Louie lifted her head from the crevice of Daryl's shoulder blades to feel the motorcycle in between her legs coming to a slow halt.
"What's happening?" she mumbled. She was starting to feel tired of sitting in such a limited position for so long.
"Don't know," Daryl replied. "We're stoppin'." They had pulled over to a deserted road where they could all plot and plan their next move of action. All the men immediately got out of their respected vehicles and gathered together in front of the hood of Rick's car, including Daryl. Louie sighed and remained straddling the motorcycle before crossing her arms and observing their surroundings. Lori and the grey haired woman, Carol were standing together, their children in the car sleeping and Andrea never left the RV, probably sulking about how she didn't want to live.
"Stupid bitch," she muttered under her breath and rubbed her arms to get some feeling back in her skin. She sat by herself and watched everyone do what they looked like they meant to be doing. Where did she fit in? Louie swung her leg over the bike and started walking down the road.
"Don't wander too far," she heard someone say behind her and she resisted throwing up her middle finger. She didn't have to listen to these people. She was her own person. But it was only her own bitterness seeping through from the events at the CDC as well as her previous life taking control. Behind her she could hear the decision makers raise their voices as they argued where to go next. But she was also at an impasse. Did she want to regain her old self or be somebody new; a quiet reserved person that hid every passing emotion.
"Fuck," she groaned and rubbed her face tiredly.
"Louie? Louie!" she turned around to see Dale jogging towards her as the men started to disband and return to their vehicles. Louie rolled her eyes and walked past him straight to Daryl's bike where he was leaning, waiting for her.
"He's callin' you," Daryl said when she approached him.
"Where're we going?" She furrowed her eyebrows. Daryl looked away.
"There's this old folks home in Atlanta run by some thugs when we went lookin' for Merle," he said climbing on to his bike. She wordlessly got on behind him and slipped her arms around his waist. He placed one hand that was resting on his stomach to feel that they were cold and then grabbed both her hands and pulled them underneath his jacket so they would stay warm. She tightened her grip slightly and when Dale had reached the bike, she whispered in his ear to drive. Not waiting a second too long, he pushed the kickstand up and revved the engine before taking off.
She smelled Atlanta before they entered it. Her gag reflex kicked in at that moment and she hunched her shoulders over willing her throat to constrict and not passage any vomit. She buried her nose in the back of Daryl's neck but the smell reached her anyways.
"Oh god," her stomach tightened.
"Don't you fucking dare!" Daryl yelled. "Hold it in!" He said as he raced ahead of the group, his motorcycle making a loud hum, to reach their destination which was a low maintenance railroad track by a chain-link fence. Screeching to a stop, Louie threw herself off the motorcycle, fell to the ground (and dropped the crossbow in the process) and crawled far enough to start heaving her stomach's contents out of her mouth.
"Jesus," Daryl's disgusted voice floated to her ears. Another rotten stench reached her nostrils and she threw up again, tears streaming out of her eyes involuntarily. She groaned as her body screamed for her to entirely vacate itself but she forced herself to stop. "You done?" Daryl asked when she stood up and turned to him with a pathetic face. She nodded slowly, a few tears still escaping by default. "C'mere," he said with a beckoning of his hand. She walked to the motorcycle and he placed his hands on her face and used his thumbs to wipe away the tear streaks.
"I'm prolly gonna kiss you," he said gauging her expression which was blank. "But I ain't gonna do it when you've just ralphed over the goddamn place." She closed her eyes and laughed silently. Daryl scrunched his nose and craned his neck away. "Girl, your breath is nasty," he gagged.
"But don't you want to kiss me anymore?" she teased softly and moved her face forward, pretending to kiss him sloppily, her mouth wide open her hands grabbing the front of his shirt.
"Jesus, save me!" Daryl let a laugh escape as he tried to keep her face from getting any closer. Louie stopped with a big smile on her face shifting to entwine her arms around his neck. "What?" he asked removing his hands from her face and let one hand rest on her shoulder, playing with her hair.
"I like your laugh," she said after a moment, her own hands moving back down to grip his shirt.
"Shut up," his male bravado allowed him to wrinkle his nose and his lip to curl but tugged at the end of a strand nevertheless.
"And about the CDC, thank-"
"I said shut up," he repeated and stared at her face for a long second before straightening himself up and his face turning expressionless. Louie looked over her shoulder and when she saw the caravan of survivors getting closer, she let go of his collar.
"What the hell was that?" Shane jumped out of his jeep practically the moment he skidded to a stop. "You can't just go
"I wasn't gonna let her throw up all over me," Daryl sneered.
"You alright?" Shane asked her skeptical of her being alone with Daryl. Something didn't add up with her hanging around him like they were best buds; especially a guy like that and girl so sweet.
