Don't Blink

Jamie leaned against the counter, taking the pressure off her leg. She wished that the conversations would stop and they could leave, but now the boys were starting to get into locations. It wasn't safe for them to leave so long as they were curious about where they were staying and so they were stuck at the bar until they knew it was safe. Her eyes moved over to the door constantly as she watched it quickly begin to darken outside, night time approaching disturbingly fast.

"We're with a larger group," Hershel answered as Dave continued to pick and prod to try and find where they were staying. It was clear that all of them were on alert at that moment, careful with all that they said. "Out scouting, thought we could use a drink."

"A drink? Hershel, I thought you quit?"

"You came at kind of a bad conversation," Jamie said suddenly, causing Tony to jump at her voice. He clearly hadn't been expecting her to say anything and had more than likely forgotten that she was even standing behind the counter he sat at.

"Well, we're kind of thinking of setting up around here. Is it safe?" Dave asked, looking briefly at Jamie. She refused to meet his eyes and instead was looking over to Rick, Glenn and Hershel. She was very aware of the fact that she was by herself while the others were all grouped together, she was divided from them and it was more unsettling than she wished to admit. She wished that Daryl was there, being that abrasive and overprotective male that he was and threatening Tony and Dave.

"It can be," Glenn answered, "we, well; I've killed a couple walkers around here."

"Walkers? Is that what you call them?" Rick nodded his head silently, watching as Dave frowned in thought.

Daryl, please come and get us, Jamie prayed silently as her leg began to ache from standing for so long. The rest of the group had to know that they hadn't come back and surely would send someone after them. Jamie didn't know how long she could be able to stay standing and he was sure that Rick was desperate to get Hershel back to the farm before anything happened with Beth's condition to worsen it.

"So, are you guys set up on the outskirts or somethin'?" Dave asked, looking over to Jamie. "You and you're group? Perhaps, that new development?" Jamie didn't do anything to give him a clue, just blinked at him with a blank face. She knew that if she did speak she would give something away and she would put them all in danger. Rick seemed relieved that she had decided to stay back from the conversation, but Dave was easily getting annoyed.

"Trailer park? Farm?" Tony asked as he pushed up onto his feet and walked away from the counter, completely ignorant to anything around him. Jamie watching his movements with her eyes until she noticed what he had as his intentions. Looking off to the side, she grimaced slightly and looked off to the back wall of the building. She had been around when Daryl decided to pee in the woods or the odd time in the bathroom when she was in the shower but she hated the through of another man doing such a thing so openly.

"You shy, sweetheart?" Dave asked teasingly. She glared over at him sharply, her hazel eyes looking dark.

"Her fiancé's back with the rest of the group," Rick explained, feeling that it was okay to say that. "Not exactly open to other men." Dave grinned, bringing worry to both Rick and Jamie. Glenn looked over to her, concerned that she would try and kill Dave if she got the chance.

"So, I take it no sharing?" Dave mocked, grinning over at Jamie. The lewd comments caused her to glare all the more as she refrained from picking up her shot glass and firing it at his head. She always did have good hand eye coordination. She knew that Rick was sending her warning looks, but also looks of concern. Her patience was thinner than a thread and it was getting ready to snap.

"Not unless you'd like him to cut your balls off with his hunting knife and shove them up your ass until you choke on them," she growled back, wiping the grin from his face. She thought back to the knife tucked into her boot and knew that she could hold her own if the scenario ever came up. She also knew, however, that the guys all had her back and she wasn't alone on the matter.

"So, you on a farm?" Dave asked, turning back to Rick. Tony was singing the 'oh McDonald' song as he relieved himself on the floor of the room, leaving Jamie with a rush of anger. The world may have gone to shit, but common courtesy apparently hadn't stuck with him at all. "Is it safe? You got food, water?"

"You got some coos?" Tony asked, completely forgetting that Jamie was standing just on the other side of the room. Rick straightened up as he looked over to where she had lifted herself to her full height, lifting a hand to prevent her from doing something she would regret; namely with the gun that was under her hand. "Man, I haven't had a piece of ass in weeks."

"Ah, listen; pardon my friend. City kids; they got…no tact," Dave apologized, glancing over to Jamie when he noticed Rick's halting movement. "No disrespect. So, please, Glenn-"

"I think we've said enough," Rick interrupted, taking everyone by surprise. The limit had been reached; the two men had already crossed a line that could not be uncrossed. Dave didn't take it well, even though he was very good with hiding it. Jamie could see the subtle change in him after Rick continued to shoot him down and turn him away from the choice of bunking with them at the farm. Tony walked back over to join them, holding the strap to his gun as he looked between Rick and his friend.

