Oh crap. I'm totally depressed now, I'm writing ahead a few chapters and Jamie is... I can't say it! I'd ruin the first stor arc! Please REVIEW! *sob* I need to go read some happy endings!
"Daryl?" she asked, looking up.
"What happened?" Daryl asked.
"I... Carl and were playing hide and seek in the woods, I heard a noise and thought was Glenn but it was a walker...It kept slamming me into a tree and Carl tried t shoot but I... I had to stab it."
"You okay?" Daryl asked.
She nodded. "Yeah... yeah, I guess so..."
"Rick said you stopped talking." Daryl said.
She nodded. "Yeah. I was... I was scared. And surprised I let it sneak up on me. I didn't know how it managed to, how I managed to just let it creep up on me like that. And then I realized, it was cuz I was playing with Carl. I was having fun, I went back to being a kid... And I thought I was safe. And I wasn't. Ryder would've noticed I let my guard down. He would've told me. But he wasn't here, and it just hit me that he's... gone. And I guess I just went quiet."
Daryl nodded. "So you got caught with your guard down. So what? It happens to me sometimes, too..."
"But you can kill a walker with your bare hands. I can't. You ripped an arrow outta yourself and shot a freaking walker with it. I didn't. You're a legend- I'm just some kid."
Daryl shrugged. "You can kill anything if you put your mind to it."
"Yeah, right. I can barely even throw a knife..."
"Stand up." Daryl ordered.
"What?"
"I said, stand up. You can go ahead and have a little pity party, but you'll be acting just like what you hate being treated as- a kid."
She stood.
Daryl placed a knife in her hand. "Blade facing out, pinch just above the handle." he ordered.
She obeyed, looking at the hickory tree. Daryl crossed his arms, nodding. The mangled X still remained from earlier, when she'd been shooting arrows...
She let it fly and completely missed the tree.
Daryl handed her another knife. "Again."
Again, she missed. He had her go gather up the knives before going up again.
"Focus. Flick your wrist right..."
She sighed, taking a breath, before she did... She skimmed the bark of the trunk and sighed. This was going to take FOREVER... By the time Daryl had head head down to the main camp with her for dinner, she'd hit the trunk once.
"Jamie." Carl looked glad when she walked in, and so did the others, albeit a little surprised.
"How're you feeling?" Rick asked.
She shrugged, taking her customary place on the log. "I ain't dead."
Carol went to hand her a piece of venison, and she was about to refuse when Daryl gave her a look. "Eat." he said quietly, and she sighed, obeying.
Rick exchanged glances with Daryl, who shrugged.
They had a fire, just because it was dark, and they wanted to be able to see one another.
"So- anyone know any campfire songs?" Lori asked.
Jamie looked up, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "You spin me right round baby, right round, like a record baby, round round round round..."
Rick shook his head, grinning, and Daryl sighed.
"Remember when that song came out, Shane? We were all just kids..." Rick said.
"I remember that song, I was little... I loved it." Lori said, smiling.
"I hated that song." Daryl said, and Jamie's grin widened. "You spin me right round baby, right round, like a record baby, right round round round..."
"Stop." Daryl said, playfully hitting her on the back of the head, and she stopped singing, but not smiling.
"Do you even know who does that song, Jamie?" Dale asked, looking interested.
"Umm... some old person, Price, I think?" she said, looking thoughtful.
Rick chuckled. "Prince. It was Prince. He was a big hit back in the day..."
"Oh. Wasn't he the one who wore the man thong and looked like a girl in his music videos?" Carl asked, and both Rick and Lori looked horrified, while Jamie fell off the log laughing.
Daryl grinned, glad he had someone else with common sense nearby. "Yes. THAT guy."
Jamie was in tears laughing, now...
"What's with you?" Daryl asked, looking over at her.
"I- I saw his music video... I- I thought he was a girl all these years..." she got out between fits of laughter, and Daryl started to chuckle as well, a low, gravelly chuckle that surprised everyone. They'd never heard Daryl laugh before.
"Oh... oh crap... Prince is a GUY?" Jamie asked through another fit of laughter.
Rick nodded, smiling at her reaction. "Yeah. Prince IS a guy."
"Unfortunately." Daryl added, which made her laugh even harder.
"Pull it together, kid." Shane ordered, but even he was smiling slightly.
"I'm work- working on it..." she sat up slowly, catching her breath.
"You done?" Daryl asked, looking at her, slightly amused.
"Ye-" she burst out laughing again, falling onto the leaves. "No! Oh god, no... He's a guy..." She was still laughing for a good two minutes before finally dragging herself back onto the log.
Even then, she had to press her face into Daryl's shirt sleeve to muffle the giggles.
Daryl sighed, picking her up bridal style. "I'm taking you back to camp before you attract every walker in the forest."
She was too busy giggling to respond.
"He's a guy?" They heard Jamie ask faintly as she and Daryl faded into the darkness.
"Yes. Prince is a guy." Daryl said, and another contagious fit of giggles came over. And suddenly, camp wasn't so morose anymore.