the tree. He hopped into the animal and started riding away from the pond on it. A few seconds later, a few birds flew upwards in front the, starling the horse a bit.
"Easy, easy." The younger Dixon said to calm the horse down.
The horse calmed down after a few seconds and Daryl proceeded to ride on it a few more moments until they came across a snake that was laying on the ground, the redneck failing to notice it in time. The snake slithered across the ground, starling the horse which bucked widly, throwing Daryl off him. Daryl grunted upon the impact of landing on the ground, but it wasn't over. He started to roll down the hill into the pond as the horse ran away, leaving him alone.
"Son of a bitch." He cursed to himself before grunting in pain. He turned to the place from which this pain came from and saw an arrow sticking out his abdomen.
He knew he couldn't lay there for long. He slowly crawled his way out of the pond into the land and the first thing he did after that was cutting the sleeves of his shirt and wrapping them around his fresh wound. He looked up at the hill from which he fell down and saw the way he will climb through with an arrow in his body. It made him realize one thing. That he was not going to like it.
He slowly rose back to his feet and picked up a stick, before hearing some noises coming from the bushes. He turned to the source of the noise before walking back to the pond, moving the stick around it in order to find his crossbow, managing to find it after a few moments.
He made sure his crossbow was going stay on his back, so he wouldn't have to go bac for it and made his way out of the pond once again. He started to climb up the hill, grunting in pain every moment as he did so because of the arrow sticking out through his body. When he was in the half, he grabbed into one stick sticking out from the ground, and he regretted doing it just a second after.
He collapsed down, rolling down the hill until landing on a ground in front of a pond.
His vision was blury when someone walked over to him a few seconds later. To his shock he recognized this person as his brother Merle who knelt down in front of him, "Why don't you pull that arrow out,dummy? You could bind your wound better."
Daryl let out a weak, "Merle." in response.
Merle let out a small chuckle, "What's going on here? You taking a siesta or something?"
"Having a shitty day, bro." Daryl muttered loud enough for his brother to hear.
Merle grinned, "Like me to get your pillow? Maybe rub your feet?"
"Screw you." Daryl told him in response.
"Huh-uh." Merle shook his head, "You're the one screwed from the looks of it. All them years I spent trying to make a man of you, this is what I get? Look at you. Lying in the dirt like a used rubber. You're gonna die out here, little brother. And for what?"
"A girl. They lost a little girl." Daryl weakly answered.
"So you got a thing for little girls now?" Merle smirked.
"Shut up." Daryl quietly spat out.
"'Cause I noticed you ain't out looking for old Merle no more." Merle pointed out.
"Tried like hell to find you, bro." Daryl said.
"Like hell you did. You split,man." Merle pointed out, "Lit out first chance you got."
"You lit out. All you had to do was wait. We went back for you." Daryl explained, "Rick and I, we did right by you."
"This the same Rick that cuffed me to the rooftop in the first place? Forced me to cut off my own hand? This him we're talking about here? You his bitch now?" Merle taunted his brother.
"I ain't nobody's bitch." Daryl said, sternly.
"You're a joke is what you are, playing errand boy to a bunch of pansy-asses,niggers and democrats." Merle chuckled but his chuckle quickly turned into a frown, "You're nothing but a freak to them. Redneck trash. That's all you are. They're laughing at you behind your back. You know that, don't you? I got a little news for you, son. One day they gonna scrape you off their heels like you was dogshit. Hey. They ain't your kin, your blood. Hell, you had any damn nuts in that sack of yours, you'd got back there and shoot your pal Rick in the face for me. Now you listen to me. Ain't nobody ever gonna care about you except me,little brother. Ain't nobody ever will. Come on, get up on your feet before I have to kick your teeth in. Let's go."
Merle grabbed Daryl's shoes and started rocking him back and forth to force him to get up but Daryl remained in his place. The younger Dixon closed his eyes and when he opened them he saw that his brother was nowhere to be seen but something worse appeared in his view. He jumped back when he saw a walker trying to bury it's teeth in his shoe.
He kicked the walker and tried to reach his crossbow, but the undead made it's back to him before he could. Daryl pulled out his knife and stabbed the walker in it's arm and couldn't pull it back out. He punched it a few times, knocking it aside as another walker started making it's way towards him. He picked up his walking stick and brought it down on the walkers skull, finally killing it.