Dave went as far as trying to gain their sympathy and then changed tactic again and tried to connect with them about hardships. Jamie didn't let her hand leave the gun under the counter or her eyes leaving the two men that were before them. They had them outmanned and outgunned, but that didn't always matter. Rick was forced to step back when Tony began to yell at him, threatening to kill all of them but Dave stepped into the fight to calm it down.

Jamie's entire body tensed when he moved to jump up over the counter that she was standing behind, forcing her to move out of the way. She pushed the sniper into hiding beneath the smallest counter, where there were no bottles in the way. She didn't allow herself to move far, though, as she watched him carefully from the corner of her eye.

"Hey, babe, how are you?" Dave asked once he was standing behind the counter with her, grinning. She scowled back, leaning her arms on the counter in a way to seem she was relaxed. Her entire back was tensed up though and her arm muscles were straining not to reach for her weapons. Tony and Dave had Rick centered in, each with guns. In a way to show innocence, Dave pulled the gun out from the back of his hands and placed it gently on the counter. "We're just friends having a drink, alright?"

Jamie looked down at the gun that was only inches from her arm and knew that it wouldn't be hard to snatch and fire. She looked up to Rick, seeing that he had his hand down near the holster on his hip and his eyes flicked between her and Dave. Don't move. Taking a deep breath to try and calm herself, she cringed at the smell of urine that hung in the air because of Tony.

When Dave moved to retrieve a bottle from under the counter, Rick's hand snapped to his gun and Jamie's hands tensed in preparation to grab the gun that sat on the counter. She wouldn't be able to get to hers fast enough because she had to push it back far in order to hide it. Dave just straightened back up, though, holding a new bottle.

"Hey, look at that," he said with a broad smile. Rick allowed his hand to relax away from his gun as Dave began to unscrew the bottle and filled up Jamie's empty shot glass. "You gotta understand we can't stay out there. You know what it's like," he said carefully, putting Jamie's glass down in front of her, filled up again.

"We do," Rick agreed, "but the farm's too crowded as it is, I'm sorry. You'll have to keep looking."

Dave's smile faded away as he looked down at the counter. "Keep looking?" he repeated, the disappointment in his voice worrying Jamie. "How do you suggest we do that?"

Rick shrugged his shoulders, acting completely nonchalant. "I don't know, I hear Nebraska's nice," he answered back, Jamie's eyes snapping up toward him. He looked over to her quickly before he once more returned his attention to the now laughing Pilipino. He repeated Rick's words, the smile never leaving his face. Glenn and Hershel stood aside the entire time as they watched, barely able to tell what had happened before there were two dead bodies on the floor.

Blood splattered across the left side of Jamie's face, neck and arm as she held the discharged gun in her hand. It was pointed just over Rick's shoulder, putting a bullet in Tony's brain. Dave's body fell beside her, Rick's gun having quickly taken aim and fired. Jamie had effectively snatched the gun from the counter as soon as Dave made a move for it and shot Tony dead between the eyes while Rick took care of the man at her side, blowing a hole through his head and spraying his blood all over her.

"What," Glenn gasped, unable to finish his sentence as he looked from one blood splatter to the other. Jamie looked at him for a moment before she picked up the shot she had been poured and knocked it back, then put the safety on the new gun she had acquired and leaned down to put it in the other boot before she moved to retrieve her sniper. Rick walked over to the counter, holding his hand out. She looked up at him for a moment before she reached across and took his hand, allowing him to pull her up and help her over the counter. "Holy shit."

"Let's head back," Hershel said suddenly, interrupting the silence in the bar. Rick moved over to quickly gather what he could from Tony, leaving Glenn to go and search Dave. Making their way toward the door, Jamie pulled the familiar strap of her rifle to her shoulder and made her way onward. Headlights shining through the fogged glass immediately gave a kick start to everyone and they all dove forward to get under the window.

"Dave? Tony?" a new voice called from outside after the sound of the moving wheels stopped, leaving the four inside breathing heavily as they tried to keep themselves as quiet as they could.

"Is anyone where?"

"I swear, man, I heard shots."

They stayed where they were quietly, Glenn and Rick shifting the curtains out of the way to look out for any sign that they were still there. Jamie stayed near the counter, out of view from the windows, and loaded her sniper and checked to make sure there was a bullet in the chamber of her new handgun. Rick soon motioned her over, leaving her to try and crouch her way over to them without using her left knee too much. They crouched in a group near the door, trying not to move and make the floorboards squeak.

"Why won't they leave?" Glenn whispered first.

"Would you?" Hershel returned in a lower voice, sounding as calm as ever. Although, after he had done surgery on them so many times it wasn't a surprise that he was able to stay cool under such situations. Jamie envied his abilities.

"We can't stay here any longer, let's head out the back; make a run to the car," Rick explained, looking between the three of them. They simultaneously nodded their heads and moved to rise up to head toward the back door.

