Okidokie, so here is chapter three. Haven't got much of response to this story just yet, but I have noticed that a lot of people are reading it, so...if ya'll could help a girl out and give me some feedback, I'd be really appreciative; even if you just favorite and following. Please. Anyway, this chapter is a bit short, but I just didn't want too much to this segment when I figured it was needed in the next. Hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do NOT own The Walking Dead, the comics or the television series, nor its characters. All I own is my OCs and some plot points.
Warnings: Daryl and OC romance, sexual content, crude humor, swearing, gore, mentions types of abuse, and alcohol and drug references.
Chapter: Three
Katherine stirred at the sounds of ruckus from outside the RV. It sounded an awful lot like an argument, but couldn't be entirely sure considering her brain was slothfully awakening.
Moaning softly, the female rose and raked a hand through her ruffled, tangled mass of hair. She rubbed her eyes, yawning, and looked around with slightly blurry vision to see that no one was around; the RV was empty except for her. Furrowing her slender brows, Katherine stretched her achy arms over her head stretching her back as well and yanked on her boots and blue plaid, flannel shirt. Then, after throwing her golden locks into a braid, she stepped out of the RV.
The sun blinded her for a moment before blinking at the squabble between Andrea, Rick, and Shane while the rest of the group, some anxiously and some impatiently, watched, all equipped with different kinds of blades. Even Carl had one. From what it sounded like Andrea wasn't too keen on not being equipped with a gun. In all honesty, she sounded a lot like a kid being denied dessert before dinner.
Katherine just moved to an irritably shuffling Daryl, his crossbow slung over his shoulders. "What's goin' on?"
"Headin' out ta search fer da girl. All of us. Try 'nd cover more of da grid." he explained in a low voice.
"Why didn't ya wake me up before, doofus?" she scolded, lips pursed.
Bemused, the hunter shot her a look. "Ya wanna help or something?" He had figured that she'd want to rest; she had needed it, after all.
She deadpanned and lightly punched his shoulder. "No, you idiot. I wanna stay here and eat all your damn food."
Shaking her head, Katherine approached Rick and tapped his shoulder, causing him to be torn from his argument with Andrea and looking relieved to be. "I wanna help," she proclaimed.
Like he had yesterday, the Sheriff appeared pleasantly surprised. "Kat, you don't have to. You've done more than enough. This isn't your problem," he said softly.
Katherine had to resist rolling her eyes again. "A lil' girl is out there by herself, terrified. That doesn't sit well with me. That wouldn't sit well with anyone with a heart. Besides, you guys gave me food, water, and shelter; I gotta pay ya back for that." she explained boldly. Besides, even though she had been deterred by exhaustion, something that still crippled her, she had felt Shane's glare upon her for their precious supplies; she could feel it stabbing the back of her head, even now. She was getting tired of it real quick.
Rick didn't push, glad that Katherine was willing to help though she had no obligations to do so. Yes, she had used some supplies, but she had desperately needed it and she had been so generous to help yesterday. She owed them nothing.
"You got weapons 'cuz we're not protectin' your ass, girly." Shane piped up from behind.
Scowling, Katherine gave him a hard expression. "No, I killed Walkers with my strikingly gorgeous looks." she retorted, sarcasm dripping from her voice. "I ain't no fool, officer. I got a gun and knife in the RV."
He scoffed after narrowing her eyes. "Good," And that was all he said to her, turning away, and stalking away towards the woods. "Let's move out!"
Katherine adverted her gaze back to Rick when the man sighed deeply. He gave her an apologetic look while mouthing that he was sorry for his best friend's behavior. Then, he gently nudged her to retrieve her weapons. "Go get your gun and knife."
"She gets to use a gun?"
It was now Andrea's turn to take a jab at the stranger of their little group.
Rick had to refrain from making a face. Instead, the leader said calmly to the other blonde as if speaking to a sullen child, "I will not take her gun; its not my place. But she will use her knife. Her gun is just a precaution. Right?" He glanced to Katherine for help.
Not wanting to cause issues among his group nor waste more time, Katherine simply nodded. "Yeah. Besides, I'm low on ammo. Ain't gonna waste it."
Andrea, too, had been rendered silent, but also like Shane, she didn't look the least bit happy as she followed the departing group. Risk just sighed again and patted Katherine's shoulders, apologizing again and urging her to get what she needed.
Katherine did not waste another moment, equipping herself. Just as she was about to run after the others as they were starting to disappear into the brush, Dale called out to her; he and T-Dog had to remain behind to rest and fix the broken hose in the RV—Katherine had been relieved that the water had still been running. She looked back at the elderly man expectantly.
