Soulless Shell

Rick sat on the porch at the back of Hershel's home, looking out over the property. He constantly glanced toward the back forest, hoping that he might see Jamie and Daryl come from the trees. She had said they would be back by the end of the day. That was yesterday, nearly twenty-four hours before and there wasn't so much as a gunshot sound echoed from the distance. He was unnerved, he would admit. Rick knew perfectly well that the both of them could take perfect care of themselves, but that didn't stop him from worrying. They were in the forest with only the trees as a sturdy thing to surround them. They didn't take their tent with them, so he wasn't sure what they had done the night before for sleeping.

Everyone was assuring him that there was nothing to worry about, but he just wouldn't bring himself not to get concerned. He found he was growing all the more enraged with Shane, as well, when the older man just scoffed and smirked when they weren't back before nightfall. He was beginning to become a problem that Rick was worried would soon grow too big to be handled quietly. Even before he had opened up the barn, Shane had been acting out in a way that endangered everyone. He saw that he was trying to protect the group, but Rick new better. Shane's only concern was for his wife and his son.

"They're not going to come back just because you're sitting here staring," Dale said as he approached quietly from the camp they had set up near Hershel's house. Rick looked over to the older man and smiled faintly, unable to truly show happiness, fake or not.

"I'm just worried," he replied, looking back out at the trees. "They've been gone all night. I know that they both can take care of themselves, but…"

"It's easier knowing their safe then not knowing at all," Dale finished, slowly taking a seat next to Rick and turning his gaze out to follow the younger man's. "Don't worry, they'll watch each other's backs and be back before you know it. Daryl used to be gone for days and it usually meant that he was following a good catch," Dale explained, looking to Rick in the corner of his eye. "Maybe they're bringing us back some good meat."

"Yea," Rick agreed quietly, not entirely sure.

"So you and Jamie are pretty close," Dale continued, straightening his posture. Rick seemed confused at the question for a moment before he nodded his head and looked into Dale's aged eyes, far wiser then the people of the group gave him credit for.

"I'm glad I met her; we were both able to find the people that we love and stay together in the process." Shifting in place, Rick smiled as he thought back to the long ride they had to Atlanta, both in the car and on the horse. "She told me all about Daryl, and I hadn't really thought that she was telling the truth with a lot of it. Then when I actually met him I knew that she had spoken every word from the heart. She really would die for him."

"I'm sure," Dale agreed. "Daryl never mentioned her before you came around and said her name, but I had seen him looking at that picture a couple of times. Sitting on the RV, people tended to forget that I could see the whole camp, and some of the things I saw are going with me to the grave. One time when everyone was focused on making dinner, Daryl was sitting outside of his tent, looking at that picture he had of Jamie. Merle came over and tried to take it from him and it was like a switch went off inside of him; Daryl wasn't the weaker, younger brother anymore. He punched Merle almost hard enough to knock him down." Dale paused and looked over to Rick, seeing that he had the officer's full attention. "I'd never even seen him stand up to Merle before that time."

Nodding his head, Rick couldn't help but to smile. "Jamie probably would have loved to see that. She's got a hate for Merle that I'm surprised by. Although, she can definitely hold a grudge. I'm pretty sure that she's still got a bit of a hatred for Andrea shooting Daryl, even if they supposedly put their differences aside."

"I don't think that Jamie will ever forgive Andrea for hurting him," Dale agreed as he nodded his head. "But it's like I told Andrea when she was worrying after she shot him; we've all wanted to shoot Daryl." Rick laughed at Dale's words, shaking his head in amusement.

"Try telling that to Jamie."

"I'd like to live, thank you very much," Dale jested back, causing both to laugh for a moment. "He's a good person to have watching your back," he continued on after a moment, returning to the previous conversation. "I'd rather have Daryl looking out for me on a hunting trip or when scavenging for supplies than I would Shane."

"Dale-"

"I know that you've noticed it, Rick," Dale interrupted, turning serious as his voice lowered to a whisper. "Shane's dangerous. He laughed when Jamie and Daryl didn't come back. He's going to get someone killed one of these days if we're not careful; and I'm worried that Jamie's on his target list. She and Lori have been at odds recently—why, I don't know—and he's getting protective. If I were you, I'd find out what's going on."

