Caution: Not for the squeamish. This is rated M!

Chapter 6

The backhoe moved the earth in slow gaping mouth-fulls, scooping it up, turning, and depositing it to the side while Rick, Shane, Aliya and Daryl picked off walkers one-by-one as they ambled up to check out the noise the beast of a machine made. It took what seemed like forever, but when T-Dog was done, they had a fifteen-foot deep pit, twenty foot long and ten foot wide. No walker could climb out of it, fall across it, or escape.

They left the pit open and returned the next day, erecting a makeshift fence in a wide vee-shape from out front to the front corners. The plan was for walkers to come down the roadway, into the chute that the fencing made, and come towards the pit. They were going to have to do something to attract them towards the pit. This was going to be easy to do, judging from the number that had show interests in the backhoe's noise.

Aliya volunteered to create that noise. "No fuckin' way." Daryl said. "You ain't gonna be walker bait."

"I'll be fine. Piece of cake." she said. I'll be at the back. They can't get to me.

"It's too risky." he shook his head. "Let one of us do it."

"No. You guys need to be taking care of the ones that don't make it down towards the pit. I can handle it." Aliya was adamant.

"What if one gets 'round tha' side ta' tha' back 'n comes after ya'. Tha' only place you got ta' go is tha' pit." Daryl was concerned. Hell, he was just plain scared of the possibility.

"You doubting your abilities, Dixon?" she smiled, her head tilted sideways.

"Fuck no." he said loudly.

"Then stop worryin'." she said, smacking his arm. Daryl turned around and looked at the water tower. "Merle. East. 6 ½ miles" in big florescent pink letters a foot tall. He smiled, reminding himself the he shouldn't be doubting her abilities either.

XXXXX

The walkers were slow to come at first, but after a while there were more…and more…and the plan seemed like it would work well. They ambled down the main road, towards Aliya, who was making noise and beating on a garbage can lid with a stick. "Here walker, walker." she yelled at one point, making Daryl grin despite himself. They would either just keep going and fall in themselves, or they would reach out for Aliya and one of the guys would give them a push over the edge with a long pole.

After about an hour, Glenn, who was stationed on top of the truck as a lookout, let them know that there was a large horde coming. "Guys! Walkers." he called as he pointed. "Lots of 'em." he shouted. Rick and Shane threw each other a nervous glance.

"Here we go, kids." T-Dog said. "There's probably sixty or seventy of 'em."

Aliya started to yell and jump up and down and the horde took note. They started ambling a bit faster and heading right for the pit. Closer and closer they moved until the ones in front, the fastest ones, reached the edge and fell in. The others followed closely behind the ones in front, so many of them were at the edge and over before they could realize what was going on. That is, if they had been capable of recognizing just what was going on. Most of them just started running for Aliya when they saw her and gravity took over at the edge of the pit.

A few didn't manage to make it to the pit and the men took them out easily with their weapons, which attracted even more walkers. It was a win-win situation if there was such a thing. Rick was amazed. Shane was having fun. Daryl was just plain proud. Scared to death, but oddly proud.

After a while, not a lot more walkers showed up. Apparently most of the walkers in town had already joined the horde and were in the pit already. Aliya looked at Rick and Daryl and nodded. "It's time." she said quietly. She peered over the edge of the pit. It was about half full of moaning, writhing, formerly-living bodies. It was an incredible sight, an undulating sea of flesh and bone. She reminded herself that these were DEAD people. Not capable of conscious thought. No emotions other than the bloodlust to kill and eat living flesh. To kill and eat them.

She moved back to the pick-up truck and pulled out the large garden sprayer and carried it gingerly to the pit. She pumped the sprayer as much as she could, building up as much pressure in the tank, and looked around at the guys, who pretty much had just stepped back to let her work. It was obvious to everyone involved that she knew what the hell she was doing and that she was in charge. That worried Rick a bit. "Ok, you guys stay back." she said, looking around. If this nozzle starts to leak, I'm just gonna pitch the whole thing in the pit. It'll have the same results, just a little more…explosive."

Daryl watched Aliya work closely. He was standing about six feet from her as she checked the connections and the hoses. T-Dog was next to her, with a fire extinguisher ready. Daryl had insisted on it. They looked at each other, exchanging worried glances.

"'K. Here goes." Aliya said, breathing deeply and holding in the breath. The liquid that spewed from the end of the nozzle ignited instantly into a hellish blaze. It streamed down into the pit in a gentle arc that can best be described as liquid fire, beautiful and terrifying at the same time. It landed on it's targets, enveloping them in the inferno as the thin gel spread across their putrid flesh, burning everything with a red and yellow flame. The heat was intense, even from a distance. Aliya slowly guided the nozzle back and forth across the width of the pit, giving the handle a few pumps to keep the pressure up, making sure every inch of the inside of the pit was covered. After a few seconds, the smell of burning flesh was sickening, stifling. The scene was something straight out of hell.

Aliya was trying to hide the fact that her hands were shaking. She wasn't nervous about the mechanics of what she was doing. Hell, this was old hat. She really didn't understand why she was shaking, or about to cry. Her face was hot from the heat, which made her back up as the tank sputtered and the liquefied fire started to spurt and dribble. She kept a close eye on the end of the nozzle as she lowered the nozzle towards the ground and the last of the liquid ran out. Aliya put the nozzle and wand down on the ground and threw a handful of sand on it from a bucket next to her. She turned around, her back to the blaze in the pit. She didn't say anything, just looked at the men and raised her eyebrows.

"How long do we…" Glenn called down from the top of the truck. "…you know," he pointed, "let it…burn?"

