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Everyone in camp looked up when they came to sit around the fire that night. Daryl normally only came down every now and then, but now that Jamie was with him, he was coming regularly every night.
Carol's hand flew to her mouth and Carl, Dale, and Andrea all stared. Glenn was clueless for a minute, before looking up from his can of spam and dropping it into the dirt out of surprise.
"Are you okay?" Carol asked her.
She almost snapped at the woman- her brother had died today, what the hell did she think? But she saw how sincere Carol looked and remembered Daryl liked Carol and simply nodded, sitting down on the log.
Daryl took his place beside her, and everyone just stared...
"Your hair..." Lori said, slightly shocked.
"What about it?" she asked, voice daring anyone to question her. No one did. She sat in silence with Daryl, staring at the fire, and they just watched Jamie. They wondered if she would unexpectedly burst into tears or something.
She looked up and they all promptly looked away. She dug the heel of her boot into the dirt as far as she could before looking up. She leaned over to Daryl and whispered a question to him.
"Why are they all staring at me?"
Daryl shrugged. "They're weird like that." he whispered back. "Just ignore them."
She nodded, staring into the fire again before finally leaning against Daryl and falling asleep. Grief was exhausting, and she wouldn't have been able to walk back up to Daryl's camp if she wanted to.
Once everyone was sure she was asleep, Rick spoke.
"Why'd you do it?" he asked, looking into his friend's eyes, confused.
"Do what?" Daryl asked, looking up from where he'd been studying her face.
"Cut her hair." Lori said, still looking shocked, maybe even a little appalled.
Daryl shrugged. "She asked me to."
"She just lost her brother. You really think she was in her right mind?" Shane asked.
Daryl nodded. "Yeah. She said she wanted it gone to grieve. 'sides, if I hadn't, she'd have done it herself. And a walker might have grabbed onto it if she kept it long..."
"Maybe she should move into the main camp with us." Lori said, looking concerned.
Daryl scowled. "You think I can't take care of her?"
"That's not what she's saying..." Rick tried.
"No, Rick, it is. You took her hunting yesterday and she fell INTO A RAVINE and almost got bit. She came back covered in bruises. Then you chop off her hair..."
"I didn't push her into the ravine. She ASKED me to cut off her hair. And as for the bruises, the one on her face is from you. You got mad and hit her. I didn't force her to move into my camp- she fucking chose me. And I'll be damned if you take her away from me." Daryl shifted her into his arms and stood, heading back towards his hill, leaving the rest of the camp behind him to look quizzically at Lori. Thankfully, Carl had fallen asleep by now.
"She can't really want to stay up there with Daryl." Lori said finally.
"I think she does. Think about it- they're both redneck, they've both lost brothers, they both shoot with a bow... So many similarities. And she seems happy to go up there with him. Daryl's a good guy, he'll protect her if she needs it." Dale said, being, as always, honest.
"I'm with Dale on this one. If the kid likes to hang with Daryl, let her. It's not hurting anyone." Glenn said.
"It's more than that. Did you guys notice that in the three days she's been here, Daryl's come down to the fire every night? He hardly ever came before, and I see him watching her do things when she isn't aware of it, he's looking out for her- I think he adopted her." Andrea added.
"I know you don't want to here it, but Jamie's here to stay." Rick said, looking at Shane. "We can't just send her back out there..."
"Oh, we could. You're just too pussy to do it." Shane said.
"She's Carl's age. Daryl said he'll hunt for whatever she eats, she's not taking any extra food from the rest of us. If anything, she is an asset to this group. You've seen her fight walkers. Jamie is staying." Rick said again. Shane scowled but said nothing in protest.
"And she's chosen Daryl to hang around. Daryl doesn't have a problem with it, I don't have a problem with it, so she can hang out in Daryl's camp if she wants to. Besides, now we don't have to worry about him being alone in an attack. He and Jamie can take care of each other."
Lori sighed. "I don't agree with it, but I'm gonna go with you on this one."
Rick nodded, looking over to see Carl, too, had slept through the whole debate and smiling. "Guess it's time to hit the sack." he said, picking his boy up and carrying him to bed.
Daryl looked down at the girl in his arms. "You don't plan on waking up anytime soon, do you?" he asked, sighing when there was no reply. He slung her over one shoulder, hauling her into the branches of the tree and placing her in the fork of three branches where she normally slept, so she was straddling one and leaning back against the others.
It was slightly cool, as well, and he buttoned the buttons on her coat before finding his own place to sleep. Somehow it didn't feel right to leave her alone in the tree.
She woke up with her eyes feeling sandy from the crying yesterday and slightly stiff, and was surprised she was in the tree.
She looked down- Daryl had a fire going and was cooking some squirrel, and she climbed down, swinging onto the ground.
