Chapter 8 – Fences coming down
As Carol had predicted, it wasn't long before the buildup of walkers at the fences were really testing the weak spots. One area was now buckling dangerously under the pressure from the gathering and pushing bodies. It wasn't enough to cause a collapse just yet, but more than enough to worry about the integrity of the perimeter.
Michonne, Rick and Daryl were trying to put walkers down as quickly as they could, whilst also trying to erect new supports, but it was near impossible to get the supports up while the undead were writhing and crushing against the fence.
"Dammit!" cursed Rick, trying to push a pole support up. "If this fence comes down, we're gonna be overrun in minutes! There's too many of them, we gotta get rid of them."
"Shoot 'em?" suggested Daryl.
"No. We can't risk wasting the ammo on that. There's gotta be another way. But fast. We gotta sort something out before dark."
"And we don't want all the bodies just piling up here at the fence." added Michonne. "We need to draw them away from here, then put them down."
"What, send someone out there, into that?" Daryl looked skeptically at the mass of writhing walkers. "Don't know if you'll find any volunteers."
Rick nodded thoughtfully. "We don't need someone to take them on, just to draw them away long enough for us to put up the extra supports and reinforce this section of fencing."
Just then, Tahlia came wandering down the hill towards them. "Hey Rick, I've cleared that patch in the gardens like you asked. What did you want me to plant in there?"
Michonne suddenly grinned widely, seeing an opportunity to showcase her friend's skill – and right in front of the intended audience as well. "Here comes your solution!"
"What's that now?" questioned Tahlia, as she stopped by the group.
Daryl snorted. "Send her out? Waste of time."
Rick smiled at Tahlia. "Nothing. Michonne's just joking. We're trying to figure out how to deal with these walkers long enough to give us time to reinforce the fence."
"I wasn't joking." Michonne addressed Rick firmly. Then to Tahlia with a grin as she indicated the walkers beyond the perimeter. "For old times' sake?"
Tahlia looked thoughtfully at Michonne, then then fences, then the walkers, then back at Michonne, and arched a brow. "You've been inside the safety of this place for a long time - sure you're not too rusty?"
Michonne scoffed. "Please. Bet I'm faster than you now."
Tahlia's eyes lit up at the challenge. "You're on!"
With a confused glance between the women, Rick stepped forward. "Are you saying that you want to go out there?"
"Are you outta your mind?!" cut in Daryl, stepping in towards Tahlia. "I saw you the other day! You were way outta your league even when you had a fence in between you and the walkers. You go out there, you'll be bit within seconds, and then I'm gonna end up havin' to put your sorry ass down!"
Michonne waved a hand at Daryl. "You haven't seen shit."
"Yeah, I have!" protested Daryl. "I saw her lose her shit, get grabbed and nearly get bit within minutes – from inside the fence!"
Then he turned to Tahlia. "You doin' this just to prove a point – you are goddamned stupid." He grabbed his knife and angrily started stabbing at walkers through the fence.
Tahlia looked slightly amused at Daryl's outburst, and turned to Michonne. "Shall we?"
"Wait, wait, wait." Rick held his hands up. "This isn't-"
Michonne and Tahlia turned to one another and high fived, clasping their hands together for a second at the end.
"Don't get bit!" they said in unison.
"Let's go! I'm leading." Michonne started forward to slip through the gap in the fence.
Tahlia stretched her arms up, swung them around, then leaned forward, stretching her hamstrings.
"Oh great!" Daryl shouted. "Doing a bit of stretchin' is really gonna make a big difference when the walkers are ripping your skin off!"
Tahlia just grinned. "This one's for you, big guy." she said facetiously, winking at him.
She turned to follow Michonne, then spotted a hand flare in Rick's toolbag. "Just gonna borrow this too."
"Tahly, no! The flare will draw them to you too quickly!" Rick started, but she was already on the other side of the fence.
Moments later, the two women were standing out in the prison fields, largely unnoticed by the walkers yet. Drawing their katana, they seemed to wordlessly communicate a game plan with one another. Tahlia glanced around and made a mental map of the clusters of walkers and space between them. Then her eyes settled on a spot that was far enough away from the prison and on slightly higher ground, and she pointed it out to Michonne who gave a quick nod then dashed away towards the spot. Reaching into her pocket, Tahlia removed the hand flare and the lighter she'd taken from Rick's bag and lit it, the flare making a whooshing noise as it caught alight. She held it high, and jogged past the walkers at the weak point in the fence, circling around to the area she'd spotted before, leading them after her.
