CHAPTER 5
SARAH
It had been a very crazy day. Crazy in the best way possible. They were all shocked and happy for Lori and Carl. They were reunited and they had given hope that maybe one day all of them would have seen their loved ones again.
As they set down around the fire, eating their dinner they have been hearing Rick sharing his experience.
It must have been very frightening for him; waking up from coma and finding himself inside this hell. It was incredible he made it so far. The man was hugging his son and his wife as he spoke.
Sarah looked around. Andrea and Amy were close to each other. Morales smiled at his family. Dale was listening at the story with interest as Sarah looked towards Nicki, caressing her hair, and then towards Glenn who was eating. Only Daryl was missing.
"I felt like I'd been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else" Rick kept saying "For a while I thought I was trapped in some coma dream, something I might not wake up from ever"
At that Sarah felt like she could relate to. She was sure all of them could say the same thing. It all seemed a nightmare. A nightmare that she wasn't sure they would have ever woken up from.
"Mum said you died" Carl spoke quietly as his father ran a finger through his hair.
"She had every reason to believe that" Rick said.
Lori was still in shock, of course. She pushed herself closer to her husband before telling him that when things started to get bad the hospital wanted to move Rick in Atlanta, but it never happened and apparently even where they lived walkers had taken over.
"I can't tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane" said Rick. Sarah looked over the other cop with a little smile. He had taken care of Lori and Carl for all that time. He must have really cared for Rick.
Suddenly they heard wood clatters and turning they saw the Peletiers around a much big fire that the one they were having.
Peletiers never ate with the rest of them. Ed didn't want to. And as Shane got up to make them get the fire down, Sarah looked towards Amy. the two of them had frequently talked about Ed. He was a scary man. A different kind from the Dixon's brothers.
"What about Daryl?" asked Sarah as Shane got back, sitting down once again.
"I was thinking the same thing" said Dale.
"He doesn't know what happened" Sarah said looking at everyone. Daryl had gone off the same morning to hunt some meat. He sometime did that, leaving a morning and come back days later.
"He has the right to know" Sarah muttered.
It didn't matter if they were duchebags. Merle was Daryl's brother. Sarah would have known if something had happened to her sister. Not knowing was worse than anything. She was experiencing it with her parents. If they could give Daryl any explanation, they had to do it.
"He won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind" Dale kept saying making Sarah nod her head slightly.
"I'll tell him" said T-Dog "I dropped the key. It's on me."
"I cuffed him" Said Rick "That makes it mine"
"Guys, it's not a competition" intervened Glenn "I don't mean to bring
race into this, but it might sound better coming from a white guy"
Merle often had made comments about T-Dog or Jacqui or even Glenn in those days.
"I did what I did" answered T-Dog "Hell if I'm gonna hide from him"
"As long as he'll know" said Sarah.
It didn't matter who told him. It was important to tell him. She would have done it, but she wasn't there. She didn't know what had happened.
"Maybe we should lie" Amy suggested making Sarah shook her head.
"Or tell the truth" said Andrea "Merle was out of control. Something had to be done or he'd have gotten us killed" then she turned to Lori "Your husband did
what was necessary. And if Merle got left behind, it is nobody's fault but Merle's"
Sarah could not imagine what could Merle Dixon have done to get himself cuffed on a roof. But they all knew Merle and how he was, it was not difficult to think of him getting the group in trouble.
"And that's what we are going to tell Daryl?" asked Dale.
"If that's what happened, yes" said Sarah looking at the man "Daryl needs to know what happened, we don't have to make him like it. He would not anyway"
Nobody could take it lightly knowing that his own sibling was left behind.
Sarah wondered what Daryl would have done when he knew it. He would get angry? Would he just have kept quiet? Or would have gone away?
"We're gonna have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt" said Dale looking at each one of them.
"I was scared and I ran" said T-Dog "I'm not ashamed of it"
"We were all scared. We all ran. What's your point?" asked Andrea. They were all looking at T-Dog with curious eyes.
"I stopped long enough to chain that door. Staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at any one time. It's not enough to break through that... Not that chain, not that padlock" Sarah looked at him with wide eyes.
"He is still up there?" asked Nicki earning some gaze turning towards her. T-Dog nodded.
"Dixon's alive. On the roof. That's on us"
That evening Sarah had difficulties trying to get asleep. She was happy of what had happened that day, but she felt for Daryl. He had his brother that morning... and now no more. There was no easy way to say it. Especially now that they knew Merle was still up there, where they had left him. There was no way to know what Daryl would have done when he got back. There was no way of knowing what the group would have done now. Shane hadn't let them go rescue the group, he would have never left someone go after Merle Dixon. Not that that would-have stopped Daryl anyway.
