It wasn't often that Nicole truly saw red. Sure, there was a constant stream of walker blood that she wiped from her bat. But that isn't what 'truly seeing red' meant to her. Every so often, Nicole would get buried in emotions. Those emotions would swallow her whole -- most of the time resulting in her doing idiotic things. Nicole saw red. Both in the literal and figurative way.
Nicole glanced around the blood splattered camp. She took note of the number of bodies that laid on the ground -- her friends and the walkers that took their lives. Her emotions wanted to break her down. They wanted to consume her just as the ravenous monsters did. Tears piled in her green orbs, threatening to spill over as she mourned the place she once considered safe. She mourned the place that she started to consider home.
Nicole took note as her group started fires. She noticed as they started to pull the monsters into it. She noticed the tentative care that her people used to pull their dead friends close to the blue truck she drove in for days on end.
She started to pick up on the building tension as people gathered around the small fire that the fish fry resided at the night before. Nicole stroked Cheyanne's hair in efforts to calm both of them down. She could feel the shallow, sleeping breaths on her shoulder.
As Rick walked over, Nicole stood up and walked toward the RV. Nicole didn't know how Dale would feel about her sleeping in his bed. Nicole laid her little girl in the booth around the table. She grabbed a small throw blanket and covered Cheyanne's small frame. After the attack, Cheyanne could not fall asleep. Images were flashing across her mind, similarly to her mother's.
Nicole departed the RV. She instantly saw her sheriff friend with a gun to his face. Nicole tensed as Andrea spat out, "I know how the safety works."
Rick held his hand up and started moving backward. "I'm sorry," he repeated until she pulled the gun back in her lap. Nicole nervously made her way back to the huddled group. It felt like everything but nothing was happening at the same time. She wasn't sure if it was from her concussion or if it was from the whole contradiction, but something was giving her a headache.
Daryl stormed over pickaxe in hand. "Y'all can't be serious. Let that girl hamstring us? The dead girl's a timebomb."
Nicole scoffed, "Isn't that what you thought about us when we first met?"
"That's different, Nicole. And you know it," he spat out to the girl.
Rick shifted before asking, "What do you suggest?"
Daryl took a few steps forward. Nicole tensed at the angered stature he held. "Take the shot." Daryl glanced to Nicole in the corner of his eye. "Clean, in the brain from here."
"Hell, I could hit a turkey between the eyes from this distance." Daryl pointed toward Andrea.
Nicole rolled her eyes. "Daryl, about time you realized something," she began, "Not everyone can be the remorseless prick that you are." Daryl was taken aback but her sudden outburst. "Andrea needs to mourn. If she wants to deal with it, let her." Nicole glanced to the grieving woman. "Who the hell do you think you are trying to take that choice away from her?"
Daryl gave her a loathing look. He turned around and scoffed as he stormed away. Daryl was vexed. Not so much with the fact that this group could barely wash their panties alone, but by the fact that they had seemingly turned the last person he cared for against him. That's what got him. It made him want to snap.
Nicole sat beside Lori. Her head pounded from every little noise. "How's your head, Nikki?" Rick inquired as he bent down in front of her.
The blonde woman sighed and gently shook her head. "Feels like Daryl's repetitively driving that pickaxe into it," she said as she rubbed her aching eyes.
Rick smirked at her analogy. "Well, you rest here. I don't need you almost passing out again." Blue met Green and she nodded. Nicole watched as the color spots jumped in her vision.
"We don't burn them!" Glenn's voice ripped through the silence. Nicole's head shot up toward the boy's voice. Glenn was taking the loss of his home hard. He wanted to rewind time to save every one of his friends. He hated that he was burying most of them.
Nicole took note as Morales and Daryl started to drag away Donovan's body. Donovan was a nice kid. He always made sure to sneak some chocolate from his sister and give to Cheyanne. Nicole and he had bonded over their love for Diet Dr. Pepper. Nicole tried to remember the taste of her favorite drink. She remembered how the two made a pact to split one if they ever found it.
"You reap what you sow!" Daryl cracked out as he pulled Donovan's body. He dropped it. "Y'all left my brother for dead," he yelled as he peered around camp. "You had this comin'!" Daryl stormed over to grab his pickaxe again.
Everyone glanced at Nicole. "Not today," she said as she held her hands up. Nicole didn't want to squabble with the redneck anymore than she already had that day. But, it was Daryl. Hot-headed Daryl. Nicole was bound to meet some backlash, especially from her quip earlier.
Nicole's entire body shot up when Jacqui yelled at Jim. Dizziness waved through her body from the jolt; she tried to not let it show. "A walker got him. A walker bit Jim."