Nodding his head, Rick frowned in through. "I noticed that yesterday. During breakfast, Lori kept avoiding Jamie, and Daryl was glaring at her. Afterword, I went looking for Shane so we could take Randal out on the roads and I found him cornering Jamie in the kitchen. I didn't like the way that he was looking at her, he really did look like he wanted to hurt her."

"If Shane hurts her, Daryl might not hesitate to hurt him as well, maybe even kill him. If Daryl got protective over a picture, I don't want to know what he'll do if Shane actually hurts Jamie."

"Hey, is this some kind of new morning meeting place?" Andrea called as she made her way over from the camp, wrapped tightly in her jacket as her breath fogged in front of her. "Hope no one's keeping secrets; that's the last thing that we need right now." Her words were meant in jest, but both of the men knew that they were very true and something to be concerned over. "Ah, look who's back."

Dale and Rick both looked up toward the trees, spotting Jamie and Daryl's distant forms making their way forward.

"And they brought an early dinner."

Though he tried not to show it, Daryl was glowing with pride as he and Jamie put the body of the deer onto the tarp that Hershel had leant them, keeping it out of the dirt as much as they could. Their arms were sore from carrying the load, they were tired and sweaty and felt like they could eat the animal raw, but they were content. Jamie was only beaming smiles as she relayed to Rick how Daryl had found the tracks around noon the previous day. The doe had been heading toward the camp, so the followed after until nearly dawn, finally taking it down just off the property and carrying it the rest of the way back when it started to head off in another direction.

"You've been up all night?" Andrea asked in shock as she looked between the two.

"Even if we hadn't been tracking, we didn't exactly bring a tent so it wouldn't have been a very good night sleep," Jamie said as she handed her rifle over to Dale when he offered to clean it for her.

"Why don't you two go and clean up," Hershel offered, motioning back toward the house. "Offering to share the meat, the least I can do for you is let you take a shower."

"What happened with Randal?" Jamie asked, turning her attention over to Rick. When she saw him frown, she knew that something had definitely gone wrong. Looking at him carefully, it didn't take more than a glance to see the cuts and bruises that he had suddenly acquired, but she knew better than to outright ask. Her best bet was on Shane, though, since Randal was so scrawny that she knew even she could take him on.

"The place we chose didn't turn out to be so safe; it was crawling with walkers. So we brought him back here and we're going to think on it a bit more. We're trying to figure out what his group is like, what kind of a threat they pose. All that." Rick was solemn as he spoke, causing Jamie and Daryl to exchange a look. "You two should go and clean up, we're going to be sorting all of the Randal things out so you're not going to be missing much."

"Are you sure?"

"Yea," Rick assured immediately, nodding his head for added emphasis. "Take some time, take a nap," he encouraged, causing Jamie to let out a tired laugh as he reminded her of just how desperately she wanted to sleep.

"I don't think I can make it through a shower," Jamie jested, letting her head fall back as she swayed on her feet. Daryl wrapped an arm around her waist and let her lean against him, even as his own body was weighed down by his fatigue as well. "Actually, forget that. I don't think I can make it to the tent." Rick smiled in amusement while Daryl smirked against her temple when he had moved to kiss the warm skin there.

"You go get the shower ready and I'll get us some clothes, how about that?" Daryl finally asked, his voice hushed for only her to hear. Her response was a nod as she turned her head to catch his lips in a quick, thank-you kiss. She was reluctant to let him leave, considering that he was the one that was holding her up, but decided against keeping him there longer and slowly took up her own weight again. Daryl leaned down to kiss her forehead one last time before he turned and departed, his stride slowing only slightly from his lack of sleep.

Jamie turned to Rick, seeing that he had looked away from the moment to offer privacy. "So, I don't believe it was walkers that did that to your face," she said in a soft, yet still demanding, voice. Rick looked to the ground, reluctant to bring up his fight with Shane. "It's not like I don't already know who did it, Rick," she continued, moving to stand beside him so that no one overheard. "What happened between you two?"