"I'm having a very bad morning" said Glenn the next morning as Sarah was having her breakfast, while Nicki had gone with the kids. Morales had asked her to look after them.
"Why's that?" she asked and he looked at her with wide eyes.
"Look at them" he said pointing at Dale and Jim getting parts of the car.
"Great, they found the missing pieces they needed" Sarah said rubbing her eyes making him gasp.
"I'm gonna pretend you had not just said that"
"Sorry" Sarah said yawning tiredly "I'm not very empathetic when I'm tired"
"You hadn't slept cause of the rain?" he asked.
That night had rain so much, a lot of thunders could be heard roaring. But that was not the reason for her difficult sleeping.
"Or Merle Dixon?" he asked since she didn't respond.
"I just felt strange knowing he is alive stuck on a roof" she said "He is an asshole, but it's not right to leave him up there"
"What do you suggest?" asked Glenn eating another blueberry.
Sarah shook her head not knowing what answer was the right one. All of them seemed terrible to her.
"We should just wait for Daryl" she said "Then we'll figure it out"
Suddenly a scream coming from the woods. Sarah felt her blood ran cold as she got up to run in the direction of the scream.
"Nicki!" she yelled as she ran "Nicolette!"
Sarah ran through the woods and she arrived just before the end of the perimeter of their camp, where she had put the alarm system. Just when she arrived, she noticed Lori and Carol behind her. Their children ran from the woods into their mothers' arms.
"Nicolette" Sarah asked urgently "Have you seen Nicolette?"
"She was behind us" Carl said as he hugged his mother.
Sarah looked up and started to run again.
"Sarah, wait!" she heard Glenn that didn't seem far from her. She didn't have to run much when she spotted her little sister looking behind at something behind a bush.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" exclaimed Sarah as she grabbed her sister.
"Don't yell" Nicki said.
"You were not supposed to be out here" Sarah said with a panicked voice "That is why we put there the wire!"
"There's a walker!" Nicki said making her sister stop as the men arrived running.
"Walker? Where?" asked Rick.
"A few meters in that direction" explained Nicki pointing her finger. They all started running and Sarah had noticed she had gone too just when she saw the walker.
It had been weeks since the last time she had seen one. And now here it was, knelt down eating a dead deer. He hadn't even noticed them until the men started to attack him. They were kicking him and hitting him what they had, but it was finally over when Dale chopped off its head. Sarah put a hand on her mouth feeling slightly sick for a moment. The rotten corpse and the head on the ground was really not a sight she was eager to see.
"It's the first one we've had up here" said Dale out of breath "They never come this
far up the mountain"
"Well, they're running out of food in the city, that's what" Jim's comment made her shiver. If that one was here, maybe others would have come. Sarah turned to look at Andrea and Amy that were right next to her, before turning to Nicolette that was watching the scene too. She was so grounded for running that far from the camp.
Suddenly they heard something moving behind the bushes. Sarah quickly took her sister and put her behind herself as the men all raised their weapons towards the direction of the noise.
Was it a walker? Another?
But then Daryl Dixon appeared looking at them strangely seeing all the weapons pointed against him. But then his gaze fell on the deer.
"Son of a bitch" he exclaimed getting closer "That's my deer!" they all looked at each other thinking about the talk that they soon would have to have with the man.
"Look at it" Daryl kept saying before starting to kick the walker corpse "All gnawed on by this filthy, disease-bearing, motherless poxy bastard!"
"Calm down, son. That's not helping" Dale had just finished to say the sentence when Daryl charged towards him.
"What do you know about it, old man?" Daryl exclaimed glaring Dale up and down "Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to "On Golden Pond?"
That would not be an easy talk at all.
"I've been tracking this deer for miles. Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison" that was a shame they mostly ate squirrels. It would have been nice to have another kind of meat.
"What do you think? Do you think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?" he asked pointing at the part the walker had bitten.
"I wouldn't risk that" Shane said.
Daryl sighed
"That's a damn shame" then he gestured at something on his back "I got some squirrel. About a dozen or so. That'll have to do."
They were all looking at him with anticipation, Daryl must have sensed something because he was looking as much strangely at how they were all looking at him.
Suddenly the head started moving again. Sarah looked at it with wide eyes as Amy and Andrea walked away.
"Come on, people. What the hell?" Daryl said before shooting an arrow straight in to the center of the head, making it finally stop "It's gotta be the brain. Don't y'all know nothing?" he then started to walk away.
