New Meanings To Old Words: Love
Before we start anything I want to say welcome to all of the new followers/favorites, and send a big shout out to all of you who leave me reviews. I feel horrid that I'm not really able to respond to them as much as I wish I could. Time…she's been slipping away from me and I'm finding myself working hard to finish the chapters. I want you to know that I love you all, and if I see a question in a review I seriously try to respond…and I promise to try and get better at ALL THE RESPONDING. Now….
Okay, ladies and gents. In case you hadn't noticed we're gonna be playing a bit of the jump around game for a bit. This chapter we're picking up with Lori and Callie on the road to find Rick, Glenn and Hershel, and hopefully find out a bit about Danny too.
As always, read, review and most of all enjoy our little exercise in girl-bonding.
~michelle
Disclaimer: I own nothing but Callie and her crew of misfits (Danny, Mike, Nina, Miles, Jenna, Ben and Gracie and the rest of the OC crew that has jumped out of this story of mine)
Ten Cent Pistol
Callie held the small flashlight between her teeth and unfolded the roadmap that she'd found in the glove compartment. Patricia's neat and tidy sedan jostled a bit and Callie slipped her eyes over to where Lori had a white knuckle grip on the wheel. Callie slipped the flashlight from her mouth and pointed it at the map. She let her eyes shift from the map to Lori twice before smiling tightly at the woman driving.
"You sure you're okay to drive?" Callie asked for the third time since they'd hit the road nearly a half an hour ago. Lori slid an annoyed look over to her and Callie shrugged smiling wider than before lifting a hand. "Look I'm not the one who pulled over twice to puke," Callie said earning a scoffing angered sigh from her companion.
Lori's shoulders stiffened and she sat up a bit higher in her seat as if her defiant posture would make Callie's statements any less true. Callie shook her head. Lori's pregnancy was still, at least in Lori's mind, a secret. She only believed that Glenn, Dale, Danny and Rick knew about it, and Callie was not about to shatter the woman anymore by letting her think any differently. But she also wasn't about to let them crash because Lori wasn't in a condition to drive.
"I'm fine," Lori said stiffly her head shaking back and forth two times before she shifted her eyes over slightly to look at Callie. Callie raised a brow waiting for the woman to continue and Lori shifted her eyes back to the road before doing so. "It's just stress. I don't handle stress like this well."
"Okay," Callie said after a beat of silence, apparently surprising Lori by just swallowing her lies because the woman sharply turned disbelieving eyes back to her. Callie shrugged and lifted the small flashlight to the map spread out on her lap and half of the dash before her. Callie peeked up at up at Lori who was still staring at her, the car slowing almost to a stop. Callie smirked and pointed the butt end of the flashlight at the gawking woman. "Foot on the pedal and eyes on the road there, Lori. Unless you really do want me to take over."
Lori's mouth, which had slightly parted in shock, snapped closed and her eyes drifted back to the windshield. Callie chuckled a bit and in turn Lori jammed her foot a bit harder onto the gas pedal causing Callie to fling back slightly in her chair. Callie's eyes shifted to where the seat belt was hooked over Lori's body and she shook her head at the slight tilt to the other woman's lips.
"Cute," Callie muttered, once again popping the flashlight between her teeth so that she could reach up and pull her own seatbelt into place. The click of the belt latching had Lori shifting smiling eyes to her and Callie waving a stiff middle finger as she again removed the flashlight from her mouth.
Eying the roadmap, Callie traced out the route that they were travelling. Her eyes peeked up from the map to the darkened road ahead and she was stunned by how quickly full night had fallen upon them. Her eyes skipped to the odometer and she watched the small dial slowly rise from thirty to thirty-five and then forty. It was still going when she clicked off the flashlight and let it fall to her lap.
Forty-four.
"Slow down, Lori," Callie said shifting her eyes between the dark road before them and the intense woman behind the wheel.
"Good Lord, Callie I know how to drive," Lori snapped back peevishly, her foot pressing down on the accelerator again. Forty-eight. "Honest to God-"
"I'm not kidding, Lori. Slow the fuck down," Callie said in a firm tone that had Lori's eyes shifting to her. "It's dark as hell and the noise of the engine is enough to attract Walkers. Hit one when we're going this fast and it ain't gonna be pretty. So. Slow. Down."
Lori's foot depressed from the gas pedal and the car began to slow. Callie's gaze slipped back to the odometer and watched the dial dip back down into an acceptable range. Callie sat back in her seat and lifted her left hand to rub at the bridge of her nose, closing her eyes for a moment to the world around them and just allowing herself to be calmed by the gentle motion of the car moving down the street.
This road led directly into the main portion of town, and according to Maggie the bar her father frequented was along that drag. The desolate town was apparently lacking in any other vehicles, so it should be easy enough for them to spot the wagon Rick and Glenn took, or Hershel's missing sedan when they arrived. It wasn't a long trip, in fact, without the two rather lengthy vomit-stops they'd had to make Callie was sure they would have been making good time towards town.
Callie's eyes opened and she watched Lori's white knuckle grip adjust and readjust on the wheel. The other woman's eyes were no longer simply on the road before them, but darting around as if she expected Walkers to materialize out of thin air and slam into the car. Callie sighed and let her hand drop, suddenly feeling very bad for causing the obviously stressed woman more grief.
Not only was Lori worried about her husband. She was worried about herself. About the baby she carried. About the child she left alone back at the farm. She was worried enough that she'd been forced to stop and dry-heave for nearly ten minutes on two separate occasions not long after they'd started off. Her strength was something to be admired, but it was dwindling fast under the pressure of everything bearing down on her.
And Callie had only added more weight by insinuating they were in almost imminent danger.
Callie reached out a hand and settled it on Lori's shoulder. Lori jumped and the car swerved slightly before Lori was able to get it under control again. Shaking her head Callie muttered out an apology and Lori glared icily for a moment before shifting her eyes back to the dark road ahead of them.
"It's gonna be okay," Callie said quietly her hands working to refold the map. Lori shifted her eyes over briefly and looked at the map. A beat of silence slipped between them and then Lori was looking at the road again and Callie continued busying herself with folding the map.
