Yes, it's short. I'm sorry about that, but for your own good, I'm doing my best to ration out my ideas that way I can keep giving you chapters until October.

Damn you, Kirkman! *shakes fist*

Also- I love absolutely every since review you folks give me. If I don't respond, I'm sorry, but summer is just bat shit insane and I try my best to write this for you guys. You could give me a one word review, such as, 'zucchini', and I would still be extremely happy.

I know it takes a lil' bit more effort to leave me a review, but please do- in fact, before you even read this chapter, go down to the review box and type your favorite vegetable in and click 'submit', just so I know a fun fact about you.

Hugs! :)

"It's only been three days, you know." Carol said, looking at him incredulously as she handed him his lunch- a cheese sandwich.

"I know." he mumbled quietly, before he ducked out the door, headed towards the wall. He sat down cross-legged before the gate, looking out between the rusted bars, before pulling out his sandwich and nibbling on the corner absently.

It was lonely without her here. He waited in front of the gate at least three times a day for her- he knew they were most likely to come back at dawn, dusk, or noon, so he'd taken to eating by the gate. He wanted to be the first to see her if she came back.

School would start in an hour or so. School started at one in the afternoon, but he couldn't focus anyways, and the teacher had threatened to close the garage door, since he looked towards the gate so often. But he didn't really give a shit- he just wanted her to come back. It was too fucking lonely without her- he'd forgotten how much time they spent together until he was alone.

He wasn't afraid for her, either- he knew she could handle herself- they had enough food and water to last them- but still, that didn't mean he didn't yearn for her to come back.

He was halfway through his sandwich, now, and his thoughts wandered to the revolver he'd hidden in his room. It was in a shoebox in the back corner of his closet, wrapped in underwear, since he figured undergarments would stop whoever decided to rummage through there. He kept the post-it note she'd given him in his back pocket.

Rick strode over, nodding to his son. It must've been a slow day as constable, and he sat down beside Carl, stroking his stubble absently.

"Anything?"

He shook his head, looking up. The road was still empty for as far as he could see. A walker stumbled out from the woods, and a moment later it fell to the ground, killed by Sasha, who was manning the gun in the clock tower.

There was silence for a moment as Rick sat beside his son, before Carl spoke up. "I know they're talking about me." he said, meaning the townspeople.

Rick nodded. "Yeah, they are. They don't have anything better to do than speculate, so ignore them."

Carl nodded firmly, still looking outside the gate. "I just wanna be here when she gets back, you know?"

"I do. But it might be awhile- they could be gone for a week or so. You're prepared for that, right?"

He had a revolver and a few bullets in the closet, so he was prepared for anything.

"Yes. But she's gonna come back today- I can feel it."

"How the hell do you get a flat tire in the middle of the night?" Jamie asked, looking at Aaron quizzically. They'd only been driving for half and hour before they'd had to stop.

Aaron sighed, shrugging. "Must've run over a nail yesterday, not noticed it until now. We'll be fine- your Dad knows what he's doing."

"Jamie- mind giving me a hand? You need to learn how to do this, anyways."

She nodded, sidling over to help him. He mostly just narrated exactly what he was doing, but she got to hold onto the lug nuts. Every now and again he'd order her to scan for walkers, but none really showed up. It'd been a relatively quiet trip, and it unnerved her.

"Is their anything I can do to help?" Dakota spoke up, looking slightly nervous from where she stood, looking around anxiously.

"Nope. Almost got 'er done. Just jump back up in the truck, we'll have her fixed soon enough..."

"Walker." Jamie's head snapped up at the sound of snapping twigs in the woods to the right, she'd noticed the walker stumbling towards them, struggling to get up from the drainage ditch.

"Take care of that, will you?" Daryl asked, and she nodded, grabbing her bow from the back of the truck and offing it. As she strode over to retrieve her arrow, however, she heard it- more snapping twigs, moaning...

She turned tail and ran, forgetting her arrow altogether.

Aaron must've seen the look on her face, since he readied his rifle, and she did her best to be quiet as she ran over.

"Daryl! There's more- ten, maybe..." she said, voice barely above a whisper.

Daryl swore, nodding to Dakota.

"Lay down in the back of the tailgate with yer boy- throw a tarp over you, if you can." was all he said, before nodding to Aaron.

"Get in. I gotta drop the jack and put on the lug nuts, but wait for my signal 'fore you drive..."

Aaron slid into the driver's seat, and Daryl was about to start tightening the lug nuts when they ran out of time.

The walkers had stared to climb the drainage ditch, they were going to catch sight of them and swarm within a minute or so.

Daryl crouched down, intent on fastening the tire on.

"I'll cover you." was all she said, before three more walkers poured out of the woods right beside them, and she whirled, pounding an arrow into one of them, kicking another back and reloading another arrow to finish it, while Daryl finished off the third with the tire-iron.

The other walkers were less than fifteen feet away, and Daryl wordlessly grabbed the fresh carcass of one of the walkers, dumping it into the tailgate of the truck on top of Dakota and Avery, motioning for them to be quiet. He turned, frantic, when he realized he couldn't find Jamie, only to see she was dragging the carcass of one of the walkers beneath the truck, looking up at him, eyes wide, before he crawled beneath the truck as well.