As he passed get pass next to Sarah, he had noticed her staring and he frowned a little before walking away.
"Someone must tell him something" She said as Glenn stopped next to her.
"Yeah... You wanna try?" he asked making Sarah glare at him before all of them started to walk back towards the camp.
"Am I in trouble?" asked Nicki sticking closer to her sister.
"Oh yes you are" Sarah said glaring at her sister.
"We didn't want to go far" Nicki said looking down "I thought that it couldn't be that bad"
"You've got a responsibility" said Sarah making her sister stop "On yourself and on those children. You have to think. Something bad could have happened. To you or to one of them"
Nicki nodded her head at Sarah's words.
"I hadn't thought about that" she said "I'm going to apologize to Lori and Carol. I'll be more careful next time"
Sarah nodded her head looking down at her sister.
"Alright"
"Daryl, just slow up a bit. I need to talk to you" Shane's voice made them turn towards the camp before walking faster to catch up with the others.
"'Bout what?" Asked Daryl with a frown.
"About Merle" Shane answered with his hands on his hips "There was a... There was a problem in Atlanta"
Sarah noticed Daryl looked down biting his lips before speaking again.
"He dead?"
"We're not sure" Shane's answer made Daryl raise his voice.
"He either is or he ain't!"
Sarah looked at Glenn who had a worried look on his face.
"No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it" Rick said walking closer to the two man.
"Who are you?" asked Daryl in an aggressive tone.
"Rick Grimes"
"Rick Grimes" Daryl repeated "You got something you wanna tell me?"
"Your brother was a danger to us all" Rick started to explain "So, I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there"
Daryl took some step back walking angrily.
"Hold on. Let me process this" he said before turning to Rick "You're saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you left him there?!" he yelled making Sarah shiver.
Dary was unpredictable. It was the first time she had heard him talk that much, no one could really know what he was capable of. But of something she was sure, he really cared about his brother that was easy to see.
As Rick nodded his head Daryl throw at him the squirrels that were hanging on his shoulder, before trying to launch himself towards the man, but luckily Shane pushed him away. They were all there gasping when Daryl took his knife. He started to attack Rick who luckily managed to avoid the blade and as Shane helped too, they had been able to stop Daryl from his assault.
Once they had finally being able to stop him, Rick knelt to speak to him.
"I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic" he said "Do you think we can manage that?" Daryl just grunted still blocked by Shane, that hold seemed to hurt him.
"Do you think we can manage that?" Rick asked again, before Shane finally let him go, pushing him to the ground.
Daryl shouldn't have attacked, but Sarah really felt sorry for him. That wasn't an easy information, the one they were giving him. She looked down at her sister. She didn't know what she would have done. She didn't want to think about lose Nicolette, not even for a moment.
"What I did was not on a whim" Rick started explain as Daryl stood knelt on the ground "Your brother does not work and play well with others"
"It's not Rick's fault" T-Dog intervened "I had the key. I dropped it"
"You couldn't pick it up?" Daryl asked panting.
"Well, I dropped it in a drain" T-Dog explained.
Daryl sighed before slowly getting up walking towards T-Dog.
"If it's supposed to make me feel better, it don't"
"Well, maybe this will" T-Dog said again "Look, I chained the door to the roof, so the geeks couldn't get at him. With a padlock"
"It's gotta count for something." Rick said.
Sarah observed Daryl wiping his eyes with his hand. Was he crying? Was he trying to be strong? She had never seen him like that. She really felt for him.
"Hell with all y'all!" he yelled "Just tell me where he is, so's I can go get 'im"
"You can't go alone, it's too dangerous" Sarah found herself saying before she could stop herself, making everyone look in her direction. Daryl looked at her too with an angry glare making her bit her lips. Maybe she should have shut up.
"But he is not going alone" Lori suddenly spoke looking at her husband "He'll show you. Isn't it right?"
Rick observed her for a moment before nodding his head.
"I'm going back".
The camp had gone quiet, Lori looked pensive knowing that her husband would go back to Atlanta. Everyone seemed waiting for something. But no one really knew what.
Nicki was set down next to Andrea and Amy. T-Dog was talking to Glenn as Daryl was walking around with his arrows in hand. As for Sarah she decided that she needed a distraction from everything that had happened so, she went next to Dale and Jim keeping observing them trying to fix the RV.
"The pieces of the car were useless?" she asked observing Jim's every movement.
"They are too small" he said "But it was worth a shot"
"Do you like cars?" asked Dale.
"I find fascinated that all those pieces are able to create a complex system" Sarah said "And if one single of that pieces doesn't work, it compromises everything. I see it very human like"
She believed in that even more.
