Heart of Dixon
Chapter 15: I See Dead People
Thanks for all the reviews on the last chapter! I love how you got mad about the cliffhanger! Thanks again Jeanf for the many reviews. I hope all of you like this chapter, though you'll scream at the ending...oops I shouldn't have said that. I should not have said not!
Robin's POV
Alas, the Walking Dead is owned by AMC and its writers…I am neither.
My head hurt like crazy; did I have a crazy party last night? Weird, I never got hangovers before and I never went to parties, so why was my head hurting so bad? Then again it wasn't just my head that hurt, it was my whole body. I felt like someone just tossed me under a tractor then kicked me for added measure.
"Robby, you need to wake up." A child-like voice said beside me.
"No, five more minutes." I slurred. Even talking kind of hurt.
"The boogie will get you in five minutes, Robby. You need to get up." He said again, his voice was so adorable that I wanted to take whoever and hold him close to me.
"How many times do I have to tell you, Erin? Boogies aren't real." I mumbled. I opened my eyes now, but I could barely see. Everything looked so blurry and the world seemed to be spinning around me. The only thing in focus was the small boy kneeling beside me in the mud. It really couldn't be him…
"Erin?" I questioned.
"What?" He asked squeakily.
"How are you here?" I tried to sit up but my body felt so heavy.
"No time for that right now, Robby, the boogie is almost here." He pointed off to our left. Coming our way was a moving and growling blur. My brain was working a bit slow, right when it was close enough to touch me was when I figured out that it was a walker and that I was in trouble.
The walker fell down grasping at my foot ready to bite down but I brought up my other foot. I meant to kick it right in the head but I missed. I got it in the shoulder, but it still stopped it from taking a chunk out of me.
"Robby, you have to kill it!" Erin squealed.
I didn't answer back; I was too busy trying to keep the thing away by kicking it while blindly searching for some kind of weapon. Finally my hand found something; it was a large damp branch that was thick as Daryl's arm. I kicked the thing away again in its chest hard making it fell backwards. It gave me plenty enough time to stagger up. When it recovered and stood up, I smacked its head making it fall again. I drove the blunt end of the branch down into its eyes killing the walker.
"Good job, Robby, you killed the boogie!" Erin stood beside me with his arms in the air.
"I did, didn't I?" I said out of breath, "I think I'll fall down now." My knees gave out from underneath me, "Yupe, I fell down."
Up close, I noticed the eerie similarities between the walker and me. Well at least the hair and the hoodie, she was shorter than me and of course rotting. I didn't like looking at her smashed face so I turned her over. It took what little strength I had left after the struggle.
"What are you going to do now, Robby?" Erin asked poking me.
"I think I'll take a nap." I mumbled feeling so exhausted. My eyes felt so heavy and my body felt like lead. I really needed to sleep. Just a few minutes of sleep and I'd be shiny (means good on Firefly). My body fell back into the mud and water. I could care less where I would fall asleep as long as I could sleep.
"But Jacob said you shouldn't go to sleep!" Erin squeaked. He poked my
"Jacob?" I lifted my head to look at Erin, "What about Jacob?"
"He told me to not let you fall asleep." Erin pleaded nudging my sore body.
"But I…I'm so s…sleepy." I slurred, it was so hard fighting off sleep. My eyes were closed and I felt the heavy feeling of sleep coming over me until I got the crap scared of me.
"Robin Annabelle Dean, get your ass up right now!" I heard yelled in my ear. My eyes flew up and I looked at the person who wailed in my ear, praying it was Daryl, but it was Jacob.
I couldn't even act shocked seeing him standing there, I was pissed, "I know you just didn't! I know you just didn't call me my stupid middle name!"
Jacob could only smirk, "We have more pressing matters to worry about than you strangling me over your middle name."
"No, I think it's a top priority at the moment." I growled.
