I kind of rushed this one a bit. Sorry its been a while. I got Norman Reedus' autograph! My cousin helped me send it through this fan mail thing. I criiied happy teeears!
"How long have I been walking now?" Cat had thought while she was walking. She lived in the woods in a sort of country-like area so when she saw everything in the small town she realized that the worst part was probably over. Cars were abandoned, windows broken, the dead bodies were lying here and there and the stores were torn up.
Her hand touched the leather satchels that were on a strap around her hips and realized that both were empty. Of course, being in an abandoned town without many walkers, she walked into some stores. Some more medicine was gathered and some beef jerky that came in a pack with crackers. She did have deer jerky from home, it'll last a good long while but Catori didn't feel like taking off the book bag on her back and digging around for it until she made a camp that night. She didn't need to eat much anyway. That was one thing her father had hated, she'd hardly eat but now she considered it a blessing so she would have plenty for the future.
After the young woman grabbed the first aid supplies she needed she heard a growl and turned to face the back of the store. The gun which had a silencer on it was in her hand at an instant. Slowly, the walker made its way around the corner and saw her. Golden eyes widened when she realized who it was, or rather what it was.
"Oh my God…"
It was a child, around the age of five. But this wasn't just any child; this was her cousin's child! She knew that little face anywhere.
"No… Macy…" She gasped, "How'd you even make it this far from home?"
Macy's lips curled back and she started rushing towards Cat.
"Macy… Please!" She cried as she held out her gun and aimed, "Macy… I'm so sorry! Please, forgive me!"
Then she shot with a silent cry.
"Macy!" Catori woke up with a quiet scream of her cousin's name, "Oh my God!"
"Kitty! What's wrong?" Daryl poked his head into the tent before he crawled in, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. She was trembling from the memory. "Shh, you're okay. It's okay."
It took a few minutes but she managed to catch her breath. Once she could speak she asked Daryl, "Don't you ever sleep?"
"Yeah, sometimes. But right now I have something to take care of." He kissed her lips, "You're safe, okay?"
The next day was certainly not boring.
"I don't feel so good…"
"It's probably the antibiotics, you didn't eat anything with them and they require food."
Brandon volunteered to go with Cat and Carol on a quick walk through the woods and he had tripped over the same barbed wire fence Cat and Rick had been hurt by a week or so before. It was terribly rusty so Maggie made him take a Doxycycline pill in case of an infection.
Of course, he complained at first about the pill being huge before Rick told him he could lose his arm to an infection. "You just learned to shoot with both hands." He had said.
Later, it was cloudy with a severe storm forming while near dark and Cat was helping Lori with some chores. Mainly washing a few clothes and cooking. Lori noticed that the other girl was quiet for the most part and seemed to be a bit paranoid when anyone would walk around her. "I'm proud of you for handling the situation with Shane and coming more around all of us again."
Catori sort of nodded, "I guess I can't blame him, this dead man walking business is driving everyone a little crazy I think."
"No!" Lori grabbed Catori's chin, gently turning her head to face her. Her voice was gentle but stern at the same time, "He had no right to do such a thing, end of the world or not! Sure it's making some people a little different but there are still laws in my opinion. Too bad one of those laws is to not kill the living or I would have killed Shane myself already!"
Cat could tell there was more behind her anger than just what he done to her.
"Lori, I wish I was like you."
"What do you mean?"
"You have so much self-control and you're the perfect role model."
Lori shook her head at the role model part, "You have no idea. I'm not the perfect role model."
"I know something happened between you and Shane."
Lori hesitated for a moment, hanging up a sheet on the makeshift clothesline. "Did you dream that?"
"H-how did you know about that?" She started to panic.
"Sweetie, calm down. Only Rick, Dayle and I know. We aren't telling anyone else unless you want us too." Lori reached over and hugged her, "I like to think of you as a daughter figure and me a step mother in a way. If you ever need anything you can come and talk to me about it, okay?" Lori patted her hand on Cat's cheek and they gave each other small smiles before turning back to finish with the chores.
It was dark from the storm before she saw Daryl again and he was furious at the new kid they had brought in.
"I should find them and kill them all!" He had said when he made it into the tent after pacing outside of it. He had calmed down a bit and Cat decided to talk to him. Once he told her of the kid's story, she looked away with an angry but slightly panicked look on her face, "Daryl, only the kid knows and he's being held here. The others have no idea, yes?"
He could see the worry in her eyes and pulled her against him, pressing his lips to her forehead, "I don't think so but I promise, no one will lay a hand on you!"
"I have another weapon now." She looked up at him and smiled, "I'll use it on them if they do find us."
Catori reached behind her big book bag and pulled out a metal baseball bat with some of the rusty barbed wire around it tight. It was obvious the bat was old and rusty but it was still way usable. "Where the fuck did you find that?"
"Half buried in the woods! I just got some of the barbed wire and secured it around it, tight. The barbed wire is on this thing for good and it has proved worthy." She smiled and he laughed a bit.
"You never cease to amaze me, Kitty." He sighed, "If ANYONE tries to hurt you again, I will not hesitate to kill them."
The wind picked up and blew against the tent. Thank God Daryl knew how to put up a tent and make it sturdy. Once the rain started pouring, Catori looked up at Daryl as he took his shirt off and lay back onto the blankets. "This is going to hold up, yes?"
"I built this to withstand a category 5 hurricane on a beach. Of course it'll hold up!" He tried to sound angry but he couldn't help but smile. A bright flash of lightning was followed by a loud clap of thunder and made the young woman jump which made the hunter smirk. His arm was held out and she curled up against him, laying her head on his chest.
"I love you."
"I love you, more." He responded.
"What are the walkers doing during this storm?"