He brought his attention to the other walker that was getting close to him and knew he had to deal with it fast. He started pulling the arrow out of his body without second having second thoughts about it, and ignoring the pain it was giving him. He ripped it out from his body and afterwards struggled to set it in his crossbow. Just as the walker was about lunge towards him, he took the shot and the arrow hit the undead straight in the head killing it.
Daryl let out a groan and set back up, taking care of his wound with sleeves. He let out a small scoff, "Son of a bitch was right."
He walked over to the water to wash the blood off his knife. After that he used to cut the squirrel open before eating some of it. He came over to the walkers and took off their shoelaces before cutting their ears off with his knife. He turned them into a small necklace and looked up at the cliff. He grunted and started to climb once again.
When he was in the halfway of the climb, which hopefully wasn't going to end like the last time, he looked up and saw some birds flying around.
"Please, don't feed the birds." He heard a familiar voice say. He looked up and saw his brother once again who was standing on top of the hill, "What's the matter, Darylina? That all you got in you? Throw away that purse and climb."
Daryl grunted, wrapping his hand around a tree, "I liked it better when you was missing."
Merle chuckled, "Come on,don't be like that. I'm on your side."
The younger Dixon scoffed in response, "Yeah? Since when?"
"Hell, since the day you were born,baby brother. Somebody had to look after your worthless ass." Merle answered.
"You never took care of me. You talk a big game but you was never there." Daryl retorted, "Hell,you ain't here now. Guess some things never change."
Merle smirked, " Well,I'll tell you what-I'm as real as your Chupacabra."
"I know what I saw." Daryl shook his head.
"And I'm sure them shrooms you ate had nothing to do with it, right?" Merle asked.
"You'd best shut the hell up!" Daryl shouted to him.
"Or what? You're gonna come up here and shut my mouth for me?" Merle taunted, leaning down, "Well, come on and do it then,if you think you're man enough. Hey, kick off them damn high heels and climb, son."
Merle laughed as Daryl grunted in irritation, grabbing into another tree and climbing upwards as his brother continued, "You know what? If I were you I'd take a pause for the cause,brother. 'Cause I just don't think you're gonna make it to the top." The older Dixon laughed again and reached his hand out to Daryl who was struggling to hold on a tree, "Come on. Come on, little brother. Grab your friend Rick's hand. Or maybe that juvie's friend of yours hand you've been searching for that little girl with?"
Daryl let out a painful grunt and breathed in as he placed his hand on the ground. His other hand grabbed the tree standing on his right as another painful grunt escaped his mouth. He finally got over the edge, making the climb and quickly shot back to his feet, looking around himself.
"Yeah!" He shouted to no one but himself, "You'd better run!"
Timothy stared at Duncan for a few seconds before a smile formed on his lips. He lowered his pistol, saying, "Holy shit! This isn't what I was excepting to see today, but this is the kind of suprise I will always welcome with open arms!"
Duncan lowered his bow shorty after Timothy lowered his pistol, a small grin forming on his lips, "You're telling me, man!"
The two of them walked over to each other and slapped hands, with Timothy saying to Duncan shorty after, "I honestly had no idea that I will see you again."
"That makes the two of us." Duncan nodded his head in agreement. He looked over Timothy's shoulder and asked, "What about Chad and Freddie? Are they with you?"
Timothy sighed sadly, "I was about to ask you the same thing, man."
"Oh, It was still worth asking, I guess." Duncan sighed to which Timothy nodded, "Do you have a camp around here somewhere?"
"I have one nearby." Timothy said, pointing at the small camp behind him. It was just a small tent and small place for a bonfire in front of it, "I heard someone walking here and went to check out who it was. I'm out here by myself so we'll have a chance to talk in private."
The two of them made their way to Timothy's camp and took their seats. Timothy sat behind his tent and in front of a small place made for a bonfire while Duncan sat in front of him.
"What are you doing out here, man?" Timothy asked Duncan after taking his seat in front of him, placing his pistol on his knee.
"I'm looking for someone." Duncan answered, "Have you happen to see a young girl around?"
"Give me her description and I will tell you." Timothy told him to which Duncan gave him a quick description of Sophia. He shook his head, "Sorry. I didn't."
"Dammit." Duncan sighed, "She's been missing for days and I just want to find her, you know. I know what her mother goes through."
"Oh, yeah. That story with your aunt and your cousin." Timothy cringed a bit and bit his lips, making a quick mental note that Duncan was most likely in a group and he was quick to bring it up, "A girl and her mother? Are you in a group?"