"Everything just came out into the open," Rick answered softly, a hint of dark malice hidden in his words that had Jamie frowning in concern. She knew that Rick would do anything in order to save his family. "I don't know what Shane is going to do, but I know things are never going to be like they were before he thought I was dead and-" he caught himself before he could continue and looked down to the ground with a harsh glare, crossing his arms over his chest. "He's dangerous, Jay, promise me you'll be careful around him."

Jamie looked at Rick's face for a moment, his eyes refusing to meet hers, before she reached up and placed her hand on the back of his head gently, running her fingers through his hair and drawing his eyes toward her. "I promise," she assured with an insistent voice. "Besides, I have Daryl to kick his ass for me if anything goes wrong."

Rick cracked a tired smile, his face suddenly looking so pale and worn down.

"You should get some rest, too, Rick. You deserve it. We'll decide what to do with Randal tomorrow." He nodded against the hand that she had slipped into his hair, offering her a tired smile and bringing her into a one armed hug, keeping a loose hold on her waist as she slipped her arm around the back of his neck to return.

"I'm glad you two came back safe, you had me worried," he commented, pulling back enough that they could look at one another properly. Jamie laughed and nodded her head.

"I was a bit worried for a while there, too. When I saw your face, I thought maybe Randal's group had found you," she mumbled out, reaching up with her other hand and softly tracing around a particularly angry looking cut. "You be careful, too. Can't go and having you die on me now, can I?" she teased, getting a smile in answer. Rising on her toes, as Rick was quite tall, she pressed a kiss against his forehead before pulling away.

Lori glared from across the camp, not even knowing what they were saying but still hating that Jamie was able to get so close to Rick without even doing anything. She was able to comfort her husband in a way that she couldn't and it made her blood boil with jealousy. Jamie began walking away then, heading for the house. Lori hated that Rick watched her walk off, she hated that Jamie stood tall even though she was about to collapse, she hated that Jamie was actually quite attractive. She hated that Rick was leaving her behind for the blonde.

"You're going to burn holes into the back of her head, hun," Dale's voice said from beside her, causing Lori to flinch and drop her gaze as her glare relaxed into a frown. "What's going on, Lori. You and Jamie used to get along so well when she first joined the group."

"I know," Lori sighed, her head dropping down into her hands as she sighed. "I've messed up, Dale. I accused her of sleeping with Rick and now she and Daryl hate me," she explained, looking up to the old man. Dale sighed as he moved down to sit beside her, taking off his hat.

"If I go by what I'm seeing, I'd say that you still think she had Rick are more than friends," Dale began cautiously. "Maybe it's you who is holding on to this too tightly, Lori. Have you actually had a conversation with Jamie?" Lori's head hung down and he knew that he had his answer. "Maybe after she and Daryl had cleaned up and rested for a while, you actually talk to her about it?"

"She's stealing my husband from me," Lori hissed out, glaring at Dale as her anger reared back up.

"Have you thought that maybe she's just someone that is there for him now that he and Shane aren't what they used to be?" Dale corrected calmly, his eyes sincere and his words striking Lori deep in her heart. "Rick doesn't have someone like he did in the past; and you have to admit, Jamie's just got that masculine quality that makes her more of one of the guys than you. Years of being with Daryl, I assume."

They both watched as Daryl stepped up to Rick a couple of minutes after Jamie had gone inside, the pair of them beginning to walk toward the house. The bag that Jamie had first had with her when she joined the group was slung over his shoulder, no doubt with a change of clothes for the pair of them. Dale had to be wrong, Lori concluded, because both Jamie and Daryl couldn't both take up Shane's place of trusted best friend.

She didn't know what they were talking about, but both men were serious and Rick was agreeing to whatever Daryl was saying to him.

Tossing her clothes into a pile on the floor, Jamie groaned in contentment as she stepped into the shower and adjusted the temperature to a warmer level. Ducking her head back under the spray, Jamie couldn't stop herself from sighing in sheer pleasure as her muscles began to uncoil and relax from the on-edge, stressful night that she had been through. It had helped having Daryl there, knowing that he had her back, but she had barely relaxed aside from when they had decided to take a break for an hour and climbed a tree to make sure nothing snuck up on them.