"Yeah?" she asked, a bit hastily; she didn't want to lose sight of the group
He approached her to say in a low voice, though T-Dog looked far too out of it to listen in (he looked worse than yesterday), "Andrea is harmless, but watch out for Shane."
She paused, shocked, yet not, by his warning.
Did he know something she didn't? Had he seen her discomfort by the other police officer, that she had sensed something know quite right about Shane?
Either way, keeping a composed face, Katherine gave a nod and then, hurried after the group.
How long they had been trudging through the woods, Katherine had no idea. All she knew was that the sun was high and feeling a lot hotter than yesterday or maybe that was because she was still feeling terribly exhausted and heavy; her adrenaline of trying to survive alone had finally worn out now that she had some security (AKA Daryl). Everyone was quiet, though, except for their light, meaningful steps and panting. And so far, the group was having very little success of finding Sophia.
That was until they all heard church bells in the distance.
Hope welled in their chests, alighting their faces before beginning to race through the trees and bushes in the direction of the sound. Before long, fuelled by this aforementioned hope, the small group came to an opening out of the woods to see a white chapel, looking quaint as it was surrounded by a small graveyard. Everyone looked to it wide-eyed, drinking it in, praying that that was the source of the noise and that the ringing meant a discovery of Sophia.
That was until Shane had to be the ball-buster.
"Rick, that can't be it. There's no steeple." he managed to pant out.
However, Rick either ignored him or had great hope for the church, needing to make sure because soon that curly-haired man had bolted, running across the lawn towards the establishment. Shane cursed, rolling his eyes before chasing after him. No one hesitated to follow quickly behind.
Daryl, Rick, and Shane were the first inside, carefully opening to door to reveal so Sophia, no living beings, but three Walkers sitting in the pews, dressed in their Sunday best. The three men attacked swiftly and efficiently, using large blades, while the others stepped back, the stronger protecting the weaker and/or more fearful. It wasn't long before the chapel was cleared of any threats, stained with fresh blood.
"Sophia!" Rick called out, boomingly to receive no response.
At the lack of reply, Daryl peered up at the statue of Jesus hanging on the cross over the altar with a somewhat cynical expression. "Takin' requests, JC?" Though, he hadn't expected any kind of answer, the hunter just shook his head, scoffing and turning away to join the others lingering, now solemnly, outside.
No one outside had to ask whether the girl was in there; the men's discouraged expressions were evident enough. So was Shane's claim from within to Rick that everyone could hear, "I told you, man. She ain't here. There's no steeple. No bell."
Almost as if on cue, the church bell rang, resounding throughout the building and the yard, causing everyone to jump and rush to the side of the church.
More disappointment befell them.
"It's…on a timer…" Daryl confirmed, throwing up his hands as Glenn angrily ripped open the power box to yank the wiring out resulting in depleting the now paining noise.
Carol choked back a sob from beside Katherine. "I'm g-going back…back inside f-for a bit…" Shakily, the distraught mother hurried inside.
Frowning deeply, Rick and Carl filed in after her to keep her company and probably do their own praying. The rest, though, also feeling bad for the mother, occupied themselves otherwise. Andrea felt the need to sit down against one side of the church, Shane and Lori stood in the front, scoping out the area or chatting in hushed voices or both, and Glenn, Katherine, and Daryl checked out the side that wasn't occupied and the back of the building. Katherine also took the small amount of downtime as a chance to smoke.
"Mmm?" Katherine hummed, holding out the crumbled pack to the young Korean man anxiously standing next to her.
Glenn politely declined while holding back a cough. "I don't smoke." he, said, shaking his head.
"Would calm ya down a bit. Ya look like ya gotta take a piss, man." she muttered through the process of lighting the cigarette between her lips.
He stared at her strangely, incredulously, pursing his lips. "How can you be so calm?"
Glenn had known this woman for less than a day, but he could tell, despite how she looked, somewhat sophisticated and brought up by well-off family from her designer jeans—now ripped and dirty—and once manicured nails, she seemed to share similar traits with Daryl. Katherine held her composure with almost eerie calmness and some dry sarcasm. She was quiet, distant, and maybe a little cold with a hint of compassion mixed in—she had offered to help search without asking for anything in return. Long story short, Glenn hadn't been surprised when Rick said she and Daryl were old friends, and seemed like close friends at that. What he was surprised about was how cool-headed she acted.
Katherine shrugged idly. "No point in gettin' all disheartened by a couple setbacks. Just gotta keep our heads up. Just think of it as one less place we need to look."
"But also lowers our chances of finding her alive." he pointed out.
"Well, if ya wanna see things as half empty, sure."
