Showcasing some of Jamie's skills here, as well as an adventure woth her and Daryl and a little bonding moment. PLEASE REVIEW!
Daryl whirled. "Jamie!" he yelled, grabbing his crossbow and taking off into the night.
There was another scream, rather, a roar, and they all approached to see Jamie stab a walker in the forehead while another came up behind her. She didn't flinch, shoving it away and snarling as she plunged the knife into it's skull...
"Jamie!" Daryl ran forward. "You alright?" he asked anxiously.
"I- yeah. Fine. Just these two, it looks like..."
"Why the hell do you do that?" Shane asked.
"Do what?" she asked. There was blood spattered on her face, and she brushed her hair back, looking confused.
"Scream while you fight them. Snarl at them- I swear, you hissed at them."
Jamie brushed a lock of hair from her face and smiled. "That? Cause they think they're so damn scary- I figure I can be just as terrifying as they are. Makes me feel braver when I do that. Rick, you guys should sleep in the trees tonight..." she said, giving him a worried look.
"Thanks, Jamie, but we'll be fine." Rick said. She was only half the way towards the hill where Daryl had set up camp, and Daryl nodded to Rick.
"We'll be fine. Come on, kid." he put his arm around her and led her towards camp.
She climbed into the tree, and Daryl took one last look around before settling down on the ground like he always did.
He was almost asleep when he heard it. Sniffling, crying, almost.
"Jamie? That you?" he asked sleepily.
He shined a flashlight up to see her in tears. "Come on kid, don't cry. Look, I didn't mean to, whatever it is... Why're you crying?"
"You're gonna die." Jamie said.
"What? Kid, that's ridiculous..."
"No. It's true. You're not in a tree, in that sleeping bag you're like a freaking burrito for walkers. And you're nice to me. I can't let them get you."
Daryl sighed. "You really think it's safer in the trees, don't you?"
She nodded, sniffing. "Ryder and I were always safe in the trees..."
"You really want me to come up there?" Daryl asked.
She nodded, and Daryl sighed. He'd climbed trees before and he did it now, hauling himself up into the branches until he was next to Jamie.
"Hell, I haven't done this since I was a kid." he admitted.
"So? It's safe in the trees, and it's easier to to move up here." she said. "Plus- walkers can't climb trees." her voice faded out at the end, she was interrupted by a huge yawn.
"Yeah, well, sleeping bags are useless in trees." Daryl grumbled, finding his place in the tree exceedingly uncomfortable. He was straddling a large branch that forked up sharply, and was trying to find the right position to lay in. He looked over at Jamie, slightly concerned she hadn't replied somehow. His expression softened somewhat when he realized she was asleep, leaning back against the tree trunk...
He considered climbing back down and getting into his sleeping bag, but decided against it when he realized if Jamie woke up and he wasn't in the tree she'd probably start screaming, thinking he was dead, and attract every walker in the woods. He sighed, turning around so he was facing the trunk of the tree and leaning back against the forked branch, crossing his arms over his chest. It was still uncomfortable, he'd much rather be back in his sleeping bag...
"Don't be such a pussy. If some little girl can do it, so can you." he muttered, before he, too, drifted off to sleep.
BREAK
"Daryl's missing!" Carol ran into camp the next morning, frantic. "I went to see if Jamie needed anything and he- they- they were both gone!"
"Where's Rick?" Lori asked.
"He and Shane are out helping Hershel." Glenn said, looking worried. Suddenly Lori saw the truth in what Jamie had said about not depending on the men.
"Someone needs to FIND them." Carol said, tears threatening to fall. She'd just lost Sofia, she wouldn't loose Daryl and the other girl, too...
"I'll go." Andrea shouldered her gun. "Daryl probably just went squirrel hunting or something." and she was gone.
A few minutes later, Andrea smiled as she looked up in the tree. It was cute, almost, Daryl and Jamie both asleep up there. She savored the cuteness of the moment- if she told the others, Daryl would never live this down.
Finally, she picked up a rock. "Daryl!" she tossed it at him, and he started awake. "What? Oh- you. Whatd'ya want, blondie?" he asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"Have a good sleep?" Andrea asked. "Too afraid of walkers to stay on the ground?" she teased, smiling at the last part.
"Jamie asked me to. She thought we were all goners, sleeping on the ground after she killed those walkers last night. She was crying and said my sleeping bag would make me look like a big ol' burrito for the walkers and I went up there to shut her up." Daryl lied. Andrea, too, knew it was a lie, but didn't question it. Men always had to feel they maintained their macho. But still, they both knew he hadn't done it to shut her up- he'd done it because he cared.
"A burrito, huh? Maybe I should start calling you that." Andrea smiled. "You should go see Carol. She saw you and Jamie weren't in our camp and panicked- she's worried about you."
"Right. I'll do that." Daryl jumped down to the ground, stretching. His back popped, and Andrea winced. Daryl grabbed his crossbow before heading towards the camp everyone else used.
"Hey. You sure you should leave her here?" Andrea said, using her head to motion towards Jamie.
Daryl scoffed. "The kid can kick a walker's ass any day. Besides, she's in a tree. She'll be alright for a few minutes." and he was gone, heading towards the camp to reassure Carol. Andrea rolled her eyes. Despite what Daryl had done last night, making Jamie apologize, she doubted he was the father type. But then again- Jamie didn't act like somebody's daughter, either.
BREAK
Jamie looked around, seeing it was daylight and Daryl was gone. She panicked for a moment- her greatest fear was being left alone- but reason quickly pervaded her thoughts. She nimbly climbed down and jumped to the ground, looking around. Bootprints. Fresh ones in the dirt, they couldn't be more than a few minutes old. And they were Daryl's. She sighed with relief. He was okay. And he was with someone with smaller boots, probably a girl from camp.