They needed every single one of them to survive. No one was useless, even if it seemed doing less than others. All of them were important and necessary. Maybe even Merle Dixon.
"Could you throw me a bone here, man? Could you just tell me why?" Shane's voice made them turn as he and Rick stopped in the middle of the camp.
"Why would you risk your life for a douche bag like Merle Dixon?" Sarah's eyes went to Daryl who clearly wasn't pleased by what Shane was saying.
"Hey, choose your words more carefully" he warned and for a second, she was afraid that they would start fighting again.
"No, I did. Douche bag's what I meant. Merle Dixon..." Shane spatted glaring at Daryl "The guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst"
"I can't let a man die of thirst... me" Rick argued back "Thirst and exposure. We left him like an animal caught in a trap. That's no way for anything to die, let alone a human being."
They all looked at each other. It was easy for Rick that didn't knew Merle. They did and they all hated him.
Shane was right, Merle Dixon wouldn't have cared if one of them was in his place, so risking somebody life for someone like that wasn't worth it.
But on the other hand, Rick wasn't wrong. Merle was a person; they couldn't leave him behind... not like that.
"So, you and Daryl, that's your big plan?" Lori said glaring at Rick who turned to Glenn. Sarah closed her eyes taking a breath as Rick explained why he wanted Glenn with him for this.
Glenn was the best among them in moving around the city. Like he did when he got Sarah, Nicolette and himself out when they first met and apparently even during the few runs, he has been in.
"It's not fair of me to ask...I know that. But I'd feel a lot better with you along" Rick said before gesturing towards Lori "I know she would too" the poor woman was slightly shaking; it could have been for fear or maybe anger.
Sarah noticed Glenn looking in her direction for a moment before nodding his head towards Rick.
"That's just great. Now you're gonna risk three men, huh?" Sarah heard Shane ask while she walked towards Glenn.
"Are you sure about this?" she asked making him nod his head quietly.
Glenn was selfless, that she had understood, but she just hoped he didn't feel like he had no other choice. It was up to him.
"Four" said T-Dog at some point. Everyone looked at him with wide eyes, while Daryl scoffed.
"My day just gets better and better, don't it?" at his words Sarah couldn't help but roll her eyes.
"What?" Daryl growled making her turn towards him.
"Can't you be a little nicer?" Sarah said as he glared at her "He is trying to help you"
"And I don't see anybody else here stepping up to save your brother's cracker ass" Daryl's eyes moved from Sarah to T-Dog before focusing on his arrows.
"Why you?"
"You wouldn't even begin to understand" Said T-Dog "You don't speak my language"
Sarah glared at Daryl for a moment before Glenn nudged her gesturing to move aside.
In the camp the conversation kept going. Apparently, Rick had more than one reason to get back in Atlanta. He got weapons in a bag that he had left in the city. Weapons that they needed if the walkers were really moving away from the Atlanta. And he even had to get back a walkie-talkie to warn someone to not fall in the same trap he did.
"Sure you have everything?" asked Sarah as Glenn was putting his backpack on his shoulders.
"Yeah" he said "There's not much that I need anyway" Sarah smiled a bit sadly at him, she didn't want for Glenn or the others to die. Not even Daryl.
"I've got some blueberries" Sarah said pulling out of her bag a napkin that he gladly took from her hands.
"Thank you, Sarah"
"It'll be fine" she said putting a hand on his shoulder "It will"
Glenn smiled a little, nodding his head.
As her friend went to get ready for leaving, Sarah went over to Rick and T-Dog to give them their blueberries then she turned towards Daryl Dixon, that was putting his crossbow over his shoulder. She took a breath before walking towards him.
"Hey" she said making him turn with a suspicious frown. He didn't say anything he just observed her silently.
"Yeah... well" she said opening her bag to take out another napkin with blueberries in it "I've got some blueberries" as she spoke Daryl looked from her to her hands still not talking.
"Nicki and I found them" she kept saying since he wouldn't move "Come on, take them" she tried again.
"Why?" he asked with a frown.
"You can get hungry" she said shaking slightly her shoulders "Moreover, maybe Merle could use some" Daryl frowned never disappeared.
"Don need yar pity" he said.
"It's not pity" she answered.
"What do ya wan' then?" he asked not too nicely.
"We're all humans, even your brother" she answered "From what I'm seeing there are not many of us left. It's right to be there for each other"
Daryl observed her again, studying her, searching for something and suddenly he snatched the napkin from her hand.