"Well you never had your priorities straight." He stood up, "Come on, we got to get you to safety. You have a bad concussion and your head is bleeding. Knowing you, you probably forgot to take your iron pills this morning." He wiped at his face, "I die for a few months and you fall to pieces. Honestly, Robby, what am I going to do with you?"
I felt my temper rise again, "Why you little…! Why are you even here? Are you a trick in my brain? Ghost of weirdness past? Where's the present one? The Future?"
"You won't get a future ghost if you don't get your ass up,' cause your future is going to be as bright as that walker."
I pouted, "But I'm sleepy…"
"That's because of the concussion, if you fall asleep now, you could easily fall to a coma. You wouldn't last long. So…" He knelt down right beside my ear, "GET UP!"
"Alright, gosh, your bed side manner really sucks!" I hauled myself up even though my body screamed in pain. I felt light-headed once I was up, but I didn't fall back down.
"So you're going to help me get back to the highway?" I asked. Jacob and Erin were already walking away, "Hey, my brains maybe scrambled to hell, but I know that's the opposite way. I fell from there." I pointed to the evil hill that I fell from.
"Yes, but you won't be able to climb up the hill in your condition. We'll have to go south following the creek, find you a place that you can get out of the creak, and then double back to the highway." Jacob explained without stopping.
I waded behind them in the ankle-deep water. Each step made me think 'ow', but I did catch up with my brothers. When I walked up between them, Erin reached up and grabbed my hand. I know I couldn't actually feel it, but my mind was making me think that I could. Or was it…? God, my head hurts when I think about it.
"Have you forgiven mommy yet?" Erin asked.
"Nope, never going to happen." I frowned. Why did he have to bring her up? Jacob knew never to bring that woman up, "The day Daryl sings opera is the day I forgive her."
"Oh." Erin sounded a bit sad; it was his mother I was talking about. He never grew up to hate her.
"Who's Daryl?" He asked.
"He's a man in my group." I smiled again. I couldn't wait to see him again. I knew he would probably go bat shit crazy when he saw me all hurt.
"You're smiling. Do you like him or something?" Erin prodded.
I looked down at the six-year-old, "Yes, very much." I smiled at him, Erin looked just like the last time I saw him. Terrible images flashed through my head, images of the last time I saw this sweet little boy. It was at his funeral, in was in a casket wearing an adorable little tuxedo. He looked so pale and his beautiful golden brown hair lost its luster. I choked back emotion.
"What's he like?" He asked, "Is he nice? Is he cool? Would I like him? Would he like him? Would he play with me? What does he look like?" Erin asked at top speed. He asked other questions, but I didn't understand them.
"Whoa there bud, you shouldn't be asking me so many questions. It hurts my scrambled brains." I ruffled his hair.
"She's right, Erin, stop asking so many questions. Seeing and talking to us is causing enough stress on her brain as is." Jacob scolded.
"I'm sorry." Erin frowned looking at me with pouty face.
"It's ok, bud, but I do think you would have like him, though he's a bit scary at first. I know he would like you, you're impossible not to like."
"Why is he scary?" Erin jumped over a fallen branch.
"He tends to act mean, but I think he's sweet and misunderstood." I explained.
"Can I meet him?" Erin asked excited.
"Umm…Erin…" How was I going to explain to my little brother, that he was just a hallucination conjured from a head wound? Jacob knew they weren't real, why didn't Erin? I sent Jacob a look; he frowned and slumped his shoulders. He didn't know how to tell him either. I know it wouldn't matter what they felt but I didn't want to break the little guy's heart, hallucination or not.
I was going to say something when Jacob interrupted, "Here's a low bank, and you don't even have to climb." I could just wade out of the creak then I'd be on dry land again.
"I wonder how far I am from the highway on." I mumbled. Any way all I had to do was take Rick's advice, though it was meant for Sophia. I'd keep the sun on my left shoulder. Gosh, why did that sound like it came from a fortune cookie?