"I'm sorry," Lori said quietly and Callie's eyes widened a bit as they shifted to the other woman. She raised a brow and Lori smiled tightly. "It's just everything is so-" Lori cut herself off and spared Callie a quick friendly smile. "I don't know what I'm doing out here. Going after Rick. This isn't me."
"No, it's me," Callie said smiling as Lori looked at her confusedly before glancing back at the road. "I was going to go out after Danny and Rick myself, you just kinda beat me to the punch." Callie shrugged when Lori stuttered out a bit of a laugh. "Honestly, we're going to be okay." Lori nodded solemnly, her eyes on the road and her hands clenched tight on the wheel. Callie finished folding the map and smoothed the paper over her thighs while watching the side of Lori's face. "Everything's goin' to be okay, Lori," Callie said in a firm even tone.
The words had Lori shifting her eyes over to Callie again and they stayed connected for a few seconds before Lori looked away. The stark fear written across Lori's eyes was startling and Callie wanted nothing more than to help the woman find the strength that she seemed to be losing more of day by day. The strength she'd had when Callie had first met her.
"How can you say that? How can you be so damned optimistic after-" Lori cut herself off, leaving the statement to hang heavy in the air around them. "How?"
"Because I'm a determined sum'bitch," Callie said with a smile as Lori shifted her eyes over to her again. "So's your son. And your husband," Callie said a Lori turned away. "So are you." Callie said in a matter-of-fact tone that had Lori once again glancing at her out of the corner of her eye. Lori's eyes shifted over Callie and then back to the road and Callie let out a chuckling sigh. "And don't pretend you don't know that about him. I haven't known Rick nearly as long as you and I can see the person he is clear as fuckin' day." Callie shifted a bit in her seat to face the woman driving a bit more and let out a sigh of frustration. "So how about you tell me what exactly has you doubting him?"
"I don't doubt Rick," Lori said back defensively her eyes snapping over to Callie briefly. Her dark eyes flashed between the road and Callie a couple times, her mouth opening and closing as if she wanted to voice more to what she said but couldn't seem to form the words.
"Something has you worried enough to run off 'half-cocked' after him, Lori," Callie said with a smile. "Something has you doing this," Callie's eyes narrowed just a bit and her mouth firmed as she lowered her voice just a bit. "Or maybe someone."
Lori's eyes shifted over to Callie again, fear and anger registering at the same time. Fear won out in the end, the tremble it caused coursing through her body and making her hands shake slightly as they clenched and unclenched on the wheel.
"I-" Lori began her eyes still glued to Callie's. "I don't know what you're talking about," Lori continued her foot reflexively pushing down on the pedal causing the car to drift faster along the road.
"I'm talking about Shane," Callie said quietly, her eyes shifting out the windshield briefly a Lori continued to anxiously clench her hands around the wheel. Lori's head was shaking and the car was speeding up a bit more causing Callie to worry. "Lori, calm down. Stop the car and we can talk."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Lori said again, her eyes shifting away from the windshield and over to Callie. She stared at Callie confusedly as the car continued to speed back into the forties, completely ignoring what Callie had said and lingering on the source of her current unease. "Why would I be afraid of Shane? He's a good man. He's Rick's best friend; his partner. Why-"
"Why isn't he the one you thought to ask to bring Rick back, then?" Callie said in return, willing to let Lori linger in her fear for a moment longer as long as the woman was going to finally fucking face the truth. "Why isn't he the one out here, Lori?"
"I –" Lori began again, the stuttering sound of her voice instantly making Callie feel bad for the way she was questioning her. "I don't-"
"Pull over, Lori," Callie said feeling the car still moving at too fast a rate, and seeing that Lori's attention was still focused more on her than the road. "Let's just stop and-" Callie's eyes flicked out the windshield out of habit and widened. "Jesus! Watch out!"
Lori's eyes shifted back to the windshield and both she and Callie stared at the form of the lone Walker they were careening towards. There was no way they would be able to slow down in enough time to avoid impact so both women braced for it. Eyes closing in automatic response to the impending crash. Lori's arms locked on the wheel as she pressed at the brake in a futile effort to stop them before they hit. The Walker had stopped in its mindless wandering across the road and was staring at their oncoming headlights.
The term 'deer in the headlights' echoed in the back of Callie's mind as the world around them began to slow. The beams of the headlights were reflecting in the dead white eyes of the man they were hurtling towards. The car was slowing, but not enough after Lori's speed-demon act. Lori woke from her frozen stupor a fraction of a second before Callie did. Her arms unlocked from their braced position and she began to turn the wheel. Callie reached across to help pull the wheel and turn them away.
But it was all useless effort.
They hit the Walker at nearly forty miles an hour. The body of the dead man crashed into the hood and then the windshield and they both screamed as the glass shattered but didn't fully break. The spider-web effect of the impact was as disorienting as the sensation of the car turning and spinning out of control beneath them. The back end was sliding forward now and they'd almost completed a complete 360 degree turn when the second impact happened.
This one came from below, the front passenger side tire caught onto something lying along the roadway. The impact caused a loud crack and reverberated through the sedan. Callie's right arm braced on the door and her left lifted from the wheel where she'd been helping Lori control the vehicle to brace on the ceiling. She felt the sickening motion of the car tipping to the right and her head turned towards the window in time to see the roadway crashing towards her.
Lori screamed and her hands braced on the ceiling and center console as the car tumbled off to the side. The car rolled onto its roof and Callie's eyes closed tight as her head bounced hard off of the ceiling, her left hand painfully stinging as her head crashed into it. They were still rolling, the driver's side hitting the ground now and Callie's head again impacted against the frame of the car.
They were sliding now, along the driver's side and the last thing Callie remembered through the pain of her throbbing head and the loud grinding sound of the car sparking and skidding along the asphalt was catching sight of the limp form of Lori as the darkness of the night around them invaded her mind and pulled her under its veil.
Something was trying to beat its way into Callie's head. Or maybe out of it. Whichever it was, and whatever it was, the thing was using her eyes as the port to freedom. Callie dragged in a painful gasp of air as she closed her eyes tighter trying to keep whatever was clawing at her eyes from succeedingin whatever the fuck its mission was. She only needed another moment and she'd be able to push the thing back and she'd feel comfortable enough with opening her eyes.