"I'm fine, thanks," She said briskly. "The smell-"
"Yeah, you'll get use to it," Rick said pulling out of the station wagon behind the RV.
"I hope not," Louie's eyebrows furrowed. Rick repeated the plan to everyone once they were ready. Glenn would go first and clear the route of walkers with Daryl. Then Shane and T-Dog would accompany the Carol, her daughter, Andrea, and Louie a few yards away. Dale, Rick and his family would flank the end of the group to make sure they weren't being followed. Daryl looked at Louie as she reached for Glenn and gripped him in a tight hug. She had a pained expression on her face and gave him a last squeeze before letting him return to Daryl. He gave her a stern nod and she only stared with intensity hoping he could understand all the emotions she was feeling at that moment.
Glenn crouched and started running into the city, staying low to the ground and Daryl staying dutiful to his side, crossbow poised. Once a few yards away, Glenn beckoned the next group to come forward. Louie had Shane on her left and Carol on her right. Carol's daughter was sandwiched between her mother and Andrea. T-Dog flanked the right side. The group ran to catch up with Glenn and Daryl and then waited for the last group to catch up as well. This happened a few more times with close encounters with a few zombies but Daryl took care of it before it became a problem, making sure to take back his crossbows; he couldn't risk losing any. Sweating buckets, Louie thought she would faint any second but she couldn't tell if it was from the fear of the sun going down any minute or the heat or the smell. The group finally reached an alleyway that led to a warehouse that was surrounded by larger buildings. It was a small gem of a haven hidden by obscure structures.
"Oh no," she heard Glenn say as they approached the broken chain link fence.
"Please tell me it always looked like this," Lori begged Rick however his face was contorted into one of disbelief and horror.
"T-Dog, Daryl, come with me," was all he said and the three headed into the ramshackle that wasn't apparently suppose to look like that. Louie tugged on Glenn's arm and he looked at her with a fearful expression.
"It was like a fortress," he said distantly looking at the building. Louie had a bad feeling. And those weren't usually wrong. An hour later, the sunlight was fast escaping and the group started to get worried. Rick finally emerged with his troupe sweaty and breathing heavily. He looked at Shane and shook his head silently.
"It's completely done," T-Dog said aloud what Rick couldn't. "Nobody. They're all gone." Glenn closed his eyes and bowed his head.
"What're we going to do? The sun's down!" Carol practically shrieked.
"We leave," Rick said thinking it through. "We get as far as we can and set up camp somewhere and then make plans in the morning. Glenn," he motioned for him to lead the way back. Glenn led the formation back to the vehicles and by then it was pitch dark.
"9 o'clock," Dale sighed, squinting to read his watch and everyone dejectedly moved to their rightful spots.
"You ok?" Louie asked Daryl as they walked to the bike.
"Why wouldn't I be?" he snorted.
"I mean, Merle-"
"That doesn't concern you," he spat.
"Even though he was… rough around the edges," she chose her words carefully. "He saved my life. And I'm grateful to him still."
"Well you shouldn't be," he snarled and threw his leg over the bike.
"Is that an SS insignia?" she screeched suddenly pointing an accusing finger at the bike. He gave her a weird look before looking at the painted 'ss' as well.
"So?" he retorted. Louie's mouth dropped open and then snapped shut quickly.
"I'm jewish," she narrowed her eyes at him. Daryl's own eyes softened uncharacteristically and gave her a guilty 'oops' look.
"Where am I?" Louie mumbled lifted her head off the soft padding underneath her.
"You should be dead," Daryl said as he was rummaging through his pack. "Who the hell falls asleep on the back of a bike?" he asked. She gave him a sleepy, lazy smile and there was no trace of anger left. "Useless," he rolled his eyes and left the tent. She noticed that there was only one sleeping bag and it was the one she was using. She figured Daryl must have been up staying watch.
They had pulled over once, when they were far away from the city to make a new plan for some sort of military fort that Shane heard about. The group had to lose a vehicle due to limited gas and Shane rode in the RV joining the giant group of people Louie really didn't like.
The bike started to slow. "What happened?" Louie shouted into his ear.
"Don't worry," he yelled back for the engine's noise far surpassed any human voice.
"That worries me," she frowned and looked to see that the highway was blocked with a build up of cars. Dale stuck his head out of his window and asked if there was a way to get through. Daryl hesitated before jerking his head as a signal to follow him. It wouldn't matter anyways because a loud hissing and clanking noise erupted from the RV minutes later.
"I warned you this radiator hose wouldn't last," Dale chastised Rick as everyone poured out of the vehicles to see the delay. The sudden eerie acknowledgment of where they were standing silenced the group.
