Okay- yeah, i know, i didn't post Saturday, but I didn't get 7 reviews, either. :(. I know the lastchapter was really depressing, but you guys were right- Jamie needed to hear WHY Carol was srnt away. This chapter is serious and angsty at the begining, but ligt-hearted and fluffy att he end. Please review!
She found herself wandering aimlessly through the wood, feeling like half of her was a thousand miles away.
A squrriel chattered at her. She slowly raised the bow- it felt heavy in her arms- and drew back, firing. The squriel was ounned to the tree, dead. And yet she felt nothing- no satisfaction with the kill, no europhobic rush at the sight of the blood as she pulled the arrow from the tree, no usual glee when she feild dressed it.
She felt nothing when she covered herself in the blood, either- she used to do it before the apocalypse, pretend she was a little indian girl, and the habit had just continued. It never failed to lift her spirits- until now.
And she plodded on.
No walkers bothered her, either. It was like even they could sense she was in no mood to fight, no mood to do anything, really.
She made her way through the dense summer brush, sweat trickling down her back. Even now, she felt like she wasn't seeing things totally. She was only halfway there, lost in the recesses of her mind...
The only time she stopped was when she reached the feild. Waist deep in grass, a rather clean looking creeak flowed through it, about seven feet wide. She'd never seen it before. This was the farthest she'd ever been from the prison, she realized, and she looked up at the sky- the sun's position meant it was ten o'clock. She'd been out for two hours, now.
She walked over towards the creek, setting down her biw and sitting down on the bank, trailing her finger in the cold water... She spplashed her face with it, trying to snao herself out of whatever daze she was in.
She was outside the prison, she reminded herself. No fences to protect her. She was on her own.
A turkey buzzard flew overhead, and she looked up aimlessly at it. Normally she'd shoot it- there were so many dead, rotting thing around here that the buzzards were incredibly fat.
But she didn't feel like killing today- she'd seen enough death. She hadn't come here to hunt.
Which led to the question- why had she come here, if it wasn't to hunt? What was she expecting to find?
She didn't know.
It was hot, and she was thirsty, so she knelt on the muddy bank and took a drink before standing. She was hungry, and she looked down at the dead squrriel. Hungry, but she didn't feel like eating.
She brushed a stray lock of hair from her face, pissed at herself. Why had she come here if it wasn't to hunt? What was she looking for? What did she think she'd find?
Carol. She realized it with a pang. She could hear more turkey buzzards overhead, and saw two more. Still, she was emotionless. She wasn't sure what to do anymore- Carol was gone, and she just felt... Empty.
She watched two buzzards land about thirty feet to her left. She couldn't see what they'd landed on, and she stood, curious, making her way over. It was then she heard the moans. As she got closer, she could see what it was- a torso of a walker dragging itself towards her, endtrails trailing behind it. A turkey vulture perched on it's shoulder, beak tearing the flesh away from it's face and gobbing it down. She wrinkled her nose in disgust.
Still, the walker dragged itself towards her, and she moved forward, the toe of her boot colliding with it's already indented forehead. The walker fell forward, dead, and she sat down beside it, studying it closely. She moved it's shoulder, turning it over.
She stared at the body, the blood spattered face, the milky eyes...
Was that Carol, now? She sighed. Just then, she heard a crashing through the brush.
She looked up, shocked, just as seven walkers crashed through the brush. She stared, jumping to her feet. She raced towards the creek- she didn't want to shoot them, and she wasn't sure if she could even manage to shoot them all.
Her best bet was to get across the creek- the water might slow them down, might give her time to get her bow out and kill them.
She stumbled on a log, then, and went tumbling down the creekbank, when she felt a blinding pain in her legs. She was half in, half out of the creek. And the walkers were still after her.
She looked to her right, realizing the post. She was stuck in the remains of a barbed wire fence. The walker were stumbling closer, and she was screwed.
She was struggling to keep her head above the water herself, the walkers were twenty feet away. Not good.