Sighing heavily Callie tried to twist away from the painful rope that seemed to be digging into her very sore right shoulder. As she shifted the rope tightened and she winced as it cut deeper into the already seemingly seared open skin at her neck and shoulder.
"What the fuck?" Callie muttered as she tried to roll her head around on her sore shoulders, hoping it would help the pain. It didn't. In fact, in only made it worse and she groaned in response to her body's protests. Callie's eyes tightened again, this time in a wince against the pain she was causing herself and she shook her head in an effort to clear the throb that had begun to grow behind her lids. She lifted her left foot and braced it against the closest thing pushing her body up a bit out of the odd slump and hold that the rope seemed to have on her. The pain was alleviated a bit, but not much. "The fuck?" Callie muttered again, working to lift her right hand to her sore head.
It was then that the feeling of gravity working in an odd way against the weight and angle of her body became truly noticeable. Then that her eyes flew open to take in the world around her. It was dark except for the small bit of light reflecting in through the strangely shattered glass hanging at an odd angle in front of her. Callie's brow narrowed in confusion, but as she stared at what she soon recognized as the front dash of the inside of Patricia's sedan things began falling back into place.
The Walker that they'd hit. The shattering, but not breaking, of the front windshield at the impact. The car spinning. The second impact that rocked them and flipped the car. Lori's limp-
Callie's eyes flew downwards and she spotted the unconscious woman in question. She was lying against the driver's side door, her thin framed body curled in on itself slightly, with her shoulders hunched awkwardly.
"Lori," Callie said in a raspy tired voice, her head pounding with just that single word. "Jesus," Callie seethed out through her teeth as she shimmied around in the restraint of the fucking seat belt around her. "Lori," Callie said more firmly, pushing away the dredges of that pounding and wiggling a bit more. She shifted her right arm, wincing at the harsh pain and flexed her fingers towards the seat belt release. "Lori," Callie said again as she worked to get the seat belt free. "Fuck." Callie said through her tightly clenched teeth as she yet again failed to get the belt free.
Callie's eyes drifted down to where Lori still lay motionless against the driver's side door, the seat belt loose around her thin frame but still clipped in place across her lap and shoulder. Callie winced as she tried one more time for her seatbelt to release and then gave up on a disgruntled sigh. Shifting painfully she began inching her right hand down her leg to where her knife was now housed in the sheath in her boot. Her finger scrabbled for the hilt, the searing pain of the seatbelt yet again digging into her sore, most likely welted, shoulder and collar bone.
The only real sound she could make out was her harsh breathing as it puffed out of her clenched teeth, but just as her fingers found purchase on her knife she picked up another sound. A sickening and frightening sound that instantly had her blood running cold and her eyes snapping down to where Lori still lay unconscious.
Fingers and what looked to be a mouth in the dim light of the headlights reflecting back in on them was pushing its way through the cracked spider web glass of the windshield. Clawing and ripping and pushing in right in front of Lori.
"Shit," Callie seethed her hand clawing more frantically to pull the knife from its sheath in her boot. "Lori!" Callie called as loudly as she could over the rush of blood in her head. "Fuck, Lori. This is no time for a nap. Open your eyes."
Callie finally pulled the knife free, a rush of triumphant glee going through her as shimmied around in her aloft position. The Walker was apparently too intent on its seemingly easy prey to notice her, and continued to claw and push its way through the windshield. Callie's eyes remained on Lori watching in a breathless moment of anticipation as the woman's body began to slowly stir. Lori stirred but didn't awaken, fingers convulsing just a bit on her stomach where her hand had landed.
Callie stuttered in a harsh breath her eyes skipping between the Walker forcing its way through the windshield and the woman who may or may not be dead on the seat below her. One more bounce between the two and Callie was moving, trying desperately to make as much noise as she could to drag the attention of the Walker away from the woman it was so intent upon eating.
"Hey fucker!" Callie called out, her voice a hoarse rasp as she twisted painfully in her seat. "C'mon you son of a bitch, fresh meat right here!" Callie shimmied a bit more, bracing her left foot against the center console as she worked herself into a better position. Her eyes shifted away from the slightly moving Lori and the Walker to the passenger door's window just above her right shoulder.
It was cracked from the impact of the first roll, a slight breeze filtering in from the outside washed over her and she sucked in that cold air. Ragged groans from below had her eyes widening and she reached painfully over with her left hand to grab the door handle. Callie pressed her shoulder hard into the door wincing and pushing to no avail. The fucking thing was jammed from the crash and there was no way she was going to get it open. Not in time to help Lori.
Without another thought Callie slammed her right elbow hard into the already cracked and broken glass of the window. The pain was intense but as her eyes skipped yet again down to where the Walker had broken almost an entire hand through the windshield she pressed on through it. Again her elbow slammed hard into the window, the tempered glass broke in that odd yet familiar way that had Callie slipping back to the last time she'd shimmied out of a broken car window.
A time that seemed so long ago now. A time before she'd made it to the Quarry and the rest of the crew. A time she'd put herself into true danger for the lives of two other people. People she didn't even know at the time, but now were all she lived for.
Ben and Gracie's faces flashed into Callie's brain as she pushed her arm through the glass of the window. Her eyes slipped down to Lori still slightly stirring against the door below her as that fucking Walker's hand pawed at the lapel of her jacket. Through the rush of adrenaline she felt the glass slice into her arm in multiple places, shredding through the sleeve of her lightweight hoodie and deep into the tissue of her arm.
Callie screamed through the pain, her eyes closing slightly as Carl's face, and Rick's face slipped into her mind's eye. She stared down at Lori for a single second, her right arm now torn and bleeding groping at the door outside her knife still held in place between her tightly clenched fingers. Her eyes slipped to Lori again and she growled low in her throat as she braced her left hand to the console.
"Swear to God," Callie muttered through her half-clenched teeth and past the sting of pain in her arm. "You better not be a fuckin' Walker, Lori. That'd be the last straw. Riskin' my ass for a fuckin' Walker."