"I own you nothin'" Daryl said before moving past her to walk away.CHAPTER 5
SARAH
It had been a very crazy day. Crazy in the best way possible. They were all shocked and happy for Lori and Carl. They were reunited and they had given hope that maybe one day all of them would have seen their loved ones again.
As they set down around the fire, eating their dinner they have been hearing Rick sharing his experience.
It must have been very frightening for him; waking up from coma and finding himself inside this hell. It was incredible he made it so far. The man was hugging his son and his wife as he spoke.
Sarah looked around. Andrea and Amy were close to each other. Morales smiled at his family. Dale was listening at the story with interest as Sarah looked towards Nicki, caressing her hair, and then towards Glenn who was eating. Only Daryl was missing.
"I felt like I'd been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else" Rick kept saying "For a while I thought I was trapped in some coma dream, something I might not wake up from ever"
At that Sarah felt like she could relate to. She was sure all of them could say the same thing. It all seemed a nightmare. A nightmare that she wasn't sure they would have ever woken up from.
"Mum said you died" Carl spoke quietly as his father ran a finger through his hair.
"She had every reason to believe that" Rick said.
Lori was still in shock, of course. She pushed herself closer to her husband before telling him that when things started to get bad the hospital wanted to move Rick in Atlanta, but it never happened and apparently even where they lived walkers had taken over.
"I can't tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane" said Rick. Sarah looked over the other cop with a little smile. He had taken care of Lori and Carl for all that time. He must have really cared for Rick.
Suddenly they heard wood clatters and turning they saw the Peletiers around a much big fire that the one they were having.
Peletiers never ate with the rest of them. Ed didn't want to. And as Shane got up to make them get the fire down, Sarah looked towards Amy. the two of them had frequently talked about Ed. He was a scary man. A different kind from the Dixon's brothers.
"What about Daryl?" asked Sarah as Shane got back, sitting down once again.
"I was thinking the same thing" said Dale.
"He doesn't know what happened" Sarah said looking at everyone. Daryl had gone off the same morning to hunt some meat. He sometime did that, leaving a morning and come back days later.
"He has the right to know" Sarah muttered.
It didn't matter if they were duchebags. Merle was Daryl's brother. Sarah would have known if something had happened to her sister. Not knowing was worse than anything. She was experiencing it with her parents. If they could give Daryl any explanation, they had to do it.
"He won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind" Dale kept saying making Sarah nod her head slightly.
"I'll tell him" said T-Dog "I dropped the key. It's on me."
"I cuffed him" Said Rick "That makes it mine"
"Guys, it's not a competition" intervened Glenn "I don't mean to bring
race into this, but it might sound better coming from a white guy"
Merle often had made comments about T-Dog or Jacqui or even Glenn in those days.
"I did what I did" answered T-Dog "Hell if I'm gonna hide from him"
"As long as he'll know" said Sarah.
It didn't matter who told him. It was important to tell him. She would have done it, but she wasn't there. She didn't know what had happened.
"Maybe we should lie" Amy suggested making Sarah shook her head.
"Or tell the truth" said Andrea "Merle was out of control. Something had to be done or he'd have gotten us killed" then she turned to Lori "Your husband did
what was necessary. And if Merle got left behind, it is nobody's fault but Merle's"
Sarah could not imagine what could Merle Dixon have done to get himself cuffed on a roof. But they all knew Merle and how he was, it was not difficult to think of him getting the group in trouble.
"And that's what we are going to tell Daryl?" asked Dale.
"If that's what happened, yes" said Sarah looking at the man "Daryl needs to know what happened, we don't have to make him like it. He would not anyway"
Nobody could take it lightly knowing that his own sibling was left behind.
Sarah wondered what Daryl would have done when he knew it. He would get angry? Would he just have kept quiet? Or would have gone away?
"We're gonna have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt" said Dale looking at each one of them.
"I was scared and I ran" said T-Dog "I'm not ashamed of it"
"We were all scared. We all ran. What's your point?" asked Andrea. They were all looking at T-Dog with curious eyes.
"I stopped long enough to chain that door. Staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at any one time. It's not enough to break through that... Not that chain, not that padlock" Sarah looked at him with wide eyes.
"He is still up there?" asked Nicki earning some gaze turning towards her. T-Dog nodded.
"Dixon's alive. On the roof. That's on us"
That evening Sarah had difficulties trying to get asleep. She was happy of what had happened that day, but she felt for Daryl. He had his brother that morning... and now no more. There was no easy way to say it. Especially now that they knew Merle was still up there, where they had left him. There was no way to know what Daryl would have done when he got back. There was no way of knowing what the group would have done now. Shane hadn't let them go rescue the group, he would have never left someone go after Merle Dixon. Not that that would-have stopped Daryl anyway.
