T-Dog started crying in the back, I hopped in the back to comfort him. Morales looked over to Rick who was talking about going back to save Merle. "No one's goin' to be sad that he didn't come back. Cept'...Maybe Daryl." I looked up. Rick did too. "Daryl?" "His brother." Oh, great. I thought. Just another asshole.
Glenn then rolled up beside us, woo-hooing in his new car. "At least somebodie's having a good day." Morales smiled.
Just then, we rolled up to the campsite where Morales said his group was. "Come meet everybody." he said, smiling. Everyone got out excitedly, except for Rick. He put his head down. I half smiled and hugged his shoulder. I kissed his cheek. "This is just a pit stop, Rick. After some rest, I'll come with you to find your family." He smiled. "Yeah." We got out and started walking towards everyone. "Guys a cop, like you." Morales said. I felt a weird vibe and looked up. Rick's mouth dropped, his hands on his hips. He shook his head. "Oh my God." he sobbed. He started running towards I assume, his wife Lori, and son Carl. I smiled, and cried as Carl ran toward Rick screaming "DAD! DAD!" They clinged to eachother like they never would see eachother again. I cried so hard. Lori hugged him and cried. Every one smiled. I never felt so happy.
Rick picked up Carl and hugged Lori as hard as he could. He cried. Rick looked over to another guy and they smiled at eachother. I guess they knew eachother too. After awhile, and leaving Rick alone to his family, I sat down on a log. No one came up to me. It was like I was invisible. Everyone had their family...their friends… I had no one. What would come of me to these people? Would I have to go off on my own? Just then, in the middle of my thougthts, Rick and Lori and their son came up to me. Rick got on his knee. "Are you okay?" I sniffed and nodded. "I wanna thank you, for helping me find my family. For staying with me." he said. "Is this where I have to go off by myself?" I said, sobbing.
Lori looked at Rick and then to me, she got down on her knees. "Honey, Rick and I would never DREAM of letting you leave us. We want to stay."
I smiled. "I heard a lot about you Lori. And Carl. I can teach him school if you'd want me to, sometime."
"Carl would love that, wouldn't you Carl?" she said, motioning for him to come meet me.
He came over. "Yeah!" I smiled.
It got dark, I had met Shane, and Dale, Morales' family… We got a fire built and sat around it. Rick went on with his story. "Disoreinted. I guess that comes closest. Disoriented. Fear, confusion, all those thing but… Disoriented comes closest."
"Words can be the meanest. Sometimes they fall short." Dale commented. "I felt like I've been ripped out of life," Rick went on, "put somewhere else. For awhile I thought… I was trapped inside this coma, dream, something I might not wake up from. Ever."
Carl looked up to his dad. "Mom said you died." Lori didn't know what to say. Rick smiled. "She had every reason to believe that. Don'tchu ever doubt it." "When things started to get really bad, they told me at the hospital that they were gonna evacuate you and the other patients to Atlanta. And it never happened." Lori said, sadly.
"Well I'm not surprised, after Atlanta fell."
"Yeah."
"And from the looks of that hospital, it got overrun." Shane looked up with regret. "And looks don't decieve. I barely got them out so… You know…" "I can't tell you how greatful I am to you, Shane." Rick smiled. "Everything to express it." Dale chuckled. "There goes those words falling short again."
We laughed. Just then the woman I had met an earlier, Carols husband Ed, had put another log into his fire.
"Hey Ed? Wanna rethink that log?" Shane called. We all looked.
"I'm cold, man." "Cold don't change the rules does it? Keep out fires low to just ember so we can't be seen from a distance right?" Shane said irriated. "I said it's cold! Mind your own buissness for once." Shane got up and walked over. Whatever he said to him made him make his wife get the log out for him. Asshole. But no one said anything. Shane came back and sat down.
"Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon? He won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind." Dale asked.
T-dog looked down. "I'll tell him. I dropped the key, it's on me." Rick shook his head. "I cuffed him, that makes him mine." Glenn rolled his eyes. "Guys, it's not competition. Don't mean to bring race into this but… It might come better from a white guy." T-dog shook his head. "I did what I did. I'm not gonna hide from it." Andrea's young sister came up with an idea. "We could lie." Andrea diagreed. "We tell the truth. Merle was out of control. Something had to be done or he'da gotten us killed. Your husband did what was neccasary." She said, looking to Lori. "And if Merle got left behind, it's nobodys fault. But Merles."
"And that's what we tell Daryl?" Dale asked. "I don't see a rational discussion to be had from that, do you?"
