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Chapter 7:
The crunch of leaves being stepped on and twigs snapping echoed through the trees as the group headed back to camp. It was Daryl, Jennifer, Andrea, Lori, Carol, and Glenn, the others, Shane, Rick, and Carl, had stayed back to check out a little more around the church.
"So this is it?" Carol asked as she stopped to rest on a fallen tree, "This the whole plan?"
"I guess the plan is to whittle us down into smaller and smaller groups," Daryl said as he leaned against a tree. The group had now halted for a breather as they gathered around.
"Carrying knives and pointy sticks," Andrea spoke before turning to Lori and saying, "I see you have a gun."
"Why, you want it?" Lori asked the woman defending her ground as she pulled out the small revolver Daryl had given her, "Here, take it."
She offered the gun to Andrea and Jennifer found herself respecting Lori a little more now that she has seen the woman hold her ground against the blond.
"I'm sick of the looks you're giving me," Lori continued as she stared Andrea in the eye. Andrea's mouth had dropped and she shook her head before taking the gun from Lori, "All of you."
And just like that, the respect was gone. Lori sat on a stone and Jennifer got a little irritated at her last statement. I haven't even looked at you since we left the church, Jennifer thought. She was certainly giving a look at Lori now, an exhausted look that said 'Can you stop with the bullshit? I'm ready to get back to the highway'. Lori met Jennifer's gaze full on and that reminded the older woman about something she wanted to say to Jen.
"Honey, I can't imagine what you're going through and I would do anything to stop it," It took Jennifer a moment to realize that the woman was talking to her even though they were staring each other dead in the eye, "But you have got to stop blaming Rick. It is in your face every time you look at him."
Lori looked at Jennifer, who was only getting angrier by the second; with a stern look as if she were a school teacher and Jennifer was a young child who had done something wrong. This look made Jennifer's anger only worsen. In fact, every time Lori spoke Jennifer found herself becoming even angrier than the last and soon that pent of rage would have to be released, again.
"When Sam ran he didn't hesitate, did he? Not for a second," Lori continued her rant, "I don't know that any of us would have gone after her the way he did or made the hard decision that he had to make or that anybody could have done it any differently. Y'all look to him and then you blame him when he's not perfect. If you think you can do this without him, go right ahead. Nobody is stopping you."
Jennifer stared at the ground and bit her lip before she lifted her head to the woman. Everyone was watching her now, but she didn't care her only concern was the woman in front of her. Jennifer let a breath before she spoke in a nice even voice. She was worn out physically, mentally, and emotionally from the day and she did not want to listen to Lori's rant.
"Well, I'm sorry; I didn't realize I was giving Rick mean looks. If you haven't noticed, I am going through a very difficult time trying not to relive the events of my past. No Rick didn't hesitate when Sam ran, but neither did I. I could have been out there finding her myself if Rick hadn't made me stay back, but that's in the past and I don't care anymore. What I care about is you sticking your nose in my business when I'm not your problem and I never will be. And I can manage just fine on my own, the months before I met this group I was doing just fine and I can survive by myself without a leader any day."
She had just lied to Lori. She knew she could manage to stay alive on her own, but she couldn't manage to stay sane. She had been alone for too long and it had taken its toll on her mind, she couldn't stand it for that long again. She didn't have to stay with the group for survival, even though it was a relief to not have to put her life on the line as much getting supplies, but rather because she feared the thought of being alone.
"We need to keep moving, "Andrea said as the two women continued their stare down. Only then, did Jennifer turn and head for Daryl's direction. She could feel his eyes on her and saw as he nodded his head in their direction signaling for the group to continue.
Gun shot rang out through the forest as the group continued through. Lori was the only one to stop and stare back but the rest of the group also halted when Andrea stopped and asked.
"You still worrying about it?"
"It was a gunshot," Lori said with her back to the group.
"We all heard it," Daryl reassured.
"Why one? Why just one gunshot?" Lori asked turning to them with a worried look in her brown eyes.