"I'm with the guys from Total Drama and a few people we've met on our way." Duncan said, for now deciding to hide the fact from Timothy that they were staying on a farm that was not too far from their position.
"Oh, right. The third season of that reality show you were in was announced. You must have been together when shit started to go down." Timothy stated, "What about that girl of yours? The CIT one? Is she with you?"
"She is." Duncan said, crossing his arms. Him and Courtney's breaking up was a loud case in the media for some reason. They shared a few hugs, and even kissed once in that bus when they were chasing Alejandro, but they didn't got back together, "But we're not together if you haven't heard about it."
"I heard about it. The media couldn't stop talking about it." Timothy nodded his head, "They really must have had no other things to talk about if they talked about two people from a stupid reality show breaking up with each other."
Duncan nodded his head in agreement to Timothy's words about the media having no other things to talk about, before asking, "What about you? Are you with a group, or with someone?"
"Well, you were honest with me about you being in a group, so I'll be honest with you." Timothy said, "I am a part of a group and there's actually a lot of us. Our leader Harlan is a wise and strong guy that keeps us alive."
"It seems like you got lucky." Duncan stated.
"I sure did, pal." Timothy smiled.
Duncan nodded his head to that and stayed silent for a few seconds, his eyes catching the sight of Timothy's pistol, "Your pistol."
"Oh." Timothy touched his pistol and lifted it up from his knee, "Nice one, right? Smith & Wesson 3914. Found it on a guy."
Duncan titled his head a bit, "A guy?"
"Don't worry. He was dead long before I found him." Timothy chuckled and waved his hand at his reaction. He leaned forward a bit to give Duncan a good look at it.
"What happened to him?" Duncan asked.
Timothy shrugged his shoulders, "One of those things bit him and he didn't want to turn, you know the usual scenario."
Duncan titled his head, recalling the tone that Timothy was speaking with him now, but decided to stay silent about it to be sure. When Timothy leaned back to his spot, he could feel how something slided out from his pocket. Duncan saw it too and his eyes caught the sight of a small picture falling on the ground. He reached out for it and picked it up, bringing it closer to himself to take a good look at it.
This picture showed him two teenage girls. There was only one or two years apart between them. What got his attention was the fact that some part of the middle part of the picture was ripped out, as if someone didn't want this person to be a part of this picture anymore and from the parts that were left of the third person he could tell it was a man.
"Who are they?" He asked Timothy, turning his gaze away from the picture.
Timothy rubbed the back of his head. Duncan could easily say that he became more nervous out of the sudden. Timothy tried to hide it, but it was one of his major flaw. He never was a good actor when he was nervous, "...I didn't want you to see this. I was traveling with these three before I came across Harlan and his group. These things got them. We were close and I decided to keep the picture to remember them."
"Then why is their dad ripped out?" Duncan asked Timothy another question.
"I had a small accident in an abandoned building and my bag with all of it's things spilled out was lost in in bricks of a small that recently collapsed. It took me a while to find everything, but I did, but their dad ended up getting ripped out by bricks and he was left barely visible so I decided to left his part behind."
Duncan nodded his head, having seconds thoughts about Timothy's history being true. He handed the picture back to Timothy, saying, "If you say so."
"Thanks for being understanding about it, pal." Timothy gave him a small smile as he hid the picture back in his pocket, "Now about we change the topic and talk about the place where you'll staying?"
"What?" Duncan asked. He didn't mention anything about his group staying somewhere to Timothy.
"C'mon, man. It was obvious for me that you'll staying somewhere since I set my eyes on you. I mean look at me then at yourself." Timothy said. Duncan looked at him, then at himself. He could understand Timothy's point here. He looked much cleaner than him, "And besides, it's a large group you have if you count the other people competing in that reality show, along with the people you have come across over these past months. Maybe even bigger than mine and groups like this need a place to stay. I know that from experience. My group was looking for one or a while now"
"What are you trying to say by this?" Duncan wanted to know, already having one answer in mind.
"You could have showed me where you camp is. I wonder what that is. It must be huge to fit all of the people in your group. Maybe it's a trailer park. We could be growing some dope in one of the trailers like in that documentary like TV show that Freddie kept talking about." Timothy said with a small grin forming on his lips after saying the last part.
Duncan remained silent and Timothy noticed the silence. His expression was blank and Timothy was quick to realize that he was wrong about it being a trailer park.