"Man, I really wish I knew where my freaking crowbar was, I feel naked without it." I grumbled.
"It wasn't anywhere around you. I guess you just dropped it when you fell." Jacob somehow heard me.
"I didn't see it either, Robby!" Erin jumped out of the water onto dry land.
"It's ok, bud. I just need to find some kind of weapon. Leave it to the day I lose my crowbar that I leave all my knives in my bag. My thoughts wander back to my bag, I hope no one digs through it and finds my journal. It would be embarrassing if Daryl read what I put down in there. I wrote about dreams that he starred in and fantasies I have about him. I freaking wrote my feels down in there too. Please God, don't let anyone find it. I think I'd die from embarrassment if he read about the things I'd like to do to his body. One of them involves covering his body in Nutella and licking it off.
"We'll find you something. 'Til then you'll have to improvise." Jacob walked ahead with long strides.
I was getting exhausted again trying to keep up with him, "Would you please slow down? Jeez, fake Jacob walks as fast as the real Jacob did."
"Am I anything like the real Erin?" My little bud asked, now he knew that it wasn't really him? But he look did just like the real Erin, the attention hog and just as adorable as before. His hair was still messy like he just woke up. His beautiful hazel eyes were warm just like our dad's. The poor six-year-old didn't grow an inch either, he always hated that he was so short for his age. He barely reached my waist; I used to pick on him saying he'd be my short baby forever.
"Exactly the same." I smiled down on him, ruffling his hair. I wish I could actually feel it, but it's best not to think about it.
We wandered around for a long time, until I realized somehow I got lost. Well, to be honest I wasn't the best with directions, I only had to get Atlanta with a battery-powered GPS and two maps but I still took forever to get there. It didn't help that I could barely see two feet in front of me and the world felt like it was spinning.
"Hey subconscious Jacob, how about you admit it! We're lost!" I stumbled past some bushes. The branches cut at my skin, but I could barely register the pain with all the other pain I was enduring.
"We're not lost; I know exactly where we are!" Jacob huffed. Just like the real Jacob, he has a bit of a pride issue.
"OK, pray tell, where the heck are we?!" I was getting a bit grumpy now. Fake Jacob was getting on my nerves just like he did when he was alive.
"We're…we are…?" Jacob looked around confused. I looked around too; there were no distinguishing landmarks around except for trees. Lots and lots of trees. Oh if I looked off to my right, and squinted, I'd see a fucking tree.
"Yay! We're lost!" Erin threw his hands up.
"Not a yay moment, bud." I grumbled, "You got us lost!"
"Well now did you get from Ala-freaking-bama to Atlanta?" He spun towards me! I knew that someone was going to bring that up.
"I had a GPS and when that failed, a map. Jeez, Jacob you're a part of my mind, shouldn't you know that?" I retorted. If you think about it, the reason Jacob doesn't know where we are is because I don't know where we are. Gosh, that really hurts my brain thinking about it.
"How about we keep the sun on our left shoulder?" Erin thought cheerfully.
Right, I already forgot about that, one of the side effects from a concussion was short term memory lost. This was the first time it happened, I think, ugh I don't remember. Back to what I was thinking about earlier. What was it again? Sun on your right shoulder? Go North? Yes, it means go North. So North, I shall go!
And North I went. I walked and walked…then fell a bit…then walked some more. Jacob annoyed him the whole time, but I was happy to see him again. Erin was being precious jumping up and down while I walked. He would stop for a moment to look at something then run to catch up with us again.
Finally I could see the edge of the woods in sight, please let it be close to my group! I want to climb in the back of Dale's RV and sleep forever and a day. Then maybe I'll tease Daryl a bit and fantasy about rubbing my body all over those arms of his.
My hopes were dashed when I found myself back on the highway but not in the same place as the traffic snarl. I didn't know it they were ahead of me or behind me. I wasn't really paying attention while I was in the RV to know exactly where I was.
