A kiss from the wind -The Walking dead. Daryl Dixon/OC
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Chapter 7- Timeline
Summary: The gnarled hand scrabbled uselessly against the ground, rotting body trapped under the mangled car wreck, reaching, moaning and snarling. Charlotte grimaced, moving further out of reach and crouched to the ground. "Come on kid." Daryl's voice sounded behind her, a hand landing on her shoulder, "Leave it. We got ground to cover." Daryl/OC
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Warning for one swear word…
Sorry for taking so long… uni, new job and redecorating room! Phew! Enjoy!
Thanks so much for the great responses, please pass this on to your fellow WD Fanfic friends.. I'm really proud of this work! Thanks!
This chapter kind of jumps around the timeline a bit, skips around but is hopefully is still legible =]
Dedicated to Traci- a.k.a SIGK1 for emailing me and kicking my ass into gear! Thanks hun! Enjoy!
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"Your father did that." a familiar voice said the next morning as Charlotte piled the breakfast plates into her arms.
She knew immediately that he meant the purpling bruise on her jaw, she nodded.
"He do that often?" Daryl asked.
"I provoked him." Charlotte whispered.
"What were you arguing about?" he asked from where he stood leaning against what seemed to had rapidly become his favourite tree. Charlotte hesitated, glanced around the small camp that she found herself in, young Emma sat talking softly to Caroline. Jamie seemed to be in an intense arm wrestling match with Carl, cheered on by his parents. Everything seemed calm, normal if you ignored the armed guards and hoards of dead roaming the Earth, Charlotte couldn't bring herself to disrupt the tentative harmony that had seemed to come with the sun this morning and she could not risk divulging what she knew to Daryl of all people, she knew even after so little time that he was probably wasn't exactly emotionally stable and would act first without planning or asking questions.
"Nothing." she answered instead, "Just something ridiculous. It's not important."
"Seemed important enough for him to knock you about." Daryl pushed.
Charlotte shrugged, "Not much I can do about it. Are you finished?" She indicated the breakfast cutlery by his tent.
He raised an eyebrow at the obviously empty plate before nodding.
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"Do you like Carol, Emma?" Charlotte asked, as the girl emerged from the river bank, dripping, clean as it was possible to get in the water.
"Yeah, she's really nice." The girl replied, "She knows lots of stories about princesses and knights and magic."
"That's nice Emma." Charlotte grinned, ruffling the girls hair, "I'm glad."
"Do you like them? I like all of them. They're really nice."
"I guess so. I don't really get to see them a lot do I?" Charlotte laughed.
"You should." Emma said, "I think they'd like you!"
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"They're getting restless." Lawrence growled to Andrew that night, "They can leave their camp two by two during the day with a guard. See to it."
"Is that safe?"
"They make a move, they're dead, make sure they know that. We can have them trying to escape." Lawrence explained.
"They wouldn't get far, we have their weapons."
"I don't need them even attempting it."
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"Good morning." voices chorused as Charlotte stepped into the smaller camp the next morning.
"Emma tells me I must spend more time in here." Charlotte said conspiratorially over Emma's head with a smile towards Carol.
"Oh you must!" Carol smiled beatifically, "Take a seat."
"Thanks."
"Do you help with the cooking?" Carol asked, " I mean the food tastes great considering."
"No." Charlotte laughed, "I barely knew how to use a microwave before. Jamie and I basically lived on takeaway or cold food after my mum."
"She died before all of this?"
"Yeah, five years ago. Jamie and I are seventeen years apart, he doesn't remember her much and I wasn't always the best mother figure for him. Cooking for a start." Charlotte said wistfully.
"He's a great kid." Carol replied, eyeing Charlotte's father as he strode purposefully across the camp, "From what I see, you did the best you could."
Charlotte smiled.
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Charlotte sat opposite Jamie on the ground outside of their tent. The brightly coloured cards fanned out in her hands, familiar stars of the lord of the rings staring back at her from the top trump cards she had found lodged in the bottom of the bag that had been acquired for Jamie. All of these people were probably dead now.
"Age." Jamie said hopefully.
"Uh…" Charlotte searched the golden, Earthy looking card at the top of her pile, the picture of a dirty strange looking man before her, Smeagol, "thirty four"
The wry smile on Jamie's face she guessed said this was not a very good answer.
