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"The kid actually did it." Rick said, looking up at the tree in the morning, impressed. Shane was scowling up at her- he still didn't like her.
"I managed to fall asleep in a few trees myself when I was her age..." Daryl said, coming up behind them.
"Seems like you know a lot about her." Rick said calmly.
Daryl shrugged. "When you grow up country, we're all the same..." he shouldered his crossbow, heading toward the tree line.
"Where are you going?" Rick asked.
"To look for this Ryder kid."
"Just what we need- another kid who needs taking care of." Shane muttered .
"She managed to drop you yesterday, Shane, as in, get on top of you and beat you. I think she needs the least taking care of out of everyone." Rick pointed out.
"Yeah, well she's certainly sleeping in. Let's wake her up." Shane said, bending down to pick up a rock.
"Look- she just lost her brother in the woods. She fought off walkers yesterday. She's exhausted. Let the kid sleep." Rick's hand landed firmly on Shane's arm, and he dropped the rock, looking annoyed. "Fine. But don't like having another kid here, It's hard enough with just Carl."
"Noted. But it's not your decision. Now go." Rick said. Shane slunk off, leaving him to look at her. She looked so... childlike up there. She couldn't be much older than Carl, but while she slept, Rick could almost imagine she was just a normal kid, climbing a tree like she should be...
He walked away. He'd love to reminisce all day, but he had people to take care of and things to do.
She woke up in the tree when something hit her. She blinked sleepily- she'd overslept a ton, Ryder normally woke her up a dawn...
Something hard hit her shoulder. "Ow! Okay, I get it, Ryder..." she said sleepily, climbing down.
She jumped to the ground and saw it wasn't Ryder who'd woken her, but Carl.
"Who's Ryder?" Carl asked, looking at her curiously.
"My brother. He's coming for me soon. Where's that guy?" she asked. She remembered his image from the other day, but not the name...
"Daryl? He went out looking for your brother." Carl said. "Anyways, my mom told me to wake you up. She needs help with the laundry."
"Sorry, but no. I don't DO laundry. I'm going to find Ryder." She remembered her bow at the top of the hill, still sitting by Daryl's fire pit, probably...
"You aren't supposed to leave camp." Carl said.
"I don't really care." she replied.
"Hey! You aren't supposed to go!" Carl seized her wrist and pulled her back towards camp. "Are you stupid or something?"
"You're the stupid one!" she retorted. "My brother is missing- I'm going to find him!"
"Daryl already is. Just shut up and quick fighting all of us- we're trying to help you." Carl said, frustrated.
She pulled her arm from his grasp and sighed, stalking over to Lori.
Lori handed her a sack of clothes. "Mind washing?"
She wordlessly started scrubbing, feeling the rage boil within her as she did so. She wished Ryder would hurry up and come already, but he hadn't, not yet...
"How was your sleep in the tree? Ready to settle down in a tent yet?" Lori asked, a glint in her eye. So she expected she was just going to give up and come into a tent, thought she was uncomfortable sleeping in trees...
"No. You folks are walker bait down here. You can force me to stay in this camp, but I will NEVER be one of you." she turned back to scrubbing furiously. Her hands stung from the homemade soap, but she scrubbed anyways. It gave her a way to get the rage out.
"Andrea! Will you come help with the laundry?" Lori called.
"Sorry, I'm on watch." Andrea replied.
"Slacker." Lori muttered under her breath, but Jamie heard it. She scowled at the shirt she was washing. Andrea was busy actually doing something IMPORTANT, like keeping watch and here Lori was complaining about laundry.
"Carl, go get some more clothespins." Lori ordered. She and Carol were busy handing the wrung out clothes to dry on the line.
"Walker!" Carol yelled. She screamed as it fell on top of her, it'd come out from behind the barn, not the woods, and frightened them all...
An inhuman bubbling sound came from the creature's mouth as it gnashed it's teeth, struggling to bite and scratch her, but Carol held it at bay, arms stiff to keep it from scratching and biting her...
"Rick! Rick!" Lori yelled.
Jamie didn't think, rather, she moved. She sunk the toe of her boot into the walker's ribs like she was punting a football, and it rolled off of Carol, onto its back...
Daryl had left her hatched and knife with her, and she pulled out the hatchet now, driving it into the forehead. There was the rank odor of brains and a sickening squish, but she didn't stop. She drove the hatchet in over and over, until the forehead and eyes were unrecognizable.
"Lori! Is everyone alright!?," Rick yelled. Jamie stood, panting, over the corpse.
"Barely. Why the hell are you playing house when there's a war on your hands.?" Jamie asked, staring at Lori.
"Someone has to do the housework..." Lori started.
"No. Someone has to keep your asses alive. You think Andrea's a slacker because she works with the men to defend camp. I say she's the only one here with any balls. Who's going to protect you when your men are gone?"
"If Andrea was doing such a good thing defending camp, how come that walker got here?" Lori asked, defensive.
"It came from behind the barn. Andrea's doing the smart thing in watching the tree line for a herd of walkers. I sure as hell wouldn't be doing laundry in an apocalypse." Jamie spit on the walker's dead body.
"Don't you talk back to me..." Lori said, nostrils flaring. Her hands had clenched into fists.
"You had a gun in your pocket. Why didn't you use it instead of calling for Rick? Now isn't the time to play damsel in distress. Either you grow a pair and use that gun or someday you'll wish you had."
