Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead. I also have no claim on any pop culture references that I may use throughout my writings. I only own my OCs. Enjoy the read.
301
"Mom!" The voice rang throughout the house. It was one Isabell had almost forgotten. "Mom! Wake up!"
The screaming was quickly followed by a loud and quick 'shush'. "Let yer mama sleep, Harls."
Isabell's eyes blinked open, and she rubbed the sleep from her eyes with her forefingers. She glanced around, surprised by her surroundings. Home. The bedroom she shared with Daryl. Isabell took a deep breath and looked at the clock on the bedside table. It was morning, but the date seemed wrong somehow.
Isabell crawled out of the bed, feet touching the cold hardwood floors. She padded out to the living room, seeing more people than was normally there. Upon entering, her brother, Garrett stood from the couch. He'd been watching some random morning news channel on the television.
"Hey, Bell." He said, making his way over to her.
"Urgh." Isabell groaned. "You know I hate being called that, right?"
"I do," Garrett said, laughing. "That's why I do it." The man pulled her into a hug. "How was your weekend?" Garrett asked before pulling away. "Do any baby-making?"
Isabell rolled her eyes. "None that I'd tell you about." She smiled. "Thanks for watching Harley for the weekend. It was nice, just bein' me and Daryl."
"Of course. Anytime. You gotta good kid, there, Sis."
"I did get pretty lucky, huh?" Isabell's heart lifted in her chest thinking about her daughter. "Where are Norah and the girls?"
"Out back with the chickens." He said, moving to peek behind the curtains to see. "Yours is in the kitchen makin' us breakfast with your man."
Isabell left Garrett with a smile and made her way towards the kitchen. Inside, she saw the beautiful face she was sure she'd never forget. The small brunette girl stood behind the island stove next to her father, stirring what looked to be scrambled eggs. Isabell took in the sight of the two of them cooking together, a large smile forming on her face.
Daryl looked up from mixing pancake batter, noticing Isabell's arrival. The corner of his mouth turned up in a smile. He lightly elbowed Harley and gestured in Isabell's direction.
"Mom!" Harley cried out, happy to see her mother.
Isabell sighed. "Hey, baby girl."
Daryl took the spatula from their daughter and shooed her along.
Harley came running full speed at her mother, hitting her hard in a full hug. "I missed you, Mama."
Isabell's eyes started to tear up. It felt like something had lodged in her throat as she knelt down and hugged her child. She sniffled and gave Harley a big squeeze.
"Mama?" Harley questioned. "Are you cryin'?"
Isabell shook her head but knew she was lying to herself. "I just missed you, baby girl. That's all." The blonde pulled away from her daughter and pushed her hair out of her face. "What happened to that braid that I taught you to do? To keep your hair out of your face."
"I lost my ponytail holder." Harley shrugged, looking down at her feet.
Harley was easier to read than that. Isabell knew better. Harley was just like her father in that her hair was something that she could hide behind. A security blanket.
Isabell laughed. "Well, I guess we can get you some more." She stood to her feet and went to the stove. Isabell gave Daryl a kiss on the cheek. "Mornin'."
"Love ya," Daryl said, continuing to cook breakfast.
Isabell smiled in return.
The car jolted to a stop, taking Isabell from her dream. She'd taken to sleeping in the trunk of the green Tuscon while the Greene family and Glenn took the seats for themselves. Isabell mostly traveled on the back of Daryl's bike, but when she felt herself fading in and out, the trunk was the safer option.
Isabell had needed the sleep, but she hadn't gotten much of it. Her dream just made her feel worse about what they'd been through since leaving the farm. They were constantly on the move, never being able to settle for more than a night. The group would come across a few houses, ransack them for things they needed, and move on. It was getting overly tiresome. Especially for Lori, who was bound to give birth any day.
Things were different now. The winter had been a rough one and the whole group was hungry and tired. Isabell swore she'd never felt this hungry before. Being on the move, they had little food storage. She, Rick and Daryl would hunt at some of their stops, and that would be the meal for the day.
Isabell felt worse for the Grimes family. Rick was different since having killed Shane. He was taking the dictatorship of the group seriously. Everything Rick said was how things were going to go. Lori being pregnant and on the move certainly wasn't ideal, so she was miserable. And Carl was stuck in the middle of it all. The boy had done so much growing up in the months that had passed, but Isabell still made sure he was getting to be a kid. She'd grown much closer to the boy and would do anything to make sure he could smile at least once in a day.
Daryl was normal. He was thriving on this. Sure, he got his fair share of days where he just needed to rest, but Daryl was better when they were moving. He'd become Rick's right-hand-man with the death of Shane, and he'd taken to it quickly. Anything to keep Isabell and the rest of the group safe.
Isabell found it difficult to pull herself out of her fantasy, but it had to be done. They had work to do.
Maggie kindly opened the trunk for Isabell to let her out and grab their weapons.
Isabell made sure that her gun and her knife were well secured to her belt before getting out. She slung her backpack over her shoulder and grabbed the longbow she found over the winter before walking towards the rest of the group.
Daryl was waiting for her by their newly acquired Dodge truck. The look on Isabell's face must have told him something because he broke the normal silence. "You okay?"