With that Callie slipped her knife down and sliced through the two straps of the seat belt. Instantly she felt the impact of gravity taking its toll and if not for her arm and foot braced on that center console she would have been falling right down on Lori and that Walker pawing at her. As it was she had the upper hand and she pressed hard and propelled her right arm back out the window, using her clenched hand and already injured elbow to clear more of the glass out of her way as she pushed through the broken window.
The sounds of her escape caught the attention of the Walker and her last glimpse down at the pawing hand before she pushed herself out of the car was of it retreating slowly out the windshield. The cool evening air hit her hard and almost cooled the rushing heat of the adrenalin she'd built up. But as she shimmied up so that she was sitting on the passenger side door and stared down at that Walker that was now staring up at her like she was the last human treat on the planet that adrenalin built to a new fucking level.
"A'right, fucker," Callie said shifting her right leg out of the car and bracing her body as she stared down. Her left foot followed and she crouched as well as she could precariously over that broken window knife held in hand and ready. "Here I come." Callie said shaking her head at the idiocy of what she was actually about to do.
She was almost about to jump down, when Glenn's voice saying something about never leading with her feet echoed in the back of her head. She said a silent apology to the kid about breaking the rules, shifted quickly and jumped down feet first towards the slowly standing Walker below. Her ass slid over the hood of the car and her fingers streaking down the surface as she used it to guide her way down. Her right foot hit the Walker followed by the left and her eyes closed as the rest of her came crashing down on top of the fucker.
The next sensation Callie felt was her foot pressing through something and her ass connecting hard with the ground. She half rolled to the side, her body scrambling against the clawing of the still moving Walker below her. Her right foot was wedged into something and as she finally got herself into position to see what she grimaced and groaned right back at the fucker hissing at her from the ground. Her boot had worked its way right through the sternum of the bastard, and was wedged into the ribcage in an oddly macabre sort of way that almost had her gagging as she violently shook her foot to get it free. In a moment of sheer clarity, as the Walker's hands grabbed tight onto her right ankle and pulled its head towards her calf, she realized that she didn't have time to worry about where her fucking foot was.
Surging up from where she sat on the ground she swung her left leg over the Walker's body, her right foot pivoting inside the rotting chest cavity of the dead man below her. Her foot worked free, but she kept it where it was as her left knee came down hard on the pavement on the other side of the Walker. Her right foot pressed down where it sat in the body of the walker and she hefted her right hand high. With a heavy grunt of a fucking battle cry she plunged her knife down deep into the raised head of the Walker and twisted the blade. The Walker went limp below her, its hand still clamped around the leather of her boot over her right ankle.
Without thinking Callie let her ass fall down so that she was sitting on the dead Walker, her right hand still clenched tight around the knife in the fucker's head. She dragged in deep breath after deep breath and stared at the Walker for a good couple of seconds before reality crashed back down around her. In the next moment she was pulling her knife free and kicking her now gore covered right foot out of the chest cavity and at the ragged glass shredded jaw of the Walker.
"Motherfucker," Callie seethed as she kicked again the Walker. Its head was becoming less and less recognizable as she kicked and finally she succeeded in kicking hard enough to land her ass back on the pavement on the other side of the Walker. "Fucker," Callie breathed out as she wiped the back of her clean left hand over her suddenly dry mouth. She continued to stare at the Walker for a moment before a sound from inside the car caught her attention. "Lori!"
Callie scrambled onto her hands and knees, wincing past the pain of her jarred legs and ankles and the searing heat of the slices in her right elbow and arm. She crawled clumsily over the sprawled legs of the Walker and over to the small hole that the fucker had created in the windshield and stopped.
Lori's eyes were still closed but she was moving more, pulling slightly against the seatbelt still holding her in place against the back of the seat. A low moan left Lori's mouth and Callie let out a shuddering breath against her firmed lips.
"Lori," Callie ventured quietly into the abyss of the interior of Patricia's sedan. She waited and inched forward a bit more watching as Lori's head began to roll from side to side. "C'mon, Lori."
Thoughts of poor Sophia, her broken neck and lacerations, flooded Callie's mind. The realization that she might actually get proof that they were all infected right here and right now, had bile rising up in the back of her throat.
Slowly Lori's eyes began to blink open, and Callie held her breath waiting for the woman to come around. Lori's eyes opened wide the next second, her chest heaving as she sucked in a huge breath and Callie let out a sigh of relief as she watched the woman's dark eyes fretfully search around her. Callie fell back onto her ass again and let her head fall back slightly listening for a moment to Lori shift and at the sound of a painful wince Callie was back up on her knees.
"Oh my God," Lori's said in panicked tone as her eyes darted around her. Lori's hands frantically began working towards the seatbelt and Callie shifted a bit more towards the windshield.
"Lori," Callie said in a quiet and firm voice that she hoped would help to calm the woman down.
"Oh God, Callie," Lori said as her eyes snapped towards the windshield. "Oh God, are you—"
"I'm fine," Callie said lifting her right hand and grimacing at the pain the action caused. Lori's eyes flashed with worry and Callie gave her a small smile. "How badly are you hurt? Can you move? Do you have any pain anywhere-" Callie lifted a hand to try and still Callie's jerky frantic movements. "Stay calm and stay still, you could—"
"Get me out of here," Lori said in a rush cutting off Callie. "Get me the hell out of here."
"Okay. Okay, stay calm and stay still," Callie said shifting up a bit her eyes shifted around the interior watching as Lori continued to pull at the seatbelt holding her in place. "Here," Callie said using her left hand to reach her knife through the hole in the windshield. "Cut yourself out."
Lori reached forward, hesitating only a moment as her hands touched on the gore and blood covered hilt of the knife, and went to work cutting the belt over her body and then at her lap. Callie shifted her eyes up to the passenger side door that she'd escaped through and then to the woman still cutting herself out of the seatbelt with shaking hands. Shifting her eyes around her quickly to check the area she let out a sigh and wiped her blood soaked hand over her sweat covered brow. In the next moment she was unzipping her hoodie and wincing her way out of the thin material.
"Here," Callie said as she shifted towards the hole in the windshield again and caught Lori's shocked eyes. "Take it. Cover your head. I'm gonna kick out the windshield." Callie finished and held Lori's unblinking, confused stare. Sighing she shook the bloody material at the woman, letting out a sigh as Lori finally grabbed it and stretched it over her face and head. "Don't drop it until I say to," Callie said shifting a bit painfully to her feet.