"It's a grave yard," Lori whispered drawing her son, Carl, closer to her. Though very disrespectful to the victims whose corpses littered the highway, it was decided that for survival's sake, that everyone scavenge for supplies. Louie watched Carol rummage through somebody's suitcase to find some clothes and though she could guess that in her heart she wasn't proud of stealing, she was happy to find something new and nice. As she wandered behind Glenn farther away from the group, moving past the stoic cars, Louie wondered what the last thing they saw was before they died. Was it a loved one? Maybe their own gun. Or perhaps their steering wheel as they were bit properly by a zombie. A distinct sound of wheels on asphalt caught her attention as she saw Glenn trying to balance on a skateboard.
"Shit!" he yelped and grabbed on to a side-view mirror before the skateboard escaped him and rolled over to her. She put one foot out instinctively and halted the board with her shoe. Her heart pounded and she stared at the item before her for a long while, doing nothing. She lifted her head, smiled at Glenn and hoisted herself up on the board, balancing, and then kicking off the ground to glide past him. Like a natural she weaved in and out of the spaces where the cars were parked.
"I didn't know you knew how to skate," Glenn watched her, entranced by how she effortlessly coasted circles around him.
"I don't think you even know my last name," She grinned and he laughed. She remained on the skateboard for the rest of their scavenge, rolling at a snail's pace beside him, gathering things in an empty backpack. When the pack got heavy, she slipped it on over her shoulders and told Glenn she would "race" him back. He gave her a sarcastic laugh and told her to empty the bag and resume searching with him because the place gave him the creeps hinting he didn't want to be alone. She leaned her weight back and let the board swerve to the left until she was facing the direction in which they came. She bent her knees and gave a strong kick to let herself sail her way back to the RV, her arms hanging loosely by her side and her hair catching in a small breeze.
"Mom, look!" Carl tugged on his mother's arm excitedly when he saw Louie on the skateboard coasting towards them. Lori couldn't help but smile at the sight. She didn't see the battered and torn, war-product but a young girl who had no cares but school and friends. Louie placed a foot down and skidded to a stop, letting the skateboard glide itself over to Carl where he picked it up, enamored. Louie ruffled his hair passing by him as she went to the RV and emptied the supplies in the kitchenette sink. When she hopped off she nearly ran into the person she didn't want to see the most.
"Talk to me," he said with weary eyes.
"You said enough," Louie said emotionlessly. "You made it clear what I mean to you," she said passing by him without even looking at him.
"Why does this have to be a choice? I care for both of you," Dale tried.
"Because you didn't even look at me back when she made her decision you didn't bother to see if I was willing to make one," she spun around on her heel and hissed at him. "She didn't want to live."
"But you did," Dale brightened.
"And I don't have you to thank for it," she jabbed her finger at him severely before hopping on the skateboard Carl had set down in front of him, his intention of tying to ride it being stolen. Louie felt moisture at the corner of her eye and blinked it away in the wind. She saw at a distance that a certain hunter was walking in the opposite direction she was gliding. He furrowed his eyebrows and made a face at the girl wearing sweat pants and t-shirt riding a kid's toy like… well, a kid.
"You look stupid," he said as he wearily watched her circle around him adeptly. He couldn't help but admire that she wasn't even paying attention to the fact she was on the board and skated like it was innate; like walking.
"You look jealous," she retorted and he snorted.
"You look like yer twelve," he muttered a little disturbed. She smiled and even produced a small laugh as she came to his posterior and hung her arms around his neck making him pull her along.
"Maybe I am," she said, her proximity allowing the noise to reach his ear softly.
"Git off me," he shrugged her off with a disgusted look. She laughed harder and he couldn't help but roll his eyes to suppress a grin. "You have a dumb laugh," he muttered.
She was the one to smirk this time and pinched his cheek making him angrier and flailing to get away from her grasp. With a last chuckle, she went back to Glenn to continue their hunt. They were able to find more canned food as T-Dog and Daryl sip-horned some cars to get as much gas as they could carry. As they were on their way to returning, Louie saw Dale fall flat on top of the RV. She frowned and put her hand out to stop Glenn.
"What?" he asked.
"Something's not-"
"Shit! Get down!" Glenn hissed dropping to the ground and crawling to get underneath a car. It happened so fast, Louie had no idea how to process what was happening. She heard a distinct shuffling plus groan and fell to the floor before she wanted to see how many there were. There had to be a lot if they weren't being taken care of by the men. She crawled past the car Glenn was under and managed to shimmy her way underneath the road railing and rolled down the grassy knoll that led to the forest. Adrenaline and fear spiking her senses, she wormed her way around a tree and shimmied her way up the trunk as fast as she could. Getting to the highest branch that was most guised by smaller branches and leaves, she saw everything from the safety of her height and camouflage. She gasped.
