I'm back! I'm so, so sorry its taken me so long to update, but between the shit going down outside the walls and Morgan's spiritual ninja journey, I found myself trying to gather my thoughts and try and scrape up some new material. So here it is.
Basically- ww can assume that Jamie's done what Carl said and tried to blend in a bit more when within the walls, but also that she's still been going outside with Daryl. However, she was left behind on the walker drive, since Daryl figured the stakes were too high to take her. Here it is! :)
She'd adapted. She didn't carry her bow around at all times, though she did keep her pistol at her hip at all times, and a supply of knives stashed on her person.
She didn't wear boots all the time, either. When she was inside the walls, she wore a pair of black converses and jeans. People didn't look at her like she was dangerous… at least, not like they had.
She still mostly hung out with Carl- he was the only peer she had who could really appreciate the details of her scouting with Daryl. Everyone else seemed to shy away or look concerned when she mentioned her time outside the wall, so she kept the details to within her group- her family.
They knew all the right parts to laugh, all the right parts to be serious. Rick seemed to like her stories the best- she could tell that despite his job, the man missed being outside the walls.
While Carl never said anything, though, she knew he liked it when she stopped talking about the outside sometimes. When she threw on one of his t-shirts and they took Judith out in the stroller, when she went to the pantry with him to pick up rations for Carol or other odd job- he liked having her in the here and the now, focusing on life behind walls when she was inside them.
She'd been sitting on the walls with a pack of smokes in her pocket, when she saw the man get blown off the fence. She watched the blood flutter through the air like cherry blossoms, limp body fall like a ragdoll- before it hit the grass.
Her heart beat once, twice…. Before she hit the ground running, ducking behind a house. A person darted to her left, attacking someone who'd been tending a lawn.
They screamed- she pulled her pistol from her hip, only to see the man had already split the person she'd be saving wide open- they wouldn't survive.
There was a split second of indecision before she turned and ran, back towards the house. The person was already dead- her priority was her family.
She vaulted up the steps, throwing open the screen door.
"It's happening."
Carol was already moving, darting across the kitchen to grab her gun.
Carl came down the steps, sleek black rifle in hand. "I saw it from upstairs."
Carol whirled, eyes serious, gun loaded. "Stay here and protect Judith."
She was gone, ducking outside. Jamie closed the door behind her, locking it and turning to Carl.
"You got bullets?"
He nodded, eying her pistol. "Yeah. You?"
"Always."
It was awkward- sitting in a living room with one another, each armed, listening as their neighbors were eviscerated on them from all sides. They were both on high alert- they'd been in these situations before- but it was clear that time had dulled their instincts, had rusted the rhythm they'd once had in crisis- they weren't as in tune to one another as usual.
There was the sound of metal on metal- Jamie dove across the hallway, taking cover behind the kitchen island, gun pointed at the door. There was a click before the wood swung open.
Carl wordlessly swung around into the hallway, rifle trained on the door, to come face to face with Enid.
Enid frowned at Carl for a moment, brown eyes showing a hint of disgust at having him point a rifle at her. "Hi."
Carl lowered the rifle, sighing. "Why didn't you just knock?"
"I have these. I didn't want them to get them. And I came to say goodbye."
"You gave her keys?" Jamie asked, looking from Carl to Enid uncertainly. Enid looked at Carl, cocking an eyebrow, before Carl grabbed Enid by the arm, pulling her further inside.
"You aren't going anywhere, so don't tell me goodbye." He hastily shut the door behind her and locked it.
"Now go cover the back door- tell me if you see them coming. We're protecting Judith. They won't get inside this house- we won't let them."
Enid huffed out a breath. "Did you see them? They're just… people."
"They're people who want to kill us. That makes them targets." Jamie frowned slightly, realizing Enid had made no move to guard the back door like Carl had said. She turned, striding down the hall to cover it instead.
Enid wordlessly strode to sit back-to-back with Carl, sitting in silence in the living room.
"We're clear back here." Jamie called down the hallway, finding the back door secure.
Carl nodded. "Let me know if anything changes."
Tense silence descended on them- Jamie wordlessly sat down, leaning against the hallway wall, pistol resting in her lap.