"Maybe they took down a walker," Daryl brushed off her worry. Jennifer gazed at him and realized how dirty he was. Sure everyone wasn't sparkling clean but they weren't as dirty as the redneck. His skin looked tan from all the dirt that covered it and gleamed in the sunlight from the sweat sticking to him. His vest was marked with blood and his hands had a few cuts on them.
"Please don't patronize me," Lori said breaking Jen's attention from the man. She was talking fast as her worrying only increased, "You know Rick wouldn't risk a gunshot to put down one walker. Or Shane. They'd do it quietly."
"Shouldn't they have caught up with us by now?" Carol asked in an innocent voice.
"There's nothing we can do about it anyway," Daryl said, "Can't run around these woods chasing echoes."
"So what do we do?" Lori asked in a tone that implied 'Tell us what you think if you know it all'.
"Same as we've been. Beat the push for Sam, work our way back to the highway," Daryl responded and Jennifer agreed with the redneck. If something had happened with Rick and the others, they would be able to handle it themselves. Plus, that shot could have nothing to do with Rick, Carl, and Shane.
"I'm sure they'll hook up with us back at the RV," Andrea tried to set Lori's mind at rest. Lori looked at the ground, then to the direction of the sound, and back at the ground before she pressed on with the group.
Jennifer remained in her place looking into the woods her mind wandering through all the different situation Sam could be in. She breezed through the ones she wished were real while her mind halted on the ones she feared. What if she's alone and scared in some abandoned house? What if she is being chased by walkers? What if she is a walker? What i-.
"I'm sorry for what you're going through," Andrea broke her thoughts once again and the woman looked at her, "I know how you feel."
"I suppose you do," Jennifer looked at the blond her lip twitching trying to form a smile she wished she could show but was unable to. She appreciated these few words from Andrea and was glad she had the courage to reach out to her, even after the scene with Lori. "Thank you."
"Not knowing if she's dead or alive is what's really killing me," Jennifer said as she looked back out into the wilderness, "I'm just hoping and praying she's okay."
"We're all hoping and praying, for what it's worth," Andrea said to the woman as she gazed back into her blue eyes. The twitch in her lip was back as she tried to smile, but she didn't have to show it through her mouth because Andrea could see the look of appreciation she held in her eyes.
"I'll tell you what it's worth, not a damn thing," Daryl said making the two women look at him as he approached. Jennifer was ready to kick his ass right there in the woods, but then he continued talking and what he said made Jennifer rethink her actions, "It's a waste of time all this hopin' and prayin'. 'Cause we're gonna locate that little girl, she's gonna be just fine."
Daryl stared right into Jennifer's eyes as he spoke but looked away leaving Jennifer with a small sliver of hope. The man glanced between the two as he spoke, "Am I the only one Zen around here? Good Lord."
Jennifer watched as the redneck walked away. His biceps were clearly visible as he held his crossbow, the muscle in his back moved perfectly, and Jennifer peeked down a little lower to look at his nice firm ass.
"I'm sorry about earlier," Lori said making Jennifer look from the redneck to her. Where did Andrea go? Jennifer wondered as she looked around and saw the blond walking a few feet ahead. She decided to do the same and began walking as Lori lingered at her side.
"I'm sorry too," Jennifer spoke, "We've been out her for a while and the heats starting to get to us."
Jennifer decided that maybe she should actually start trying to make friends in the group and going off on her fellow group members was not a good start.
"Drink this," Lori said handing Jennifer a bottle of water.
"Thanks," Jennifer graciously accepted and drank a good bit from the bottle before giving it back to the woman who smiled at her. Jennifer gazed into Lori's brown eyes and could tell that Lori wanted to reach out to her fellow group member just like Jen did so she decided to return the hospitality the best she could by forming a small smile on her lips.
"We'll lose the light before too long," Daryl said as the group stopped. They stood in a line gazing out into the woods. Lori had her machete rested on her shoulder, Daryl with his crossbow lowered looked to them, Glenn lingered behind, and Jennifer was spinning the hatchet in her hand, "I think we should call it."