There had to be hundreds of them. All moving together. Like some sort of pack or herd. She didn't see any of the survivors except for Dale, pressed flat on the roof of the RV. She prayed that they were all underneath the cars like Glenn was. Then she spotted rapid movement that was unusual for a zombie; T-Dog, attempting to find a hiding spot, caught his arm on a jagged end of protruding metal causing blood to spurt out everywhere. Her own blood stilled as Daryl raced out to handle the situation by placing a dead body over him and sliding underneath a car as well. Louie felt disgusted that she was sitting safely in the tree while the rest were cowering under the poor shelter of cars. She had an urge to kill a walker just to release her frustration but knew how stupid and dangerous it would be to even move out of her position. It seemed like fate was cruel to the innocent because Carol's daughter, squirmed out of her hiding spot gaining the attention of a few walkers. She ran to the road railing and down the knoll, just as Louie had, but ran further into the woods leading the zombies to her doom.
"No," Louie whispered her heart stopping. She scanned the area for somebody to go after her but when she saw nothing, she jumped out of the tree herself and ran in the direction she went. She searched and searched trying to use her ears instead of her eyes since every way you turned looked the same. Using her first intuition that the snaps of twigs were coming from a certain way, she followed them. After what felt futile she finally stumbled upon a creek where Rick was standing, two walkers trapping him. Slowly crouching to the ground and without taking her eyes off the zombies, Louie brushed her hands against the ground until she felt a rock big and sturdy enough. Walking slowly and silently, she crept behind the dead waitress, lifted the rock above her head and struck down upon her skull. Though the waitress was down, Louie raised it again and pounded into her temple until it cracked open and the black mess of brains was demolished. Exhausted, she sat back on her knees and raised her head to the sky giving a relieved sigh. She turned her head to see Rick taking care of the other monster.
"Thanks," he breathed after the deed was done. Louie nodded, tiredly.
"Where is she?" she asked testily.
"I told her to say here," Rick said pointing to a dam that was small enough for a small child to crawl into. "She must've gone back to the highway."
Louie nodded and lowered her hands in the creek and tried to wash away the blood and guts that was on her hands.
"You got it on you?" Rick asked dangerously. She looked at him wearily.
"You can't get infected touching it," she said to him. He looked skeptical and as if she were the next 'Jim.' Sighing she explained, "It's like AIDS. You don't get the disease from contact. It's gotta be the blood stream." She shrugged, "I would be a zombie ages ago if just by touching one you could turn."
"Makes sense," Rick nodded, his eyebrows furrowed. "Wash real good anyways. Don't take any chances." She nodded and got most of the grime off leaving some dark red stain on her arm though. The two walked back to the highway and seeing the survivors gathered in the distance, they knew the herd had passed. Carol was the first to catch sight of the pair and started crying immediately. Louie froze and felt Rick's tenseness radiating. She didn't come back.
Daryl stalked over to the railing briskly and held his hand out to catch Rick's and help him over the railing. And once he was up, he caught hold of Louie and lifted her over the edge as well but didn't let go.
"You alright?" he rumbled checking her over and using both his hands to smooth her hair out of her face and holding on to the sides of her head. She nodded feebly and closed her eyes.
"I saw everything," she croaked. "I saw her… I tried- I couldn't," her voice broke. Daryl looked away pursing his lips, let go of her head and patted her shoulder briefly.
"Nobody blames you," Daryl placed his hand on the top of her head and walked over to where Rick was to assess how far the girl got. Glenn quickly took his place once he left.
"Dude, are you okay?" he asked. She meekly shook her head no and allowed Glenn to give her a comforting hug. Louie steadied her breathing and broke away from the embrace with a shaky smile. He put a tender arm around her shoulders and they joined the group that was surrounding Rick. The poor man argued his case as best as he could, a hysterical Carol throwing out insulting accusations until Lori stepped in and defended her husband. It was decided that finding Sophia would not be done in the dark and the next morning they would find her.
"I'll take watch," Daryl stepped forward.
"No. You will not," Louie interjected and everyone looked at her, shocked. "You haven't slept since the CDC," she argued. Daryl sneered at her and told her that he was fine.
"No Daryl. She's right. We need you tomorrow and you're not good to us if you can't keep your eyes open," Rick chided gently.
"C'mon, teach me how to open… or make or whatever you do to a tent," Louie grabbed Daryl's arm and pulled him backwards to the bike.
"Jesus," he groaned and rolled his eyes, yanking his arm out of her grip.