A week had passed since Lacie and Bella got wounded by gun shots. Merle had brought Bella back to Woodbury, so the Governor didn't come looking or replace them. Lacie has since decided to try distance herself from Daryl, to keep herself from saying anything else "stupid." Her black hair was down laying itself gently on her shoulders. Taking her brush from the light blue blanket she ran it through her hair, putting it up into a pony tail. Today would be the first time she had hunted with him in a while. Rick had requested her to hunt personally, more game was brought to the prison that way, at least that's the reason he gave her. Lacie changed from the giant t-shirt she wore to bed to a white shirt and jean shorts. Her hands seemed to have missed her katana in a way, they didn't want to let go of it the moment she picked it up. The shine of the blade, the weight, everything about it felt right. The life she lived before the apocalypse was always missing something. Whatever it was she had found it in that blade more than ever before. Lacie strapped on her hunting and walker killing equipment then headed down to Daryl's truck.
Daryl had been at the truck already when she got there. They had spoken a few times since she had apologized but nothing like they use to. Just that common fake polite stuff you were taught as a child and now do as a reflex. Lacie pulled herself into the passenger seat after shutting the door she shot him a polite fake smile. "Don't do that." Daryl hated when people were fake nice to him. In more ways than one it was worse than if she had spit right in his face. In his heart he missed the way things were the competition hunting, friendly conversation, and being a power team. "I'm sorry." Lacie knew he didn't deserve that, a lie was a lie even if there are no words. "Whatever." The drive was silent for 20 minutes or so. "Do ya hate me Lace?" The statement sounded pathetic when he heard it slip out. To him he sounded like a child asking for its parent's approval. "No Daryl. I hate me. I have this thing where I ruin everything good I come in contact with." Her words sounded like they came from his own head. Daryl always felt that he fucked everything good up. The rest of the ride was silent, neither of them knew what to say to the other. The truck came to a halt, they were at the hunting grounds once again. The two hunted separately as always but this time there was no count of who had done better. The Georgia heat was forgiving as it couldn't had been more than 75 degrees during the day and at night it must have been about 60.
Even though the two hadn't been in good space it didn't affect the amount of game they had killed. Daryl had caught 3 rabbits, 7 squirrels, and 2 snakes. Lacie on the other hand caught 1 rabbit, 2 foxes and 10 squirrels. Rick's hopes of the return of normalcy were quickly dashed when the two didn't even skin the animals in the same area. "Hey Lacie." Rick walked up to her with a small smile. By now Lacie's once white shirt was covered in dirt and a lot of blood. Her face had dirt on it, and her ponytail was loose. "Hey Rick. Did you need something?" She wiped her hands on her shirt to dry them a little then continued skinning the fox. "Can I ask you a question?" He sat down on a metal chair beside her. "You know my policy Rick. You can ask but you only have a 50% chance of me answering it." When it came to any personal matters the group did allow her to have that policy. Not everyone wanted to talk about their past or how they were feeling. Though the only people that seemed to fit in that category in the prison were Daryl and Lacie. "What happened between you and Daryl? You two used to go everywhere together and you both seemed happier before." Her response was silence, which was her polite way of not answering a question. "I just want to resolve the issue." Lacie had finished skinning the fox and started the second one. "After I cook these I am heading off to bed. I'm not hungry." Rick knew he was defeated, gave her a side hug and left.
Lacie was sick of hurting Daryl, being a constant reminder of the friendship that she had messed up. Her finally decision was to leave the camp, she had survived once on her own she could do it again. After packing her bag she left with only one stop which was at Daryl's cell, she left a flower in the door way as one last sorry. The moon was bright enough to illuminate the forest in such a way that Lacie didn't even need her flashlight. In her mind she wasn't doing anything wrong, no one would miss her or even know she was gone, and if they did it would only be for her hunting skill that helped Daryl bring back more than usual. Her left hand was clutching a knife that after a few straggling walkers was covered in blood. The more she thought about leaving Daryl the more her heart hurt and the faster she ran. Lacie didn't want to give herself the option to go back, but where was she running to? When she ran out of breath and started gasping she fell to the ground. The knife still in her grip was lodged into the tree in front of her. The only sound she could hear was her own heavy breathing. This would be far enough for the night. Lacie pulled a second knife out of her backpack and climbed a tree. Crying and vodka helped her find sleep, she hoped to find her numbness that she lost in the morning.
