Done! Three days early, too! I've been reviewing these next few episodes, since I want it to be accurate.
If you guys think Beth is too weak here or that Jamie is too strong, look at it this way- Jamie's been through this before. She lost her entire family, she's been raised struggling to survive. So being on the run for your life is a familiar thing for her, and while it hurts to have lost the prison- she isn't reelhg as much as Beth is, because while she's lost Rick and Carl, she still has Daryl- her rock.
As far at Beth knows, her whole family is dead and she's running for her life for the first time in a long time. So yeah, she's going to be pretty weak, not to metnion all she's got are knives, not like Jamie, who's got the bow to rely on. So yes, thes two characters will be reacting differently, but I think that makes sense.
PLEASE REVIEW!
From there, they were just running. Walkers that'd noticed them during their hasty escape were trailing the,, not to mention they were running into new ones that'd been drawn to the explosions...
Beth nearly ran smack into one, barely skidding to a stop before it with her gun raised. She pulled the trigger only to hear the hammer click as it fell onto an empty barrel...
Jamie yanking her to the side was the only thing that saved her from a bite, though Daryl's crossbow was raised and aimed in case either girl needed backup.
He looked over at them, hardly more than a quick glance, to make sure they wrre beside him before they continued to tear through the woods.
They raced into a field, overgrown with ragweed that was almost as tall as Jamie in some places. Their lungs burned and sweat poured into their eyes, but they didn't stop until they were sure they were at least a few minutes ahead of the walker parade.
They finally all collapsed onto the ground, simply panting, exhausted.
Jamie turned her head to look over at Beth, who was laying beside her. She felt guilty when she noticed the quickly bruising hand-shape that was on her cheek. she didn't realize she'd hit her that hard...
"M' sorry... for... hittin' you back there. Had to snap you out of it." she got out between pants.
Beth nodded- she wasn't able to muster up a good natured smile, but she understood.
"You did what you had to." she said, and Jamie nodded, realizing things were good between them.
They found a little place within the cover of the trees as dusk was falling. There was a rotten log, and Daryl found himself sitting, back against it, with Jamie beside him.
Beth sat opposite them, across from the small fire they had going, flipping through her diary. She'd had the little book in her pocket when they'd ran, and she read through all the old, hopeful entries, wishing she could go back...
Daryl was mainly silent, simply looking over at Jamie occasionally. They were all dirty, but Jamie in particular looked scratched to hell. She'd been raked by pratically every bramble in the forest.
He felt a pang, thinking of everyone he couldn't save... But their was a small bit of satisfaction that he had Jamie, the person who meant the most to him.
She looked exhausted, staring into the dying flames. Her bow and quiver sat on her otherside, and she looked over at him, giving him a weary smile.
At least they were alive, she was saying. She had the haunted look in her eyes, he could tell she was thinking of the others, as well...
He lifted his arm, putting it around her shoulders, and she nestled into his side, content to smell the familiar scent of dirt and leather.
She drifted to sleep like that, leaning against Daryl calmly. He knew there was no way he was going to sleep- they didn't have cover, didn't have a safe place, and he was the most capable to keep watch...
He watched Beth thumb absently through her diary- she had that same haunted look in her eyes- her whole family was probably dead- Just like Jamie, when they'd found her...
It was a few hours later when Beth spoke.
"We shouldn't be out here." she said finally.
Daryl looked at her, bangs falling over his mournful green eyes, and said nothing.
"We can't be the only ones." she tried again. "You're a tracker- we can find others- from the prison. It'll be daylight in an hour or two. Well? Come on!" she looked frustrated at his lack of response.
She sprang to her feet, grabbing her knife from where it'd been stabbed into the dirt.
"Well fine- you don't have to look for them, but I will." she spat, storming off into the woods.
Daryl watched her go for a minute before looking over at Jamie, who was still asleep. He lightly shook her, and she mumbled something. "C'mon. Gotta get moving."
Daryl stood, nudging her with his foot. Her eyes fluttered open, and she blinked sleepily. He kicked some dirt into the barely still-burning fire, and she sleepily rounded up her bow and quiver, stumbling along after Daryl, who was in pursuit of Beth.
By the time daylight broke, they were awake. Beth was walking determindly in one direction when Daryl stopped, brushing some leaves away from the ground to reveal boot tracks.
Jamie crouched on the other side of them quietly, studying them with him.
"See? That means they're alive." Beth said simply.
Jamie shook her head. "Coupl'a hours ago, Beth. A lotta shit can go down in a couple hours." she hated how Beth was getting her hopes up- she was setting herself up for disappointment.
Daryl sighed. "Whoever it was, they were here four or five hours ago." he said simply, rising to his full height and nodding to Jamie as she did the same. He noticed she was holding her gun and shook his head.