"Or it can be a farm. I heard that the areas around here were famous for farmers." Timothy mentioned another possible place and got different reaction from Duncan, assuring him that his guess was correct this time, "Farm it is."
"I never said it was a farm." Duncan pointed out.
"Your reaction when I mentioned a farm said otherwise." Timothy stated, "Listen, pal. I know that you may be having some seconds thoughts about this but, at least listen to what I have to say. You have no idea what I had go through out there. What we had to go through. Me and my group, we deserve a good place to live after everything we did, after everything we've seen. How about you take me to that farm of yours and I'll have a little discussion with your group."
He shook his head, "No."
Timothy was taken aback, not excepting to hear this as an answer, "What did you just say?"
"There's already too much of us on this farm." Duncan said, firmly, "You're gonna have to find another place to live for your group."
"Or how about we do something completely opposite? I take you to my group where you'll have a little talk with Harlan." Timothy offered with a smile growing on his lips. Duncan knew what kind of a smile it was. Timothy was always using it when he was trying to pull something off in the juvenile hall, "You don't need to worry about it. I'll personally vouch for you."
Duncan shook his head again, suspecting that going with Timothy to met his group wasn't going to end well for him. The way how Timothy acted when he asked him about that picture wasn't helping either, "Thanks for the offer but I'll stay where I am."
"Are you sure about that? As I recall you already told me that you're staying with the people from that show of yours, right?" Timothy asked him. Duncan remained silent and that was all Timothy needed to get, "You do realize you're not going to last long with them. If they didn't change a lot through all these months, it's just a matter of time before they all will end up dead. That fatso who won the first season if he didn't already became a nice meal for those things, that surfer girl that was making out with her boyfriend for 24/7, or that big guy that cries everytime when someone mentions his mommy or is mean to him? They all will die and bring you down with them."
"I'll take my chances." Duncan answered, crossing his arms, "Timothy. I remember the techniques you were using in the juvenile hall when you were trying to hide something from someone. I know that you're not honest with me when it comes to that picture of these two girls, or you taking me to your leader ending up well for me, or even this pistol you have."
"You will take your chances, you say." Timothy laughed, shaking his head, clearly displeased with Duncan's decision, "You say that you know how I act when I'm trying to hide something. Are you refusing my offer because I killed people and then took their stuff? That my group kills people and does other things? You still don't get it, pal, do you? There's no good people and bad people. This division is long gone. All that's left are people that are doing whatever it takes to survive, and I'm one of them."
"And so I am." Duncan pointed out.
Timothy sighed and shook his head, once again, "That's a shame it turned out the way it did, pal. I was actually glad to see you again."
Before Duncan could ask him what he meant by that, Timothy drew his knife and lunged it towards him, making a small cut on the juvie's cheek. Duncan clenched his teeth and placed his hand on his wounded cheek, stepping away from Timothy. He quickly had to take his attention away from his cheek because Timothy lunged at him again, this time missing because Duncan managed to duck in time.
He glared at Timothy who kept swinging his knife around, with only one intention of wounding him more than just his cheek. He knew he had to do something to strike back. He wasn't going to last long if he just kept dodging Timothy's strikes. He waited for the right moment, and when it finally came he grabbed Timothy's knife wielding arm. Timothy quickly reacted to that and tried to break out from his grasp, but his tries didn't do much because Duncan already knocked his knife off his grasp, the small blade falling on the ground.
It was when Timothy got the control of his arm back. He knew he wasn't going to use his knife anymore in this fight, and that left him with only one option. His pistol. He pulled out his pistol and aimed it straight at the juvie. Duncan quickly moved towards him and grabbed the front of the pistol, moving it away from himself. He made sure the pistol would be pointed at Timothy. Timothy gritted his teeth, starting to push his pistol back towards Duncan, not wanting to be the one receiving the bullet to the had in the end.
The two of them glared at each other, pushing the pistol towards one other as Duncan also tried to break the pistol off Timothy's grasp. After that, knocking Timothy down and leaving him would be the only thing left for him to do here. It unfortunely never happened because an idea of what he should do next popped into Timothy's mind. He let go off his pistol, leaving the pistol in Duncan's hands, but he never got to use it because Timothy headbutted him in the face.
Duncan groaned in pain, stepping backwards and letting go off the pistol which fell on the ground. Timothy quickly reached down and picked it up. Duncan saw it but had no time to react.
Timothy was about to aim it at Duncan, intending to end the fight between them for good, but then...