"Let's head back. We'll pick it up tomorrow?" Lori asked looking to Jennifer for conformation. Jennifer looked at the woman and nodded her head. She was grateful that Lori had looked to her first for approval even though Jen knew that even if she refused, the woman would refuse to let her stay, but she wouldn't have wanted to anyway. Jennifer was tired and her stumbling around the woods, worn out wouldn't help find Sam and would only endanger Jennifer's life more than it already was.
Daryl whistled and motioned for the group to start heading back.
They continued on and came to a part of the forest occupied by many bushes on the ground. Daryl crept in the lead to help the group navigate through the dense shrubbery. They were in a crooked line with Jennifer in the back in case any walkers decided to make an appearance. Andrea was slowly drifting away from the group when Lori broke the silence that had fallen upon them.
"How much farther?"
"Not much. Maybe a hundred yards," Daryl said as Jennifer sighed ready to get this hunt over with and find Sam, "As the crow flies."
"Too bad we're not crows," Andrea said what Jennifer was thinking. She wandered a little too far from the group and ended up right in a spider's web. It took her a moment to bat off the silky thread and in that moment she fell behind the group. Once it was off, she continued on stepping over branches, and avoiding thorny plants.
"As the crow flies my ass," she said before screaming at the top of her lungs and falling to the ground.
The group had pressed on too far and had lost sight of the woman, but they now backtracked to find her. They saw her crawling away from a walker screaming for dear life as she tried to kick and stab at the once living man. They were rushing to her aid when all of a sudden a woman riding a horse came into view and rode past the walker, hitting in the head with a baseball bat as she did so.
"Lori? Lori Grimes?" the short haired brunette on horseback asked Andrea, who was still on the ground with a collection of twigs and grass in her hair.
"I'm Lori."
"Rick sent me. You've got to come now," The woman said quickly.
"What?" Lori asked in confusion.
"There's been an accident Carl's been shot," she said taking a breath before continuing, "He's still alive but you've got to come now. Rick needs you just come."
Lori began to remove her pack, ready to go with the woman when Daryl intervened, "Whoa whoa whoa. We don't know this girl. You can't get on that horse."
"Rick said you had others on the highway, that big traffic signal?" the girl asked as her and Lori, bit ignored Daryl's words. Jennifer nodded at the girl before she continued, "Backtrack to Fairburn road. Two miles down is our farm. You'll see the mailbox. The name is Greene."
"Hyah!" The girl yelled whipping the horse as it sped off into the direction it had come. They all stared after it when a low growling noise arose from the walker that the girl had hit when she first arrived.
"Shut up!" Daryl said shooting an arrow through its skull as it rose up.
"Shot? What do you mean shot?"
"I don't know, Dale. I wasn't there. All I know is this chick rode out of nowhere like Zorro on a horse and took Lori," Glenn said out of breath. After Lori left the group ran back to the highway to tell Dale and T-Dog about what happened.
"You let her?" Dale asked as Jennifer and Daryl climbed over the railing. Dale kept looking back and forth between her and Daryl and she didn't know who Dale was addressing until Daryl spoke.
"Climb down out of my asshole, man," walking away.
"Rick sent her. She knew Lori and Carl's name," Jennifer clarified as she watched Carol run off to comfort her daughter, who had to stay at the RV with T-Dog and Dale while the others hunted for Sam.
"I heard screams was that you?" Dale asked Andrea but she blew him off.
"She got attacked by a walker," Glenn answered for her, "It was a close call."
"Andrea, are you alright?" Dale called out.
She stopped at the Winnebago's door, looked at Dale, and let out a breath as she shook her head from side to side. She then entered the RV and went about her own business. Everyone else did the same, Daryl cleaned his arrows, Dale scavenged for spare parts, and Carol spent time with her daughter doing some kind of schoolwork.
"I won't do it," Jennifer said, "I can't just leave."
"Jennifer, the group is split. We're scattered and weak," Dale told the woman. They had begun to talk about leaving the highway and Jennifer refused, willing to stay there by herself if necessary.
"What if she found her way back and we weren't here?" Jennifer questioned looking to the group members trying to persuade them.
"If Sam found her way back and we were gone, that would be awful," Andrea said backing up Jen. Jennifer was thankful that she had at least one person agreeing with her.