Bracing herself against the roof Callie lifted her right boot and kicked hard at the hole the Walker had made in the windshield. Her heel connected soundly and she felt the impact reverberate through her already sore muscles. Wincing she kicked again and again sending glass shattering towards Lori inside. A few more kicks and the window was broken enough that Lori would be able to fit through.
Callie let her legs crumple under her and she sat gingerly upon the glass littered pavement. Breathing hard and blinking past the pain in her head Callie shifted towards the windshield again.
"Okay, Lori. Hand me the sweatshirt," Callie said almost breathlessly, reaching out with her right hand before retracting it in a pained motion. Shaking her head she reached out with her left hand and took the sweatshirt laying it over as much of the window pane as she could. "Okay, crawl out carefully. Keep your back down," Callie practically yelled as Lori began to slip forward. Lori's eyes snapped to her and Callie grimaced and shrugged. "From experience, just keep your back down, okay?" Callie said reaching a hand out to try and help Lori as she slowly worked forward.
Lori crawled slowly, wincing with the movements and Callie knew the moment the woman's hand pressed down hard on the glass littered ground. A whispered explicative followed by the shake of Lori's head almost had Callie laughing. Almost.
After a bit of slow crawling by Lori and help from Callie both women were settled on the ground breathing hard with their backs braced to the perpendicular hood of the sideways sitting car. Callie's head was back against the hood, her eyes shifting up and down the street keeping an eye out for any more unwanted visitors. Shifting her eyes beside her she saw Lori staring at the body of the Walker on the ground near the car. Callie watched Lori's chest rise and fall with each shuddering breath she took in, blood stained the left side of her face from a cut along her forehead and another along her cheekbone. Callie's eyes went to her right elbow, where she was now holding her hoodie to the bleeding appendage. Her eyes slipped back to Lori in time to catch the woman place a shaking hand over her abdomen and that movement had Callie shifting onto her knees in front of Lori.
"How's your head?" Callie asked quietly as she reached forward with her left hand, leaving her right arm tight to her body to help with the pain. Lori blinked in surprise and shifted her eyes away from the body to where Callie was kneeling before her. "Any pain in your neck?" Lori's head shook slowly as she stared at Callie. "Good. Any pain anywhere?" Again Lori's head shook and Callie nodded as her eyes flitted back to the inside of the car.
"Callie?" Lori said in a quiet tone dragging Callie's eyes back to her. Callie followed Lori's eye line to her arm and she shook her head and waved off the other woman's concern.
"It's fine. I cut it on the glass," Callie said shifting towards the windshield. "I'm gonna grab the bag and flashlights. Stay put," Callie said forcefully and then shifted in through the windshield and grabbed for the bag of supplies. After working her way back out Callie rummaged through the bag and pulled out the Fat Lady. She stared at the gun for a moment before checking to see it was loaded and shoving it at the now shifting Lori. "Here," Callie said getting to her feet and picking up her knife from where Lori had dropped it on the street.
"What are you doing?" Lori asked as she gingerly got to her feet. Callie spared her a quick look and then shifted her eyes back down the highway.
"I want to see what we hit," Callie said holding her knife tight and shifting towards the back of the car. She heard Lori shuffling behind her and turned raising a hand. "Stay here, keep your back to the car and your eyes open."
"I'm coming with you," Lori said forcefully and Callie spun on her shaking her head.
"No you're stayin' here, and you're resting," Callie said forcefully, lifting a chiding finger to cut off the woman's reply. "Don't. Just—" Callie sighed and shifted her knife into her left hand again holding her right tight to her body. "Lori, I know about the baby."
Callie's words had Lori's eyes going wide and she let out a sigh at the confusion and fear she saw on Lori's face. Callie gave Lori a reassuring smile and lifted a mollifying hand to her.
"Just stay put and rest," Callie said bending and grabbing the flashlight from her bag. She flicked it on and slid the light up the highway where she could just make out something in the road. Callie's eyes flicked back to Lori, who stood motionless staring at her and shook her head before starting off towards that something in the road.
Callie had made it about five feet from the car before she heard the shuffling of feet behind her. Turning she caught Lori's hard eyes watching as she slowly worked her way past the overturned trunk of the car. Just as Callie was about to admonish her Lori's eyes went wide.
"Watch out!" Lori yelled. The crazed look in Lori's eyes caused Callie to turn just in time to see the reaching arms of the Walker staggering towards her.
Callie staggered back, her heel catching on the pavement as the Walker continued towards her. She had the horrifying sensation of falling as the Walker's hands found purchase on her shoulders. Callie crashed into the pavement, her bloody and torn right elbow hitting hard into the ground and causing her to gasp painfully and lose the grip on the flashlight while her left hit hard and her knife flew from her grasp. The walker fell on top of her and Callie's hands were instantly up fending off the undead bastard as it lunged towards her.
"Oh God!" Callie yelled as she turned away from the putrid mouth coming towards her. Her head turned and she caught sight of Lori lifting the Fat Lady and pointing it towards them. "No! Don't shoot it!"
"You just gave me the gun," Lori yelled back as she worked to aim at the moving Walker currently on top of Calle.
"As a last resort!" Callie yelled back pushing with her injured arm and letting out an aggravated sigh. "We didn't really go over moving targets, and I'm not in the mood to get shot, Lori!" Callie heaved the Walker a bit and seethed through her teeth. "Smash it!"
"With what?" Lori said in an agitated yell as she continued to work to line up her shot.
"I don't know! Improvise!" Callie yelled back. She let her eyes slip to the other woman and watched her continue to line up a shot. "Lori, you fire that gun you're gonna call every walker nearby right to -" Callie stopped and let out a slightly stuttering shriek as the Walker pushed at her. She could feel her arms getting weaker, her right damn near ready to give out against the push of the thing on top of her.
Just as her arms were ready to give out the something smashed into the back of the Walker's head. The momentum of the hit sent the Walker careening towards her and Callie shifted her head quickly to the side to avoid its face falling on her. Its hands unfurled from her shirt and Callie used whatever strength she had left to push the dead weight of the thing all the way off of her, before just laying there and taking in ragged breath after ragged breath.