She sighed, stretching. Maybe Ryder would come today. She certainly didn't want to work with Lori, not after yesterday. She didn't harbor any bad feelings, but she was afraid Lori might. Bitches at school always did.
She walked the trail to camp, smiling as a bird landed in the tree. The birds could fly away- lucky birds- Walkers couldn't catch them.
"Morning." Glenn nodded to her as she entered camp.
"Morning. Good to see you're alive."
Glenn laughed. "Thanks, I guess. How was the tree?"
"Safe. You guys should seriously consider..."
"I sleep in the RV, Jamie, I'm safe." Glenn assured her.
She nodded. "Glad to hear it." she said, before sitting down beside him on the log. Breakfast was some eggs Hershel had given them from the chickens and some lumpy oatmeal, but Jamie wasn't complaining. It was the most food she'd had in awhile, and she ate what Lori gave her, thanking her quietly before eating. She knew better than to ask for more. Resources were so scarce thee days it was a miracle Rick was letting her stay at all. It was only temporary, she reminded herself, Ryder would need a few days to find her...
"Jamie." Daryl interrupted her thoughts. "You wanna go hunting?"
"Hell yes." she said, grinning.
"Watch your mouth." Daryl said seriously, before ruffling her hair slightly. "And go get your bow."
She took off toward Daryl's camp, where she'd left it, grinning.
"Can I go?" Carl asked.
"Carl, no. You stay by the house." Lori said firmly.
"How come Jamie gets to go?" Carl asked, bordering on whining. He wanted to do something useful...
"Jamie shouldn't be going." Lori said. "But she doesn't have parents to look after her and tell her no."
Daryl remained silent through all of this. He knew he could take good enough care of Jamie, Lori had hardly seen the kid in action.
"I wish I had no parents." Carl muttered.
Lori gasped.
"I'd kill to have mine back." Jamie said. She'd just come back. "You take it all for granted- You have parents, a group, people who give a damn. And it looks like you've got a sibling on the way." she nodded towards Lori, who was just barely showing.
"I watched my parents die. My brother is missing, and I don't know if I'll ever see him again. If I could trade places with you, I'd do it in a heartbeat. You're wasting your time fighting with your parents. You won't have them forever. Love them while you can. Daryl- you ready to go?" she asked.
"Yeah." Daryl nodded.
"Be safe." Carol said, a pleading note in her voice.
"We will. you've hunted before, Jamie?" Daryl asked, as they struck out towards the tree line.
"You think I just carry this around for looks?" she asked, lifting the compound bow slightly.
"Good point. how good a shot are you?"
"Did you forget how I nailed this walker 'tween the eyes?" she asked.
Daryl nodded. "What's the draw-weight on that bow?"
"Fifty pounds."
"Enough to kill. You see a walker you tell me, alright? What about the knife? If we run out of arrows, you'll need the knife." Daryl said.
"I'm alright at stabbing."
"Can you throw it?" Daryl asked.
"Not well." she admitted.
"Stick to stabbing then." she nodded."Stay by me." Daryl ordered. "And be quiet."
She looked away, blinking. "You sound like my dad..." she whispered, and Daryl didn't know what to say. They plodded on in silence.
Soon the disrupted chatters if squirrels and birds died away, and they were surrounded by the silence of the woods. Jamie breathed it in. Her father had taught her that when the forest finally quieted like this, it meant they were no longer a disturbance to the wild animals. They were just another animal in the forest, now.
Daryl watched her tread silently, wondering what was going through her head. Ryder was the only family she had, it was clear, and now even he might be gone. To suffer such loses at her age would be traumatic enough, but she didn't even have a good childhood to fall back on. All the good memories were corrupted by the death of her family, no doubt. Not like he'd had a good childhood, either, but at least he hadn't had to watch his family be slaughtered.
There was a noise in the brush and she looked over at him. He nodded, and she looked back. A fat gray squirrel sat on the tree twenty feet in front of her. She pulled back and released. The squirrel was dead instantly, pinned to the tree by the deadly arrow that had gone through its skull. It flopped around for a minute, nerves reacting, getting rid of the energy produced by the last sparks of life.
Daryl moved forward, pulling it free and tying a knot around its tail- he had a line he used for carrying his game.
Not ten minutes later, they heard the moaning. Daryl pointed. There, stuck in the mud, was a walker. She raised her bow, but Daryl angled it downward, shaking his head. His eyes fell on her sheath and he made a throwing motion, and she nodded, unsheathing her knife. She looked to him for what to do next.
He positioned her hand around it so she held the blade gently, sharp edge away from her, pulling his own knife and pantomiming throwing it, pulling his arm back and flicking the wrist. She hesitated. It looked hard. How to know how much force to apply and how to control it...
Daryl nudged her and she took a breath, closing her eyes and throwing.
The walker roared and she opened her eyes, surprised to have hit in in the chest. It'd been a lucky shot, but Daryl smiled at her.
Just then the walker pulled a leg free from the mud.
She sprang backwards in surprise, dropping her bow and stumbling, falling down a small cliff and taking a fifteen foot plunge into a ravine.
"Jamie!" Daryl yelled and she scrambled to her feet. She was beat up, yes, but not broken, and she looked around, frantically praying there were no walkers...
She'd left her hatchet back in camp, but her quiver, remarkably, was intact.
"Daryl! Kill the walker!" she yelled. Her worst fear would be the walker getting free and killing Daryl while he tried to help her.
There was the FWING! Of an arrow leaving the crossbow, and Daryl returned to the edge of the cliff. "Climb up here!"
She knew she should, this part of the ravine was a dead-end, only going deeper into the rocks... Brush rustled to the right, and from under an overhang, a walker emerged, heading towards her...