"Save your bullets- use the bow."
She nodded, knotching an arrow in her bow, taking it from where she'd had it slung across her back by the string.
They walked on, until they came to a clearing filled with grapes.
Daryl noticed a few of them had been stomped on, and shook his head. "They picked up the pace here. Things started goin' to shit."
"Wouldn't kill you to have a little faith." Beth muttered. Jamie said nothing, grabbing a bunch of grapes and handing them to Daryl, popping a few into her mouth.
Beth had walked a bit to the distance, and was picking grapes herself. "They'll be hungry when we find them." was all she said. Daryl handed her his bandana to wrap them in, though they both said nothing to one another.
Daryl looked down at the ground again. "Walker tracks. Had to be at least a dozen..."
Jamie looked up from where she'd been eating her own grapes, slightly bothered by the news. She looked over at her bow, picking it up from where she'd set it down and choosing to eat grapes with only one hand, now.
Daryl nodded approvingly at her decision before turning back to scrutinize the tracks...
Beth looked up from where she'd been picking grapes. She thiught she'd heard a noise, and she looked over at Jamie, wondering if her friend had simply stepped on a twig...
And then it was on her. The walker had stumbled out of the brush and grabbed her from behind.
Instantly she was fighting, kicking and squriming...
Daryl had his crossbow raised, but he couldn't get a shot in, not with the way they were moving...
He ditched the bow, tearing the walker off Beth. He looked for either of the girls for help as he grappled with it, catching Jamie's eye. She had her bow up and ready, pulled back...
He nodded, wordlessly letting the walker fall ontop of him, having it in a full-nelson as it writhed and frothed...
There was a rush of air and he felt the arrow hit it through the head as it's limbs grew still.
He threw the body off of him, nodding to Jamie appreciatively, looking over worriedly at Beth. The girl was looking slightly scared- he'd have to work on teaching her to kill if she was going to make it out here.
But he said nothing for the moment, simply pulling the bloody arrow from the walker's skull and dropping it into Jamie's quiver, nodding to her- she'd done well.
They wordlessly plodded on.
They finally came to some railroad tracks, already hearing the moans. Jamie was about to run ahead of them, apprehensive- she hated hearing walkers and not knowing where they were- but Daryl put out an arm to stop her.
He was the strongest, he reasoned, and he went first, crossbow ready, climbing down the small hill of gravel until he was alongside the tracks...
The walkers were eating on reamins.
There were three or four of them, and he could see the disappointment on Beth's face. Hell, he was disappointed too, but his hopes hadn't been high- there was a small chance that anyone else had survived. If they were frim woodbury, they most likely wouldn't last...
He looked over at Jamie, seeting she had a hardened expression on her face. She'd been bracing herself for this, if course, but he could see that she, too, had been hooing they wouldn't find this...
Wordlessly she reached into her quiver, choosing an arrow and knotching it. He raised his crossbow, as well, choosing his first walker and letting it fly.
Jamie nailed hers as well, and they walked towards the heartbreaking sight.
Daryl pulled his arrow from the head of one walker, stabbing it through the head of another, who was too preoccupied eating what looked to be intestines to notice.
Jamie looked around at what they'd been eating on. Most of it was unrecognizable, looking like horribly ground hamburger meat... But she noticed that one of the bodies was human and had the head intact.
She dropped to one knee, drawing her knife from its sheath and driving it through the forehead, trying to ignore that her hands were now slick with blood as she re-sheathed the knife.
Slowly, she stood, swallowing. She'd seen carnage like this before, of course, being raised on the road had made sure of that. But she hadn't seen anything like this since they'd made the prison their home.
Daryl didn't want to look at it anymore, and started further down the tracks, knowing the girls would follow.
It was then he heard the sobbing behind him.
He turned to see Beth standing before the scene, sobbing her eyes out, a look of pure hopelessness crossing her face.
Her hands at her side, she just stood their and wept...
Daryl wanted to comfort her- he really did. But he couldn't. Because everyone was probably dead, and there was no way he could guarantee that this scene might not be them tomorrow, either eatten or doing the eating...
Jamie was standing in the middle of the bodies, bloody hands shaking slightly. God, it hurt to see someone cry. It was easier not to think about it.
She walked over and stood beside the sobbing blonde, then, looking mournfully at the scene before them, before taking Beth's hand in her own and quietly leading the blonde away, towards Daryl, farther down the tracks.
That night, while Jamie fell into a fitful sleep, Beth tore the last hopeful page from her diary and crumpled it tossing it into the pitiful fire.
NEXT TIME ON THE WALKING DEAD-
Will Jamie be kidnapped with Beth, or worse? Review with predictions and I'll get back to you!