After a second she opened her eyes and looked up to find Lori staring down at the body of the Walker. Callie shifted up onto her left hand, her right arm throbbing in pain now from the impact with the ground and she scooted herself away from the body over towards Lori. Lori blinked a few times and then crouched down placing a shaking hand on Callie's shoulder as she helped her to move further away. Callie's eyes were stuck on the Walker and she couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of the flashlight sticking out of the back of the Walker's head, the beam still on with a smear of blood across the lens causing a fucked up Bat-Signal of sorts to be sent up into the night sky. Callie shifted her eyes up to where Lori half sat behind her and she chuckled. Lifting her right hand she patted Lori's arm and nodded.
"Nice," Callie said breathlessly her own eyes still on the Walker lying dead on the ground. "Thanks."
Not a word had been spoken between Lori and Callie since her muttered 'thanks'. Not a word as they both walked down to discover that the object that they'd hit on the road was in fact a body. A Walker's body just left lying on the road. Not a word when Lori wrapped up Callie's bleeding arm in her sweatshirt, leaving the shards of glass inside until they got to a safer and brighter place. Not a word as Callie checked over the gash in Lori's head and the bruises they both shared from the wreck itself. Not a word since Lori began walking down the highway, heading towards town and her errant husband instead of back towards the farm, leaving Callie to stare after her in a bit of awe.
They walked together in that strangely comfortable silence, eyes peeled to their surroundings and ready for the next eventual Walker that would stumble across them. Because it was only a matter of time with the way their luck had been going. Callie shifted her injured arm around wincing slightly as the pain inched its way up her arm and into her fingertips. She caught Lori's gaze slip to her briefly before her eyes were again on the road and Callie shifted the flashlight beam across their path.
Not a word had been spoke since they'd left behind Patricia's car so when Lori finally did speak, Callie was honestly shocked at the choice of words.
"Part of me hates you," Lori said quietly and Callie's brow twitched in a bit of shock mixed with amusement as she looked at the woman beside her. Lori's eyes shifted over to her briefly and then back to the road. Callie was a bit unsure how to respond so she merely shifted her eyes back to the road and then did a sweep behind them for good measure. "You walk through this world so unaffected by everything, and it's just-"
"I'm far from unaffected, Lori," Callie said calmly, keeping her eyes away from the scared woman beside her. "I just compartmentalize better than most."
"Whatever," Lori said shaking her head before glaring ahead of them. "I hate that you can do that. Hate it and admire it."
Another minute of silence flowed out and Callie figured that was going to be the end of the conversation between them. Yet again she was wrong.
"He told you," Lori said in a timid voice that had Callie shifting her eyes over to the other woman. Lori's hand was resting over her stomach and Callie's lips twitched into a small smirk. Lori's eyes met hers and she shook her head slightly before continuing. "Of course he did," Lori said with a continuing shake of her head. Lori's eyes shifted over Callie and held upon the holster sitting on her hips. Lori's flashlight shifted over and illuminated the small golden star of Rick's badge that Callie had pinned on at Gracie's request before leaving. She held the light on that badge for a good long moment as they walked and then finally shifted it off. "He trusts you," Lori said on a sigh of such internal paint that Callie actually felt it.
"He loves you," Callie said back immediately, her footsteps slowing to match Lori's. Lori's eyes shifted to Callie's and held for a moment before she looked away again. "He trusts you too."
"I'm not so sure anymore," Lori said quietly, the words echoing so loudly through the darkness around them that you would have thought the woman had shouted them. "You didn't see his face when -" Lori cut herself off and wiped angrily at a tear streaking down her cheek. Shaking her head she let the statement linger in the air. They continued walking and Callie found her eyes rooted to the woman beside her still warring with something. "Shane thinks I love him. Thinks I kept everything from Rick because-" she waved her hand around in a defeated motion.
"You do love him," Callie said cutting her off. Lori's steps halted and Callie did as well, her stare finding Lori's shocked eyes and holding. "You do. But you're not in love with him." Callie stepped just a bit closer to Lori and ducked her head slightly to catch Lori's wavering gaze. "Are you?"
"No," Lori said immediately, her head shaking wildly with the single word. Callie nodded and began walking again, leaving Lori to follow her this time.
"Shane's a good man," Callie said quietly and the scoffed a bit. "I know we don't get along. I know. But at some point in his lifetime I know that was true. I don't think you or Rick would have put up with him otherwise," Callie said shifting a bit of a smile at the still silent Lori. "How long?" Callie asked causing them to stop walking again as Lori looked up at her confusedly. "How long has he been showing an interest in you, Lori?"
A beat of heavy silence flowed between them as they stood on the road just staring at one another. Callie held Lori's gaze for as long as she could, willing the woman to realize that she wasn't as alone in the world as she felt. Lori let out a long sigh and shifted her free hand gingerly through her dark hair, her eyes shifted away and her head shook slightly before she spoke.
"It wasn't an interest," Lori said quietly and Callie shifted slightly on her feet. "It was innocent. Rick and I hadn't been-" Lori stopped herself and caught Callie's raised knowing brow. Lori nodded and gave a slightly aggravated huff. "You know," Lori said waving her hand a bit between them. "He talks to you, trusts you, I know you know." Callie nodded, keeping her mouth shut so as not to shut down whatever Lori was going to say. "Shane, was a flirt. Day I met him I knew that. He was always smiles and endearing words back then, that was just the way he was. To everyone," Lori said with a small smile at the small bit of a memory from her life from before. That smile faded quickly and she raked her fingers back through her hair. "It was flirting. That's all. It seemed like forever since Rick had flirted with me, so when Shane would do it, I-" Lori stopped and looked up at Callie with a look of guilt and anguish written along her features. "I wouldn't discourage it."
Callie nodded and Lori let out a rattling sigh, her eyes blinking wildly to hold in the tears that Callie could see shining even in the darkness around them.