"You put me up there?" she asked.
Daryl nodded. "Figured you wouldn't like to sleep on the ground."
She nodded. "Thanks."
He stabbed a piece of squirrel with a stick and handed it to her, and she nodded her thanks, but didn't take a bite.
Daryl didn't speak until he stabbed his meat with a stick himself.
"Eat." he said, pointing it at her.
She shook her head. "Not hungry."
"I don't care if you're hungry. Eat." Daryl ordered.
She tensed at his tone, and he sighed. Things were difficult, having a girl around.
"Look. I know you lost Ryder, I know what it feels like... But I won't let you starve yourself. Now eat."
She sighed, taking a small bite of the food and chewing. She looked up, and Daryl nodded his approval, so she took another bite. Daryl started eating his own breakfast, as well.
They headed down to camp to find Rick standing by the fire, assigning duties.
"Daryl, I want you checking perimeter. Make sure all he fences are strong. The las thing we need is a breech with all the walker incidents we've had these past few days."
Daryl nodded, shouldering his crossbow.
"Hershel has a horse tied up in front of the house for you to ride."
Daryl nodded again, starting towards the horse. Jamie slung her own bow across the shoulder by the string, walking with him.
"Jamie. Not you. I have a job for you." Rick said.
She turned, looking slightly unhappy. "What?"
"Protect the women here in camp."
"Don't give me that bullshit. Andrea, Dale and Carl can pull that off. You just want me out of your way." Jamie said. "I can pull my weight out here."
"What about tutoring? I was going to work with Carl today, and you two are about the same age..." Lori suggested.
"When am I going to need to learn algebra in a zombie apocalypse? Damn, you people are thick..."
Daryl gave her a look, and she sighed. "Fine. Sorry 'bout that last part. But I'm going with Daryl."
"No. You aren't." Daryl said firmly. "You'll do what Rick tells you to. Rick will make sure you're looked after while I'm gone."
"So you're going to let him give me pointless tasks when I could be out kicking ass with you?" she asked.
Daryl bent so he was close to her. "You're makin a scene and it isn't helping your case any. It's a few hours..." he said quietly, so no one else could hear.
She sighed. "Whatever..." she said, starting back up towards Daryl's camp. She would stay back, but she would NOT be a good housewife like Lori.
As soon as she was in Daryl's camp and Daryl had ridden away, Shane showed up. He cracked his knuckles, looking around. She fought the urge to hide, knowing that it would show fear, and instead stood from where she'd been searching he fire pit fr some live embers.
"Look, kid. I know you think you're pretty badass. Whatever, be a little bastard. But let me make ONE thing clear." He stepped dangerously close, finger in her face. "You do NOT get not the way of Lori or Carl, we clear? If you do ANYTHING to hurt them, you'll wish you were never born. Understood?"
"You threatening me?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest and trying her best to look defiant.
"Yeah. Yeah, I am. So don't you even go NEAR them, or I will rip your face off..."
"Shane! Hey, Shane..." Carl came into camp then and saw Shane getting in her face. "Shane?"
"What is it, Buddy?" Shane asked, turning, instantly kind again.
"What were you... what were you doing to Jamie?" Carl asked, looking to her for answers. His confused expression said it all.
"Threatening me." Jamie said, sitting down on a log beside the fire pit and picking up a knife, starting to scrape the bark from a stick.
"Shane?" Carl asked, looking at Shane, confused.
"I was not. I was having a talk with Jamie about respect." Shane said, and she rolled her eyes. Sure he was. But still, she felt shaken, and was glad when Carl asked Shane if he'd help him shoot and he left.
She settled to practicing her bow, carving a large X int the hickory tree and peppering it with arrows, wondering when Daryl would be back.
Still, around lunch time, Carl walked up. "Hey... I'm sorry. About Ryder, I mean."
He was the first one who'd actually said something besides Daryl. She guessed the others had assumed so was still such a child she'd never want to talk about it. She turned, seeing if Carl was genuine...
He stood looking into her eyes, freckled face sincere, hands in his jeans pockets...
"Thanks. You're the first one besides Daryl who actually said something. I guess the others were all too busy feeling sorry for me." She turned back to the tree, pulling back an arrow and letting it fly. It hit a little above the X, but only because her hands were shaking slightly.
"Yeah, I guess. They don't realize it, but we're not just kids. We've made it this far."
"You have, at least." Jamie said, tossing a glance over her shoulder before firing another arrow. It was a bit to the left of the X.
"And you didn't?" Carl asked, looking confused.
"I did. Barely. My parents and siblings didn't. I hate you sometimes." she let another arrow fly that hit the X perfectly.
Carl recoiled, looking slightly shocked. "Why?"