"I said don't talk back to me!" Lori said, backhanding her. She hit the dirt in a rush, and Rick stared. Jamie glared at her, getting to her feet.
"Maybe you're still stuck in fantasy land, so I'll give it to you straight. Just because the men are here doesn't mean they're supposed to be your protectors. If you see a walker, you yell for help AS you shoot it. Not just stand there looking horrified. And screw doing housework." she kicked the washtub over, spilling all the water.
"Someone needs to cook, yeah. But laundry? I washed my clothes once every two or three weeks when Ryder and I were together. Andrea isn't burdening you by doing a man's job. She's doing you a favor. You need to shut the hell up. Quit complaining about laundry. It's an apocalypse, people are putting their lives on the line for you. Get your priorities straight."
And she was gone, storming off towards where Daryl had been camped. She sat down on the log and sighed, looking out towards the tree line. She wished she could go to the woods and look for Ryder herself- it was clear the men here were set on keeping everyone safe, but Lori- she needed an attitude adjustment.
She noticed Daryl had pinned some cooked squirrel to the log she'd been sitting on yesterday with a knife and smiled slightly. She was starving, and it was clear Daryl had expected her to wander up to his camp.
She tore into it, feeling the juice of the meat run down her chin. The meat was a little bloody, too, just how she liked it. Maybe not everyone here was crazy.
"Tell me what you really think, Rick." Lori demanded, voice shaking. They'd gone away from the others to talk. Rick sighed.
"Fine, I think Andrea is more valuable as a watchman than as a housewife. And I think we need to work on getting the women more used to using guns."
"So you think she's right?" Lori asked.
"Yes. I know she seems rough, disrespectful, callous, even... but she saved Carol's life just now. She's angry at me for making her stay here and not letting her go look for her brother. But the walkers, there's more than usual, and there's no way I'm going to send a child back into that..."
"She isn't a child. She doesn't act like it, at least..." Lori said, shooting a glance over at the girl. She was up by Daryl's camp, now, sitting on a log.
"Lori. Her parents... she's had to be like that to survive. I mean, do you see any other children who've survived that long without parents?"
"No. No, you're right. But... she..."
"I know. It's weird for me too, having a girl who can made survival decisions and take down a walker like that. She's had to grow up fast. I'll talk to her about respect tonight, don't worry..."
"Don't worry. Like that's possible." Lori said bitterly before turning on heel and walking off to join Carol.
Daryl came into camp around four, unsuccessful. Jamie had found the squirrel hides in need of scraping and started to scrape them.
"Did you find him?" she asked, looking up anxiously.
"Nope. Couldn't even find a trail. I'm sorry, kid. How was the day in camp?"
She sighed. "That Lori bitch has some problems. She called Andrea a slacker because she was on watch duty instead of doing laundry and then a walker attacked Carol and she screamed for Rick-"
"A walker got Carol?" Daryl asked, sounding alarmed.
"I killed it before it could do any damage. Shook her up, though."
"Carol is okay?" Daryl asked once again, and she realized Carol must be special to him.
"Yes. Carol is fine. But I was angry with Lori because she had a gun and could've just shot the thing, but she just stood there like a scared bitch and screamed for Rick. So after I killed the Walker I yelled at her..."
"What happened to your face?" Daryl asked, noticing a bruise forming on her cheek.
She studied the ground and was silent.
"Lori did that, didn't she?"
She nodded.
"What did you say to her?" Daryl asked.
"I said she needs to quit complaining about laundry and stop playing damsel in distress and pull out a gun and shoot when she sees a damn walker..."
"You yelled?" Daryl asked.
She studied the ground again, seeming ashamed. "Yes."
He grabbed her by the collar.
"Hey! Daryl, I'm sorry! Where are we going!?" she asked, her voice taking on a hint of fear. She barely knew Daryl, what if he hurt her?
"To see Lori." Daryl grumbled.
The group had gathered around the fire pit in the dusk- it was summer, so there was no fire, and Rick was speaking.
"Rick, this'll have to wait a minute." Daryl said, and Rick promptly stopped speaking. Daryl dragged Jamie over so she was in front of Lori.
"Jamie has something she wants to say to you." Daryl said, letting go of her collar. Jamie studied the ground. "I'm sorry." she muttered.
"For what?" Daryl asked.
"For yelling at you. I... I still believe what I said... but I shouldn't have told you it that way."
Lori looked over at Rick, slightly surprised. She'd never expected this from someone as wild and quick-tempered as Jamie.
"Lori. It'd mean a lot to her if you forgave her." Daryl grunted.
Lori nodded. "Of course..." she said, slightly shocked.
"Thank you." Jamie still hadn't looked up from the ground.
Daryl looked at her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Get back to camp. I'll be there in a minute."
She nodded, hurrying away.
Everyone stared and the firelight danced.
"You okay?" Daryl asked, addressing Carol. She nodded, rubbing her upper arms. "Jamie killed it before it could hurt me."
"Daryl, we need to talk- that girl- she's not just a kid. She's able to make split second decisions. I watched her kill that walker today before I could even draw my gun. She kicked it like it was nothing and kept hitting it with the hatchet..." Rick said.
Daryl shrugged. "So? Ain't nothing wrong with being fast on your feet."
"Be that as it is, Daryl, she's still a kid- you need to keep an eye on her."
"What do you think been doin', Rick? Sheesh- have a little faith."
Just then there was a scream.