No one answered. "Word to the wise, were gonna have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt." "I was scared. And I ran. I'm not ashamed of it." T-dog said. "We were all scared. We all ran. What's your point?" Andrea asked.
"I stopped long enough to chain that door. Staircase is narrow… Maybe half a dozen geeks squeezed against it at one time. It's not enough to break through there. Not that chain… Not that padlock. My point? Dixon's alive. He's still up there, handcuffed on that roof. That's on us." he said, getting up and walking away.
"We should turn in. Talk about it tomorrow." Lori suggested. We all nodded. We put the embers out. Everyone had their own places to sleep. Dale, Andrea and Amy slept inside the camper. Glenn, Shane and T-dog shared a tent. Morales' family had a tent, and so did Carols family. Rick had his own tent with Lori and Carl. Shane came up to me after everyone went to sleep. "You can sleep in that tent there. It's the Dixons'. You can sleep there for now till we find you your own." I nodded. "Thanks, Shane. Goodnight." He looked up and down at my body. I had old boyfriend short shorts on, a cut off tank top and brown combat boots on. My only outfit, which stunk. "Night." he said, before walking away. I blushed. He was pretty cute.
"Bellefaire?" I heard a faint, scared voice call for me. I turned around before heading into my tent. "Yes?" It was Carol. "If I give you this t-shirt to sleep in, will you give me your clothes? They look like they could be washed." She said sweetly.
I smiled. "Thanks, Carol." I gave her my clothes and changed. I then got into a sleeping bag and fell asleep.
I got up the next morning around nine in the morning. I walked out with my oversized t-shirt. Shane looked over to me and stared, looking at my thighs. Dale and Glenn looked to see what he was obviously staring at. Glenns mouth dropped, and Dale looked to Shane in disgust. I walked past them awkwardly. "Honey?" I heard. I turned around, it was Lori. "Here's your clothes sweetheart." I thanked her and changed real quick. It felt so nice to have clean clothes.
I decided to help the women with the rest of the laundry. Just then Shane came back in a jeep. "Waters here ya'll!" he said, getting out. "Just a reminder to boil before use." Right then I heard a loud scream. It was was Carl, and Sophia, Carols daughter."Carl?!" Lori shouted. I grabbed my gun and ran for his direction. "DAD!" Carl called. "Baby!" Lori called. "MOMMA!" Sophia screamed. Me, Andrea, Amy, Rick, Jim, Dale, Glenn, Jaqui, Shane, and Lori started running to them. Jaqui and grabbed Sophia and handed her to Carol. Lori hugged Carl. "Baby! Nothing scratched you?" "No, no!" he said. I followed the men. Only to find a walker eatin' on a nice buck. I gasped. We are started at it. The walker came after Rick. Rick hit it with the gun. Then Rick, Glenn, Shane, Dale, and Morales took turns beating it. Me, Andrea and her sister just watched. Finally, Jim cut off the walkers head. "That's the first one we've had up here. They never come this far up the mouthain. " stated Dale.
"Well, their runnin' out of food in the city, that's what. " Jim said. Just then we heard russlin' in the brush. We all got out weapons ready. Thankfully, it was just, whom I assumed, was Mr. Daryl Dixon. I stopped and stared. He was the most handsome man I've ever laid my eyes on. "Son of a bitch!" he yelled. "That's MY dear! Aw, look at it all knawled up by this FILTHY. DISEASED BARING. MOTHERLESS. UGLY. BASTARD!" he yelled, in between kicking the walkers head.
"Calm down son, that's not gonna help." Dale said calmly. Daryl got in Dale's face. "What do you know about it, ol' man?! Take that stupid hat and go back to your RV and pond?" I got in front of Dale. "Hey, hey, hey! Back off, man." He just looked at me. Up and down, just like Shane did. "Who the hell are you?" he asked. "Bellefaire."
He sighed and went over to the deer. "I've been tracking this deer for miles. Drag it back to camp, cook us up some venicen. Whaddya think? Cut it around this, chewed up part right here?" Shane shook his head. "I would not risk that." "That's a damn shame. Well. I got some squirell, bout' a dozen of em'. That'll have to do." Just then, the walker's head started biting. We gasped. "Oh God…" Amy said. Andrea took her away.