"Still walkin' around like a bunch of drunk idiots."
Cat thought back to her father-
"Dad, who is it?"
"Some drunk idiot stumbling' around on our porch!" He opened the door, "Am I gonna have to kick your ass and make you leave in an ambulance?"
The man stumbling on the porch looked up at Virgil and growled. Cat saw his eyes from across the room, "Dad! Something's wrong with him!"
"Yeah, he's a drunken piece of shit!"
"No! Daddy! Get away from him! Close the door-!"
"What's wrong?" Daryl nuzzled her hair, noticing something was off.
Cat was quiet for a moment, "My father…"
"Yeah… You never told me how your story went before the camp outside Atlanta."
She was quiet again.
"Some drunk idiot stumbling' around on our porch!"
"We were just sitting in the living room. It had been one of those days where we done yard work."
"Dad! Something's wrong with him!"
"I had just taken a shower and was curled up on the couch with a book about mermaids and Daddy started yelling at this man he claimed was drunk that was on our porch." Cat sighed and paused for just a moment, remembering she hadn't really taken the time to cry over her father's death. "After a while, Dad went outside to beat the crap out of the guy and when he opened the door…"
"Daddy!"
"Cat! Run!" His scream echoed through the house and Cat ran to the gun cabinet. She heard barks but when she turned around, saw that their two Siberian huskies had been victims of the insane man when they tried to protect their master.
"Maska! Meeko!" She aimed and pulled the trigger, hitting the walker in the head. "Daddy!" Cat kneeled next to him and held his hand. Virgil was shaking and going unconscious. "Cat-!"
"After that… Everything seemed like a nightmare."
"I love you, Daddy."
"-Love you too, baby."
His eyes rolled up in the back of his head and she cried, standing up and going to get some treasured things. She couldn't stay here.
"I decided to leave so went and packed my things. I knew the reports on the radio were related to what had happened and I just had to get out. The emergency broadcast system had been going on and on, repeating itself for a few days… I knew that if it was as bad as it seemed, there would be some sort of shelter for the survivors." Again, she stopped. "I had to try and find others that were alive, I couldn't stay there… When I was leaving…"
Once ready, she turned and saw her father standing up, "Daddy! You're ok!" She ran to him but stopped when she saw his eyes, "Daddy?"
"I knew what I had to do after that… It was the most painful thing I had ever done…"
Daryl rubbed his hand over her back as she forced herself to remain strong.
"Kitty, you need time to mourn. You haven't recovered from this yet." He saw the look she gave him, "I won't judge you because crying over someone's death helps you move on better."
At that, she burst into sobs. The storm wasn't loud anymore. Cat cried into Daryl's chest, pitifully. His heart broke at the sound.
"I… I don't know what I'd do if I lost you, Daryl."
"You would continue to survive."
"Without you?"
He kissed her forehead, "Catori, you survive as long as you possibly can. I love you, alright? That's not going to change."
She nodded, "I love you, Daryl."
His arms tightened around her and the lay down in each other's arms.
"I'm sorry, brother."
She woke up with a quiet gasp, glad Daryl didn't hear her. The scene was black, nothing was seen. She just heard Daryl's voice.
"I'm sorry, brother."
'Brother…' She thought, 'I heard stories about Merle from the others… I'm just keeping this to myself.' After that thought, she stood up and put her clothes on then left to go see what the others were up to.
Out of boredom, Cat decided to make Daryl some extra arrows with some sturdy sticks.
"Cat?" Lori's voice called, "Have you seen Carl?"
"No, not yet. Is he missing?"
The mother put her hands on her hips, "He just ran off again, I don't know what I'm going to do with that boy!"
Behind Catori, Daryl wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled her cheek, "I'm going to go find Rick, talk to him about our new friend."
Then he was gone before she could say anything.
He had told her what the kid had told him and he had been furious. No, furious was an understatement. For the good of the group, Daryl wanted the kid dead and she was sure the rest of the team did as well.
Throughout the meeting with everyone, she had to agree with Dayle. The group was losing their humanity in this world that now belonged to the dead. Sure, the kid ticked her off just like he had pissed off the others but was shooting him really the right thing to do?
That was when the group decided to kill the kid they had taken in after the bar incident. They never heard the gunshot.
"They didn't do it." Lori whispered, more to herself than to everyone else. Catori walked out to be alone for a while. Daryl had started to approach her after a good while. He was opening his mouth to say something when they heard a scream.
"Dayle!"
Without a second thought, they ran towards the direction of the screams. Andrea and Daryl made it to the scene first, before Cat and the others. The walker was taken down and Cat stopped when she saw what had happened.
"Hershel!" Rick screamed.
For an old man, Hershel ran rather fast. He made it to the area where Dayle was dying and Rick was nearly at his breaking point. Dayle was like the father of the entire group! But they all knew there was nothing they could do to save him, he was suffering.
Rick's eyes were full of tears when he kneeled down with the gun aiming at the older man's head, the pain in his heart was seen visibly. With a shake of his head, the cop shed a tear and relaxed his hand for a moment.
Daryl reached down and took the hand gun from him and nodded for him to back up. Rick had taken down Sophia, he couldn't shoot Dayle too. He was suffering but it was to hard for him to put him out of his misery.
Daryl kneeled down in Rick's spot and held the gun out to aim at Dayle.
"I'm sorry, brother."
The shot of the gun went unheard by Cat as his words echoed through her head. She turned, shaking her head and started towards the house.
Carol followed her, running as fast as her feet could carry her. Her hand caught her shoulder and pulled her towards her, wrapping her arms around the younger girl in an attempt to comfort her.
If she'd have told someone, even she knew the dream where she just heard her lover's voice wouldn't give any warning as to who he was saying it to.