"Thirteen thousand nine hundred and five ." Jamie cried triumphantly, waving the dragon like creature in front of her face. What in the world was a Balrog?
"Why do I get the feeling that your cheating?" Charlotte asked with narrowed eyes.
"Because your bad at this?"
"I don't like your tone, Jamie." Charlotte joked.
They continued with the game for a little longer, Charlotte winning only a few rounds. She didn't quite understand the rules of the game, an eight year old boy wasn't the best teacher and she was fairly certain he had made up some of the rules as no instruction sheet had been with the well used cards.
"Resistance to ring." Charlotte said.
"Two."
"Ooh!" Charlotte cheered, "Merry's not so good now is he? Three from good old Sam."
"Awh man!" Jamie sighed, handing over his card.
"Whatcha doing?" A female voice asked.
Charlotte squinted up into the sun to see Lori and Carl, flanked by armed men.
"Hi." Charlotte said, "We're just playing cards. Lord of the rings special."
"Carl loves those films," Lori said, "I always thought he was too young to watch them though."
"That true Carl?" Charlotte asked the boy. He nodded, "Well then, why don't you play with Jamie for a while?" She indicated her quickly dwindling pile, "I don't seem to be doing so well."
Carl shook his head in response.
"Go on Carl." Lori insisted, nudging him a little, "Go ahead."
"I don't want to!" the boy cried, folding his arms across his chest. Charlotte knew that had the guards not been flanking them the boy would have fled. "I want to go back to our camp."
"Lets go then." A guard growled.
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Charlotte didn't know how long Rick and Daryl and the others had been here. The days passed slowly but had barely anything to distinguish them apart. They woke just after sunrise, Charlotte and Jamie helped Betty prepare breakfast, they took food to the prisoners, Charlotte spent the day with Jamie, distrcting him and keeping him busy, Emm would spend her time with Carol. Almost every day Charlotte would be made to accompany some of Ricks group to bathe, Andrew and her father believing that she was the least intimidating therefore could keep them calm. She helped Betty give out dinner and delivered it to the group before eating her own. It was routine. It was almost comfortable. Her fathers words still rang through her head though, Let them let their guard down and then we strike, making her stomach roil in disgust, It's been so long since the men had any women around.
The thing was, even with the armed escorts and hostile environment the group were letting their guard down. They were regularly fed without having to work for it, always able to get clean even under the watchful gazes of the men. They were settling, resigned to the situation which made her fathers threats all the more real. Charlotte had no doubt that her father would follow through with his idea, no doubt of the pain they would all suffer. They were all good people, that was the thing, even Daryl with his rough exterior, Carl a prepubescent boy with an attitude in a modern dystopia, Andrea brash and desperate to prove herself. Charlotte trusted Betty's watchful eye and knew not to run around shouting warnings, that Betty would know and would tell her when it was time to do something, at her age she was very watchful and intuitive. A strong lady. Still, Charlotte feared for them.
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"Three weeks and two days." Betty told her when she asked the next evening, "They've been here three weeks and two days."
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"I'm T-Dog" the large dark skinned man that Charlotte hadn't originally noticed in the chaos of the groups arrival and detainment, introduced himself, "We haven't properly met."
Charlotte reached up from the ground to shake his large hand, bigger than two of hers put together, and smiled, "Hi."
Beth stood behind him, as far as humanly possible away from their escorts, almost plastered to T-Dogs back.
It seemed that when allowed to roam they always made their way to Charlottes tent, when not preparing for the next meal Betty spent her time their too, with the children. Charlotte knew they were the only ones in the camp who would not only be welcoming but would also not hurt or bully anyone in any way.
"I just wanted to say thanks." T-Dog said, flopping down beside her, Beth following in his wake, "For what you're doing for us. The food and the hanging around. Your presence makes Carl and Beth here especially, feel calmer."
Charlotte smiled, "There's not much I can do to help anything."
"The foods enough for now." T-Dog laughed. Charlotte noticed that he smiled easily, even in this situation with escorts, guns pointed precariously away ready to be fired at any possible moment. Even as a prisoner this man smiled.
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"Rabbit today." Charlotte said, as she handed the plate to Daryl where he sat, still segregated outside his tent, "Extra chewy."
