Chapter 5
On the following day, I spent most of my time on watch duty, rather that than washing peoples clothes. Suddenly, a rough looking man burst onto the scene. "MERLE!" He shouted, followed by Rick and Shane. I'd never seen this man before, but I gathered that he was another member of the group.
I slowly worked my way off of the RV whilst listening to the conversation; I knew it may get ugly as Rick admitted to leaving this 'Merle' on the roof of the department store they were trapped in. "Look Daryl just calm down, okay?" Shane said, trying to keep it all together. This only riled the man further as he flung himself towards Rick.
Both men ended on the floor and as he came to get back to his feet, Daryl pulled out knife. Shane shot an assertive glance my way, ordering me to help. Daryl lunged at him with the knife, but Rick was aware enough to dodge. Although he wasn't one of the strongest cops around, you could always count on him when it came to brainpower. By the time Daryl pulled back from his first lunge, me and Shane took an arm each, knocking the knife to the ground and restraining him. As the man grew weaker Shane ushered me off of him, taking him by the neck. By this point Rick had already began to calm Daryl down verbally. The only part of the speech I heard was that he's going back into Atlanta!
I looked around at the surrounding faces, Lori was filled with panic and paranoia, and Carl had already begun to cry. Finally, when he'd calmed enough, Shane released his grip on Daryl. Time passed, and the crowd dispersed, everyone moved on, silently. As I turned to head back to my watch duty, I heard a stern voice come from behind me, "Kid, you've been on watch most the night, why don't you go catch some sleep?" I turned to meet Dale, who had already begun taking the rifle out of my hands. "You sure? I mean, I don't mind if you don't wanna" He nodded and began his ascent up the ladder.
I bunked in one of the tents and, admittedly, slept like a baby. After the horrors in Atlanta, and back home, I'd barely slept. I awoke as I felt a twitch in my arm. I opened one eye, followed by the next, it was Carl. "Wasup bud?" I asked as I pulled myself upwards. " I was catching frogs with Shane, then my mom came and sent me up here, she looked mad at Shane" He looked slightly disappointed and grumpy as he said it, upset that he had to leave Shane. "Okay, well how about you go and sit with Dale, help him out on watch, and I'll go and talk to them?" He agreed and we left the tent.
The sunlight staggered me as I looked upwards, nearly blinding me. We moved towards what I thought was the RV as I began regaining my vision. "Hey Dale, keep an eye on Carl will ya?" I ushered Carl to go and sit with him. "Mom and Shane were down there" He pointed down towards the lake. I winked at him and started the journey down the hill.
I felt the heat pounding on my back, sweat patches growing on my newly cleaned t-shirt. I saw Lori walking up the path, but no Shane. By the time she had reached me I could tell she was pissed. She tried to walk past me, her anger towards my brother was clear. I reached out to her and grabbed her arm, "Lori, what the hell is going on between you two?" I avoided making eye contact, but instead I watched the ladies below, with Ed watching them closely. I also saw Shane, sitting down on one of the rocks, not too far away from them, who was staring into the water. "I- What are you on about Chris?" I looked back at her, staring her in the eyes, "You and my brother, don't take me for an idiot, I know something's going on, an-" I was cut off by the screams of the girls, as I turned to look they were all huddled together, and a woman, Carol I believe was holding her face. I turned my attention to Shane, who was already on his way. I took one final look at Lori, "we're not done here".
I began a rapid descent down the hill towards the scene, watching Shane as I did so. I still couldn't make out what exactly had happened, but I had a good idea. Shane reached them as I was about 150 yards away. He went straight for Ed, throwing him to the floor. Shane perched himself on top of Ed and began pounding on him, throwing violent fists over and over again. As I reached them I took one look up at Andrea, whose facial expressions told me to stop Shane. I got behind Shane and grabbed him under both arms pulling him off of Ed. There wasn't much that came between me and Shane in terms of strength, but when he gets pissed it's as if he's another man completely.
"Get off of me!" He screamed, driving an elbow firmly into the corner of my eye, sending me to the floor. Everything seemed to go black for the moment, and then I heard Shane beating on Ed once again. I regained my composure and pulled myself back up, "Shane! Enough" I tackled him off of Ed, completely lunging my body at him. I forced him to the ground, holding him there. "Are you good now?" He wriggled and resisted until I let him up, placing myself between him and Ed. The others stood there watching, Carol was a sobbing mess. Andrea, Amy and Jacqui all watched me. "Go. Calm. Down" I commanded. He stormed off in the opposite direction, and I turned towards Ed.
He was a bloody, swollen mess; his face looked like something out of a horror movie. I walked to him, and crouched over him. "If you lay your hands on anybody in this camp once more, I will not stop him, I'll help him finish the job" I stood, took a deep breath, and looked towards the others. Carol ran to Ed, crying her eyes out. Andrea and Amy stared at me, making me uncomfortable at what I'd just said. A shooting pain struck in my head, forcing me to wince. I brought my hand to where Shane had caught me, "Shit", I muttered. Before I knew it Amy was next to me analysing the wound. "Come on" She grabbed my arm, tugging me in the direction she was going, "Let's get you cleaned up".