She scrambled, forcing her head above water.
"HELP!" she screamed. She prayed Daryl was nearby.
Daryl had been following her, thiugh she hadn't known it. He was fifty feet away when he heard her scream.
"Dad! Dad please! DAD!"
He didn't bother to reply, devoting all his breath to sprinting. Her voice was laced with terror, and he hefted his crossbow up and burst into the clearing. He could see water flying in a blur, and walkers stumbling towards it. It was thirty feet away, but he lifted the bow, shooting the closest one before dropping it in the grass, drawing his hunting knife and running forward, plunging it into the second walker, and the third.
The remaining four were heading towards him, now, and he shoved one roughly away, stabbing another. He shoved it harder than he'd exoected in his adrenalin, however, and it tumbled down the creekbank, landing right next to the struggling form in the water- Jamie.
Daryl didn't think twice, jumping down after it, plunging his knife through the back of it's head as it snarled at Jamie.
The remaining two walkers came, then- one stumbled, and Daryl took advantage of the moment to stab it in the face. The other one fell into the creek with a splash, and he sprang in after it. Water was flying, then, as it struggled to claw at Jamie, who was busy struggling to keep her head above water, and Daryl pinned the walker down, sinking the knife into it.
He sat a moment, catching his breath, before turning to Jamie. She was still flails, half underwater, and he grabbed her, yanking her head above water. She was still struggling, clawing at him, but he pulled her close to his chest, immobilizing her with the slightly smooshing hug.
"Hey. It's alright, baby, just don't struggle..." he ordered.
She was coughing, spitting water. Daryl was waist-deep in water, and she clung to him, arms around his mid-section, as tightly as possibly. He knew she'd almost drown and been bitten, and he gently placed one hand under her torso to keep her above water while he stroked her hair absently with the other, looking at what she'd gotten herself into.
The remains of a barbed-wire fence had been hidden by the water, he realized, and Jamie hadn't noticed it, getting her thighs caught in it when she'd tried to cross the creek and almost dying.
He let out a low whistle. "Damn. How bad it hurt?" Daryl asked, concerned.
Jamie shrugged. "Just get me out of here." she said shakily. He could tell by her wide eyes that she was still running on adrenalin, not feeling the pain...
He gently pushed her up, pushing her away from him and away from the barbed wire, until she was sitting on the bank, out of the water.
Daryl himself crawled out of the water to sit beside her on the bank. Jamie looked around at all the bodies, shocked.
"You killed them all?" she asked, staring at him.
Daryl nodded. "Yeah. You needed help. Hell, I'd kill a hundred if I had to to get to you."
And she started to cry, then. "I-I know. Why'd they send Carol away, Dad?" and then she leaned against him, crying into his shoulder.
Daryl put his arms around her, pulling her close. He took a breath before he spoke. "Carol killed Karen and David."
Jamie was staring at him, wide eyed. She was silent for a moment, before she shook her head. "No- no, she wouldn't. She wouldn't!" Jamie was looking alarmed and scared, disbelief written all over her face.
Daryl pulled her close again. This time his voice was shaking. "She did, baby girl. She told Rick. And she coulda done it- she did, baby. I know she did."
"No..." Jamie's eyes filled with tears. "You're lying!" she tried to pull away, but Daryl didn't let her go. Jamie was still curled against his chest, his strong arms holding her there as tears cascaded down her cheeks. "You're lying..." she whispered it this time, as though she herself wasn't sure...
"I ain't, baby girl." he said quietly. He could see in Jamie's eyes she believed him. And she started to sob.
"Hey- hey, don't you cry." Daryl put a finger under her chin, forcing her to look tearfully up at him.
"She was tryin' to protect us. She killed them to try and stop everyone from gettin' sick. She just went about it the wrong way."
"Is she a murderer?" Jamie asked quietly. He could tell everything she'd ever thought about Carol was changing, now.
"I don't know, Jamie. She had good intentions. She was trying to do what was best for the group. She did what she thought was right... she was just... wrong." Daryl said quietly, staring at the other side of the creek bank.
