Alright- first, you all owe a big thank you to MediumIndigo for motivating me to update. Second, this chapter basically wraps up the visit to the hilltop, covers the aftermath of their raid on the saviors, and details Denise's death. If we all look back to chapter 103, in too deep, Jamie and Carl run into Dwight and his unnamed girl companion or whatever.
Jamie's going to recognize him here, and Daryl is confused, because at this point, he doesn't realize Jamie went looking for him outside the walls during the walking infestation outside Alexandria and the collapse of the walls. This will be reconciled at later points.
Finally, please enjoy and review! :)
"How was it?" Carl stood on the porch, Judith on his hip.
"Meh. People are nice- place is nice, really. Lots of food. People are stuck up assholes, though, they don't have much in weapons. And we had to kill some of them, they staged a coup..."
Carl's good eyes widened.
"It was only two people, ans things calmed down. Maggie made a deal with them."
"Any idea about what it is?"
Jamie shrugged. "Didn't hear much of it. I'm guessing it was food for protection- and I'm guessing it's because we'll have to do something for it."
Carl nodded, ans they wordlessly both looked across the lawn to where a small group of men had been gathered, talking.
"You hear anything?"
Carl shook his head, before he hesitated. "Actually, yeah. I just heard a name being thrown around a lot... Negan."
"I doubt they'll let us go." Jamie muttered morosely.
"That tells you it's going to be bad." Carl spoke quietly.
They fell into an uneasy silence, not wanting to voice what they felt at the moment.
It had been bad. Not in the amount of casualties, but rather, in a more subtle, devastating way.
Jamie could see it in the way Glenn simply walked forward, staring at nothing in particular, streaks of blood that weren't his own dripping down his face.
She could see it in the way Maggie's smile looked forced, the way her lips twitched and trembled slightly, as though she was trying not to cry.
She didn't even see Carol, but she knew she was alive because she would've been told immediately otherwise.
Rick strode into the room, boots scraping across the wooden floor. He nodded to them and crossed to the sink, turning on the water and beginning to rinse the dried blood from his hands, the red mingling with water and staining the white sink pink.
Daryl strode into the room after them, immediately noticing the tension radiating from the two teens. "Everyone's alright. Why don't you two head upstairs for a bit?"
They nodded- the discomfort in the room was palpable, and they both turned on heel and jogged upstairs. A quiet tension wove it's way between them, making he
Both teens hurried to obey, running upstairs and falling to their knees on worn carpet, huddled around the vent in the floor, listening even though they doubted what they heard would be good news.
"They hurt you?" Daryl's voice was soft, taking on a tone he rarely used.
"No. But they burned."
It wasn't the words themselves, but the way Carol said them that made a shudder run down Jamie's spine. There was the faint sound of a screen door falling shut, then silence...
"She needs time." was all Rick said. Chair legs scraped across the floor as he sat down heavily, no doubt exhausted. "Let's just be glad it's all over."
She plodded along the railroad tracks, her father and Rosita up ahead, Denise staying along beside her. The raid on the pharmacy had gone well- they'd found some nasty shit in one of the back rooms, but the meds would be useful- especially with Maggie being pregnant.
"There's a cooler in there." Denise yelled excitedly. "Might be something we could use in it."
Jamie winced, shifting uncomfortably. Did she have to be so loud? She'd give their position away to any unfavorable character around here...
"Nah. It ain't worth the risk. We got what we came for, let's just go back." Rosita said, before she turned and kept walking. Daryl lingered, jerking his head and indicating to Jamie to follow and keep up. Rosita had picked up the pace, and she and Denise were now bringing up the rear- Daryl didn't like it. He always tried to keep Jamie close to him or between him and Rosita, so she was the most protected. Even without the Saviors to worry about, he was still antsy. This was the first time they'd been outside in awhile.
Jamie jogged, about to catch up, but stopped short when she saw Denise was going for the car door...
The door slid open, and the walker grabbed the cooler as Denise did, struggling to grab her hand. Denise yanked on the cooler anyways, sending her to the dirt, the walker on top of her...
The bloodthirsty sound of the undead mingled with Denise's frantic grunts, and she moved, planting the toe of her boot in the walker's ribs, kicking it off Denise, who barely had time to struggle into a sitting position before the walker lunged.
She kicked it back again, though she stumbled, surprised, when it reached out and grabbed her ankle, yanking her to the ground.
Her knife was pinned beneath her, and it was all she could do to scramble in the dirt towards the railroad tracks, eyes frantic. "Dad!"
Daryl had already dropped the bag of meds, when the sucking sound of metal meeting flesh made Jamie turn to see Denise, panting but triumphant, knife in hand.
Denise said nothing for a moment, simply rolling over and puking into the dirt, and Jamie looked down shakily at the dead hand still curled around her ankle, kicking it off and scrambling to her feet.
