MERRY CHRISTMAS GUYS! and or an other religious holiday this day falls on. So for a gift, I give you my next chapter which I took alot of time to work on just cause I had some kinks I had to work on in it. But I've got it on the track I want it to be so hopefully you guys will enjoy it as much as I do. Please remember to review your thoughs on it, it's critical that I get some feedback from you guys!
Disclaimer: I don't own The Walking Dead, But Daryl Dixon is on my Christmas list! XP
REVIEW MESSAGE SUBSCRIBE!
It hurt. Hurt enough to cause unwanted fresh tears to brim the edges of her wavering blue eyes as she stared off emotionlessly. Pain was a strange thing; it felt different in every situation when it was inflected upon you.
Whether it was physical pain, as someone lays a hand on you, leaving a dark truth behind through bruises and marks. Then there was pain of the hearts and mind, when a person you thought you knew and trusted was the one leaving those marks adorned on your skin and to be honest that was the worst kind.
"It's your fault, your fault she's gone" his breathe reeked of the bottle of Jack Daniels she knew was hidden in the dashboard of the RV. His words slurring as his movements wavered on the edge of drunkenness. Yet that didn't stop his ability to hold her down, his fingers pressing harder into the skin on her arms already forming fresh knew discolorations. That's was all she could rely on, the feeling of agony and the sound of disgust and supressed hatred in his voice.
She had been waiting for this, knew the way he looked at her; resentment, loathing, hatred, the way he touched her, lingering, hovering over her like a hawk about to swoop down on its prey when the right time presented itself.
"So insolent, I'll teach you who owns who"
Her eyes finally shut, releasing the tears as they hit the floor, shying away the best she could, waiting-
A loud rumbling sound shattered the scene playing within her mind as her body jerked abruptly bringing her reeling back into reality. The smell of stale cigarette smoke and rusty metal hit her senses as her ears picked up the rumbling sound that had woken her; an engine running. Her eyes opened to the blurred, hazy reality of her everyday life. Taunting her, sight was just out of her reach, however, never able to be retrieved.
"You'kay?" his voice familiar, the accent deep and proud to be there, her sight was moved to the man sitting beside her, looking down at her from where she lay curled on the front seat of the Ford ranger truck.
She could tell from his voice he was a little bit worried for her state of mind but respected boundaries and wasn't about to pry. "Fine" she answered moving her stiff body up into a sitting position against the pale tan leather seats. Sore from lying in one potion for to long and tender from the wound on her side.
"Bad dream?" his curiosity was getting the best of him, who was he to care what horrors lay awake in her mind, it was none of his business.
"Guess so" she answered absentmindedly as her gaze drifted to the window; trees soaring past them a mile a minute. A cloud covered sky, hiding the sun from peeking through, threating to release the brewing storm upon them at any given time. Daryl kept his focus on the road ahead of them but his bright blue eyes, every once and a while returned to the girl beside him.
She was different, not just in her appearance or in her inability to see. It was something deeper, something more personal. She was quiet, distant, had this constant look in her eyes that was sombre; it held untold secrets and horrors but at the same time held a sort of kindness and empathy to the people around her.
It was definitely an emotion Daryl could pick up on; his mother had that same look on her face every time he got to see her.
"Daryl, were pulling up into the rest stop up ahead"
Rick's proud southern accent carried over the sound of the trucks engine from the small CBC scanner attached to the radio. He could see it, just a mile off or so, a small intricate designed roof built to a small white building with multiple graffiti tags sprayed across the walls. The half-way mark from one large city to another where travelers could stop, recollect their directions, rest up a bit and leave.
For them, it was a place to stay for the night. Surrounded by the forest trees it would be perfect coverage from the harsh winds and weather.
Following the large home on wheels they turned into the open space parking between the left side of the lots between the trees and building. All engines shutting of leaving all three vehicles in a dead silence. "Stay here" Daryl grunted as he opened the rusty truck door and slid out, closing it behind him.
Rick, Shane and Dale followed suit as they came together, "we'll scout out the area, make sure it's safe enough to pull up camp, this storms going to hit hard" Dale said as he stared at the sky above them rumbling with a distant thunder coming from the west. The others agreed silently moving to grab precautionary weapons from there designated places.
"I'll check the building, Daryl you take behind the camper, Rick you take the other side, Dale you stay here with the others ready for anything" Shane ordered getting an irritated eye roll from the Dixon beside him, but otherwise no comment.