"Okay," Daryl nodded his dirty head, "we got to plan for this. I say tomorrow morning is soon enough to pull up stakes. Give us a chance to rig a big sign, leave her some supplies. I'll hold here tonight, stay with the RV."
"If the RV is staying, I am too," Dale stated confidently.
"Thank you," Jennifer said in a low voice as the group looked to Andrea.
"I'm in," she said simply.
"Well, if you're all staying then I'm-"Glenn began but was cut short by Dale.
"Not you, Glenn. You're going. Take Carol's Cherokee," Dale said motioning for the woman who hugged her daughter close as the group spoke.
"Me?" Glenn questioned obviously not wanting to leave the group, "Why is it always me?"
"You have to find this farm, reconnect with our people and see what's going on. But most important, you have to get T-Dog, Carol and Sophia there. This is not an option," Dale said as the group looked back at T-Dog who was leaning against the far corner of the RV with a blanket wrapped around his torso even though the Georgia sun was still hot as hell, "That cut has gone from bad to worse. He has a very serious blood infection. Get him to that farm. See if they have any antibiotics. Because of not, T-Dog will die, no joke."
When Dale mentioned antibiotics Daryl turned and walked over to his brother's motorcycle. He picked up the dirty, white rag off of it before he dug through one of the compartments and produced a clear plastic bag with prescription bottled in it.
"Keep your oily rags off my brother's motorcycle," Daryl said throwing the rag at Dale, who fumbled but was still able to catch it. Daryl then set down the bag and began digging, "Why'd you wait till now to say anything? Got my brother's stash."
He rummaged through the bag some more as he called out various names, "Crystal, X. Don't need that."
"Got some kick ass painkillers," he said tossing a small orange bottle to Glenn, who caught it with ease. He looked back in the bag and produced another bottle and tossed it to Dale, "Oxycycline. Not the generic stuff neither. It's first class."
"Merle got the clap on occasion," Daryl dished out the unwanted information shrugging as he walked away.
Dale looked the bottle in his hands over before smiling and moving for the sick T-Dog. T-Dog courteously accepted the painkillers and took as many as Dale would allow him. Dale then guided the man over to Carol's Cherokee and helped him into the passenger's seat. Carol and Sophia were already waiting in the backseat so all they had left to wait on was Glenn. He spoke to Dale for a moment but afterwards, he quickly got into the car and followed the directions the woman had given him.
Daryl lay on the floor of the RV on the makeshift pallet he had made from a few blankets. He had let Jennifer take the bed while Andrea loaded the guns and Dale took watch. Daryl stared up at the roof with his hands resting behind his head as he listened to the sound of Andrea sliding bullets into the clip of a gun.
The next noise that came to his ear was the soft rustling of sheets as Jennifer turned in her sleep. The rustling stopped for a moment, but then started up again, only this time it was followed by a quiet, "No," that only reached Daryl's ears. This continued and finally Daryl lifted his head a little and watched as the brunette shook her head from side to side and mumbled in her sleep. He looked up at Andrea but the woman was so focused she didn't even notice him. Daryl turned back to Jennifer who was getting more frantic. He could see the sweat that was starting to form on her tan skin and sat up to get a better view of the girl; curious as to if he should wake her from the nightmare she seemed to be suffering.
All of a sudden the woman shot up out of bed. She was breathing heavily and stared down at the sheets wide-eyed. She ran her hand through her brown locks, which looked black in the dark lighting, and rested her head in her hands. Jennifer had been too caught up in what was happening that she neglected to realize that Daryl was watching her.
He stood up from his place on the ground and moved to the table Andrea was at so he could retrieve his clip for his pistol and his crossbow.
"I need my clip now," Daryl reached his hand out to Andrea. This was when Jennifer realized she wasn't alone.
"I'm gonna walk the road, look for the girl," Daryl said in his raspy voice, making Jennifer look up from her hands through the mess of chocolate hair at the blue eyed man. He looked at Jennifer, who was still breathing heavily, and nodded.