"You have everyone. Parents, a sibling on the way... who in your family has died?" Jamie sighed, going to retrieve her arrows.
"My Grandparents." Carl said, trotting around behind her.
"Yeah. Did yo watch them die? Or did they just not contact you? I watched them be picked off, one by one, we had to kill some of them, and the others... there was nothing left TO kill." Jamie said.
"I've seen people die." Carl said defensively.
"We all have, but if you don't care about them, it doesn't cut as deep. And you fight with your mom, try to be a man. Don't you get it? She's trying to keep you safe. My mom used to do the same thing. And I didn't see it." she turned, wiping her eyes with her arm for a moment.
"I didn't see it, and I fought with her all the time, and then... then she wasn't there to fight with anymore, and I realized she'd just been trying to protect me."
"So you hate me because you're jealous?" Carl asked.
She wiped her eyes. "Not all the time. When I see you fight your parents, I do, because I think, you HAVE parents. If I had mine, I'd never fight with them. I'd hug them and say everything I could while I had them... You never know what you've got until it's gone."
Carl nodded. "So... you maybe hate me?"
She laughed a little. "I don't hate you. I'm- I'm jealous, I guess... But hey. Life sucks. Just... realize all you got."
"Good. It's lunch time, Mom wants you to come..."
She nodded, starting towards the main camp with him.
Lunch was just cold venison and apples, but she ate what she was given and made sure to say thank you. Still she couldn't get her mind off Daryl...
"Wanna play hide and go seek?" Carl asked.
"What? Um.. sure... How do you play again? I think I know, but I'm not sure..." she asked.
Carl gaped.
"What? I- I spent the past few months shooting walkers and remembering which plants were poison and which weren't. I kinda forgot how to play."
"Did someone say hide and seek?" Glenn asked, smiling.
"Not it!" Both Jamie and Carl cried in unison. Glenn sighed. "One, two, three, four..."
They were both scrambling away then. Carl started towards the barn but stopped when he saw Jamie scampering towards the woods. She lept over the fence like a whitetail deer with shocking agility. He decided then to take off after her, and by the time Glenn had reached fifty, they were well hidden in the trees.
They both stood, backs pressed against the trees, breathing hard. Carl grinned at her, and she laughed slightly at his expression.
"Shh!" Carl shushed her. The both peeked around the tree trunk to see Glenn in the distance, looking under the RV for them.
They both giggled, but the didn't turn around again for fear of Glenn seeing them. Instead, they both locked eyes, just grinning like maniacs... It was the best Jamie had felt in a long time.
"Andrea, did you see them anywhere?" Glenn asked. He was getting worried. It was going on half an hour and there was no sign of Carl or Jamie.
"Nope. Why? You still haven't found them?" Andrea asked.
Glenn shook his head. "No. And I'm... I'm getting worried."
Andrea could see by the expression on his face he was really worried, and she placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'll help you look." she said, meeting his eyes and giving him a reassuring smile.
"Thanks." Glenn said, looking relieved. The kept searching.
"They'll never find us." Carl breathed from behind his tree.
"I know. But it's fun to watch them try." Jamie said. "I think he's got Andrea with him now..."
Just then there was a rustling, and they both were still, worried it was Glenn or Andrea. Jamie peered around the tree a moment later and came face to face with a huge walker.
She screamed as the walker roared at her, breath smelling like death. She stumbled back and the walker stumbled forward, grabbing her by the shoulders...
"Jamie!" Carl fired his pistol but missed the monster, and Jamie stared into the milky eyes for a minute, shocked...
Another gunshot from Carl freed her from her stupor when it whizzed by her face. She was stiff arming the walker, now, who kept ramming her back into a tree...
She kept one arm stiff and planted firmly on it's chest, but unsheathed her knife with the other and stabbed through the forehead...
The grip on her shoulders went limp, and the walker hit the ground...
"Carl! Jamie!" Rick burst through the brush a moment later with Andrea, looking frantic...
Jamie pulled her bloody knife from the forehead of the walker, re-sheathing it and staring straight ahead, shocked.
"Carl... my god, are you alright?" Rick went to Carl first, but Jamie didn't really care... How had she let her guard down? How had the huge walker even managed to get close to her?
"Jamie?" she could hear someone talking to her, but it was like they were in a tunnel. She was just shocked. How had she let herself be exposed? When had she let her guard down?
"Jamie? Can you hear me? Jamie?" Rick placed his hands on her shoulders, and she flinched, shocked, before pulling back.
"Did it scratch her?" Rick asked. Carl shook his head, looking shaky. "It.. it just kept slamming her against the tree..."
"Jamie? Jamie, talk to me. Jamie?" there was something pleading in Rick's voice, now, but she wasn't even thinking about talking...