"I'm having a very bad morning" said Glenn the next morning as Sarah was having her breakfast, while Nicki had gone with the kids. Morales had asked her to look after them.
"Why's that?" she asked and he looked at her with wide eyes.
"Look at them" he said pointing at Dale and Jim getting parts of the car.
"Great, they found the missing pieces they needed" Sarah said rubbing her eyes making him gasp.
"I'm gonna pretend you had not just said that"
"Sorry" Sarah said yawning tiredly "I'm not very empathetic when I'm tired"
"You hadn't slept cause of the rain?" he asked.
That night had rain so much, a lot of thunders could be heard roaring. But that was not the reason for her difficult sleeping.
"Or Merle Dixon?" he asked since she didn't respond.
"I just felt strange knowing he is alive stuck on a roof" she said "He is an asshole, but it's not right to leave him up there"
"What do you suggest?" asked Glenn eating another blueberry.
Sarah shook her head not knowing what answer was the right one. All of them seemed terrible to her.
"We should just wait for Daryl" she said "Then we'll figure it out"
Suddenly a scream coming from the woods. Sarah felt her blood ran cold as she got up to run in the direction of the scream.
"Nicki!" she yelled as she ran "Nicolette!"
Sarah ran through the woods and she arrived just before the end of the perimeter of their camp, where she had put the alarm system. Just when she arrived, she noticed Lori and Carol behind her. Their children ran from the woods into their mothers' arms.
"Nicolette" Sarah asked urgently "Have you seen Nicolette?"
"She was behind us" Carl said as he hugged his mother.
Sarah looked up and started to run again.
"Sarah, wait!" she heard Glenn that didn't seem far from her. She didn't have to run much when she spotted her little sister looking behind at something behind a bush.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" exclaimed Sarah as she grabbed her sister.
"Don't yell" Nicki said.
"You were not supposed to be out here" Sarah said with a panicked voice "That is why we put there the wire!"
"There's a walker!" Nicki said making her sister stop as the men arrived running.
"Walker? Where?" asked Rick.
"A few meters in that direction" explained Nicki pointing her finger. They all started running and Sarah had noticed she had gone too just when she saw the walker.
It had been weeks since the last time she had seen one. And now here it was, knelt down eating a dead deer. He hadn't even noticed them until the men started to attack him. They were kicking him and hitting him what they had, but it was finally over when Dale chopped off its head. Sarah put a hand on her mouth feeling slightly sick for a moment. The rotten corpse and the head on the ground was really not a sight she was eager to see.
"It's the first one we've had up here" said Dale out of breath "They never come this
far up the mountain"
"Well, they're running out of food in the city, that's what" Jim's comment made her shiver. If that one was here, maybe others would have come. Sarah turned to look at Andrea and Amy that were right next to her, before turning to Nicolette that was watching the scene too. She was so grounded for running that far from the camp.
Suddenly they heard something moving behind the bushes. Sarah quickly took her sister and put her behind herself as the men all raised their weapons towards the direction of the noise.
Was it a walker? Another?
But then Daryl Dixon appeared looking at them strangely seeing all the weapons pointed against him. But then his gaze fell on the deer.
"Son of a bitch" he exclaimed getting closer "That's my deer!" they all looked at each other thinking about the talk that they soon would have to have with the man.
"Look at it" Daryl kept saying before starting to kick the walker corpse "All gnawed on by this filthy, disease-bearing, motherless poxy bastard!"
"Calm down, son. That's not helping" Dale had just finished to say the sentence when Daryl charged towards him.
"What do you know about it, old man?" Daryl exclaimed glaring Dale up and down "Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to "On Golden Pond?"
That would not be an easy talk at all.
"I've been tracking this deer for miles. Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison" that was a shame they mostly ate squirrels. It would have been nice to have another kind of meat.
"What do you think? Do you think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?" he asked pointing at the part the walker had bitten.
"I wouldn't risk that" Shane said.
Daryl sighed
"That's a damn shame" then he gestured at something on his back "I got some squirrel. About a dozen or so. That'll have to do."
They were all looking at him with anticipation, Daryl must have sensed something because he was looking as much strangely at how they were all looking at him.
Suddenly the head started moving again. Sarah looked at it with wide eyes as Amy and Andrea walked away.
"Come on, people. What the hell?" Daryl said before shooting an arrow straight in to the center of the head, making it finally stop "It's gotta be the brain. Don't y'all know nothing?" he then started to walk away.