The herd was ten feet away, and Daryl wordlessly rolled the carcass on top of her, being careful not to cut her as he slit open the body's side, reaching in and withdrawing a putrid handful to smear on himself. Jamie reached out to help him smear as well, and as a last touch he smeared some on her cheeks. Then they were simply huddled together beneath the truck, reeking of death as they watched the decaying parade of feet pass by.

Daryl wordlessly held his knife at the ready.

One of the walkers, who was dragging his leg behind him, stumbled and fell, face landing inches from Jamie. She didn't move, keeping her eyes open, as she simply watched the amber eyes. She had her knife in hand, in case it decided to lunge, but instead it kept crawling along after the herd, and they were left in the tense silence again.

Wordlessly, they waited until moans and rasps of the undead faded into the distance before Daryl crawled out from beneath the truck first, giving the all-clear to Jamie and knocking on the window of the truck, nodding to Aaron that everything was alright.

He hauled the carcass off of Dakota and Avery, who were wide-eyed but unharmed.

"I... that was incredible." Aaron said, staring at them in gross fascination.

Daryl shrugged. "You smear the guts on you 'nd you smell like them, makes them think you ain't alive. Can also hide under the bodies. Works well for walking through herds. Jamie's done it before."

Dakota nodded. "My husband used to do it." she said simply, though she didn't elaborate. Daryl checked to make sure the herd of undead had passed by for sure before nodding to Jamie.

"You still got them lug nuts?"

She nodded, wiping a disgusting hand on her jeans before pulling them from her pocket. Daryl grinned wordlessly, before finishing up changing the tire.

They were back just before dusk, and Carl looked up from where he sat before the gate, completely forgetting the prospect of a meal as he rushed to unchain the damn thing.

The truck pulled in carefully, and Aaron nodded to him- in his eagerness, he didn't even notice the man, staring at the motorcycle that pulled in behind them.

He nearly forgot to re-chain the gate, but he did with clumsy hands as he watched the truck and motorcycle pull up alongside the wall so as not to block the gate.

People had come out onto their porches, surprised to see them back, and Dakota nervously got out of the tailgate, helping Avery jump down behind her. Carl didn't even notice the woman, however, brushing past her and throwing his arms around Jamie as soon as she dismounted the motorcycle.

She smelled like absolute shit- but even when she was covered in death, he could still smell a hint of Jamie beneath it- motor oil and pine, with a touch of mint.

"Missed you too, Grimes." she grunted, and he pulled back, grinning at her.

She'd never looked more alive, and she beamed at him. She was like she was supposed to be- a hunter, hair messy, skin smeared with dirt and guts, the smell of death covering up the scent of sweat.

He noticed the make-shift bandage on her arm and frowned, but she shook her head. "Just a scratch- 'm fine- I promise."

Carl nodded, looking uncertain, and Deanna strode over, nodding to Dakota and Avery and giving them a warm smile.

"I'd like to welcome you to Alexandria. I'm Deanna- I see you've already met Aaron and the others in the scouting party..." she frowned when her eyes landed on Jamie and Daryl, smeared with guts, but Jamie didn't really mind.

"Any dinner left? We didn't have time to stop and eat..."

Carl nodded, taking her hand. "Might be a little cold, but I'll see what I can do." he promised, smiling at her as he led her back towards the house.

MAILBAG

Crissy, Chapter 96

This story is so bloody good! I love it sooo much! The way it blends into the real story is amazing! Keep out the good work!
Jamie is such a badass! I love the relationship she has with Daryl! Love how u aren't letting Jamie become soft but u keep her rough and badass. First story that I fell head over heels for! Can't wait to see whats gonna happen next!

Thanks! I'm really glad you like it- I wanted to make ti fit in with Kirkman's storyline, but not make it too predictable that it'd be boring, so I threw in some of my own details (Carl and Jamie messing around at the prison, Jamie getting shot, Daryl and Jamie's escapades, ect.), and tried to add in a new perspective and imagery so it wasn't boring.

I tried to put a lot of effort into Jamie's character, as well- she's not perfect, she still has nightmares about her family and gets ridiculed for the way she resorts to violence. She's not trusting of new people, she's afraid to go to parties- you could say she's got social anxiety or maybe even mild PTSD, almost- we really see in these last few chapters, where she nearly attacks the teacher for slamming a ruler on her desk and begs Daryl to leave with her on the night of the party- she isn't used to these people- to her, they're foreign and unpredictable, and that makes her really anxious.

We also see it in the way she handles herself outside the wall- she's used to surviving. She does what it takes and then some, and she doesn't hesitate- it's sort of Daryl's teachings reflecting in her, I think, and a little bit of Rick as well, not to mention in her own experiences with people- she's learned to fight the dead and fear the living.

Not to mention the key part she plays with Daryl and Aaron- vulnerable parties, like women and children (as we saw in the last chapter), will listen to Daryl and Aaron once they see her. Seeing Daryl has a child he's caring for removes the notion he's a rapist or insane, and really helps them in convincing people Alexandria is a safe place.

Sorry about such a long-winded response, you just got me thinking so much! Thanks a million for the review! :)