It was the game. She'd played hide and seek like a kid, it had made her feel like a kid again, like everything was dandy and safe. It was dangerous, feeling invincible. If Ryder were here he would've noticed the minute she got careless and rebuked her gently, but Ryder... Ryder was gone.
All this was rushing through her mind, and suddenly she wasn't on her feet anymore. Rick had her in his arms and was carrying her back to camp.
Still, she wasn't really seeing it. She'd retreated to some place deep within herself where no one could follow. It'd been the game. She'd been too busy having fun, she'd let her guard down and almost died, and Ryder hadn't been there to save her because he was dead... Shock and grief rolled over her then. Ryder was really gone.
She just sat, struggling to comprehend that her brother had been dead for a day and she'd already screwed up.
Rick set her on a log and she just sat, staring straight ahead. Andrea came and took her hand and spoke words that she heard but didn't comprehend, Dale came over and just sat beside her, and Carol pulled her into her lap and held her, stroking her hair and mumbling words that she supposed would've been soothing, if she could understand them.
At some point Rick came out with Hershel, who poked and prodded her and looked at her back. She hard something about bruises, but that was it.
There was always someone sitting beside her, either holding her hand or talking to her or stroking her hair, but she didn't register any of it. Ryder was gone. Ryder was gone and she'd let her defenses slip. She could've become a walker. Those thoughts simply echoed through her mind.
She swore she'd never let it happen again, she'd never let her defenses slip. Always alert. Just because she was with people, didn't mean she was safe, you were NEVER safe... And slowly, incredibly slowly, she started to withdraw from within herself, slowly let sensation creep back into her...
"Shane. I need you to go and find Daryl." Rick said.
"No. If she turns, I need to be here to take care of it." Shane said firmly.
"She's not going to turn. Hershel didn't find any scratches on her, besides the ones that scabbed over from when she fell into the ravine. She's not running a fever... she's just in shock, he says." Rick informed him.
"Well if she's just in shock, then who do you need me to get Daryl?" Shane asked, scowling at him.
"Because she trusts Daryl the most, he'll be able to help snap her out of this thing faster. And he trusted us to look after her..."
"No. She's going to turn, and when she does, I want her dead before she can get to Lori and Carl." Shane said firmly.
"She's is shock!" Rick said loudly. Everyone looked over, and Rick sighed, running a nervous hand through his hair. He would go get Daryl, but then Shane would accuse him of leaving Lori and Carl in danger yet again...
"There!" Glenn pointed and they saw Daryl riding up, in his poncho...
Carl was already running out to meet him. Rick looked at is friend, afraid of what his reaction would be... When he saw Carl approach, he slowed his horse, then speeded up slightly when he heard what the boy had to say, He dismounted in camp, walking straight towards the log.
"Jamie?" he asked, getting down on one knee in front of her.
"Jamie..." he waved a hand in front of her face before turning to Rick, who sighed.
"They got attacked by a walker."
"They?"
"Her and Carl were in the woods playing hide and seek, one snuck up on her. She managed to stab it, but it slammed her up against a tree a few times, her back's bruised pretty good. She hasn't spoken a word since..."
Carol looked over nervously from where she'd been holding Jamie's still hand in her own.
"Jamie? Kid, I ain't gonna quit talking until you say somethin." he said.
"She's in some kind of shock." Andrea said.
Daryl looked over a her. "I don't need no mumbo-jumbo, blondie. Jamie. Jamie?"
Shane walked over and struck her across the face, and she fell off the log.
"Shane!" Lori yelled, and Daryl jumped up.
"Why the hell did you do that!?" he roared.
"She's in shock. Figured it might snap the bitch out of it..."
"She is not a bitch!" Daryl snarled. "And you hit her a hell of a lot harder than just wanting to snap her out of it..."
"Prove it, Redneck." Shane said, smirking.
And then Daryl had him pinned against a tree. "You EVER lay a hand on that little girl again, and I'll beat you to death, Shane." he hissed. Even Shane looked shocked for a minute, before Daryl tossed him aside like a piece of trash and returned to Jamie. Carol had sat Jamie up, and Daryl crouched in front of her again.
"Jamie? Wanna go hunting?" he tried.
She just looked ahead, eyes glassy...
"Jamie..." he reached out and trailed his rough, dirty knuckles across her cheek affectionately. She didn't react.
He gathered her into his arms and headed up towards his own camp, knowing she'd wake up sooner or later. He settled her on his own log before having another idea. He knelt in front of her, slowly putting the palms of his hands on her cheeks. He tilted his head forward until their foreheads were almost touching.
"Jamie. Kid, I know you're scared, but you gotta wake up..."
"Daryl?"