Daryl exited the RV and Jennifer quickly threw on her shoes, grabbed her guns, and ran out the RV for Daryl.
"Wait, I'm coming with you," Jennifer said as she tried to fix her shoe. This caught the rednecks attention and he turned around just as the brunette was catching up to him. Daryl nodded and Jennifer thought she saw a hint of a smile before he turned to talk to Dale but she couldn't be sure.
"I'm going for a walk. Shine some light in the forest. If she's out there, give her something to look at," Daryl explained their motives to the man.
"You think that's a good idea?" Dale asked. He had squatted on the corner of the RV so he could be closer to the pair and hear them better.
"It's as good as any," Jennifer said just loud enough for Dale to her as she walked away, passing Daryl who looked up at the man before following the woman.
Daryl and Jennifer had been walking through the forest in silence as the frogs moaned in the distance and crickets chirped right beneath their feet. They hadn't walked too far from the highway but far enough for it to be out of view. Jennifer kept her flashlight forward and her eyes focused, that was until she saw Daryl's flash light shone into her face from her peripheral vision.
"You got that look on your face same as everybody else," he said when he finally lowered his flashlight and looked in the other direction not meeting Jen's gaze. She didn't have to ask, she knew what he was talking about. She knew that her face had shown feeling of lost hope but now it was probably looking like there wasn't any hope left, but after the dream she had, she felt hopeless, "What the hell's wrong with you people? We just started looking."
"Well, do you think we'll find her?"
"It ain't the Mountains of Tibet. It's Georgia. She could be holed up in a farmhouse somewhere," Daryl's tone was the nicest but something about his words made Jennifer feel reassured and restored some of her lost hope, "People get lost and they survive. Happens all the time."
"But she's only six," Jennifer reminded herself.
"Hell, I was round her age and I got lost," Daryl said peeking Jen's curiosity, "Nine days in the woods eating berries, wiping my ass with poison oak."
"They found you?" Jennifer asked looking at him. Even in the dim light his blue eyes shined like ice. She felt as though her dark brown eyes were dull in comparison to his beautiful ones, but Daryl felt the exact opposite. He liked the way her eyes could go from warm and kind to fiery and aggressive. He also liked the way he could see the smile in her eyes even if her lips were drawn down.
"My old man was off on a bender with some waitress. Merle was doing another stint in juvie. Didn't even know I was gone. I made my way back though. Went straight into the kitchen and made myself a sandwich. No worse for wear. Except my ass itched something awful," Before Jennifer realized it she was unintentionally laughing at the last part of Daryl's story earning her a look from the redneck.
"Sorry," she choked out trying to stop laughing, "I'm sorry, that is a tragic story."
They both looked each other in the eye and began laughing.
"Only difference is Sam's got people looking for her. I call that an advantage," Daryl said as Jennifer looked at him but he didn't meet the woman's eyes. From what Jennifer gathered it seemed like Daryl's father didn't care much for him, his brother was often absent, and his mother wasn't even in the picture.
Jennifer had come from a caring home with a father and sister who were always there and they had always cared for one another. So she couldn't relate to the uncaring father and absent sibling but she could relate to not having a mother in her life. And it was dreadful.
Once again, Daryl and Jen walked in silence, but this silence was different from the last. There was comfort in this silence. Well, until some rustling came from nearby and the pair immediately went into action. Daryl raised his crossbow and Jennifer searched for her knife, only then did she realize she left it so she was left with only her pistol or her rifle. She decided to let Daryl handle it and not risk the chance of attracting more walkers with her gun.
They crept through the woods and made it to some camp. There was a large tent with a chair set up around a fire pit. The fire had long since been put out but Jennifer could see the old ashes from a fire that was alive once ago.
Just then, the tree branch above the camp shook and Jennifer got closer to Daryl's back, so close that she was almost touching his broad, muscular, tan shoulders.