"She gon' die." muttered Daryl, shaking his head at her stupidity.
Rick bit his lip. Shit. This was going to go very badly.
Jamming the flare into the nearest walker's eye, Tahlia dropped into a defensive stance, backing up towards Michonne. As the undead stumbled towards them, they started whirling the swords expertly, moving deftly around one another and the walkers like it was some kind of rehearsed stage-show. Everyone had seen Michonne wield the sword with incredible form and precision, but Tahlia's skill was a whole other level. Slicing with near perfect aim at every head within her reach, Tahlia spun lithely on her feet, ducking the arms that grabbed for her, easily downing the walkers near her, her katana like an extension of her arm.
Back at the fence, Daryl's brows shot up. Ok, so he been wrong about one thing, that was for sure. "Damn! That's badass!" he muttered.
Rick's face was just as astonished. "And you made her wait by the car?"
Daryl raised his arms in submission. "She ain't said nothin' bout being able to do that!"
Moving as if in a predetermined pattern, the two women kept their backs to one another as they slashed at the walkers nearest them, cleared a gap, then jogged through into the clear spot, starting again with the next wave of advancing bodies. In this way they kept drawing walkers to them, taking on a few before moving away to give themselves space before taking on the next lot.
Michonne had heard the men shouting first, letting them know that the fence supports were up and the job was complete.
"Come on, Tahly! They're done!" she called over her shoulder as she jogged back to the gap in the fence, then, once safely on the other side, watched her friend appreciatively who was still caught up in her task. Smugly, she noted that Daryl and Rick were both hanging onto the chain links, entranced by her form.
It almost looked like a dance, the way in which Tahlia, calm and unharried, gracefully spun and whirled and slashed, all the while nimbly eluding the decaying hands clutching at her. Leaping over the bodies at her feet, she made her way back towards the prison boundary, with only a quick detour to scalp the handful of walkers still at the weak point. Covered in blood from head to toe, she slid through the fence, forward rolled and collapsed on the grass.
Michonne dropped down on her knees next to her, and the two women gave a bloodied high five.
"Nice work. You've got some new moves." noted Michonne, reaching for the swords on the grass, cleaning the blades with a rag, shooting a smug 'I told you so' look at the men.
"I had a lot of time to practice." replied Tahlia, still panting. "You were great out there! Way faster than before!"
Michonne gave a modest smile, and stood up as Rick and Daryl approached.
"You ok?" Rick asked in concern as he towered over Tahlia.
She nodded, still lying on the grass. "Peachy. Just having a breather." she grinned, her teeth startlingly white against the crimson blood covering her face.
Rick shook his head incredulously. "That was really impressive! I knew you were good with that sword, Michonne, but you two out there... that was something else. Thank you."
Michonne glanced at Daryl. "So... what were you saying before?" she goaded.
Daryl gave an obstinate huff, then gazed down at Tahlia for a long moment, a hard look in his eye as he appraised what he'd just seen.
"How am I doing with proving myself?" she asked with a smile.
Finally, he softened, and reached out a hand to pull her up. "Guess it's a start."
That evening they were all sitting round the fire in the courtyard, chowing down on stew and fresh veggies, Rick describing that afternoon's slaughter in the field.
Tahlia cut in before he could inflate the tale too much. "We were lucky. It doesn't always work like that – we had the advantage of higher ground, lots of space, small clusters of walkers, and a safe place to retreat. So it's not something we'd attempt just anywhere."
"But... we were still awesome." Michonne added, raising a laugh from the group.
"So how did you both end up with swords?" Glenn asked.
Michonne raised a brow. "Who do you think I got my sword from?"
Glenn frowned and looked at Tahlia. "Oh... you were just wandering around with two swords? Are they yours? Did you already know how to use them?"
"Questions!" chuckled Tahlia. "Uh... yes, no, yes. When I was 15 I went on an exchange to Japan and learned a bit about the katana and dabbled in martial arts there. Then I just kept up the practice. So yeah, I already knew how to use it. When The Turn happened, I raided my local dojo and took a bunch of weapons."
"And so you two met...?" asked Sasha, looking between the two women.
Michonne spoke up. "Tahlia found me not long after it all started, saved my ass. She gave me a sword, taught me how to be a badass like her with it, and we stuck together until... until we were separated." They met each other's eyes across the fire, mirroring looks of shared memories on their faces.