Nicole tensed. She wondered if she had heard Jacqui correctly. She began walking toward Jim. "Jim, it's okay."
"Show it to us," Daryl demanded, shooting Nicole's attempt to calm him the situation down.
Jim turned in a panicked hurry and grabbed a shovel. That's when chaos broke out. Everyone was yelling at the man. None of it was helping to calm things down. If anything, Nicole thought it was making things worse.
In heat of the moment, T-Dog ran up behind Jim, grabbing his arms and pulling him back. Daryl rushed forward and pulled up his shirt. There, on the left side of his stomach, laid a prominent bite mark. "I'm okay," Jim started to repeat as T-Dog let go.
Nicole sighed and stepped forward to Jim. "C'mon, Jim. Let's sit you down," she softly spoke. Nicole leads him over to a small crate by the end of the RV. She helped the man sit down. "Do you want some water, Jim?"
"No. No, thank you, Nicole." Jim started to cradle his head in his hands. The infection started to take its toll on him. This dreadful heat wasn't helping his predicament.
"All right, well, if you need anything, let me know, okay?"
Jim nodded and Nicole walked over to the cluster of people. The first thing she heard was, "I say we put a pickaxe in his head and the dead girl's and be done with it."
"We're not doing that," Nicole spat as she stood behind the redneck.
"Whatever," he grumbled.
"Is that what you'd want if it were you?" Shane asked as he looked up from the dirt.
"Yeah, and I'd thank you while you did it," Daryl said, tapping his fingers on the wood of the pickaxe.
Dale spoke out his unpopular opinion, "I hate to say it -- never thought I would -- but maybe Daryl's right."
Nicole shook her head, "Jim's not a monster. He's our friend and he's sick."
"She's right. If we start down that road, where do we draw that line?" Rick asked.
"Line's pretty clear. Zero tolerance for walkers, or them to be," Daryl's gravelly voice spoke out.
"He's still human, Daryl! He still has time. He's not some brainless freak -- not yet at least," Nicole lectured, "he is still a human, with wishes and feelings. He deserves to be treated like one and not like the shit you wipe off of your shoe."
"What if we could get him help?" Rick suddenly inquired as he looked among the group. "I heard the CDC was working on a cure."
"I heard that too. Heard a lot of things before the world went to hell," Shane replied.
"What if the CDC is still up and running?"
"Man, that's a stretch right there." Shane glanced down to the ground.
"Why? If there's any government left, any structure at all, they'd protect the CDC at all costs, wouldn't they?" Rick defended himself, "I think it's our best shot. Shelter, protection."
Shane sighed before counterarguing, "Okay, Rick, you want those things, all right? I do too, okay? Now if they exist, they're at the army base. Fort Benning."
Nicole ran her hand through her hair as Lori said, "That's a hundred miles in the opposite direction."
"That is right. But it's away from the hot zone," Shane tried to convince his partner. "Now listen to me. If that place is operational, it'll be heavily armed. We'd be safe there."
Rick started again with his defense. Nicole's headache was worse than ever with all of this arguing. She noticed when Daryl started looking back to Jim as the two continued to argue. "Daryl, no. Please," she whispered as she placed her hand on his bare shoulder.
Daryl shrugged off her touch as he returned his attention in front of him. "The CDC is our best choice and Jim's only chance," Rick concluded.
Nicole saw Daryl's hand clutch around his weapon. "You go looking for aspirin, do what you need to do," he stated as he stepped back and turned around. "Someone needs to have some balls to take care of this damn problem!"
Rick put his gun to Daryl's head right before his fatal swing. Nicole tensed at the sight. "Rick," she uttered. He ignored her.
"We don't kill the living," Rick firmly stated as Shane moved in front of the infected man.
"That's funny coming from a man who just put a gun to my head," Daryl graveled.
"We may not agree on some things, but not on this. You put it down," Shane backed Rick up.
Daryl slammed down his pickaxe and stormed off to his tent. Nicole ran after him even though she knew the shit show that was about to happen between them.
"Hey, hillbilly," she uttered as she entered the tent. Daryl sat on his sleeping bag with his head in his hands.
"The hell you want?" he grumbled out as he looked up to her.
Nicole bent down in front of him. "I wanted to make sure you were okay."
Daryl scoffed, "No. You don't."
"Excuse me?"
"You want to be a nosy rich bitch. You don't give a shit about anyone but yourself and that bastard child of your's," Daryl snapped.
Nicole sneered as she stood up, "And to think, I thought you were better than your piece of shit brother."