His and Duncan's eyes widened when a shot echoded right behind them and Timothy gasped in pain. He fell on his knees, his pistol falling off his grasp. Another shot echoded and this time it hit Timothy straight in the face, finishing him off.
Duncan's eyes were refusing to close and he just watched how Timothy was killed by an unknown person and some of his blood stained his clothes. Timothy's now lifeless body collapsed on the ground with a hole in his head.
It was when a familiar voice rang in his ears, "Are you alright, soldier?"
Duncan could feel how his eyes widened in shock when he heard that. He turned around and saw someone everyone, including himself thought was dead. It was Chef Hatchet. He was alive! The co-host of Total Drama has certainly seen better days. Most of his clothes were covered in blood of the walkers and his hat which he wore everywhere, even when he wasn't in the kitchen was gone. He must've lost it.
"What?" Duncan asked, shocked and confused, "We thought you were dead!"
Chef walked over to him, "I came close."
Dale entered his RV to be greeted by the view of Glenn and Noah sitting. Glenn was staring out fron the window as Noah sat in front of him. The bookworm had his nose in a book, like usual. He found a lot of books in the highway that interested him and it would take him a while to finish all of them. He didn't mind though. It kept him occupied and he didn't had to think about Sophia or what he has seen during the incident with the walker in the well.
"Uh, Dale." Glenn spoke up to the eldery man, "Dale, you think Andrea's on her period?"
Dale shot him a confused look in response as Noah looked up from his book at the asian man and shook his head, "I'm not even gonna ask."
Seeing their reactions, Glenn quickly explained himself, "I'm only asking 'cause it's like all the women are acting really weird. And I read somewhere that when women spend a lot of time together,their cycles line up and they all get super crazy hormonal at the same time."
"I'm gonna advise you to keep that theory to yourself." Dale nodded his head, "Who else is acting weird?"
"Maggie." Glenn answered as Dale and Noah just listened to what he had to say, the latter even taking his eyes off his book for a second, "She started off being mean to me. Then she wanted to have sex with me. And now she's being mean to me again. And I don't even want to know what's going on with Lori."
Noah raised his brow, "What's going on with Lori?"
"I don't know." Glenn shook his head, but Noah wasn't buying it.
Dale let out a small laugh, "All right, let's take this back a step. How do you know that Maggie wanted to have sex with you?" Glenn send him a small grin in response, "Oh, son,you didn't." Dale said as Glenn's smile faded away from the asian's man face, "Did it ever occur to you how her father might feel about this?"
Glenn shrugged his shoulders, "She's 22."
"And he is our host." Dale pointed out.
"He doesn't know." Glenn told him.
"And let's hope it will stay that way." Noah said, as Glenn and Dale looked at him. The bookworm set his book on the table and crossed his arms, clearly not liking what Glenn just told him and Dale, "Great job, Glenn. Now we may get kicked out from this place because you couldn't keep your pants up."
"What were you thinking Glenn?" Dale asked the asian man, not liking this as much as Noah.
"I was thinking that I might be dead tomorrow." Glenn said as he stood up and left the RV. Dale and Noah watched him leave and shared a quick look with each other.
As Glenn walked through the camp, Andrea sat on top of the RV, scanning the area around the farm for any possible walkers and spotted Daryl walking out from the forest, but from the distance Daryl's body looked like a walker.
"Walkers!" She cried out to the group.
Rick heard this and quickly ran over to her, spotting Daryl as well, "Just one?"
"I got this!" Tyler exclaimed, picking up his baseball bat and breaking himself into run towards Daryl.
"Right behind you, kid!" Shane said, picking up a pickaxe.
Rick held up his hand, "Shane, Tyler hold up. Hershel wants to deal with walkers."
"What for, man?" Shane asked him.
"We got it covered." Tyler added.
Shane and Tyler didn't listen to what RIck had to say and proceeded to move towards Daryl, still thinking that he was a walker. Rick groaned and grabbed his Python from the RV before taking off with them. T-Dog picked up his baseball bat, so did Glenn, Izzy took out her hunting knife and Alejandro readied his tomahawk and took off after them.
Andrea lifted up a rifle and looked through the scope, "I think I can hit him."
Dale shook his head as Andrea laid down on the roof, "Andrea don't."
"Back of, Dale." Andrea retorted.
Gwen walked over to the RV along with Leshawna and took a good look at the "walker" walking towards the farm. At first she thought it was a regular walker until she saw something hanging behind it's back. It was a crossbow and she knew only person that used one.