"And then when everything happened," Lori continued, her eyes shifting down the road towards the town. "And I thought I'd lost Rick, I didn't know what to do. I was so lost, Callie. So alone, and I -" Lori shook her head and wiped angrily at the tears freely falling down her face. "It was a mistake. A mistake that everyone knows about. A mistake that everyone judges me for, and that I'll never be able to outrun."
Callie looked away then and after a second she began walking again, leaving a slightly dumbfounded Lori to shuffle after her in shock. Callie's eyes slipped over to Lori and she smiled before doing a sweep of the area with her flashlight.
"I remember that first someone new," Callie said with a smile and a bit of a chuckle. Lori stared hard at her and sniffed back her tears as Callie continued to smile at her. "C'mon now, I've been divorced almost as long as you and Rick have been married." Callie smiled wider as Lori's eyes widened a bit. Callie saw the moment that the story of her marriage and divorce registered in Lori's mind and watched as yet again Lori lifted her hand to her stomach. Callie smiled sadly and then shifted her eyes back to the road. "I'm not a hundred percent positive, but I'm pretty damn sure that I'd be safe in assuming that Rick was your one and only for a lot of things way back when." Callie's eyes remained on Lori's and she watched the woman dip her chin down just a bit in affirmation. "That first taste of someone new after so long with someone else can be intoxicating. It can blind you," Callie said quietly as she continued walking. "Make you think you've found something you were missing. But it's just different, not special not magical, just different from what you'd had for so long."
"You're talking rebound," Lori said incredulously. "You think Shane was a rebound?"
"I think Shane was a friend to you, and he kept you and your son alive and kept you safe. I think he offered a comfort when you needed it, and you took it." Callie said firmly as they yet again came to a stop. "Now here's what I know. I know you love your son and would do anything for him. I know you love your husband. I know you're a good woman, a strong woman, and a formidable bitch when you need to be. All mothers are." Callie said with a smile that Lori returned just a bit. "I know you feel guilty for something you had no clue would be as devastating as it apparently has been when you did it. I know you'll carry that guilt for the rest of your life." Callie stepped forward and put a hand to Lori's slim shoulder and squeezed it. "I know Rick loves you. And he will love and protect this baby until his dying day, because that is the man he is."
A beat of silence filtered along the road again and Callie watched as Lori worked to wipe away more tears that slipped past her best defenses. Callie squeezed Lori's shoulder lightly and then let her hand fall to hold on to her injured right elbow. Just as Callie turned to start off down the road again Lori spoke.
"Dale said that Shane killed Otis," Lori said quietly and Callie spun back to star at the other woman. Lori held Callie's gaze steadily and firmed her lips waiting for some kind of response.
"He knows that?" Callie asked lifting a brow and Lori shifted her eyes away and shook her head.
"He thinks it," Lori said in return again letting her fingers slide across her damp cheeks. Lori's arms crossed over her abdomen and she shook her head lightly. "I have a feeling you know the truth." Lori continued, her eyes boring holes into Callie as they stood on that road. Callie's jaw tightened just a bit but she remained stoic, not knowing what good would come from confirming the news. Lori's psyche was already on edge, one more push wouldn't be good for anyone. Lori sighed and looked away briefly. "You asked why I went to Daryl," Lori continued calmly and Callie perked a bit. "You wanted to know why I didn't go to Shane. Well, that's why," Lori raised a hand out before her as if offering the information for viewing and judgment. "I didn't go to him because Shane is in love with me. Because Shane is convinced that I love him, that our time together was more than just a rebound or just a product of the world ending. He's convinced that the baby I'm carrying is his. I didn't go to him-" Lori stopped and swallowed the rest of her statement.
"Because you didn't trust him to bring back the man you love alive," Callie supplied in a knowing tone that had Lori's eyes shining with new tears as she stared back at her.
"I didn't say that," Lori said quickly, her head shaking and her eyes wide. "I can't believe that of him, I can't. He risked his life to save me and Carl," Lori said in a wavering tone, her head still shaking back and forth. "What kind of person would it make me to think that of him; think that of someone I care about? To think that of someone that I've trusted for so long?"
Callie firmed her lips and stared back at Lori, watching as the woman tore herself up over everything she'd just said. While Lori may not have totally believed what Dale had apparently told her regarding Otis and Shane, some part of her did. A part of her saw the truth in it, because Lori knew Shane better than anyone. Just like Rick.
The only difference between the two of them now, was that Rick had already begun to realize that the Shane they'd known was letting this world seep into his soul.
The sound of a car coming down the road cut off whatever Lori was going to say and had them both turning to face the oncoming headlights. Callie placed herself slightly in front of Lori, her right hand resting on the butt of her gun in the holster at her hip. The car sped to a screeching halt not far from them, its momentum sending it slightly turned. Callie spared a quick look back and Lori, noticing that the slim woman had pulled the Fat Lady in preparation for whatever was coming.
Squinting in the beams of the headlights Callie watched the driver's door fly open and she let out a low sigh as her hand shifted off of her gun slightly. Slowly she reached out and put a hand atop Lori's shaking ones and lowered the Fat Lady's barrel to the ground.
"Jesus," Shane's angered and out of breath voice echoed around them and Callie's body slackened just a bit. "Are you a'right?" Shane asked as he approached them, his eyes locked on the still form of Lori slightly behind Callie.
Callie shifted slightly out of the way of the oncoming idiot. She narrowed her brow as he stalked up to her and she rolled her eyes when he glared at her as he pushed past. She shifted her eyes to Lori, noting that the woman still had a tight grip on her gun. Slowly she began to head back towards Lori, Callie's hand again settling on the butt of her gun.
"I saw the car and the Walkers," Shane said stopping near Lori, his hands reaching out as Lori turned away. Callie caught Lori's eyes as she started off down the road towards the town and followed slightly behind at her side. Shane was stalking up behind Lori, his hands still reaching out as he shifted his eyes quickly to Callie and then back to Lori. "Are you a'right?"
"Fine," Lori said back over her shoulder, pulling her arm free of Shane's hand as it finally found purchase on her arm.
