Miao
"Rick, does Georgie keep Sophie's bow and arrow in your bus?" Rick blinked and looked at Miao.
"Yeah, she does. Above the driver's seat, where this one," here he ruffled Carls hair, "can't get it." Carl scowled. "Why, what do you want it for?"
"Well, I just want one arrow. I have an idea. I don't know if it'll work, but if it does, it'll be a great thing for the camp. With your permission, I'd like to see if it'll work please." She lowered her eyes, waiting for Rick's response.
"Well, what is this great plan?" Rick spoke gently, with a hint of amusement in his voice. Miao almost didn't respond. She knew that she and Maggie weren't seen as particularly resourceful by the others. Andrea and Katie could fight. Adele and Georgie were able hunters. Even Carol was useful in so much as she looked after the children. Steeling herself, she answered.
"I don't want to raise hopes. I just have a good idea. I need to take an arrow down to the lake. With your permission," she repeated. Rick regarded her, and then nodded.
"Ok. Take an arrow. Don't go down to the lake alone though. Take someone with a gun. Walkers could be close. Take Dale with you, he's a good shot."
Half an hour later, Miao, Dale and Andrea were at the lakes edge. Dale was standing guard, watching the forest for signs of movement. Miao was explaining her idea to Andrea.
"Have you ever heard of gigging?" Miao had brushed snow off a fallen branch and was sat on it. With a long strip of tree branch she had torn off a nearby tree, she was tying Sophie's arrow onto a longer, thicker piece of wood.
"Never. What is it?" Andrea stood in front of her, hands resting on a shovel. Miao tied a last knot and triumphantly held her creation in front of her. Andrea looked confused.
"Gigging, is fishing or hunting with a spear." Miao stood up and walked towards the part of the lake where the river started to flow out. Here, the ice still held, although it looked thinner. Andrea followed. Leaning on Andreas shoulder, she gingerly placed her foot onto the ice, and pressed hard. The ice held. Frowning, Miao swapped her spear for the shovel, and struck the ice hard. At first nothing happened, so she struck it harder. After the third hit, the ice cracked and shattered. Putting the shovel down, Miao knelt and started to remove the ice, until a large hole had been made. She handed the shovel back to Andrea, and held the make shift spear in her hand. She motioned to Andrea to kneel down next to her, and continued to explain in a low voice.
"My family were all about survival and self sufficiency. My dad was really paranoid. Always thinking we'd get lost in the wilderness or something. So, he use to take us to the wilderness and teach us. I remember one day, he took us to the river, telling us we were going fishing. I was horrified-I hated fishing." A small sad smile spread across Andreas face. Miao, paused, wondering if she was going to say something, but she didn't. "Anyway, we got there, to the river, and he had these spears on the bank. We didn't even get into a boat. It was the most fun I'd had next to a river in ages."
"So, what, we just wait here, until a fish comes along and spear it?" Andrea sounded doubtful. "What if we miss?"
"That's the beauty of it. It's winter. If there are fish here, they'll be slow and sluggish. It should be easier to...THERE!"
As if to prove her point, a fish slowly wiggled under the hole. With lightening speed, Miao stabbed her spear into the water, and pulled out a large fat fish. She threw it onto the ice, where it lay flopping and gasping for air. Pulling the spear out, she lunged again, this time cutting through the fishes head. Andrea gasped in delight.
"That's brilliant!" She looked around until she spotted the tree that Miao had stripped the bark from. Running towards the tree, she clumsily stripped another wire of bark. Coming back, she tied the fish's tail to the bark, and crouched down next to the hole, eyes alight with interest.
"You girls ok there?" Dales voice drifted across from the edge of the trees. Miao didn't look up, so focused was she on her task. She heard Andrea's voice calling back:
"Yeah, we're great Dale. Why, where you going?"
"Not to be too blunt, but nature calls. I won't go far, so holler if you need me."
" Ok." As Miao speared another fish, a slightly larger one this time, she sense Andrea squatting on her heels to watch her technique. She was just getting back into position to hopefully catch a third, when they heard a strangled cry come from the forest.
"Dale!" Andrea sprang to her feet and sprinted towards the forest. Miao hesitated, torn between her instinct to run from danger, and her desire to help Dale. Steeling herself, she picked up the shovel, and followed Andrea to Dale.
Five minutes into the forest, she found Andrea and Dale. Dale was sat back on his hands, a look of shock etched into his face, repeating "Oh God" over and over again. Andrea had her arms wrapped around him, hugging him as tightly as she could. At first Miao wasn't sure why Dale had yelled out, then she looked down at Dales feet.
Lying on the ground, half covered by snow, a walker was lying. It might have been a young man once, but now it was barely recognisable as human. It's nose and lower face had been eaten away by decay, and it's hair was frozen to its skull. It didn't move, aside from the slow clacking of its jaw.
"Oh my god Dale, are you ok? Did it hurt you? Are you ok?" Andreas arms were so tightly wrapped around Dales neck, Miao was surprised he wasn't choking. Sudden movement from up ahead made them all jump, then relax as Adele, T-Dog and Rick burst through the clearing.
"I'm fine Andrea, I fell is all. It didn't bite or scratch me. I'll be fine." Dale reached his hand up and squeezed Andreas, who buried her face in his neck. Miao realised she was crying.
"What's wrong with it?" Rick moved cautiously towards the corpse. T-Dog moved closer and knelt over it.
"I think it's frozen." He leaned forward to get a better look. A deep rattling growl emerged from the things mouth. T-Dog yelped, and fell backwards. Miao couldn't help the giggle that came from her mouth. T-Dog looked at her sheepishly.
"That's pretty much what happened to me." Dale sat up straighter. "Funnier when you see it happen to someone else though." He looked at Rick. "I didn't even see it."
Miao moved around to T-Dog and reached her hand out to help him up. T-Dog took it and got off the ground. Miao felt the familiar heat on the back of her next that she got every time she was near T-Dog. She tried to distract herself with what Rick was saying.
"I guess the lack of warm blood in their bodies means they freeze easier. Good to know." Rick turned to Miao. "We don't need to worry so much about walkers as long as the cold weather holds up." He grabbed the shovel from Miao, and sliced the top of the walkers head open. He handed the shovel back to Miao. "From now on, we need to make sure we watch where we step. At all times." With that, he turned around and walked back to the camp, closely followed by Adele. T-Dog lingered behind.
"You ok Miao?" Miao nodded, concentrating on the feel of the shovel in her hand.
"We're ok. We're gigging." T-Dog looked confused.
"Oh. Ok. Well, holler if you need us. We're just in the camp, re organising the tents. You know, so they're closer in the cold weather. So...we're not far." His voice trailed off slightly.
"Ok. Thanks." Miao watch T-Dog walk to the camp and then turned to face Dale and Andrea. Both were on their feet. Both were watching her with knowing looks on their faces. Miao looked down at the ground and rushed past them, back to the lake and her spear.