She quickly voiced her thoughts, "Wait a second. Is that?"
Leshawna spotted it as well and looked up, "Don't do it, sugar!"
"I got this, guys. Don't worry." Andrea assured, readying herself ot take a shot.
Rick, Shane, T-Dog, Glenn, Tyler, Izzy and Alejandro made their way to Daryl, the first thing the sheriff deputy did was aiming his Python at him. Izzy titled her head when she recognized who it was, "Daryl?"
Daryl glared at Rick, "That's the third time you've pointed that thing at my head. You gonna pull the trigger or what?"
Rick and the others lowered their weapons only for Daryl to get shot in the head by Andrea. Rick quickly yelled out to her, "No! No!"
Shane and Alejandro knelt down in front of Daryl to see that the bullet grazed his temple. They lifted him up and wrapped his arms around their shoulders and started to take him towards the farm as everyone started gathering around them.
"Oh my god?" Andrea said, running over to them with Dale and the others, "Is he dead?"
"Your bullet just grazed him." Izzy explained, as Andrea let out a relieved sigh. She didn't kill Daryl.
"What happened to him out there?" Harold asked after seeing the state Daryl was in.
"And where's Duncan?" Courtney asked as the juvie was nowhere to be seen, "They left together."
"Uh, guys." Cody said, pointing at Daryl's necklace, creeped out by it, "Is he wearing ears?"
Rick looked at Daryl's necklace and quickly took it off before placing it in his pocket, "Let's keep that to ourselves."
"Uh, guys." T-Dog said, making everyone turn back to him. He held up Sophia's doll that Daryl found for everyone to see, "Isn't this Sophia's?"
Chef and Duncan walked together towards the farm for a while now and since they encountered Timothy who attempted to kill Duncan for simply not willing to take him for not taking him to the farm, despise knowing him before the outbreak, and before Duncan even signed up for Total Drama. They just walked towards the farm in complete silence which lasted several minutes.
Chef finally broke the silence between them by asking a simple question, "Did you know him?"
Duncan turned away from Timothy's pistol which he took with him to look at Chef before nodding his head, "Yeah, I knew him. We met each other in the juvenile hall before I signed for that show of yours. He was actually the first guy I met after coming there and after that we met Chad and Freddie and just stick together. Remember the tape I send when I auditioned for your show? When I was breaking out of the juvenile hall?"
Chef nodded his head, "I do. This was actually the reason why Chris picked you in the first place."
"I was supposed to be breaking out with them, but they got caught on their way to me. That's why I got spotted so quickly. The four planned everything together while being there, and did our best to stay away from this one guy, but we weren't the only ones. Everyone stayed away from him."
"What was his name?" Chef asked.
"Mal." Duncan answered, "Everyone feared this guy. He was just something else."
Chef nodded his head in understanding. The two of them were met with silence again, which lasted less than the previous one, only a minute or two.
It was Chef once again who broke it, "It wasn't the first time when I had to kill someone."
Duncan raised his brow, not excepting to hear this from him, "What?"
"I was in the army, remember?" He asked him to which Duncan gave him a silent nod in response, "I remember the first time when I had to kill someone. It stays with you forever. For the rest of the day I couldn't even look at my rifle without thinking about the guy I had to shot. I thought I wasn't going to able to live with myself, even though I did this to save my fellow soldier from death. You know what happened the day after? I woke up and felt nothing."
Duncan bit his lips after hearing Chef say it to him, not really knowing how to respond to this. He and the other contestants were aware of Chef's past in the army, but none of them knew that he actually had to kill someone during his service.
He decided to change the subject by asking, "How did you survived anyway? Shane told us that they got you."
"I wouldn't blame him for thinking like that." Chef said, Duncan not mentioning Otis suprising him a bit, "There was too many of them and I was left all alone in the building with them."
"How did you made it out there alive?" Duncan asked.
"I got lucky, really lucky. I shot a few of them down with my shotgun before throwing it at them. I ran into one of the rooms and remained hidden in there for the rest of the night with my handgun in ready. A few hours later, when the sun was visible on the horizon, I made sure that there wasn't any of them left in the hallway, picked up my shotgun and left that place as fast as I could." Chef explained, before asking, "What about Carl? Did that boy survived?"
"He did." Duncan nodded his head in confirmation.
"Good." Chef smiled, relieved that Carl survived, "Our tries didn't go to waste. Otis..."