As he passed get pass next to Sarah, he had noticed her staring and he frowned a little before walking away.
"Someone must tell him something" She said as Glenn stopped next to her.
"Yeah... You wanna try?" he asked making Sarah glare at him before all of them started to walk back towards the camp.
"Am I in trouble?" asked Nicki sticking closer to her sister.
"Oh yes you are" Sarah said glaring at her sister.
"We didn't want to go far" Nicki said looking down "I thought that it couldn't be that bad"
"You've got a responsibility" said Sarah making her sister stop "On yourself and on those children. You have to think. Something bad could have happened. To you or to one of them"
Nicki nodded her head at Sarah's words.
"I hadn't thought about that" she said "I'm going to apologize to Lori and Carol. I'll be more careful next time"
Sarah nodded her head looking down at her sister.
"Alright"
"Daryl, just slow up a bit. I need to talk to you" Shane's voice made them turn towards the camp before walking faster to catch up with the others.
"'Bout what?" Asked Daryl with a frown.
"About Merle" Shane answered with his hands on his hips "There was a... There was a problem in Atlanta"
Sarah noticed Daryl looked down biting his lips before speaking again.
"He dead?"
"We're not sure" Shane's answer made Daryl raise his voice.
"He either is or he ain't!"
Sarah looked at Glenn who had a worried look on his face.
"No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it" Rick said walking closer to the two man.
"Who are you?" asked Daryl in an aggressive tone.
"Rick Grimes"
"Rick Grimes" Daryl repeated "You got something you wanna tell me?"
"Your brother was a danger to us all" Rick started to explain "So, I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there"
Daryl took some step back walking angrily.
"Hold on. Let me process this" he said before turning to Rick "You're saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you left him there?!" he yelled making Sarah shiver.
Dary was unpredictable. It was the first time she had heard him talk that much, no one could really know what he was capable of. But of something she was sure, he really cared about his brother that was easy to see.
As Rick nodded his head Daryl throw at him the squirrels that were hanging on his shoulder, before trying to launch himself towards the man, but luckily Shane pushed him away. They were all there gasping when Daryl took his knife. He started to attack Rick who luckily managed to avoid the blade and as Shane helped too, they had been able to stop Daryl from his assault.
Once they had finally being able to stop him, Rick knelt to speak to him.
"I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic" he said "Do you think we can manage that?" Daryl just grunted still blocked by Shane, that hold seemed to hurt him.
"Do you think we can manage that?" Rick asked again, before Shane finally let him go, pushing him to the ground.
Daryl shouldn't have attacked, but Sarah really felt sorry for him. That wasn't an easy information, the one they were giving him. She looked down at her sister. She didn't know what she would have done. She didn't want to think about lose Nicolette, not even for a moment.
"What I did was not on a whim" Rick started explain as Daryl stood knelt on the ground "Your brother does not work and play well with others"
"It's not Rick's fault" T-Dog intervened "I had the key. I dropped it"
"You couldn't pick it up?" Daryl asked panting.
"Well, I dropped it in a drain" T-Dog explained.
Daryl sighed before slowly getting up walking towards T-Dog.
"If it's supposed to make me feel better, it don't"
"Well, maybe this will" T-Dog said again "Look, I chained the door to the roof, so the geeks couldn't get at him. With a padlock"
"It's gotta count for something." Rick said.
Sarah observed Daryl wiping his eyes with his hand. Was he crying? Was he trying to be strong? She had never seen him like that. She really felt for him.
"Hell with all y'all!" he yelled "Just tell me where he is, so's I can go get 'im"
"You can't go alone, it's too dangerous" Sarah found herself saying before she could stop herself, making everyone look in her direction. Daryl looked at her too with an angry glare making her bit her lips. Maybe she should have shut up.
"But he is not going alone" Lori suddenly spoke looking at her husband "He'll show you. Isn't it right?"
Rick observed her for a moment before nodding his head.
"I'm going back".
The camp had gone quiet, Lori looked pensive knowing that her husband would go back to Atlanta. Everyone seemed waiting for something. But no one really knew what.
Nicki was set down next to Andrea and Amy. T-Dog was talking to Glenn as Daryl was walking around with his arrows in hand. As for Sarah she decided that she needed a distraction from everything that had happened so, she went next to Dale and Jim keeping observing them trying to fix the RV.
"The pieces of the car were useless?" she asked observing Jim's every movement.
"They are too small" he said "But it was worth a shot"
"Do you like cars?" asked Dale.
"I find fascinated that all those pieces are able to create a complex system" Sarah said "And if one single of that pieces doesn't work, it compromises everything. I see it very human like"
She believed in that even more.