The lights from the headlights were enough to cause her to pause, not wanting to be blinded again. She stood leaning against the doorframe in order to let her eyes adjust. The first sounds of gunshots pushed Glenn and Hershel back against the wall while Rick wrapped an arm around Jamie's waist and pulled her toward where he had been so that she wasn't out in the open as she had been before.

"What happened?"

"Roamers, I nailed them."

"We can't find them but their car's still there."

"I've cleared all the other buildings. You guys get this one?"

Jamie looked up to Rick, who held his hand to her mouth to stop her from saying anything. They men outside approached the building quickly. Glenn panicked when the door began to open and he quickly threw himself in front of it, slamming it closed again. Jamie closed her eyes as they were given away, knowing that there was no chance of them sneaking off now.

"Yo, someone in there?" one of the men called, leaving them all to sit still as they tried to think of what they could do. Jamie pulled Rick's hand from her mouth and pulled the handgun form her boot, motioning to Hershel. He tried to wave her away but she tossed the gun to him before he had the chance to resist further and was forced to catch it. "Yo, if someone's in there we don't want no trouble!"

Jamie looked up at Rick again and pointed a finger at him in silent warning, her way of telling him to keep his mouth shut. She could hear them begin to walk away, many of them beginning to doubt that anyone was in there as the main guy continued to call for them. Jamie looked into Rick's blue eyes before she glanced up at the fogged glass where there were shadows of the men revealed from the car headlights.

"They drew on us!" Rick called, getting a smack on the cheek from Jamie. He tried to silently convey that it was all he could do and Jamie glared at him, yelling at him in nearly inaudible whispers. She smacked him again in frustration before they both fell still, waiting for a reply.

"Dave and Tony in there?" the man outside asked, his voice back to the same distance as before. "They alive?"

"No," Rick answered, holding his hand up when Jamie went to smack him again to ward her off for the time being. "I had to," he explained in a hushed yell, getting a frustrated sigh from her in return. Glenn watched them in confusion, wondering if they realized that Jamie was pretty much straddling him as she leaned against his thigh. If Glenn hadn't known any better, he would have through that Rick and Jamie were a couple.

"No, I'm not leaving," the man was saying to his friends. "I'm not going to go back and tell them that Dave and Tony got shot by some assholes in a bar."

"Your friends drew on us," Rick yelled back. "They gave us now choice. I'm sure we've all lost enough people, done things we wished we didn't have to but it's like that now, you know that. So let's just chalk this up to what it was; wrong place, wrong-"

The window above Glenn's head blew out as the men opened fire on them, shattering the windows and splintering the wood. Jamie swore colourfully as she ducked down as low as she could get without kissing Rick's boots. She rolled quickly to get into a more open area and rose to her feet, loading the gun as she went. She took aim in the direction of the cars headlights and fired, hearing glass shatter and some of the lights dim.

"Get out of here!" Rick yelled as he began to fire out the shattered window, letting Glenn scramble away from the door. Jamie's hands were clutching at the gun as she began to back away quickly, leaving Rick to duck down below the windows again. They were all divided once more. A sharp sound of breaking glass sounded from the back of the building, through the back exit, and Jamie turned to where Glenn was making his way toward the doors. She moved over toward the back slowly, still careful that she didn't get caught if anyone took more shots.

Thunder rumbled through the sky as Jamie pulled herself through the building to head toward the back entrance behind Glenn, the adrenaline flowing through her veins allowing her to walk without pain in her leg. The sound of gunshots coming from the back drew her into a quick jog, Rick rushing along behind her. Hershel was still standing in the entrance but Glenn was gone.

"What happened?" Jamie demanded as she moved up beside Hershel, looking at him expectantly.

"They fired. Must have hit Glenn, he's behind the dumpster, doesn't look like he's moving," Hershel explained, drawing attention over to Glenn. Jamie ignored the pained cries coming from the man on the grass that Hershel had shot and she quickly ducked out the door and made her way toward the dumpster as fast as she could, Rick and Hershel watching her back.

"Glenn!" she called out in a whisper, holding her sniper down. "Are you hit?"

"No," he answered quietly, leaning against the dumpster. Jamie ducked behind the garbage and looked to him once to make sure he was telling to truth before her eyes moved over to the only space they weren't covered from.

"The car's just down there, we're going home, alright? Everything will be fine," she assured, placing a hand on his knee before she leant over to look over to Hershel and Rick. "Are you good?"

"Yea," he answered hesitantly, clutching at the shotgun in his hands. "I'm good." Jamie moved to make her way out to the car, but pushed right back behind the dumpster when more shots were fired off. Glenn's back slammed against the metal when she pushed him, but neither said anything. When they thought that it was done, one of the guys pulled up in a truck and began to call to one of the others that were on the roof of another building.