The four men split off in their assigned directions, making little to no sound as they walked throughout the grounds. Kayla watched from the window of the truck unable to see much of anything but small amounts of movement before the sudden sound of the truck opening again brought her attention back towards the driver side. A red baseball cap was pushed over his midnight sky coloured hair flaring it out on the ends where it had grown long.
"Shane, Rick and Daryl are just scouting the area, making sure it's safe, storm coming in" Glenn explained as he smiled at the confused expression on the young girls face.
Accepting his explanation with a nod she remained quiet and stared at him, or well more to the side of where he actually sat. "You doing okay?" he suddenly asked, he guessed she probably felt very lost with her thoughts and feelings. Everyone she knew before was gone, gotten shot, and then got pulled away from it all by complete strangers without much of a say; it was hard to even imagine what she was probably thinking.
"Why does everyone keep asking me that, I'm fine" she said irritation evident in her voice but something else was there too, hidden and forced back was confusion, almost as if she wasn't use to being looked after, or that she didn't like it.
"Were worried, are humanity isn't that gone, not yet at least", his answer had struck a chord within in her and he was beginning to think this girl didn't know too much about human kindness. "I knew someone like you, always so optimistic about things even when there was clearly nothing to be optimistic about" she said a yearning look in her eyes as she thought back to the person she spoke about before they went dark again and the emotion was replaced by hurt.
"Where are we?" she said changing the subject and Glenn wasn't about to bring it back up again. "Last sign I saw we were heading towards Fort Benet" he answered, the moment gone and forgotten.
The place had been empty of any sign from the living or the dead, however, Shane had managed to find multiple cans of stored gas and an untouched, fully loaded snack machine, meaning no one had yet to find this place before them. Bringing back handfuls of chips and chocolate bars the camp readied themselves for the oncoming weather. Bringing there vehicles to make a square shape against the left side of the abandoned building. They were right, the trees gave them perfect shelter against the harsh winds; being able to set up a fire was a miracle.
Setting up the canopy of the Winnebago, the woman set up the chairs and began to work on making something edible to eat from what they had. Which wasn't much, they were going to have to go and find supplies soon.
"So Kayla, where did you live before this?" Rick asked as he sat down in the red lawn chair beside her, It was a desperate attempt to get the girl to speak as she just sat there staring up at the sky. Everyone around them looked up while working on their original tasks. "Manhattan" he was taken aback she had answered; however, he wasn't going to question it.
"That's quite the trip" he was fishing, and she knew it. Her mother did it to her all the time, skirting around the questions she really wanted to ask her about. Hoping that she would divulge in what had happened, what she had been doing when she wasn't looking. She had to admit, Rick was better at it then her mother, she eventually caved and asked outright, Rick had patience.
"I was with four others, people I knew, worked with" she said her eyes flickering on Glenn for a minute before returning to the man in front of her. "Four?" This statement confused Rick, when they had found her there had only been two others that had been alive before being attacked.
"Yes four. I worked with Mary and Jason at a small café she owned and Brad was Jason's brother, worked in the military, ran from duty with Jake; his son and his girlfriend Caroline….but she was attacked before we left" it was the most they had ever heard her speak and yet there was so much more that was there to be said, it was easy to figure out that she was only scratching the surface.
"The Military?" It was Shane that had spoken, the first he had spoken to the girl, finally acknowledging that she was there. Her pale blue eyes looked up at where his voice had come from and a strange glare crossed over her but was left forgotten. "Yes. He told us we had to leave immediately, that the Government was going to blow up the city without telling anyone".
This left a silent horror as she spoke, they hadn't even been given a chance to live, just flushed out like bugs.
A loud clap of thunder rumbled over the sky followed by a bright flash of lightening sketching the clouds with white. Covering the sounds the camp below them were unaware off until it was to close. Everyone panicked when Daryl jumped to his feet shooting off his crossbow and it's arrow soared silently through the air before hitting it's mark, taking down the broken up, rotting walker that had come from behind the car.
In seconds the group went from relaxed to pure terror as Lori and Carol started getting Sophia and Carl into the Winnebago following suit. "Come on" Glenn said grabbing Kayla's hand once again and brining her towards the door to the motor home, standing her against the screen door as she pressed up against it.