In the morning Daryl woke up thinking about the day prior. How let his friend feel like shit. How he just couldn't find the words to fix it. How she didn't even show up to dinner though he knew she hadn't eaten that day. Rolling on to his side to stare at the concrete wall he let out a sigh. There had to be something that could fix this problem. The more he thought about it the angrier he got. Grinding his teeth Daryl grabbed his crossbow and headed out of his cell. Hunting was the only way he knew how to handle his aggression when he couldn't or didn't want to hit the person. Slamming the door to his truck he went out the gate that Carl had opened. The drive felt longer than usual, maybe because the whole time he was verbally abusing himself. "Ya fucking idiot!" Daryl hit the brakes and punched the sides of the steering wheel. "Ya coulda said anything! Ya coulda told her she didn't ruin everything! Y'ere dumbass just sat there! That's just as bad as if you agreed with her!" He had yelled for a good hour before even getting out of the truck. "You're the fuck up not her." This time his voice was just a tired whisper as he grabbed his crossbow to finally hunt some new game.
Bella had finally healed enough to get out of bed. She couldn't help but think the health care here in Woodbury was better than what Lacie was getting at the prison. The beds here were also way more comfortable. Sitting up and putting her feet over the edge she found herself thinking about how Merle stayed by her side all that he could while she recovered. Bella didn't know what they were but they were something and that's enough for her. "Ellie move yer ass we don't have all day!" The voice on the other side of her bedroom door was nothing less than impatient. "Shut up asshole! I'm moving!" The cold wooden floor seemed to regain heat the more she walked on it to get ready for her first day back on the wall. "Time is moves faster than you when I'm high woman!" When she had finished and grabbed her gun she opened the door to see Merle leaning on the door frame. "Finally! Let's go woman!" The wall was a short distance from Bella's apartment. Then again it was basically a few closed off streets so everyone was close to the wall.
Life on the wall seemed unchanged filled with jokes and cigarettes. After their shift had finally ended the two went back to Merle's apartment for a drink. Lucky for them they got to keep everything they didn't drink from that run they made with Daryl and Lacie. Merle handed Bella a bottle of vodka while he took a bottle of whiskey for himself. They had seen no reason to use cups, they weren't going to share their bottle anyway. Bella flopped herself on to his couch before taking her first sip. "I want to go back to the prison." She said staring at the flame from the candle dancing through the clear liquid in her bottle. Bella had missed her friend and wanted to see how she was doing. Lacie and Bella had an understanding that they wanted to stay with their separate Dixons in their separate homes. "Ya we'll go tomorrow." Merle wouldn't admit it but he also missed someone, his little brother. He also had a lot of fun the time they were at the prison, aside from the giant fight anyway. A few drinks later the seriousness had melted away from them. "Why are walkers? Always with the stupid face?" Bella asked then laughed and took another shot from her bottle. "Cause thur not Miltie." Bella fell off the couch laughing. The jokes went on until they both passed out in Merle's living room.
Bella never had hangovers, at least that is what she told herself. That was one of the many things her and Merle had in common. Bella and Merle were woken up by Milton the next morning, who was sent by the Governor. The Governor was summoning him. Bella was used to being left out of the inner circle of Woodbury. There weren't many people in it so it didn't bother her. After he left Bella let herself out and went back to her place to change. She hated wearing the same cloths more than once in a row so when she didn't have to she simply didn't. The only thing she had to wear that was clean was a small black dress. Most of her cloths were rather unethical for an apocalypse. Before this she was a model therefore got to see much of the world. It was only by chance that she was in Georgia when this all went down. Her actual home was in New York, so she only had what she had packed for the Georgia trip. "This will have to do." She spoke to herself as she got ready for her trip to the prison. When Merle got there and saw her in her shiny black dress all he did was laugh. "Really City? We're 'bout to trek through woods and walkers. That's what yer gonna wear?" His words infuriated her, it's not like she picked it out when her other cloths were clean. "Shut it Dixon!" Once they were far enough from Woodbury Merle felt like he could talk to Bella about the meeting he just had. "The Governor is planning to attack the prison." His words were flat and lifeless, Merle just didn't know how to feel about it. "He has given us 3 days to tell them to evacuate the prison or face the consequences." Bella gripped her baseball bat full force. /Why does he need to attack the prison of all places./ "This isn't the first time we have attacked'em. Woodbury used to have more people. The Governor killed quite a bit and the rest were taken to the prison to live. It wasn't hard for him to convince more survivors to shack up there and rebuild." Merle had never been this open to her about the place they lived. Bella had mixed feelings about it, but one thing she knew for sure and that was she didn't want that crazy asshole to kill Merle. "How did he find 35 more survivors?" Bella kept her eyes forward and aware in case of walkers. "It took a few months but we took in two different camps and killed their leaders. With no one left to follow they followed him."