"I got it. Shit, I threw up on my glasses..." Denise scrubbed off the lenses as best she could, before she opened up the cooler to reveal a six pack of soda.
Daryl glared at her. "You fucking kidding me!? You nearly get my daughter killed over a goddamn pack of soda?"
Denise looked at Jamie, who'd allowed her hair to fall forward, obscuring her expression. Her face was unreabable, but her hands shook slihglty- she ahdn;t been that close to a bite in awhile.
"S-sorry." Denise said finally, standing. "I just... needed to prove to myself i could do it."
"What you need is to get your ass back to camp!"
"What I need is to face my shit!" Denise retorted. "you know, I could've asked Tara to come with me. Could;ve told ehr I loved. Her. But I didn;t, because I was scared, and because you guys make me feel safe. You're alone- all of you are- for the first time in your lfie, probably. You're stronger than you think- hell, even you, kid." Denise loked down at Jamie with a sad smile. "And you're brave. And it gives me hope that maybe someday I can be, too. That's what's stupid. Not coming out here and facing my shit. And it makes me sick that you guys aren;t even trying, because you're strong, and you're really good people, and if you don't...wake...up and face your..."
There was the nearly silent hiss of an arrow leaving a bow before Denise's eye was ierced through with a bolt. Her mouth worked fruitlesly for a moment, expression dazed, and though he lips moved, no sound came out, before she collapsed into a heap, dead, on the railroad tracks.
Guns cocked as men emerged from the woods,a nd Daryl raised his pistol, shoving Jamie behind the car, hopefully where she'd be out of sight.
"You drop 'em now!"
The scraggly blonde panted, his scruffy face adding to his general air of ugliness. "Well, hell. You got something to say to me? You gonna clear the air? Stand up on that high horse?"
Jamie peered under the car from where she sat, back to the tire, to see worn boots. She recognized the voice- from where, she didn't know, and she peered around the tire to come face to face with someone she'd swore was dead long ago...
She didn't even know the bastard's name. He'd been the one with her father's bike, though, his crossbow- she'd nearly killed him, Carl had left him and his girl with a gun and two bullets before they'd let the bastards sleep in the bed they'd made...
She jerked back out of sight behind the tire, but ti was too late.
Dwight's brown eyes flashed. "Well lookie here- you found your way back to your Daddy, huh? That's gonna make this so much sweeter..."
An involuntary shudder ran down her spine, and she looked down to find herself shaking.
Daryl looked from Jamie to Dwight frantically, hands clenching into fists. "Wait- you know him!?" Daryl asked, his voice dropping out as his eyes went wide.
Dwight laughed. "Didn't you wonder how your bike got back? Should've
seen her- you would've been proud, Dad." Dwight's eyes glittered with malice as he spoke. "She was pitting fire, pistol ready- she would've killed us, if that bitch boy she was with hadn't talked her out of it."
Daryl stared at Jamie, mouth open. Jamie was covering her mouth, eyes squeezed shut, trying to control her breathing. This wasn't happening, this wasn't happening...
You went looking for me? And ran into this shit bag? Daryl's eyes widened slightly, as he looked from Jamie's hunched form to Dwight's menacing smile and made up his mind.
Ain't nothing I can do to fix that now. Whatever happened- this is gonna get ugly. I can feel it. Daryl looked down at Jamie sadly. His daughter looked up at him with tears in her eyes.
"Run." Daryl spoke easily, voice eerily calm. Her eyes widened, and while something in her heart tore at the thought of leaving her father behind, she realized he'd have a better chance of making it out without having to worry about her.
Her feet scraped across the loose gravel as she ran, loose stone tumbling. As she disappeared into the woods, she could hear the tail end of conversation behind her.
"Shame- ah well, maybe we can persuade you with him?"
"What a shame." Dwight sighed sadly, watching Jamie run into the woods, a sad smile on his face. "I was looking forward to meeting her again. Ah well- maybe we can persuade you with him." Dwight jerked his head to the left, and one of his scruffy looking companions led Eugene out of the woods, forcing the man down on his knees.
Eugene looked up pitifully, and Dwight grinned, raising his eyebrows and smirking at Daryl. "Your move, fucker."
Daryl grunted. "I shoulda killed you when I had the chance."
Eugene nodded to Dwight calmly. "i feel I should inform you my people are behind those barrels there." he said, nodding to some rusted oil drums.
Dwight frowned. "Check it out." he ordered. Some of his men approached the area cautiously, before Eugene had the groin of Dwight's psnts in his teeth. With a blood curdling scream, everyone exploded into action.
As soon as she heard gunshots ring out, she staggered to a stop, falling to her knees in the dead leaves.
"Dad..." She didn't know Dwight personally, but whatever was happening, it couldn't be good.
She staggered back to her feet, before she was sprinting back towards Alexandria. the faster she could get to Rick, the better.
Please- just stay alive.