"And the rest is very recent history." Tahlia broke the moment and stood up, keen to keep the focus away from the events surrounding their separation. "I'm going to get some more water."
Conversation stirred up again amongst the group, and when Tahlia came back she spotted Daryl a little away from the others as usual, smoking by the wall.
"Hey!" she greeted him as she approached, leaning against the wall next to him. "All good?"
"Mm-hmm." he grunted, taking a long drag on his cigarette, and staring ahead for a long moment. "So. If you can do that, then what was that shit the other day after the Big Spot? Like you were a different person."
She gave a small laugh. "Yeah, I guess it was like that. You caught me in a rare moment of insanity. Just kind of lost it for a minute there."
He nodded slowly. "I get that. Guess we've all lost it at some point."
"Yup. Just hate feeling useless and not able to help. So, I raged."
"You're real caught up on that feeling useless thing, huh?"
Tahlia was surprised that he'd picked up on that, and suddenly felt exposed.
"Mind if I have a drag?" she deflected, indicating his cigarette. "I never used to smoke. Before. Apocalypse habit born from there being fuck all else to do."
He shrugged and handed it over, eyes on her unwavering as she took two long drags, sighing the smoke out of her lungs, before passing it back.
On his next inhale, he could faintly taste strawberries on the butt, maybe from some kind of lipbalm she was wearing. The taste suddenly conjured up vivid memories of before – of hanging at bars with Merle and his buddies, drinks flowing, girls flirting, cigarettes shared, a time when things were simple and carefree. Relatively speaking. He hadn't thought about nights like that in a long time and the nostalgia nearly floored him. When he finally focused back on the present, he found Tahlia watching him patiently, an amused look on her face.
"Where'd ya go just then, buddy?" she asked jovially.
His cheeks grew hot, like he'd just been caught out.
"You got all dreamy there for a minute! Must've been something good!" she smirked, arching an eyebrow suggestively.
"Shuddup." he muttered, averting his eyes.
She chuckled and nudged him with her elbow, feeling him jolt at the contact. "I'm just teasing. So..." she continued, "I know that today was just one example, but I can handle myself, and I promise that I'm pretty good at looking out for other people too."
"Well least now I know you can fight. Next time ya get grabbed by a walker or shoved around by some asshole I ain't gonna rush to help you out. You can sort it yourself."
Tahlia gave him an uncertain look. "Hmm. That sounded like a compliment, but felt like an insult." And then was surprised when Daryl's lips quirked at that.
"Did you nearly smile? In my presence? What's the date today? I want to record this."
He scowled. "You're a total pain in the ass."
"Ah. Yeah. That's the look I'm more familiar with." grinned Tahlia, unable to stop herself from making facetious remarks. "Again. Teasing." She laid a hand on his arm and he flinched. "Ok, I'm gonna leave you to it. Night!"
He watched her walk back to one of the seats by the fire, the surly expression on his face not reflecting how he was feeling inside. She was a pain in the ass for sure, but he wasn't feeling as irritated by that exchange as he'd expected to be.
His cigarette was nearly done, but he raised it to his lips for one last taste of strawberries.
Daryl found it more difficult than usual to fall asleep that night. He couldn't get the images of Tahlia as a beautiful, graceful, killing machine spinning and twirling in the field out of his head. There had been something captivating in seeing her inner strength and laser focus, and now it was very clear that there was substance below her smiles and jokes and blithe nature - ferocity, skill, discipline, and he had to grudgingly admit that he now had a certain amount of respect for her.
Then he kept picturing her standing next to him in the courtyard, those big green eyes dancing as she gazed up at him, lips gently tugging on the butt of his cigarette, leaving the taste of her there just for him.
Eventually sleep took him, though it was fitful. He was plagued by dreams of a dark-haired woman dancing her way through a writhing mass of reanimated corpses, slicing and cutting, blood spurting and spraying over her naked body, climbing her way to the top of a pile of mutilated bodies, turning in a slow circle, running her hands through the blood that coated her skin, tipping her head back in a pleasured moan.
He woke up with a start, it was still dark, still silent, still early hours of the morning, and he lay there, uncomfortably aware of the intense, hot throb in his belly and the tented sheet at his waist.
"Fucksake." he muttered, drawing his hands heavily over his face.