Driving back from hunting Daryl saw Bella and Merle walking on the main road. After beeping he parked the truck next to them. "Where ya headed?" Leaning on his door he thought that Bella's dress was rather odd. "Back to the prison to see you and yer girl baby brother." Merle studied his little brother's face and realized he shouldn't have said that. "So will ya give us a lift?" Daryl nodded. "She gets to sit in the front." This wasn't a courtesy thing, he was just pissed off at Merle, who got in to the truck bed with the deer Daryl had just killed. "I like it back 'ere anyway." Pulling back into the prison Rick came to meet him at the gate. "She's gone." The three of them looked at Rick. "Who's gone?" Daryl asked. "Lacie. We looked everywhere for her." In and angry rage Daryl got out of his truck again slamming his door then he ran up to her cell, empty. Her backpack, weapons, and even that stuffed animal she always kept on her bed. Now he'd done it, he pushed her away. Merle, Rick, and Bella had followed him. "Did she tell you she was leaving?" Rick put his hand on Daryl's shoulder. "No!" He ripped away from Rick. "She must have left last night." Hershal said holding a flower that had been stepped on at least once. "I found this on the floor walking by your cell." Daryl didn't know what to do with himself. A part of him wanted to chase after her the other part wanted to let her go, she could handle herself. Right? That day when he found her in a trunk or a car she wasn't handling herself. "I'm going!" He decided on at least trying to look for her. "We'll go with you." Bella offered one arm around Merle.
Lacie got an early start considering how much she drank the night before. Her hopes for waking up numb were dashed the moment her eyes opened. Getting down from the tree she had begun to question her decision to leave the prison. /They've probably noticed that I'm gone. They're probably worried about me./ That was the first confident thing she had said in a while. Thinking that they even care that she left. /No. They won't notice until they're hungry and ask Daryl to go fetch me so we can feed them./ That was short-lived but at least for a moment she considered the idea. After 4 miles or so she started to become a little off balance. Lacie had to find something to eat. After scanning the ground for a few moments she found animal tracks that belonged to a rabbit. Keeping close to the ground she found herself in someone's garden. At least it used to belong to someone for there was a house only a few feet away. This was the best luck she's had, instead of hunting while she was this tired she decided to check the house. The house was two stories and a light blue with white shutters that just seemed to compliment it. After pulling open the white painted door and making sure to shut it, Lacie ran into the kitchen. The walker that greeted her in the kitchen pulled her back to reality. Her swift reflexes allowed her to stab it in the head with her knife right as it lunged at her. "Okay. Clear the house first then look for food."
Merle allowed Daryl to take his bike that his little brother had been holding onto. The bike was faster and could maneuver better too. Merle on the other hand took Daryl's truck with Bella. "She could be anywhere by now." She looked out the window searching for the black haired girl. "I doubt she traveled too far at night. So the only time she had was morning to mid-afternoon. On top of that she is still recovering from that wound at most she could be a total of 8 miles away and that's pushing it." Merle's intelligence was always hidden behind his asshole personality. His words did make her feel better though. Bella already lost Lacie once, she wasn't about to do it again. "How long are we allowed to look?" She asked realizing how late it was. "Until the sun starts goin down. We ain't good to her dead but we'll search again tomorrow. Yer friend is a grown ass woman she'll be okay." Bella smiled a little before returning her focus to the forest before her.
Lacie had cleared the house in no time at all. The only walkers in it were the one in the kitchen and the one in a bedroom up stairs. The cabinets in the kitchen had a few edible things canned soups and vegetables. Popping open a can of green beans she sat at the wooden table in the dining area. The loneliness set in more as she stared at the empty table before her. It would have been nice to have Daryl, Bella and Merle there to drink with her or at least to keep her company. "It'll be fine." Talking to herself was something she had always done to make it less lonely. Even as a child Bella couldn't always be there for her so she was alone a lot. At the prison the only time she was alone was to sleep, it was a nice change, while it lasted. When she was done eating the green beans she threw away the can and headed upstairs to the master bedroom at the top of the stairs. "I'll stay here tonight then travel more in the morning." Lacie spent a few moments moving the dresser in front of the door then hopped into the bed. More comfortable than any tree she ever slept on and thicker than the prison mattress the bed was rather soft and ideal. She remembers staring at the ceiling for only moments before falling asleep.
The sun started to set its golden glow getting ready for sleep. The search team decided to give up for today. Although Daryl was very reluctant to do so. Back at the prison the 3 of them decided to head straight to bed to get an early start. This time Rick didn't bother forcing Merle and Bella's cell door to be locked. Right now they were all on the same side, the side of finding Lacie. Daryl had a hard time trying to get to sleep. Eventually he got up and headed to the gazebo for a smoke. "I'm sure you'll find her tomorrow." Carol said walking over to him, smiling. "Not if she keeps makin ground." Daryl frowned now staring at the gates. "I bet she will come back on her own while the five of you are out tomorrow." Carol hugged him. "Five?" "Yes, Maggie and Glenn want to help tomorrow. Rick would go but we need some people here." Flicking out his cigarette he hugged Carol back, kissed her on the forehead and returned to his cot.