This chapter features a possibly oblivious and possibly slightly insensitive Daryl- you've been warned. Please review for my mailbag! :)
She woke up, limbs tangled in something and anther something else painfully wedged between her legs. She felt as though she'd been riding a horse for hours. Slowly, she opened her eyes to find she was straddling a fork in the tree. Oh- right. the shack had been far too crowded s it was, and so she'd slipped back into old habits, not wanting to be cramped in such a small, stuffy space with everyone else. Dawn had broken an our or so ago, and judging by the thick black smoke on the horizon, Terminus was still burning. The bastards deserved it.
Abraham looked up quizzically at the girl in the tree, confused. He'd seen her walk out of the shack last night after looking around, disgusted with the close quarters. And he'd seen her father smile slightly and she a knowing look with the gray-haired woman who'd saved their asses at Terminus. She hadn't come back in tht night. He'd been tempted to go looking for her, she was simply a kid, but keeping Eugene safe took priority over that. Besides, her father didn't seem concerned, and so he'd let it lie. He seemed to understand a bit more, now, but still- he'd never seen someone sleep in a tree.
She was awake, now, moving around slightly- grabbing her bow from where it hung on a tree branch slightly above her, the quiver from the one below. Suddenly he was getting an idea as to why the kid had survived so long.
Glenn noticed him watching her and smiled slightly. "Yeah. She does that, sometimes. It's gotten a lot better than it used to be- she used to sleep in a tree every night, when we found her. Was scared of the walkers getting to her while she was asleep..."
Abraham frowned. "Found her?"
Glenn nodded, expression changing to a slightly more remorseful one.
Abraham cocked his head, curious.
"Daryl isn't her real Dad." Glenn said quietly. "We found her few months in. Stumbled out of the woods, covered in dirt and grime, alone. She's been with us ever since."
Abraham nodded, understanding. They'd found her early, before the living started eating the living, back when people didn't kill one another on sight- back when everyone did their best to save every , Glenn had said she'd been alone when they'd found her- that's been nearly two years ago. And she'd been alone. He couldn't imagine what the kid had had to do.
They were packing up, then, getting ready to move looked up from where he'd been loading his crossbow, up to where Jamie was perched on low branch of the tree, bow and quiver slung over her shoulder, looking around.
He smiled slightly- "You comin', or what?"
She nodded, giving him a small smile before jumping down, landing lightly in the leaves and striding over to stand beside him.
She looked over at him warily, then, and he returned the gaze, sizing her up- she was tough- but he was tougher. Something flickered in her gaze- not fear, but anger... Her gaze seemed to literally sear his flesh. This was a kid who wasn't to be messed with, he realized, he could tell simply by that one look. Daryl placed a rough hand on her shoulder, then, said something he couldn't make out from where he stood, and she turned away, pulling her bow from her shoulder and notching an arrow. Rick nodded to everyone, before they moved out, trooping through the woods- away from the smoke on the horizon.
She strode through the woods, between Daryl and Carol, sending them each smiled now and then. They were together- she'd figured Carol was gone for good. Hell, she'd figured everyone was gone for good. It was unreal, really.
Every now and then Daryl would motion to her slightly, and they'd break off from the tight group, disappearing in the brush for few minutes at a time and returning to the group with more squirrels than they'd left with.
They made camp that night in a clearing, making a small fire and roasting the squirrels.
Jamie was settled, back against the tree, yet again between Carol and Daryl. She'd learned to stick close to the group- especially since they were on the road- again. Bad things happened on the road.
It was cold, their breath clouded in front of them, and Daryl looked down quietly at her denim vest- that's once been Ryder's jacket. The sleeves had long since been torn to shreds, and so she'd cut them off. Still, the coat was threadbare, and it couldn't have provided much heat. He wordlessly shifted his crossbow into his other arm, shrugging his leather vest off and draping it around her shoulders. She looked up at him appreciatively, and he lifted his arm, putting it around her shoulders and allowing her to burrow happily into his side, attracted to the body heat and comfort. Within ten minutes, she was asleep.
Daryl glanced over at Carol, and she quietly glanced back at him. They played this game for about ten minutes or so of her attempting to dodge is gaze, before she finally sighed, the breath escaping her lips in a large cloud of fog. "I don't wanna talk about it." she said finally.
Daryl shrugged. "Might feel better if you do."
Carol said nothing, distant look on her face. Just then, Daryl flinched. He'd heard twigs breaking, he swore he had...
He quietly nudged Jamie off his lap, letting her lay on the leaves, as he silently stood, shouldering his crossbow. Carol stood, as well, flanking him, as they quietly cross the clearing, towards the source of the sound, leaving the circle of firelight.
One step, two... "Daryl?" he heard Rick behind him and turned.
"I heard somethin'."
Rick nodded- he'd learned not to discredit the hunter's senses, and his face twisted with concern. "An animal?"
"No- we'd hear it runnin if it were an animal. It was a person- and it was watching us."
With three of their guards conversing on one side of the camp and everyone else half sleep, blinking into the firelight, no one heard the slight crunching of leaves near the other end of the clearing. Hell, no one even saw it until it was in the clearing, and even then, they didn't have time to grab their weapons before it'd fallen on top of the closest person- Jamie.
"Glenn! Glenn! Shoot it!" Maggie's voice sounded among the moans as she frantically searched the leaves for her gun, not sure where it'd gone...