"You're not fine, you're bleedin'," Shane said reaching out and this time succeeding in stopping the woman and turning her. His eyes took in the jagged cut across Lori's forehead and they slipped angrily over to Callie. "What the fuck were you thinkin'? Bringin' her out here like that? You coulda got her killed-"
"Stop it," Lori said forcefully as she pulled her arm out of Shane's grasp. The Fat Lady was held tight in Lori's right hand, while her left worked to push her hair out of her face as she glared at the man before her. "She didn't drag me out here, I dragged her. I wasn't about to sit around while Rick and Glenn were out there alone."
"I would have -"
"Helping Rick hasn't been one of your priorities lately, Shane." Lori said tartly and Shane flinched back from her. Lori's eyes shifted to Callie and then back to Shane, weariness was clear in her eyes but she was holding her ground against it. "So excuse me if I'm having trouble swallowin' that. I am not going back there without my husband."
"He's back," Shane said after a beat, the statement causing Lori's eyes to flash open wide, and Callie's to narrow. "They're back," Shane said shifting his eyes over to Callie and holding her gaze for a moment.
"Danny?" Callie asked quietly, her eyes still narrowed upon the face of the man. Shane's lips firmed tight for one second as he stared back at her, his tongue darting out to wet his upper lip. Callie could almost see the wheels turning in his head as he looked at her. As he worked through his answer. His eyes shifted to Lori who looked relieved but obviously still worried about her friend, and then quickly back to Callie. Slowly a smile that was more fake than any she'd seen in a long time began stretching over his lips.
"Yeah, Danny too," Shane said lifting a hand and then letting it fall to his side. Lori's quiet and breathy 'thank God' was drowned out by the blood rushing through Callie's head as she stared at Shane. He shook his head and chuckled lightly as he kept his eyes on Callie, gauging her response. Watching, reading her like she knew he could. "Limped his ass in not ten minutes after Rick and the rest came back. Useless trip here, girls. Makin' people worry for nothin'," Shane continued, his eyes shifting over to the visibly relaxing Lori staring at him. He reached out a hand to her and this time Lori didn't flinch away, instead she let him squeeze her arm gently and pull her just a bit towards his waiting car. "They're back and they're fine. Now let's get you back and looked at."
Lori's eyes shifted over to Callie, her feet halting Shane's pull of her towards the car. Lori was waiting for Callie to say something. Waiting for Callie to walk along with them. Callie's eyes flicked to the road and then back up to Shane who was waiting as well, his lips firmed tight.
She shifted her weight on her feet, and felt the dull throb of the wounds in her right arm pulsing anew. She knew her face held the hint of disgust at what she was about to do, but she swallowed it down as she looked over to Lori and smiled tightly.
It was really the look on Lori's face that made Callie's decision, the unsure but hopeful look. The look of a woman who wasn't ready to be out here. The fear of what their continued journey into town would mean for Carl, and for that unborn child she carried was clear on Lori's face.
It was clear and it was taking over Lori's mind and blinding her to the truth. The simple and very blatant truth of this situation.
Shane was lying.
There was no way that Rick would send Shane out after them. No way that Rick wouldn't have come himself to get his wayward wife and ensure her safety and that of his unborn child. No way in hell that Daryl would stand by and let Shane be the lone person to come out after them either, no matter what kind of strangeness had settled between them. Just no fucking way.
Rick, Glenn and Hershel weren't back at the farm. Danny hadn't hobbled his ass back. Everything the man had just spouted off was a fucking lie and the bastard knew Callie would be able to see that. But he also knew that Lori wouldn't, that the woman would continue to go on trusting him.
Callie's arm was throbbing and bleeding and she winced as she shifted slightly. Her eyes shifted to the cut on Lori's head and then down to where Lori's hand had once again found a resting place over her stomach. Thoughts of that unborn baby and the possible damage that the car crash had done flashed in Callie's mind. Followed quickly by thoughts of Carl waiting for his momma. Worrying about her.
Thoughts of Ben and Gracie and Daryl probably doing the same for her.
Callie's head began to nod and she slowly headed towards Lori who let out a relieved sigh. Callie slipped her arm through Lori's and broke Shane's hold on her arm as she guided her towards the car.
"Everyone's probably worried. We should get back," Callie said quietly her eyes slipping to Shane. Lori's head nodded numbly as she let Callie open the door and help her into the passenger seat. Callie's eyes shifted to Shane standing near the front end of the car, his eyes shifted from her bleeding arm to her face and then to Lori settled inside.
Callie closed the door and stared hard at Shane. They remained that way for only a second but it felt like it stretched to hours. Finally Shane gave her a single nod and let a small smirk slide onto his lips. He lifted a hand to point disinterestedly at her bleeding arm and his smile grew.
"Ain't a bite is it?" Shane asked with a bit of a sneering chuckle that had Callie scoffing and reaching for the back passenger door.
"Fuck you," Callie said just before opening the door.
Shane barked out a laugh and Callie rolled her eyes as he worked his way towards the driver's side door. Shane got in and slammed his door shut, leaving Callie to stare down the roadway towards the town. With a sigh she shifted her eyes inside the car and then ducked into the backseat, her hand reaching out to touch onto Lori's shoulder. Lori turned back to face her and Callie forced a smile onto her face before giving her another reassuring squeeze. Shifting just a bit Callie's gaze locked with Shane's in the rearview mirror and she sneered back at him.
"Let's go," Callie said firmly letting her hand fall back onto her lap, right next her gun settled snuggly in her holster. She felt the moment that Shane realized his own precarious position, and couldn't help but smirk at his glaring eyes in the rearview mirror. A moment later Shane shifted the car back into gear and turned them back towards the farm. As they rode Callie couldn't help but stare out the back window wondering if she'd made the right choice.
There's nothing worse, in this world
Than payback from, a jealous girl
The laws of man, do not apply
When blood gets in, a woman's eye
Well, she hit them with her ten cent pistol
Because they ruined her name,
Well, she hit them with her ten cent pistol,
And they've never been the same
~Ten Cent Pistol / The Black Keys
AN: So there's a nice little chapter…I don't even know what to say here so I'm just gonna let it go as is. This was torture to write, probably because I was so disjointed in my process which doesn't make for a happy little writer me. But…IT'S DONE.
Next chap we'll be catching up with the boys at the bar, and then we'll be back at the farm. Moving along, people. Moving along.
Much Love
See ya next chapter!