Duncan cut him off, "Otis didn't made it. He stayed behind to keep the walkers away from Shane who wounded his ankle. When he turned back, those things were all over Otis."
Chef's smile faded from his face and sighed. He hoped that Shane and Otis would both make it out of there alive, "At least he made it right, just like he wanted to."
Duncan nodded his head before letting out a bittersweet chuckle after realizing something, "Funny. This is probably the friendliest talk we had in all the time we knew each other."
Chef put his hand on Duncan's shoulder, "Duncan. We may have had a rocky past, but in this new world, we all need to watch each others back, despise our differences in the past."
The rest of the walk towards the farm went mostly in silence, Chef and Duncan eventually traded a word with each other on their way back to the group. When they arrived at the farm, everyone's attention was brought to the juvie. He was quickly informed that there was an accident with Daryl and they were about to send a search party for him, it then turned into questions about the cut on his cheek, but everyone's attention was shifted when they noticed Chef standing behind him.
Just like Duncan, everyone was in state of complete shock after setting their eyes on Chef. Rick and Lori were the first one who made their way towards the co-host of Total Drama who they thought died to save their son. They gave him a quick hug at the same time, saying their thanks for saving their son, and soon enough everyone greeted Chef Hatchet back in their group. He even got a tearful hug from Chris who was happy and relieved that his fellow host of Total Drama was alive after all.
"I honestly have no idea how you people made it this far." Hershel said, walking into his house with Duncan to treat the cut on the juvie's cheek as the group proceeded to greet Chef back into their group.
"We were lucky, I guess." Duncan shrugged his shoulders as the eldery farmer led him into a room where Daryl was already laying on the bed.
Daryl turned to look at them and quickly spotted the cut on Duncan's cheek, "What the hell happened to you?"
"Had a little accident." Duncan said as he sat down next to him while Hershel started preparing everything to take care of the cut on the juvie's cheek, "And what the happened to you?"
Hershel walked over to the juvie, already having prepared everything he needed to treat the juvie's wound, "You'll talk after I'll take care of this."
"Sure thing, old man." Duncan nodded his head.
Most of the group had already walked back into the house, leaving Chef alone with only one person. This was person was Shane.
He smiled at Chef, "I know that you already heard it from pretty much most of the people here, but it's good to see you."
"It's good to see that you made it back here as well, soldier." Chef smiled back.
"Listen, man. I thought you were dead. I thought that they got you in that building. If I knew that you were still alive, we would have send a search party for you." Shane told him, shaking his head a bit.
"Don't worry about it." Chef said, "To be honest I would thought that I am dead too. What matters is that we saved Carl."
Shane smiled and nodded his head, and was a bit relieved that Chef wasn't suspecting that he killed Otis. He placed his hand on Chef's shoulder, "You should get a bath and some new clothes. We were about to eat something together, but we may wait a bit longer. We can celebrate your return by that."
"A bath and some new clothes? Sounds good to me." Chef said, walking up the stairs leading into a house with Shane, "But I'm going to miss my hat, though. I lost it when I was getting the hell out of that place."
"And there's one more thing that you may like." Shane said, "I talked with Chris and he changed his mind about being taught how to fire a gun."
"That's good." Chef smiled, "Pretty boy needs to know how to defend himself if he wants to survive. Have you found a place where we'll teach the group, or are you still looking?"
"Already found one. You'll like it. It's a good spot." Shane said, walking into the house with Shane where Maggie was already waiting for them with a set of fresh clothes for Chef.
"Hey." She said as Chef looked at her, "I got you some new clothes. They may not fit you because they were Otis' and If you were wondering the bathroom is upstairs."
Chef nodded his head and took the clothes from her. Maggie and Shane walked into the room where everyone were already sitting around the table as Chef walked up the stairs and headed into the bathroom to clean himself up and change his bloodied clothes into a completely clean ones.
Chef returned to the group several minutes later, cleaned out from all the walker blood and wearing completely new clothes that made him look like a farmer. Chris even made a joking comment that he never thought that he'll see Chef wearing clothes like these. Chef just shrugged it off and took his seat next to his fellow host and everyone dug into their food.
The dinner was extremely awkward, despise DJ even making the sandwiches that the contestants loved so much. The other people from their group had to admit. They weren't lying. DJ's sandwiches were delicious but it didn't change the fact that the dinner was awkward for everyone. Hershel was giving everyone cold shoulder and Shane and Rick were exchanging angry look with each other.