Her mind wandered to Enid- she knew there was something between her and Carl. She'd known for awhile, but she'd chosen to ignore it. She'd had more pressing matters to deal with, outside the wall with Daryl- but he'd given the girl keys to their house. And he acted like they knew each other well.
She was slightly jealous, really. The way they talked to one another was easy going- like the way she and Carl talked to each other, almost. Though they were more fluid, more well acquainted- probably because Enid was within the walls all the time, there to keep him company when she wasn't.
A particularly loud scream from outside made her raise her head, snapping her from her thoughts. She was stupid to be thinking this all over during the middle of an attack, no less- but it seemed easier to dwell on than the thought of her neighbors being slaughtered outside, better than the thought of their blood spattered on the siding.
"Jamie get up here!" Carl's voice was rising in fear, and she was on her feet in a moment, flying onto the porch after him….
It was Ron. She'd never really liked the boy, but he was running from a man wielding a knife. Carl raised his rifle and fired, and the man- a rather grungy looking fellow- hit the ground, crying out and clutching his bloodied leg.
Ron stopped running, looking behind him at the downed man, eyes wide.
Carl made his way down the steps cautiously, Jamie slightly behind him- both of them never lowered their guns.
"Shit- please don't kill me, man…." the man held pressure to his bloodied leg, looking frantic. "Help, me, please… my leg…." with each frantic plea the man had been inching closer, and he lunged at Carl, grabbing the boy's leg and trying to wrench the rifle from his hands.
She'd never taken her gun off the man in the first place- she fired.
The man's brains painted the grass.
Carl looked over at her, thanking her with his gaze. She wordlessly nodded- she'd always have his back.
"Ron- get inside. We can keep you safe." Carl said.
Ron was nearly doubled over, hands on his knees, panting. "No." he turned and sprinted through the carnage, back towards his own house.
Carl stared after him for a moment, wondering whether or not he should go after him.
"Carl, get inside!" Enid called from the doorway, eyes wide.
Carl turned and obeyed, with Jamie trailing after him.
Still, as they sat back down inside the house, she couldn't help but feel a bit proud- she'd actually helped Carl, fought by his side- while Enid had simply stood in the doorway. No matter how good a pair of friends they were- Enid and Carl didn't have the same battle-forged bond she and Carl did. That was a bit of a comfort, honestly.
The timer went off, ringing loudly for a minute in the kitchen and startling her- she quickly turned it off, and Carl wordlessly slid on a pair of oven mitts, taking out the casserole Carol had been making and setting it on the counter before shutting the oven door.
Neither of them felt like eating it, to be honest.
Enid was gone- she'd slipped out the door when they hadn't been looking. All that was left was a note slid under the door- Carl read it quietly, folding it up and sliding it into his pocket.
She stood, gun in hand, nodding to him.
"They're gone." the gunshots had been fading, decreasing in frequency, and now they'd stopped altogether. "We should probably go see how bad it is."
Carl nodded wordlessly, and they both ducked outside.
"Are you and Enid a thing?"
Carl looked over at her, surprised. "I…" he didn't know what to say. She knew he wanted to say yes- he wanted to be a thing with Enid- but he also didn't want to upset her.
"It's fine. It makes sense- she's always inside the walls, I'm not." she muttered, tone of voice conveying it was clearly not fine.
"Hey- I don't even know what we are, alright? Enid's like us- she sneaks outside the wall sometimes, and she's just a person to hang out with."
"Sure she is."
"Are you seriously gonna grill me about this right now?" Carl demanded, stepping over a body as they walked towards the front gate.
"Would you rather think about what's going on around us?"
Carl sighed. "She's a friend, Jamie- I promise that's it.
Jamie glanced over at him, as though deciding if she believed him. Yes, she was being petty- especially at a time like this- but for so long she'd been Carl's one and only- she didn't want to give that up.
"Keep your gun loaded." Carl remarked, stepping over another body in the street.
"You don't have to remind me." she spoke dryly. While Carl had been living within the walls and relative safety- he'd hesitated to kill the man on their front lawn.
Unlike Carl, she never lowered her gun. Because when it came to survival- she'd never forgotten.
IS GLENN ALIVE OR NOT, KIRKMAN!?