They needed every single one of them to survive. No one was useless, even if it seemed doing less than others. All of them were important and necessary. Maybe even Merle Dixon.
"Could you throw me a bone here, man? Could you just tell me why?" Shane's voice made them turn as he and Rick stopped in the middle of the camp.
"Why would you risk your life for a douche bag like Merle Dixon?" Sarah's eyes went to Daryl who clearly wasn't pleased by what Shane was saying.
"Hey, choose your words more carefully" he warned and for a second, she was afraid that they would start fighting again.
"No, I did. Douche bag's what I meant. Merle Dixon..." Shane spatted glaring at Daryl "The guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst"
"I can't let a man die of thirst... me" Rick argued back "Thirst and exposure. We left him like an animal caught in a trap. That's no way for anything to die, let alone a human being."
They all looked at each other. It was easy for Rick that didn't knew Merle. They did and they all hated him.
Shane was right, Merle Dixon wouldn't have cared if one of them was in his place, so risking somebody life for someone like that wasn't worth it.
But on the other hand, Rick wasn't wrong. Merle was a person; they couldn't leave him behind... not like that.
"So, you and Daryl, that's your big plan?" Lori said glaring at Rick who turned to Glenn. Sarah closed her eyes taking a breath as Rick explained why he wanted Glenn with him for this.
Glenn was the best among them in moving around the city. Like he did when he got Sarah, Nicolette and himself out when they first met and apparently even during the few runs, he has been in.
"It's not fair of me to ask...I know that. But I'd feel a lot better with you along" Rick said before gesturing towards Lori "I know she would too" the poor woman was slightly shaking; it could have been for fear or maybe anger.
Sarah noticed Glenn looking in her direction for a moment before nodding his head towards Rick.
"That's just great. Now you're gonna risk three men, huh?" Sarah heard Shane ask while she walked towards Glenn.
"Are you sure about this?" she asked making him nod his head quietly.
Glenn was selfless, that she had understood, but she just hoped he didn't feel like he had no other choice. It was up to him.
"Four" said T-Dog at some point. Everyone looked at him with wide eyes, while Daryl scoffed.
"My day just gets better and better, don't it?" at his words Sarah couldn't help but roll her eyes.
"What?" Daryl growled making her turn towards him.
"Can't you be a little nicer?" Sarah said as he glared at her "He is trying to help you"
"And I don't see anybody else here stepping up to save your brother's cracker ass" Daryl's eyes moved from Sarah to T-Dog before focusing on his arrows.
"Why you?"
"You wouldn't even begin to understand" Said T-Dog "You don't speak my language"
Sarah glared at Daryl for a moment before Glenn nudged her gesturing to move aside.
In the camp the conversation kept going. Apparently, Rick had more than one reason to get back in Atlanta. He got weapons in a bag that he had left in the city. Weapons that they needed if the walkers were really moving away from the Atlanta. And he even had to get back a walkie-talkie to warn someone to not fall in the same trap he did.
"Sure you have everything?" asked Sarah as Glenn was putting his backpack on his shoulders.
"Yeah" he said "There's not much that I need anyway" Sarah smiled a bit sadly at him, she didn't want for Glenn or the others to die. Not even Daryl.
"I've got some blueberries" Sarah said pulling out of her bag a napkin that he gladly took from her hands.
"Thank you, Sarah"
"It'll be fine" she said putting a hand on his shoulder "It will"
Glenn smiled a little, nodding his head.
As her friend went to get ready for leaving, Sarah went over to Rick and T-Dog to give them their blueberries then she turned towards Daryl Dixon, that was putting his crossbow over his shoulder. She took a breath before walking towards him.
"Hey" she said making him turn with a suspicious frown. He didn't say anything he just observed her silently.
"Yeah... well" she said opening her bag to take out another napkin with blueberries in it "I've got some blueberries" as she spoke Daryl looked from her to her hands still not talking.
"Nicki and I found them" she kept saying since he wouldn't move "Come on, take them" she tried again.
"Why?" he asked with a frown.
"You can get hungry" she said shaking slightly her shoulders "Moreover, maybe Merle could use some" Daryl frowned never disappeared.
"Don need yar pity" he said.
"It's not pity" she answered.
"What do ya wan' then?" he asked not too nicely.
"We're all humans, even your brother" she answered "From what I'm seeing there are not many of us left. It's right to be there for each other"
Daryl observed her again, studying her, searching for something and suddenly he snatched the napkin from her hand.
"I own you nothin'" Daryl said before moving past her to walk away.