She closed her eyes and listened, the three men were walking around the outside of the camp site, scouting out if there was anymore. Losing a dominant sense had its drawbacks but it also gave her other advantages, when losing something like sight others sense gained in ability, with her it was her hearing.
She could tell Rick was the one remaining beside the camp, his footsteps softer and steady but walked with uncertainty. He was a cop, not a tracker, he couldn't see in the dark night without a flashlight but using one could mean there end. Shane was the one walking to the building again, his footsteps rushed, not caring for the sound they made as he made his way fast and efficiently around. Then there was the other, Daryl; he walked with confidence, speed and silence. He was a tracker, he knew what he was doing and he did it to perfection.
"There's a walker on the left side by the car" Kayla said to Glenn who, wasting no time, left to open the window above the sink where Rick stood close by. A few minutes later they heard the grotesque sound of Daryl putting yet another arrow through the walker's skull but that wasn't the only sound that was echoed across the dark lot.
"Mother fucker" followed by a grunt of pain and Rick yelling, "What happened?".
There had been four walkers in total, came from within a large turned over transport truck delivering boxes. They had been inside the wreckage and must have heard them all talking. Daryl had shot three, but the fourth one had come in fast. Knocking the man off his feet in an attempt to get at him, slashing his right arm across a broken metal pipe on the ground before Shane smashed its brain in with a crowbar.
"Stop moving you idiot" Andrea hollered but the redneck was beyond listening to the blonde as she tried to wrap a cloth around his bleeding arm.
"Son 'of a bitch" he swore under his breath as Andrea gave up trying to help him. "We need to get this covered Daryl" she said in a huff of stubborn irritation.
Glenn watched, his attention elsewhere, as Kayla dug through her black duffel bag pulling out a beat up white tin box. "Guy's Kayla's got a first aid kit with her" Glenn said surprised by the girl's quick thinking. She walked over to them following their voices and the light of the fire to guide her to the man seated on the ground. His skin filthy from dirt and sweat, not having bothered to care for his phyisical appearance or his personal hygeine in the chaotic world. The gash stratched from his shoulder down to about half way down his arm, bleeding quite heavily.
"Can I see it?"
She bent down beside Daryl; who had for now shut up and remained still, watching her with a strange suspicious look. Her gaze remained on his face, waiting for something; permission and/or acceptance to go further, to enter his personal space and help a man that wasn't to keen on recieving it.
It took a minute, everyone wuite, before Daryl nodded his head and grunted a somewhat coherant 'fine' in her direction; seeming to have understood him, he was trusting her, for the most part anyways. Turning to the tin box she opened it up, showing off multiple supplies of medicine, and bandages; digging through the contents she found what she had been looking for.
They all looked down at the scene with anxious and nervous eyes, no one thought this was a good idea; letting someone who couldn't see do something like this. However, they gave her the benefit of the doubt; if Daryl seemed okay with it then they would see what happened.
Somehow they almost knew that she knew what she was doing, trusted her with out and reason too.
Kayla pulled out a thin black thread from the confines of a small black bag and a sharp, what looked to be a sewing needle. Closing her eyes she felt around Daryl's arm her hands looking extremely small against the man's large biceps. Feeling around the large gash there she frowned, biting down on the left corner of her bottom lip as she tried to calm her nerves.
"You can't move or I'll lose my spot" she said before stabbing the needle right through to the other side of the cut, Daryl grinding his teeth togther but otherwise showing no emotion of feeling pain.
She worked with precision, she had done this before, feeling her way around she made perfect attachments and she stitched up his arm. Everyone watching was in amazement as she worked on his arm, finishing without problem. "Now wrap it up and don't move it to much, or I'll have to do it again" she said dropping down into a sitting potion on the concrete ground and breathing out a held in breathe.
"How did you-"Rick was about to ask but stopped, what exactly was he asking here? How a blind girl could stich up a wound better than others or where she learned to do it? However, she managed to answer both his unasked questions.
"You learn some nifty tricks when you live on the streets for most your life"
Food For Thought: Again I ask and plead for reviews on it; Do I add in Hershel's farm? This story could go either way in my mind and planning. Also, Kayls's character is finally starting to finalize so you know most about who she is. WHat do you think of her? Please let me know, I appreciate everything I get back. PLEASE REVIEW! For christmas ^.^
Preview: His hands were rough, callosed from many long days working and hunting, however, as his fingers pressed softly into her skin, they sent warm, electric impulses through her body, making her feel safe, like nothing could hurt her again.