"We gotta get out of here! This place is crawling with roamers!" Jamie looked around to where the guy was standing on the top of the building, deciding to take the chance of jumping. She flinched at the loud screams that came from him when he clearly did not make the jump. She could hear Glenn mumbling behind her. But now was their chance. The others were gone and who was left was too injured to cause a problem.

Rick appeared before them holding a shotgun and his handgun, ordering Glenn to go and get Hershel. Jamie quickly took off toward the car and dove into the passenger seat to grab the bullets that she had put in the glove compartment. She took quickly loaded the gun back to its full capacity before she leapt from the vehicle and looked to wherever Rick had gone to.

"Jamie," Rick called, gaining her attention. She jogged over to where he was while she was loading her gun, stopping at his side. The kid that had fallen off the roof was sitting on the dumpster in that alley with a metal top of the fence pushed through his leg. Her stomach turned at the sight of it and she drew her eyes away from him and to Rick instead. "You still got Daryl's knife on you?"

She knelt down and pulled the blade and sheath from her boot, tossing it to Rick. "Why?"

"We're going to cut him loose," he explained shortly. "Keep watch with Glenn." She didn't need to be told twice and turned away from the sight of the kid, lifting her gun and taking aim at the walkers that were making their way over to them. She made sure to take out the closest ones first so that there wasn't a chance of anything surprising her.

"Rick! Pass me your shotgun!" she yelled, gaining his attention. She slung her sniper of her shoulder by the strap and caught the shotgun and began to fire off at the walkers that were rushing toward them, drawn forward from the sound. She didn't pause to see who she was shooting, just taking aim at a face and firing off. Men, women and children fell to the ground before they got within yards. She may not do well at running, but her aim was just fine.

"There's no time!" Hershel was yelling, trying to work with Rick's pocket knife and Jamie's hunting knife to cut the kids leg off. Jamie switched back to her sniper when she ran out of shells and was forced to try and fire off without using her scope.

"Rick! I'm almost out of bullets," she called back, looking away from the walkers for less than a second before she lifted her gun up again and fired off at a well-dressed woman. Glenn was shooting next to her, trying to keep up with the numerous amounts of dead that was rushing at them for their blood and flesh.

The kid behind then began screaming bloody murder, drawing Jamie to look back once again. She nearly gagged at the sight of his leg gushing blood after Rick had ripped it off the fence. "Jamie, start the car," he yelled, throwing her the keys that Hershel had been holding. She caught them without problem and rushed over to the van and threw open the driver's door, taking another shot on the way as Glenn watched her back from where he was still with the others.

Throwing the truck into drive, she slammed down on the gas and shot forward in the red van, spinning around and heading straight for the oncoming walkers. The vehicle jumped from the ground as it drove over the dead, blood splattering all along the hood, windows and doors. Turning again, she headed straight for the fence and pulled up so that they could get him into the back. Rick and Hershel clambered into the back with the kid while Glenn jumped into the passenger side.

"Go!" Rick yelled from the back. She didn't need to be told twice as she floored it, the truck lurching forward and darting along the road, nailing more of the walkers that were in the way. Glenn was gasping for air beside her as he held onto the door and dash for all he was worth.

"Where the hell did you learn to drive like that?" he demanded, looking into the side mirror to see the flattened bodies that had been left in their wake. Jamie smirked to herself as she glanced in the rear view mirror, glancing passed Hershel and Rick to see the destruction that she had left behind.

"You know Daryl as long as I have you learn a few things," she answered back in a breathless voice.

For those who don't know, a coo is a derogatory term for women, much the same as 'whore' and 'slut'.

And, Randal has arrived! Now, the fun shall begin. Thank you do everyone who reviewed, it's great to know that you all love the story so much! :) I hope that I continue to hear from all of you, it's awesome when I wake up and see that I've gotten new reviews through the night. I also know that a lot of you are getting curious about what's happening with Jamie and Rick…

I'm not telling!

Chapter 33 – Humanism

"You guys ready?" Andrea asked as she looked over them, but T-Dog was distracted by something else. She turned to look over her shoulder, wondering what had brought about the distraction, and caught sight of the read van that was driving up the road to the farmhouse. But there was only one van, not a van and a car like they had been expecting.

"Why's there only one?" Daryl demanded, beginning to walk toward where the vehicle was bound to stop.

"They're all in one," Shane grumbled out as he followed after more slowly.

The others were soon standing on the porch at the sound of the van coming up the drive, watching as it pulled to a stop before them. Daryl's heart was racing as he tried to look through the windows, but the sun was reflecting off the glass and he couldn't see much of anything aside from the fact that there were several people inside; he couldn't tell who.