"Come on people what the hell?" Daryl complained, and shot it in the head with his crossbow. "It's gotta be the brain. Don't know nothin'?" he said, walkin' away. We followed him. "Merle! Merle! Getchurr ass out here! Got us some squirell! Lets stew'm up!" "Daryl?" Shane called. "Slow upa' bit, I need to talk to you." "Bout' what?" Daryl asked, concerned. "Bout Merle. There was a uh… There was a problem in Atlanta." Daryl looked around at everyone staring. "He dead?" "Not sure." "He either is or he aint!" He raised his voice.
Rick stepped in. "There's no easy way to say this so I'll just say it."
"Who are YOU?" "Rick Drimes." "Rick Grimes, you got somethin' you wanna tell me?!" "Your brother was a danger to us all. So I handcuffed'm on a roof hooked to a piece of metal. He's still there." Daryl was pissed. "Lemme process this. Sayin' you handcuffed my brother to a ROOF!? AND YOU LEFT HIM THERE!?" "Yeah."
Daryl through his squirells over Ricks head and went after him. "Rick, watch out!" I hollered.
"Hey!" T-dog shouted.
Daryl took out his knife. "Watch the knife!" T-dog hollered. Daryl swung it at Rick and Shane. "Hey hey hey!" I hollered.
Shane put Daryl into a choke hold and held him to the ground. "You best lemme go!" "Nah, it'd be best if I don't." Shane said calmly. "Choke holdins' illegial." "Don't complain." Daryl struggled. "C'mon man, I can keep this up all day." Shane said. Rick got face level with Dixon. "I'd like to have a calm. Discussion. On this topic, do ya think you can manage that? You think we can manage that?" Daryls face turned purple. "Shane! Let'm go." I warned. Shane looked at me and left go. "What I did, was not on a whim. Your brother, does not work, and play well with others." Rick explained.
"It's not Ricks fault." T-dog fessed' up. "I had the key. I dropped it." "You couldn't pick it up!?" "Well… I dropped it down the drain…" Daryl got up and sobbed, tryin' not to show it. "If that was supposed to feel better it don't." "Maybe this will… Look, I chained the door to the roof so the geeks couldn't get at im'. With a padlock."
"It's gotta count for something." Rick stated. "Hell with all ya'll! Just tell me where he is, so's I can go get'm." Lori looked pissed. "He'll SHOW you. Id'nt that right?" Rick nodded. "I'm goin' back." Lori went back inside the camper. She makes no sense… She wanted him to show him… Daryl took off and started gettin' gear. "So that's it huh? Just gon' walk off and say the hell with everybody else?" Shane asked Rick. "I'm not saying the hell with anybody. Not'chu Shane, Lori wouldn't least of all."
"Tell her that." "She knows." "W'look...I… I don't, okay Rick? So could you just...Could ya throw me a bone here man? Could ya just tell me why, why would you risk your life for a douchebag like Merle Dixon?!" Daryl heard that. "Aye! Choose your words more carefully." "Oh no, I did. Douchebags' what I meant." I rolled my eyes and went over to Daryl. "Can I help ya with packin' your gear?" "No." "Can I come with you?" He looked up at me. "Why." "I wanna help you." He thought about it for a minute but then shook his head. "Hell no. Not you." "Can I at least start doin' the squirell for you?" He looked up at again and examined me. "What do you know about squirell?" "More than ya think. I used to hunt'm too…" "...Alright." he nodded. "But they better be done right, no skimpin' on the meat." I smiled. "Hey, Daryl?" "What." "Rick'll find your brother. I promise you know. You...You can trust him." During me and Daryls conversation, Rick and the others worked out a plan, and started sayin' good bye to Lori and Carl. He looked to Carl. "Okay?" Carl shook his head. "Alright."
"I'll watch over'm, Rick." I said, smiling.
He smiled back and starting walking off with the others. Rick and T-dog were negotiating with Jim and Dale about lending tools. Glenn was in the truck waiting, and Daryl was waiting impaitently. Daryl beeped the horn. "C'mon, les' go!" he hollered. "Daryl! Sweetie. Your gon' attract walkers." I said.
He ignored me, just looked at me. I kissed Glenns cheek. "Be safe, okay?" Daryl watched me, and looked pissed. "I will Bella." I laughed. "BELLA?!" "Yeah, it'sa good nickname for you." "Whatever." I said, walking away. I hugged Rick. "Come back." he hugged me back. "Promise is a promise, and I promised I'd never leave you."