She was about to exit his tent, but a strong hand grabbed a hold of her arm. The grip was tight, and instantly brought back memories of her ex. Without thinking, her hand flew across his face. "Don't touch me."
Nicole stormed out. She was pissed beyond belief. She marched past Lori, who tried to stop her, and into the RV. What she saw inside, calmed her down. Just a bit. Cheyanne sat with a tired Jim. Her smile brought one to his as they talked.
They seemed intimate in their conversation. Nicole backed out of the RV and gazed over to Andrea. Nicole realized that she still hadn't said goodbye. She was still pissed, but her demeanor changed to timid as she walked over to the grieving woman.
"Is it okay if I say goodbye?" Nicole asked as she knelt down. Andrea nodded. "Amy was a sweet girl. She didn't deserve this."
"No. She didn't," Andrea whispered as she stroked Amy's bloodied hair.
"I wish I could've done something to help her." Nicole picked at her dirty nails.
Andrea glanced over to her, "If I would've been fast enough, I could've saved her."
"Andrea, you can't think like that. This wasn't your fault."
Andrea stayed silent.
"Amy was a good friend. She'll always be in my heart." Nicole placed her hand on the woman's shoulder as she stood up.
"Nicole," Andrea quickly said, "thank you."
Nicole nodded and turned to walk toward Lori. She sat down and glared as Daryl reappeared. Sometimes, that man made her skin boil.
An hour had passed. Rick and Shane allowed Daryl to have his pickaxe back. Cheyanne had come out of the RV and was sitting beside her mother.
Daryl's pickaxe met the head of the dead, one after the other. Nicole didn't really pay attention to what he was doing. To be honest, she didn't think she cared. She cared to the extent of his life -- as a promise to her dead friend -- but past that, she did not think she would care.
Nicole hated that she was bound to him. She hated that he was one of her priorities. Sure, she really only did truly care about her little girl. But she didn't give a crap about herself. She'd risk getting eaten by the monsters if it meant saving Cheyanne.
A sudden tap on her knee startled her. Cheyanne looked up to her mother with watery eyes and pointed toward the RV. She clambered into her mother's lap and began sobbing.
There was Amy. She sat up, holding onto her sister's hair. Nicole wanted to cry as when she realized that they -- the monsters -- were no longer themselves. She hoped that somewhere, deep, deep down, the person they were was still there. At that moment as she watched Amy try to take a bite from her sister, she realized that there was no way back from this. She realized that this was the world's shitty, new reality.
hey y'all! i know, i'm cutting it close today lol. i've been busy. anyways, i have a little psa for y'all. i don't know if y'all watch the flash or not, but recently there's been a spout of racism sent toward one of the main characters because the star of the show, grant gustin, posted something supporting lgbtq rights. how it got around to race, i don't know and i don't really care. i just wanted to say that it shouldn't matter what color an actors skin is or who the hell their love interest is. candice patton aka iris west is an amazing actress and like grant stated, she is barry's endgame. now, personally, i don't ship westallen all that much, but that doesn't mean that i spew hatred at the actor/actress. now, it has nothing to do with candice's skin color
i couldn't care less seeing as how i have black cousins whom i love very, very dearly. my point is coming, i promise. if you didn't know, in the flash comic books, iris west is a white character and that's what lead to the racism against candice. i'm saying right now, it's total and utter bullshit. candice patton is black and she is beautiful. she is iris west, regardless of whatever a freaking comic book says. it is 2019 people. it shouldn't matter if a black actress plays a white character. hell, we're about to gain a black ariel and i'm excited. ariel was my childhood and i related a lot, seeing as how she is the only redheaded disney princess other than merida. but i don't care, i'm excited to see whatever the remake brings. if the color of a fictional character bothers you, then i'm so sorry that you're –no offense– simple minded. it's 2019. there are more religions, and races and sexualities and genders than ever before and none of those factors should matter. at all.
now, i really don't want to start trouble. but I don't want to get comments going "yOu OnLy MaKe WhItE oCs! WhY dO yOu CaRe?!" i haven't written a main character poc yet because i don't want offend anyone because i am the whitest person possible. redhair, blue eyes, pale ass skin, everything. but i will have you know that in the near future after i am going to write more ocs that are pocs. i'm still gaining confidence in my writing and for right now, i'm staying in my comfort zone until I feel comfortable enough with myself to expand my oc world. i'm sorry if this offend anyone, it's not my intention. anyway, that's it. thanks for coming to my ted talk.
i love you all. be nice, say hi to a stranger, love one another. have a great rest of your day/night. stay safe.
peaceee -erin