She received a grunt in reply and ignored the mans affronted glare as she sat beside him, "You've not really unpacked anything." She stated, glancing into his open tent, where only a few bags sat, full and an unrolled sleeping bag lay across the lumpy ground.
"I don't plan on staying here that long." he drawled, shovelling more food into his mouth. Charlotte nodded, perfect.
"Good." she whispered gravely, catching his eye, "Don't get comfortable. Don't let your guard down."
Daryl lowered his fork, glanced around for an audience and frowned, "What?"
"It's not safe here. Don't ever think you're safe."
"What do you mean?"
Charlotte swallowed, breathed, "Just don't let your guard down."
She walked away.
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"Move away from me." Charlotte growled towards David's face as he leered in her direction, once again by the river. Carol and Andrea who were on their time away from their camp, stood with Jamie and Emma to the side.
"Don't think I'll do that." David sneered, his large hand grabbing roughly at her ass.
"Get off of me. You know the rules." She hissed, seemingly for the millionth time, as she pulled roughly away from his grasp.
"I was just gonna walk you back to camp darlin'" came the reply with a lurid smile.
Charlotte growled, "Stay the fuck away from me. Lets go Jamie."
She was yanked back roughly, into a familiar embrace that made her shudder, David had always been in her personal space. "David…"
"Just you wait til your father is away." he spoke, "All bets are off when he aint here to protect ya."
Charlotte shuddered as he released her. "Come on Jamie." she repeated.
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That evening Charlotte greeted a wandering Daryl and Hershel with a wave as she made her way towards her fathers segregated area. She had seen him moving around with purpose much like a number of other men who were preparing for a raid the next morning.
"Are you going with them?" she asked as she stepped into his tent, "The raid?"
"Yes."
"Andrew's not going?" she asked.
"Not this time, he'll be in charge here, keep an eye on everyone." Lawrence replied.
"Why are you going? You know you need to be here." Charlotte said, desperately, thinking of the men, of the control her father held over them.
"Andrew can take care of it. He's just as good." Lawrence spoke as he shoved a clean shirt into his travel bag, "I'm going stir crazy here right now."
"I'm not saying its Disneyland here dad but you cant go." she said as she watched him load rounds into his rusty gun and put more inside his bag. She received no reply to her words.
Charlotte was not close to her father, she was not worried for him, he was a violent horrid man at the best of times. No, she was worried for herself, for Jamie, for the other camp. Without her fathers control these men were notoriously bad. Had this been the world before the dead started walking they would have been a fearsome, respected gang.
Her father pushed past her and walked quickly into the camp.
"Dad!" Charlotte cried, "What about Jamie?" Lawrence had always loved Jamie, had never harmed him, though Charlotte suspected that might have been because she had returned home after her mother died and Jamie had never been alone with him. "What will he do if you don't come back?"
"Shut up Charlotte!" he growled as the camp began to crowd around, as was the norm when her father took up his position in the middle of camp. Daryl and Hershel found themselves swept along with the others.
"What's happenin'?" Daryl asked lowly in Charlotte's ear. She shook her head silently eyes locked onto her father.
"Tomorrow, Darren, Cody, Liam and myself are heading out on a raid, the town we sent Randall and the others to." Charlotte feels Daryl tense beside her where his arm brushes hers. Her attention is momentarily drawn to him and she frowns her question to him. He shakes his head in the same way she did moments before.
"It should be obvious that you do what Andrew says while I'm gone. The rules still stand." Lawrence dictates before returning to his sleeping area to bed down.
The crowd began to disperse to their own tasks and to pass the news around to the others. It made sense, Charlotte thought, to go back to the town Randall and the others had gone, the place still held plenty of supplies and there was not a copious amount of the dead as first believed. Randall, Dave and Tony had simply disappeared, believed dead. It wasn't that far either, she thought, maybe a day total, a night too.
Charlotte stepped backwards, closer to Daryl's form as David moved in front of her. Daryls hand wrapped around her forearm, protectively she thought as he stood to attention.
"Remember what I said." David leered, "All bets. Off."
Charlotte swallowed, turned and marched away.
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Don't own LOTR or Top trumps blah blah blah and as far as I know the card info mentioned is correct =] I researched! Don't own the walking dead either for that matter =]
Bit of a crap, abrupt end but couldn't work out how else to end it! This chapter just wouldn't bloody write!
What does everyone think? This one is a bit longer!