The blonde didn't have a good answer for him. Isabell shrugged. "Didn't sleep much."
Daryl nodded, knowing that wasn't her real answer. He'd bug her about it later. Daryl offered Isabell his hand to help her onto the bed of the truck. "Eyes up."
Isabell nodded, climbing her way through the bed to stand on top of the cab.
This was how things worked now. They went without saying. Rick, T-Dog, Daryl, and Carl would clear the houses they went through. Glenn and Maggie would clear the perimeter. Carol, Lori, Beth, and Hershel waited by the cars while Isabell stood on top of the truck to stand watch with a good vantage point until it was safe to go inside. It was automatic whenever they got the chance to stop and relax.
Isabell stayed with an arrow ready and poised until she heard Rick whistle from the front door. She wrapped her bow around herself, jumped down from the top of the truck, and opened the passenger side door for Lori to help her out. Isabell took a bag from the pregnant woman to help her inside. She gave a nod to Rick as they entered the last five entered the house.
Everyone was gathered inside and Isabell found Carl in the kitchen. She helped him go through the top cabinets that he couldn't reach but came up empty-handed. Isabell joined the others in a sitting room where she found Daryl plucking the feathers of an owl. She took a seat on the ground in front of Daryl, leaning against the chair he was sitting on in an attempt to relax.
Carl came in holding cans of dog food. He was hungry enough to resort to it and Isabell didn't blame him. Carl sat on the ground next to Hershel; the old man automatically gave him a can opener. The poor boy got the can open, but just as he had, Rick walked over to him to take the can.
Rick examined the can, seeing that it was dog food, and threw it into the fireplace.
Isabell felt Daryl jump behind her, and she placed one of her hands on his pant-clad shin. Apparently, even in the direst of circumstances, he wasn't willing to resort the group to dog food. Isabell sighed, leaning her temple against Daryl's knee, putting pressure on the spot. Since she woke, she had a splitting headache.
Her rest became short-lived when T-Dog gave everyone a warning of oncoming walkers. Isabell sighed, her head dropping in defeat.
Daryl grabbed her arm and pulled her to stand with little effort. Daryl held her in place for a moment, waiting for the others to leave. "You with me?" He asked her.
"Always," Isabell said without hesitation. Sure, she was tired, hungry, and desperately missing her child, but Isabell was still pushing forward as hard as she could. She had a group to live for. Friends in Carol and Carl.
The man nodded. "C'mon, Fighter." Daryl led them out onto his bike.
Isabell tightened the straps of her backpack and joined Daryl, sitting behind him on his bike before the caravan took off.
The group had been driving for a while, but they really hadn't had anywhere to go. It was a while before Rick honked the horn of the car he was driving to get the group to stop. On the back highway road, they'd stopped and Maggie unrolled a state map on the hood of her green car. A handful of the group members stood lookout while the rest came up with a plan left. Daryl stood on one side of the vehicle and Isabell took her place behind him.
"We've got no place left to go," T-Dog stated, believing it.
Maggie pointed to the map, recalling places the group had been. "When this herd meets up with this one, we'll be cut off. We'll never make it South."
"What would you say?" Daryl asked. "That was about 150 head?" He leaned against the car, looking towards Glenn.
"That was last week." Glenn reminded him. "It could be twice that by now."
Hershel pointed to the map. "This river could have delayed them. IF we move fast, we might have a shot to tear right through there."
"Yeah, but if this group joins with that one, they could spill out this way," T-Dog said, pointing out that the group had been keeping track of more and more herds.
"So we're blocked." Maggie assumed.
Rick stood at the front of the car and pointed to the map. "One thing to do is double back at 27 and swing towards Greenville."
"Double back?" Isabell questioned. "We can't afford to do that. We're running low on everything and we've already picked through all of that."
Rick nodded. "Yeah, I know. I know. At Newnan, we'll push West. We haven't been through there yet," He said, earning a nod from Isabell. "We can't keep going house to house. Need to find someplace to hole up for a few weeks."
Isabell's eyes followed Rick's to see Lori sitting in the front seat of Carol's Cherokee.
"Alright." T-Dog said, "It cool if we get to the creek before we head out? Won't take long. We gotta fill up on water. We can boil it later."
"Knock yourself out." Rick insisted.
"Got yer bow?" Daryl asked, tapping Isabell on the arm.
Isabell nodded, eyes landing on the hushed conversation Hershel was sharing with Rick.
"Drop yer bag in the car. We're gonna do a quick hunt."
"Think we'll find anything this time?"
"Here's hopin'." Daryl loaded up his crossbow, waving Rick over. "While the others wash their panties, let's go hunt." He said, gesturing to the three of them. "That owl didn't exactly hit the spot."
Rick nodded, grabbing a rifle from the weapons bag. The three of them took light but meaningful steps into the trees, searching for anything that they could snatch up and feed to the group.
Isabell kept thinking of Carl as she kept her eyes focused on any movement within the leaves and branches on the ground. Eventually, they came to a set of railroad tracks and they started following them. Still, they couldn't find much. Isabell sighed, watching as the other two men slowed their steps.