"How's Carl?" Chef asked, breaking the silence.
"He's still resting, but he's fine." Lori said, offering him a quick smile.
"Does anybody know how to play guitar? " Glenn asked, trying to break the awkward silence, "Dale found a cool one. Somebody's got to know how to play."
"Otis did." Patricia said, sadly.
"Yes,and he was very good too." Hershel added.
"Trent did too." Gwen added.
Hershel turned to look at her, "Trent?"
"A friend of ours." Leshawna explained.
Gwen sighed sadly, "We haven't seen him since this begun. I hope he's alright whenever he is. Same thing with Geoff, Katie, Sadie, Justin, Beth and Eva."
"Did you tried to look for them?" Hershel asked the goth girl another question.
"I wish we did." Bridgette sighed, lowering her eyes on the locket that Geoff gave her, "Geoff is my boyfriend, and I really miss him."
Glenn felt someone touch his hand, which was quickly followed by the feeling of someone slipping a piece of paper into his hand. He looked down and saw the note from Maggie that said "Tonight. Where?". He grinned and quickly wrote response before handing it back to her. Maggie looked around and saw her dad watching her so she didn't took a look at what Glenn wrote.
Daryl and Duncan remained in the room where Hershel patched their wounds when they heard someone knock on the doors. They turned to the doors and saw Carol and Courtney entering the room, each holding a plate of food for them.
"How are you feeling?" Carol asked them.
"Better than him for sure." Duncan said, touching his cheek.
"We brought you some dinner." Courtney said, setting her plate in front of Duncan.
"You must be starving, both of you." Carol added, setting her plate in front of Daryl, "There's something both of you need to know. You did more for my little girl today than her own daddy ever did in his whole life."
"We didn't do anything Rick or Shane wouldn't have done." Daryl said to which Duncan nodded his head in agreement.
"I know." Carol smiled at Daryl and Duncan while Courtney just stood in the back, watching everything happen, "You're every bit as good as them. Every bit."
Carol send them one last smile before walking out from the room, leaving Duncan and Daryl alone with Courtney, shutting the doors behind her.
"You're not going with her?" Duncan asked the CIT.
"There's something I want to know, Duncan and I think you may already know what it is." Courtney said, taking a seat next to him, "Why do you want to find Sophia so much?"
Duncan sighed, knowing that he'd have to tell this story sooner or later, "I had a younger cousin that got lost in the forest one day. It was a few months before they locked me up in the juvie. We've been looking for him a few days, until we finally found him. He looked like a shadow of his former self. I and my parents were staying with my aunt and my other cousin, his older brother and the one who got himself a motorcycle at the time. I was through what my aunt was going through at that time, and I think I know what Carol goes through now, especially with the walkers around."
Daryl and Courtney stared at him for a few moments, the latter thinking what she should say next to him after hearing his reason why he wants to find Sophia so much.
"Duncan." Courtney placed her hand on his shoulder, "You could have told us. I'm sure that many would go with you if you did."
Duncan just offered her a silent nod in response as Courtney stood up and walked over to the exit, offering him a smile, "Enjoy food, both of you. Oh, and Duncan, DJ made his sandwiches."
She exited the room, leaving Daryl and Duncan with each other. The two of them dug into their food shorty food. The juvie could feel smile forming on his lips, after tasting DJ's sandwiches for the first time in months. He turned to look at Daryl who took the first bite of his sandwich and from his reaction, the juvie could see that the younger enjoyed it.
As everyone began to leave, the group making their way back their camp, Maggie pulled out the note and opened it. Much to her horror, it said "Ever done it in a hayloft?"
She quickly ran out from the house, hoping to catch him before he'll make it to the barn as Glenn walked over to it with a few blankets. He walked around the barn and eyed it in confusion after noticing that it's doors were locked and all windows were blocked up. He climbed up the ladder to the second floor of the barn and entered it. As he walked forward, he covered his nose in disgust.
He pulled out his flashlight and shined it around to see at least a dozen of walkers walking around on the first floor. His eyes widened as they looked up at him and began to growl.
He turned away from them in shock and saw Maggie looking at him fearfully, "You weren't suppose to see that."
I know that many of you was probably excepting this but Chef's alive!
This chapter turned out to be way longer than I excepted...
A question for you: Timothy's group. Who do you think these guys are?
Hope it wasn't that bad. See you in another chapter.