It wasn't fun picking the leaves out of her hair afterword, but she was glad for the time to let her heart return to a normal pace.

Looking down at her feet, the water was flowing from her body in a murky brown colour as the dirt was swept away. Curling and uncurling her toes, the bone joints cracked loudly at the movements and Jamie smiled. Having to keep her boots on all night was just one more thing to add to the list of discomforts. Sloshing the water with her feet, she pushed the dirt toward the drain and straightened up to continue soaking the length of her blonde hair. It was getting far longer than she was used to.

The sudden snap of the shower curtain rings scraped over the metal pole as the curtain was pushed open and caused Jamie to jump, spinning around.

"Daryl, you ass-"

Shane stared back at her, a glare in place as he held the curtain open in one hand and his gun in the other. "Scream and you're going to wish I shot you," he warned, a glare dead set on his face and causing Jamie's heart to hit the shower floor at her feet. The sight of the gun level with her gut was so frightening that she didn't even have the thought in her head to cover herself from his eyes, her wet body bare to see.

"What the hell are you doing?" she hissed out, glaring at him.

"I don't like you," Shane said in an even, dark voice. The look in his eyes was something Jamie hadn't seen in a long time and she wasn't sure how to react to it. There were very few people that had such a look in their eyes and more often than not it was when she was watching the news and someone's mug shot came up on the screen that she saw it. "Ever since you came to the group, Daryl's been getting himself a pair of balls and hasn't been backing down into his place. Now, Rick's starting to defend the two of you?"

"What does it matter to you?" she asked, returned his glare full force.

"You need to be put in your place and it is not playing with the big boys," Shane warned, taking a step closer to the shower so that he was only two feet away from her. Jamie's stomach knotted as she repressed the urge to run or scream for Daryl.

"So where is it, then? With that bitch you've made into your own person whor-"

Shane swung in that moment, not even bothering with the gun. Jamie was faster, though, and ducked quickly before she dove under his outstretched arm and snatched her knife from the pile of clothes. The tiles of the floor and her wet feet didn't work well together, however, and she slipped before she could even turn back toward Shane, a resounding scream tearing from her lungs when she landed on her hip with her bad knee colliding with the cold, hard surface.

Gasping in pain, she pulled herself along the floor to get away from Shane, keeping her knife in her hand. He was swearing loudly as his knuckles bled from the impact with the wall tiles, a crack running up one of them. Just as he turned for her, the door flew open and Daryl rushed into the cramped space, Rick only a step behind him. Jamie nearly wanted to sob with joy at the sight of them.

Daryl took one look at Shane and she could have sworn she saw murder in his eyes. Half hiding behind the laundry basket and her own legs, Jamie had her knife pointed toward Shane as she trembled in the cold that was beginning to flow into the room from the open door. Daryl didn't hesitate to lift his crossbow, pointing the loaded arrow directly between Shane's eyes, resulting with the ex-cop dropping the gun to the floor out of reaction.

"Daryl," Rick tried to warn, but he wasn't hearing him. The younger man's chest was heaving and he had the intent to kill written all over his face. "Get him out of here but don't kill him," Rick growled out, leaning toward Daryl to stress his words. "Get him away from Jamie, Daryl. I'll make sure she's okay, but you need to get him out of this house."

Daryl didn't seem to need to be told anymore and lowered his weapon in order to grab a hold of Shane, suddenly much stronger than he had been the first time he tried to take a swing at him when Merle was left in the city. As soon as he was out of the room, Rick picked up his gun and tucked it into the back of his belt and snatched a towel from the rack, stepping up to Jamie carefully. She had nearly gone limp as soon as he was out of the room, aside from the white knuckle hold she still had on the hilt of Daryl's hunting knife.

"It's alright, I got you," he assured, holding open the towel as a barrier between his eyes and her body. He barely caught her as Jamie lunged into his arms, shaking uncontrollably. Wrapping her in the large, white towel, Rick tried to soothe her by stroking a hand along her back. The sobs finally started as she broke down, her knife clattering to the floor behind Rick.