Jamie had woken up to something heavy- something like a person- falling on her. It was a fraction of a second later that she heard a frantic moan and smelled death that instinct took over. She thrashed, lashing out wildly and somehow managing to put her palms on the walker's chest and shove it off her. It was on the ground, now, on it's stomach while she was on her behind, trying to army-crawl towards her...
Over Maggie yelling at Glenn to shoot the thing and her own adrenalin-fueled terror, there was a muffled gunshot, before blood spattered her shoes and calves, and the walker was an unmoving heap of flesh on the ground. she looked over, chest heaving, to see Carl holding his gun steadily. His anxious eyes found hers, brown eyes met green, and she relaxed- everything was good again.
"Did it get you?" Rick asked, looking concerned, from where he'd stood with his own gun.
Jamie shook her head quietly- it hadn't bitten her, but damn, it'd been close... Her hands were shaking, she'd just been asleep, goddamn it, how the hell had it managed to get close to her? She looked up to see Daryl standing beside Rick, looking concerned but distant s he watched her, Carol beside him. That was when it hit her- he'd left her. He'd left her on the leaves, and the walker had almost gotten her.
She fought the urge to vomit what little she'd eaten that night. the fear and adrenalin was all too fresh in her mind, she was shaking, she wanted to cry... But instead, she simply swallowed back the bile she felt rising in her throat and scampered up the nearest tree, finding refuge, once again, off the ground.
Daryl wordlessly strode over and sat down heavily against the trunk- he was concerned for Jamie, sure, but she hadn't been bitten or scratched. Still, he shouldn't have left her. But right now, he was more preoccupied with the fact that someone was watching the group as a whole. He'd just gotten his family back again, just found somewhere safe for Jamie- and he'd be damned if he lost it again.
Carl managed to duck out of the circle of fire light, finding his way through the dark easily and finding his footing in the tree. He climbed up until he was beside her, fifteen feet or so off the ground. She was straddling a rather large branch, leaning her back against the trunk, glassy eyes gazing down at the fire below.
"Hey." he said quietly.
"Hey." she managed to choke out around her pounding heartbeat, voice a lot breathier than she'd hoped it'd be. her hands were still sweaty, and she ws still shaking. Damn adrenalin.
"You alright?" He asked nervously, reaching out to place a gentle hand on his shoulder. She flinched slightly at his touch- she was barely holding it together.
"I ain't bit." was all she muttered.
"But that doesn't mean you're okay." Carl said simply.
She was silent, focusing on taking deep breathes, battling the adrenalin at war within her. Finally, she summoned up the self control to speak. "What happened? Before the walker came, I mean... Daryl just... he left me."
Carl nodded, not wanting to say it and give voice to her fears, but not wanting to betray her trust by lying to her either. "He didn't plan on being gone long- he heard something, I think, wanted to go check it out. He was only gone for a few minutes..." he was trying to reassure her now, desperate to convince her Daryl hadn't just forgotten about her and left her, asleep, vulnerable, on the leaves. Normally it wouldn't have been a big deal, to be left alone. Not at the prison, or at the farm, but in the woods, out here... One bite was all it took.
"Was he scared?" Jamie asked quietly, not looking up from where her eyes were glued to the fire. "When he saw that walker on me- did he look scared?"
Carl hesitated. Finally, he answered. "I didn't see. I was half asleep, I was almost out, actually, sitting near where my Dad and Daryl and everybody were talking, and... it came out of nowhere. I didn't see his face- The walker was on you, and I couldn't focus on anything besides grabbing my gun. I'm sorry."
She shook her head. "It isn't your fault." she said quietly. "It's nobody's fault, I guess. He was only gone for a second- probably trying to make sure something else didn't get into camp. He just... wasn't thinking." Carl supplied.
Jamie nodded, letting out a shaky breath. "Yeah. You should probably get back down. Judy..."
"Tyreese is watching her." Carl assured her.
She nodded, pulling Daryl's vest tighter around her shoulder's as the cold wind seemed to slice through her clothes.
Wordlessly, Carl moved to he sat behind her on her branch, straddling it with her. She sat, back against his broad chest, her shorter, messy-looking hair tucked beneath his chin.
"You don't have to stay." Jamie said quietly, voice barely above a whisper.
"And you don't have to be alone." was all he replied.
They fell asleep like that together- the adult were too busy to notice or care about either of them, they were so intent on keeping the camp secure.
And they were content in each other's arms- because despite the fact that they were both alive now, they were both shaken by the fact Jamie could've been bitten, if she hadn't been as quick as she was. Because no matter how much you loved someone... one bite was all it took.
Mailbag
Need next update x just read all 78 chapters in one go and im gunnin for more!
Response: While I'm really glad you enjoy the story- PLEASE DO NOT READ ALL 78 CHAPTERS IN ONE GO! Seriously people- SLEEP! This could be dangerous!
Side effects include blurred visions, sudden unavoidable urges to hug Daryl and subsequent sobbing from being unable to hug Daryl, Exhaustion, soiling yourself because you couldn't tear yourself away to go to the bathroom, Emotional breakdown when you realize you have a week for another episode, hormonal rages and screaming, and hallucinations/nightmares about headless walkers that are still alive and impossible to kill (this has happened to me before).