After a while, me, Andrea, Amy, Jaqui, and Carol decided to go to the quary and do some more laundry. Shane and Carl were 'frog hunting.' "Looks like Daryl has a little bit of a soft spot for you, Belle." Andrea said, grinning. I rolled my eyes. "Oh, please." "Baby girl I know yous' smarter that that. I've neva' seen Dixon be soft like that back there." Jacui said smiling. I just left it go. Shane was splashin' in the water like a fool. "I'm beginin' to question the divison of labor here." Jaqui said, smartassed. "Can someone explain to me how the women wound up doin' all the all day work?" Amy chuckled. "The world ended, didn't you get the memo?" Carol looked up at Ed who was watching us, doin' nothin'. "It's just the way it is…. I do miss my MayTag." "I miss my things...The sentinel." Andrea said, laughing. "I miss my coffee maker with that gold drip filter and built in grinda' honey." Jaqui saif. "I miss my computer… And texting." Amy said, sadly. "I miss my vibrator." Andrea said. We all widened our eyes, mouth dropped, and laughed. "Oh my God, Andrea!" I said. Carol looked around. "Me too." she smiled. We all dropped our mouthes even wider. "OH MY GOD!" we laughed so hard. Just then Ed started walkin' down to us. "What's so funny?" "Just laughin' at womens' chores there, Ed." Andrea stated. Ed stood behind us, watching.
Andrea turned around. "Problem, Ed?"
"None that concerns you…. You folks only work. This ain't no comedy club." We all dropped our mouthes and looked at eachother. After about ten minutes, Ed continued to stare at us. Andrea got the shits of it, got up and got in his face. "Ed, tell ya what… You don't like how your laundry's done, you're welcome to pitch in and do it yourself. Here!" she threw his wet pants at him. That pissed him off and he threw them right back in her face. "Ain't my job, missy." "Andrea, don't!" Amy warned, gettin' up. I got up too. "What IS your job, Ed? Sittin' on your ass smoking ciggarettes?" "Sure's better than listenin' to some uppety' smart mouthed bitch, tell ya what. Come on!" He said, asking for Carol. "Let's go." "I don't think she needs to go anywhere with you Ed." "And I say it's none of your buissness. C'mon now, ya heard me." Carol got up and started going to him. "Carol?" Andrea stopped her. "Just please…It dosen't matter." Carol begged. "Hey! Don't think I won't knock you on your ass, just cuz' your some college educated coose, alright?" Ed said to Andrea. "Ed why don'tchu shut the hell up huh?" I said. He ignored me and looked to Carol. "Now you c'mon now, or yer' gon' regret it later." "So she can shop up with fresh bruises later, Ed?" Jaqui stepped in. "Yeah, we've seen them!" He chuckled and said "stay outta it. Now come on! You know what? This ain't none of ya'lls buissness. Ya'll might wanna stop probin' the bull here, okay? Now I am DONE, talkin. C'mon!" he said, grabbin' Carols arm. "No, no!" Andrea said, "Carol, you don't have to go-!" "Aw, hell no!" Jaqui said.
"YOU DON'T TELL ME WHAT!" Ed shouted. "I'LL TELL YOU WHAT!" he slapped Carol in the face, hard. I gasped and grabbed my gun. "ED!" Amy grabbed Carol and Andrea shoved Ed. "You ASSHOLE!" Jaqui tried gettin' Andrea away. Ed tried gettin' Carol outta Amy and Andrea's grasp. I slapped Ed in the face. He then slapped me back. I hit the ground. The women gasped. Just then, Shane grabbed Ed off me and beat the fuck out of him. Jaqui came to aide. "Baby you okay- oh my heavens yer' bleedin'!" She said, proppin' me up. She wiped my mouth with a wet cloth.
Andrea held Carol back as she cried for Ed. "Shane!' Amy said, after Shane had punched Ed maybe fifteen times. Eds face became deformed. I got up quickly and ran over to Shane. "SHANE!" I screamed. "SHANE, THAT"S ENOUGH!" I tried to grab ahold of him. "Stop it, stop!" Carol sobbed. "You put'chur hands on your wife, or your little girl or anybody else in this camp one more time I WILL not stop next time. Do you hear me? Do you hear me?! I beat'chu to death Ed." He then punched him again, and one more time. "SHANE!" I hollered, this time forcefully grabbing him off of him. Carol ran to Ed, saying she was sorry. I followed Shane. "What the hell was that just now?" He turned around and grabbed my face. "Did he hurtchu? Did he. Hurtchuu? God damnit I won't ask it again." I didn't answer. He stared at me for a moment and then left go. He started stormin' off. "What the hell do you care for anyways!" I hollered through tears.
He turned around "What, you think I don't?" I didn't answer. He walked away.