"You still love her, Dad?" Jamie asked quietly.
Daryl nodded, a faraway look in his eyes. "I do. I can forgive her. This world, now... it's shitty. It's hard to know the right thing to do. She did what she thought was best. The road to hell is paved with good intentions..."
Jamie nodded, laying her head against his chest. Daryl looked down at her jeans- they were torn from her thrashing, with bloody cuts from the barbed wire.
It was clear Jamie was exhausted, and he nodded to her. She picked up her bow from where she'd left it, standing.
"D'we gotta go back to the prison tonight?" she asked quietly.
Daryl looked at her. It was clear she didn't want to go- she'd gotten her normally confident stance back, albeit being a bit more shaky than usual, but she was there. Her serious green eyes met his, and he nodded.
"Go 'an find a good tree for us to sleep in. I'll see 'bout gettin' some grub."
And she turned, dirty hair flying behind her as she headed towards the treeline.
Daryl looked down at the bodies, spitting on the ground and wioing his mouth. He and Jamie had seen so little of eachother lately, with him on the run to the university, and her trapped in cell block A. It would be nice to regroup, spend a night with her, and only her, to worry about.
He grabbed the squriell she'd killed, addit it to the string of his own. Six squriells would be enough for the group, he reasoned, they could soare one for the two of them...
Dusk came, and Jamie eagerly led him by the hand towards th tree she'd chosen. It was a silver maple, with smooth bark and low branches, and he smiled. "'S nice."
She nodded, eyes alight. That was his girl- always bouncing back.
"Whatd'ya say about finding some firewood?" he asked.
She nodded, and they trooped into the woods, finding some dead wood.
Daryl noticed a bunch of green acorns on the ground and picked one up, smiling, before tossing it at Jamie. Her head snapped up, surprised, when it hit her, before she gave him a devilish glare and charged him.
From there they were running, Jamie laughing and chashing him and him ducking and dodging. The made noise, but Daryl didn't really care. He's killed seven walkers- there couldn't be that many more. He finally stumbled, and she tackled him, grinning, triumphant.
"Alright- you win." Daryl admitted grudgingly, but his eyes were bright. He stood, grabbing an armful of dry wood, handing his crossbow off to Jamie, who carried it and some sticks back to the field.
Dusk was settling, now, and he pulled out his lighter, starting the fire and roasting a squirrel on stick before handing it to Jamie.
He roasted his own, as well, and they ate in silence, jamie stealing playful glances up at him every now and then. Her soirits were high, Daryl realized- it'd been a long time since they'd been able to spend time together, like this. They hadn't been hunting together since the before the flu. And he was enjoying it.
"C'n I have a kidney?" Jamie asked, looking at him hopefully.
"Gonna have to fight me for it." Daryl said, smiling. And they rolled around in the dirt, then, him laughing and jamie giggling, squriming and wriggling out of all of his holds until she sat ontop of him. He'd let her win.
Still, she looked proud, before she fell asleep in his arms.
Eventually, the fire burned down to embers, and Daryl hefted a sleeping Jamie over his shoulder, climbing into the tree with her.
Rick and the group might be concerned they hadn't come back, but he didn't regret it. Jamie had needed it- a break from the prison, from being around people. She'd needed to clear her head, to talk about what had happened to Carol. His old, bright-eyed girl was back.
She'd just lost one parent- she deserved some time with the one she still had.
He'd needed today with her, too, he realized, more than he'd realized. If he died someday- and he knew he would- he hoped Jamie would remember this night, and what it was like to be happy.
Well? Daryl and Jamie have been trapped in a perpetual hell for the last few chapters, with the flu epidemic, doing what needs to be done to keep everyone alive. I think Carol being sent away was a hard blow for the two of them to take. But i also know that Daryl can bounce back quick, and with Jamie, a day in the woods alone to explain why Carol was sent away and help her cope is probably what they'd needl What do you think? Please review! :)