"What the hell?" Daryl walked up to the tree were a fully alive walker was hanging. A rope was around his neck and Jennifer knew that he had decided to take the easy way out. The monster tried desperately to reach out for them but the rope was too strong and he remained in place. Hanging loosely under him were, at least what used to be, legs. Now they were nothing but blood covered bones. The words Daryl spoke from the paper stuck to the tree confirmed Jen's thoughts about what had happened, "'Got bit. Fever hit. World gone to shit. Might as well quit.' Dumbass didn't know enough to shoot himself in the head. Turned himself into a big swinging piece of bait… and a mess."
The smell was horrid and Jennifer could tell that the thing had been up there a while, baking in the hot Georgia sun. She had smelled much worse than this but it still stunk terribly, especially because they were so close.
"So how did you learn to shoot?" Jennifer asked inadvertently changing the subject.
"Gotta eat," Daryl simply said barely glancing at her. He could barely take his eyes off of the walker, "That's one thing these walkers and us have in common."
"Must be the closet he has gotten to food since he turned," Jennifer said as she walked a bit closer. She was now aligned with Daryl as they stared at the walker, who was frantically trying to get to them.
"Look at him, hanging up there like a big piñata."
"Yeah, and look at his legs, walkers must have come to eat the flesh off of them," Jennifer said crossing her arms.
"Let's head back," Daryl said as he turned and began walking away.
"Shouldn't you…" Jennifer trailed off as she shined her flashlight on the walker and looked at Daryl. He looked from her hazel eyes to the groaning walker before responding.
"No. He ain't hurtin' nobody. Ain't gonna waste an arrow either. He made his choice. Opted out. Let him hang."
Daryl turned to walk away but Jennifer only moved closer to the struggling figure. Daryl watched as she got closer and closer. The walker only became more desperate to get down as Jen moved closer. Daryl walked closer to the woman and thought about what he should say to her.
"Back at the RV, what were you dreaming about?" Jennifer whipped her head around to find that he had moved right behind her. She stared at him wide-eyed nit wanting to reveal the subject of her dream, "It's just a question."
Jennifer looked at the walker then back to Daryl and said, "An answer for an arrow. Fair?"
"Mhm," Daryl said nodding his head. Normally, he wouldn't care about her dreams, and Jen knew this, but the murmuring in her sleep, tossing, and turning, along with the way she awoke as if she were in the exorcist made Daryl curious about what had spooked the strong woman.
"My sister," she said not daring to meet his gaze.
"Not much of an answer," Daryl kept his word and shot the walker clean through the head. He began to walk away but not before saying, "Waste of an arrow."
Jennifer followed him as her feet drug against the underbrush if the forest. She wasn't paying much attention to the ground in front of her when she came to a particularly dense part in the leaves. Her foot caught on something she wasn't able to see and she was sent tumbling to the ground.
Daryl spun around and saw the woman on the ground. He quickly moved to her and helped the woman off of the ground.
"Call that payback for laughing at my itchy ass," He said smirking at her as he helped her get balanced. As his he helped her up she looked up and couldn't help but be entranced by his icy eyes. She stared at him taking in features she hadn't noticed before, like the small mole above his lip that was hidden by his facial hair and the way his facial hair appeared lighter than his actual hair even. She even had to admit that he was handsome. His calloused hand brushed her back sending shivers up Jennifer's spine. What is wrong with you? Jennifer thought as they continued walking. Why am I feeling this way? She shook her head and ignored the feelings as they pressed on for the highway.
Jennifer could tell they were near the highway from the way the light of her flashlight shined back at her from the metal railing. Soon, they emerged from the woods and approached the RV through the sea of cars. Dale was coming down to greet them but Jennifer hurried into the Winnebago just barely missing him.
She slung her rifle off of her shoulder and leaned it against the table while standing the flashlight up on the table. She then removed the gun she had tucked into her waistband, found her knife, took of her shoes, and put them all in a neat pile next to the bed she would be sleeping in.
Just as the girl was sliding into bed she heard the RV's door open and close. When she looked up she saw Daryl doing the same as she did, removing his weapons and putting them some place safe. Jennifer had to admit she was upset that they didn't find Sam but she appreciated Daryl's effort and the fact that he remained hopeful, even when everyone, including herself, didn't.
Jennifer went to sleep to the sound of Dale and Andrea climbing on top of the RV as they settled in for watch.