"They're not here!" I yelled. I shouldn't have yelled, I know but I very annoyed, tired, hungry, and in pain-all of those make one unpleasant Robin to be around. My temper was rising as my brain started to hurt worse. I drove myself harder than a person with a concussion should only to fail. I was on the verge on collapsing any second.
"What will you do now, Robby?" Erin asked looking around. We were surrounded by a few abandoned cars. These weren't the same as the traffic snarl we got stuck in before. There were fewer cars in here and more dead bodies, but no walking one thank goodness.
"I don't know, buddy. I can't just walk up and down this highway hoping I'd run into the group. I'm more likely to bump into a herd of walkers than any of the group." I looked around, all I could really see was the light being bounced off the cars and it was doing anything to help the throbbing in my head.
"It's not safe to drive yet either. You should get something to eat and drink some water. You can sleep a bit, but make sure you wake up every hour. I don't want you to fall into a coma." Jacob advised.
"That's makes two of us." I agreed.
"Three! I don't want that to happen either, Robby." Erin pouted.
I smiled down at him, "Excuse me, three of us. It makes three of us." I scrounged the cars: I found several cans of vegetables, some water, a first aid kit, a wrist watch (so I could wake myself up every hour tonight) , a flash light, a small 6-shooter pistol that had 4 bullets left, and a large knife. After I finished I found the truck with the most gas, about 3/4's of a tank, tomorrow if my head clears up I'd search the highway until I found my group. I just wish I could siphon gas out of the other guys but no luck.
The sun was setting when I finished my search. I crawled into the back seat of the trunk and made myself comfortable before opening one of the cans I found. The concussion messed up my taste buds, normally I love sliced peaches, but now all I wanted was to throw them up. I ate them anyway, these days; no one could afford to be picky about food.
"You should try going to sleep now." Jacob said from the front seat.
"Ok, I set the alarm to go off in an hour." I settled down.
"Goodnight, Robby." Erin said from the passenger seat.
"Goodnight Buddy." I said.
"Will you sing me a song?" He asked.
"What song, buddy?" I didn't know which one he wanted.
"The song you always sang to me when I was sad." He answered.
"Alright, bud, I'll sing that one."
Hush now, my baby
Be still love, don't cry
Sleep like you're rocked by the stream
Sleep and remember
My lullaby
And I'll be with you when you dream
Drift on a river
That flows through my arms
Drift as I'm singing to you
I see you smiling
So peaceful and calm
And holding you, I'm smiling, too
Here in my arms
Safe from all harm
Holding you, I'm smiling, too
Hush now, my baby
Be still, love, don't cry
Sleep like you're rocked by the stream
Sleep and remember this river lullaby
And I'll be with you when you dream
I'll be with you when you dream
I was so exhausted from walking up every hour last night. Every time I woke up, I had to set my alarm again and wait thirty minutes before falling asleep again. When it was finally time to wake up, I didn't want to. I wanted to lie in the back seat and sleep some more, but I had to get started on my search for the group and for Daryl. I was missing them and don't tell anybody this, but I was actually starting to miss Andrea. Gosh, that's proof that my brain was still scrambled.
"Robin, gotta get up. You feel like driving yet?" Jacob asked.
"I don't know, I still having sleepy brain." I mumbled. I kicked off the blanket, I felt like I was going to die from the heat. I was practically drenched in sweat, and that didn't improve my mood at all. I think I'll change my clothes while I'm still here. Maybe I could find something while I'm still here.
My thoughts were cut short when the window behind my head exploded! I didn't move fast enough before a head grabbed a fistful of my hair. Walkers couldn't just break a window like that, or be so quiet and sneak up on me like that. It had to be a person. I got my answer soon enough.
"She's still alive, boys!" A man who gripped my hair yelled, "Looks like we're going to have us some fun tonight!"
Muhahahaha another cliffhangah! I'm so evil! ^_^