Aliya looked over her shoulder. "A while." she said quietly. She looked at Daryl, who was walking over to her now.

"You ok?" he whispered, looking around at the others.

"Nuh-huh." she said under her breath. He looked at her closer. Her hands were shaking and he could see she was holding her breath. Her face was bright from the heat and her eyes were rimmed red.

He put his hand on her back and moved her quickly to the other side of the truck, out of view of the others. He looked up at Glenn and scowled. Glenn understood the glare immediately and quickly jumped down, joining the others, watching the makeshift crematorium, having moved as close to the pit as the heat would allow. Daryl popped the tailgate of the truck down and lifted Aliya up. Her face was pale now, her cheeks and forehead now bright red like she was sunburned, but the rest of her was white as a sheet.

"Breathe." he said quietly.

"I can't. The smell. Jesus." she closed her eyes and shook her head. She put her palms over her eyes and lowered her head, her shoulders shaking. Daryl realized she was starting to cry. He put both hands on her shoulders and started to pull her into him when Rick appeared behind him and cleared his throat.

"Everything ok?" Rick asked, realizing that things were definitely not ok.

"No. Need ta' get her outta' here."

"Ok. We can handle it. When…things…stop burning, we'll cover it and be back to the house. You two go on. Get out of here."

Aliya sat up and smoothed her hair back with her hands. "I'm fine. I just got a little hot. We're not going anywhere. It's ok."

"Hell if we're not." Daryl shook his head. "Meet ya' back at tha' house." he looked at Rick and then towards T-Dog, who had walked up as well. Daryl pulled Aliya off the tailgate of the truck and walked her around to the passenger side, turning a deaf ear to her protests. "Get in tha' damn truck." he growled, opening the door. Aliya hopped in, defeated, as Daryl shut the door behind her with a loud thud.

XXXXX

Daryl and Aliya drove in silence for about five minutes until Aliya put both hands on the dash and said "Stop the truck." Daryl slowed down considerably and looked at her but didn't stop the truck. "Please, Daryl, stop this fucking truck. NOW." she said emphatically, putting a hand over her mouth. Daryl realized what was happening and pulled over with a lurch.

Aliya had the door open before the truck came to a stop and hopped out, taking only a couple steps before she hurled. She bent over, her hands on her knees, and lowered her head, vomiting violently into the grass on the side of the road. By the time Daryl rounded the truck, she was almost done…but not quite. She finished and wiped her mouth off with the back of her hand, standing upright. Daryl handed her a bottle of water out of the back of the truck and noticed her hand was still shaking.

He pulled her by the elbow to the back and once more threw down the tailgate with his other hand. Aliya put her hand against it and her knees buckled. Daryl caught her before she hit the ground and hauled her up on her feet. "Easy there." he whispered. "I gotcha'."

"Fuck me." she said, grabbing his arm. She gulped down a couple big breaths and swallowed some of the water. "I don't believe I just did that." she sighed.

"Y'ok?" he said, his hand still on her arm. She was still shaking.

"Peachy." she said.

"Let's get ya' home." he said.

"No. I need to get back-"

"You ain't goin' back there until they're all done ." he said.

"Hey, this was all my idea. I need to see it through." she pulled away from him.

"Are ya' fuckin' kiddin' me?" he said. "Ya' kicked ass today. It worked great. Now ya' need a break."

Aliya shook her head. "What I need is a drink."

"Let's go." he said, stepping back from the tailgate.

They drove the rest of the way with Aliya looking out the passenger window, silent. When they arrived, they walked straight to the basement, ignoring the questions from Andrea, Dale and the others. Daryl pulled out a bottle and sat it down in front of Aliya. "Hit it." he said. "Then get yer ass in tha' shower." he said.

Aliya unscrewed the cap and took a long drink. Then another. Daryl walked upstairs and found Bridgette in the kitchen. He asked her for a change of clothes for Aliya and she cheerfully returned in about five minutes, breathlessly gushing about not knowing what was the occasion, so she included something for Aliya to wear right now and something to sleep in. Daryl glowered at her for the implication. "She's overheated. She'll be fine." he hissed.

Daryl returned and Aliya was sitting on the floor in front of the couch, bottle between her knees, staring straight ahead. She didn't flinch when he entered the room, nor did she move when he sat the clothes down next to her and plopped on the couch. She slowly turned to him. He could see she'd been crying.

"What's wrong with me?" she said.

"Nothin'." he said.

"Did we do a bad thing today?"

"Fuck no." he frowned.

"Then why do I feel like it was."

"Dunno. Just tired, I guess."

"This isn't tired. This is…guilt."

"Ain't nothin' ta' feel guilty 'bout. 'S like Shane said. It's either us 'r them."

"Why do I feel like we burned people alive? Why do I feel like the monster?"

"They weren't alive. You know that."

"I know. I know that. I know we would have gotten them eventually, hopefully before some of us were bitten, but Jesus, Daryl, there so many of them in that pit."

"All tha' more reason. Had ta' be done." He put both hands on her shoulders. "You'll feel better after a shower 'n some dinner."

"Daryl, no, food's the last thing I want. I can still smell…" she sighed heavily. She turned her head away from his face. "Ok. Shower." she said, standing up and exiting the room quickly.

A/N: ok, y'all still with me? Please, don't even think about trying any of that stuff at home. Seriously. I don't think Homeland Security sees zombies as a threat (yet) and I'm pretty sure they would NOT be amused. So, just go watch "Chupacabra" for the forty-eleventh time. You know you wanna…