"…Do you think she's still alive then, Kat?"
"She wouldn't be wastin' 'er time if she didn't." Daryl interjected, appearing before them, gratefully taking a cigarette when Katherine had offered him one and a light.
The blonde just gave a nod, as that was the only answer that needed to be said.
Glenn's lips twisted in a pensive, concerned frown before speaking hesitantly, not being able to voice what was on his mind, "But you don't know Sophia or us. I know we helped you out and all, but this is beyond giving you supplies. This has nothing to do with you." His tone held no malice, just pure honesty. He, like the others, had his reservations about Daryl's friend for that was just how this new world had conditioned him to feel. Trust had to be earned, especially in their tightknit group. And a random stranger offering to help them, no questions asked, was a tad suspicious, especially after Dr. Jenner.
"'ey. Watch what ya say," Daryl growled, warningly.
Katherine placed a soothing hand upon her friend's chest before turning to regard the other male, speaking steadily, "I'm not askin' for your group to trust, I'm not. I completely understand. But I really have no ulterior motives in helpin' ya'll find Sophia. Honest. Sure, I wanna show my gratitude for yesterday, but there's a lil' girl out there. A kid for Chrissake. I cannot stomach that, even if Walkers didn't exist. God only knows how many of us survivors are left. The living should be helpin' each other survive. That's just how I feel."
There was a pregnant pause as the Asian male stared at the flaxen-haired female for the longest time, searching her dirty, clammy face for any sign of falseness. Except when he noticed the oddly softened expression of Daryl, looking at Katherine admiringly, Glenn knew she was truly doing this out of the goodness of her heart. He respected that; he could see why Rick and dale had approved of her so quickly.
Thus, he dropped the subject and decided to lighten the mood as his way of showing Katherine she was all right in his book, "So how do you and Daryl know each other? You guys dated or something?" He was joking. Mostly.
Thankfully, Katherine took it as a kind jest as she laughed, shaking her head. "Well, that was random!"
Glenn hadn't thought she was capable of laughter and was about to smile when Daryl, on the other hand, glared at him, making him shrink back, swallowing thickly. "She's a friend," he retorted swiftly. "Not dat dat's any of yer goddamn business."
"Calm your tits, Dare-Bear. He was just messin'." Katherine reassured with a teasing tone.
"…Dare-Bear?" Glenn had to resist guffawing aloud, but could not help the twitch of a smile at the childish nickname for the hotheaded redneck; he never thought anyone would have the courage to speak to Daryl in such a fashion, friend or not.
"Shuddap," Daryl snapped at Glenn then, looked to Katherine, who didn't look at all fazed by the glower. "'Nd don't call me dat, dammit."
"Oh, don't be such a grumpy-gus. Lighten up. Doesn't help any if everyone is all tense and huffy."
"Yer such a dumbass."
"But ya love me."
Just shaking his head, Daryl pivoted on his heel after putting out his cigarette. He grumbled to himself about "crazy woman" as he went to scoping out the area. Katherine and Glenn couldn't help smiling with amusement, for different reasons, as they watched him go. Glenn thought he'd never see an exchange, particularly concerning Daryl. They had to be very close to be behaving that way towards each other.
So, this time as he playfully nudged the blonde, the young man's inquiry was serious, a knowing smile upon his lips, "So then you two were together before all this? Can see it on your face."
That was when all humor left her face and her cool expression returned. "Just friends, Glenn. Nothing more." Her voice was more composed than Daryl's, but it held a similar edge. Not to mention, she had stalked off in the same tense fashion, leaving Glenn flabbergasted, blinking profusely.
Okay, so that was a sensitive subject…
Sighing deeply, Glenn's shoulders slumped; he did always have a proper controlling his word vomit. Those two were alike; he didn't understand them at all. Either way, he did not have much time to dwell on it as Rick called everyone to gather around and listen for their next plan of action.
They were to be splitting up.
Rick and Shane were going one way, taking Carl with them, which Lori had been uneasy about at first, but ultimately allowed his tag along. The rest was to head back into the way they came towards the interstate; Daryl giving Lori an extra pistol he had picked up during the group's search from a man who had opted out before the world went completely to shit—much to Andrea's dismay. The extra gun holder was so that the group didn't just have Daryl and Katherine to reply on in case things got particularly hectic.
Once that was all settled and everyone said their goodbyes, some more bitter than others, the group departed, going their designated areas and quickly. Everyone wanted to cover as much ground as they could before night fell.
They were going to find this girl. No matter how long it took and Katherine was determined to help for as long as the group permitted her to do so. After that…well, she didn't want to worry about crossing that bridge just yet.