"That's a shame," Daryl said.
Isabell glanced up and followed his eye line. A prison. Gated. There didn't seem to be a lot of walkers on the inside of the fences, but it was certainly more than the group had been comfortable dealing with.
Isabell looked up at Rick, his expression quickly changing as he took in the sight. She smiled. "Whatcha thinkin', Rick?"
"I'm sure you know what I'm thinkin'." Rick joked. "What with the mind readin' powers you have."
Isabell laughed quietly. "It's not mind readin'."
"It'll be risky to try." Daryl insisted.
"Yeah, but those fences."
"I think we can do it." Isabell pressed. "If we play it smart."
Rick looked down at Isabell.
"If it's not too badly overrun on the inside, it'd be a good place to hole up." Isabell insisted, using his words from minutes earlier to stress the importance of acquiring what they'd just found.
Rick turned to Daryl, who'd nodded agreeing with Isabell. "Alright then. Let's head back, get the others." The three arrived back at their traffic jam on the highway and told the others of the plan. They drove their vehicles as close to the gates as they could get and got back out. Rick, with a pair of bolt cutters, made an opening in the fence for them all to slip through. There was a clear section of fences that was used as an entrance for the prison that they were safe in.
Beth, Carl, Carol, and Hershel stood in a half-circle around Lori, keeping watch while the others took out a few of the walkers straggling along the fence line. Isabell kept close to Daryl making sure he wasn't attacked as he took out a couple of walkers.
"Watch the backside!" Rick whispered.
"Got it," Lori assured.
Once the fence was open, Daryl went through holding half of the gate open on the inside. Rick held the outside and waited as everyone filtered in before climbing in himself. Glenn laced wire through the fence to close it back up. The group ran towards the first guard tower, being followed by walkers as they went. When they arrived at the main gate entrance of the prison, everyone stopped.
Rick studied the courtyard filled with walkers. "It's perfect." He said. "If we can shut that gate, prevent more from filling the yard, we can pick off these walkers." Rick gestured in front of him. "We'll take the field by tonight."
"So how do we shut the gate?" Hershel asked.
"I'll do it." Glenn raised his hand. "You guys cover me."
Maggie shook her head. "No, it's a suicide run."
"Not if we all cover him." Isabell pointed out.
"I'm the fastest." Glenn reasoned.
"No," Rick said, pointing back the way they came, talking to Glenn. "You, Maggie, and Beth draw as many as you can over there, pop them through the fence." Rick turned to Daryl. "Daryl, go back to the other tower with Carol." Rick put a hand on Carol's shoulder. "You've become a pretty good shot, take your time, we don't have a lot of ammo to waste." He moved to Isabell. "You take Hershel and Carl up to this tower."
Isabell nodded, holding a fist to Carl to bump. "We got this."
Carl smiled, hitting her fist with his. "Alright."
Isabell met Daryl's eyes. He joined her for a second, passing her his rifle and a nod before running off with Carol.
"I'm running for the gate," Rick said.
Isabell led Carl and Hershel up the tower, taking out the single walker that was inside with her knife. When they got to the top, the others had already started shouting at the walkers to get their attention along the gate. Isabell started taking walkers out with the rifle, taking care of the ones that were getting too close to Rick as he started running up the gravel path inside.
It wasn't long before Rick made it to the gate and closed it, securing it with a couple of large carabiners chained together. Rick made it inside the inner guard tower and Isabell smiled.
"Hell yeah," Isabell said to herself.
"Light it up!" Daryl shouted from across the way.
Rick managed to take out the last walker.
Isabell dropped the gun from her shoulder. She took a step closer to Carl and put a hand on his shoulder. "You did great, bud." Isabell looked down at him. "But you already knew that."
Carl laughed. "Thanks, Izzy."
"C'mon." She said, giving Carl a small push towards the door. Isabell looked up to Hershel and smiled. "Can't believe we found this."
"It's some sort of a miracle." The old man shared light-heartedly.
When the three exited the guard tower, they ran into Daryl and Carol. Daryl took Isabell, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her to him. "You good?"
Isabell nodded with a large smile on her face. "Never better."
"You okay?" Carol asked Lori, as they entered the courtyard.
Lori nodded. "I haven't felt this good in weeks."
Carol turned around to face the others. "We haven't had this much space since we left the farm!" She laughed at the excitement she was feeling.
Isabell smiled at the sight. She unwrapped herself from her bag, bow, and gun, handing them all to Daryl. "Take these for me?"
"I'll just carry everything, I guess."
"Thanks, D," Isabell said, unable to clear the smile from her face. She caught up with Carl, sneaking his gun out of his hand.
"Hey!" Carl protested.
Isabell offered the gun to Carol. "Hold this for a second?" Carol took the gun without question. Isabell turned back to Carl.
"Izzy, get it back," Carl begged.
Isabell clicked her tongue a couple of times. "I would, but…" Isabell quickly tapped Carl on the shoulder. "You're it!" She shouted before breaking off into a run.
Carl laughed before chasing off after Isabell. The entire group was ecstatic to have the space back again, and using it, was certainly something they would never get over.