Unknown to her, Rick was as tense as a taut wire, his own hands shaking in absolute rage as he looked toward the wall Jamie had been pressed against. Shane had finally gone too far.

Lori and Dale both jumped at Carol's shocked cry, vaulting to their feet as they looked toward the house. Shane hit the ground at the bottom of the steps as Daryl stood atop them, blood on his fist from where it had collided with Shane's now bloody nose. Everyone was watching as Shane pulled himself up from the dirt, unsure of what they should do as Daryl slowly stepped down the stairs.

"What did you do to her?" he growled out once he had reached Shane, taking hold of his shirt collar and pulling him up to his knees and forcing him to look him in the eye. "I swear to god, I will cut your balls off and feed them to you if you even so much as looked at her-"

Shane let out a raspy laugh, his ribs aching from where Daryl had kneed him on his way down the stairs to the front door. "I'm surprised someone that looks like that is with someone like you," he laughed, blood pouring from his nose and over his lips as he sneered up at the enraged man. Daryl didn't hesitate and pulled his fist back for another punch, this one nearly breaking Shane's jaw as he hit the ground for a second him.

"Now I'm gunna kill ya," Daryl growled, moving back to the deck where he had dropped his crossbow. He stopped, however, when he saw that Jamie was standing there already, wearing her dirty clothes with water soaking through where she had still been wet from running out of the shower. Rick was standing behind her, his hand outstretched as he prepared to catch her encase she stumbled.

Shane stopped laughing as he looked up to her, wiping blood from his mouth and beneath his nose but only smearing more from his busted knuckles. Jamie flinched as she stepped down the porch stairs carefully, a throb of pain accompanying each stride. Daryl remained frozen as she walked passed him, toward Shane, still aiming the arrow at him. He could see that her eyes were reddened from crying, but held steel in them.

"Get up," she ordered in a cold voice, deadly calm.

Shane looked from her to Daryl, then finally up to Rick and Hershel—who had finally joined them at the commotion—before he sluggishly rose up onto his feet. Jamie stepped up to him until the crossbow nearly touched his forehead in threat, striking momentary fear in him when he saw the dead look in her eyes. "You gunna kill me now, girl?" he sneered.

"No," Jamie answered immediately, getting a surprised looked from the people around her. Lowering the weapon, Shane's smug look only remained on his face for a split second before Jamie kicked with everything that she had in her good leg, throwing her steel-toed boot right between his legs. Shane screamed as she made contact, every man in the vicinity wincing at both the sight and the sound. Shane dropped down to the ground at Jamie's feet, his hands holding his crotch as tears coursed down his cheeks. "Now what can you do with that thing?" she hissed down at him before kicking him in the chest and sending him into the dirt onto his back.

Daryl stepped forward hesitantly, partially fearing for the sake of his own testicles, and slowly placed a hand over Jamie's on his crossbow. "I think you did kill him, Angel," Daryl said carefully, stepping up beside her as she continued to glare down at him.

"Then it was too quick."

I originally wasn't going to put the shower thing in there with Shane and all that, but it was just too tempting and I just thought 'screw it, Shane's a douche no matter what' I just decided to speed up the process of everyone finding out. Jamie's back to her kick ass, 'don't fuck with me' self and I am glad. Now we're back in business! Next up, Lori.

Sorry for any of the guys that might read this story and now have fear struck in them. I have a best friend that swears he'll never speak to someone again if he gets kicked in the nuts, so I know it must hurt. As a female, I can say that's the equivalent of a period AND childbirth. We give you children, the least you can do is take a hit to the jewels because you have no fucking clue the pain we go through.

I know that this chapter took WAY too long, and I'm sorry. I made sure that it was long to compensate! Next one should be out sooner, because my classes were cancelled for today and I was able to get quite a bit done on a couple of my stories! Should be studying, but who wants to study when I can WRITE?

Chapter 39 – 'Crazy' is the Medical Term

"Lori," Rick started, the anger evident in his voice. He stopped though, trying to calm down as he took a deep, relaxing breath. It didn't work. "After everything that happened with you and Shane, you accused Jamie of that?" he snapped, leaning forward and getting in her face, causing her to flinch and lean backward. "She saved my life, she helped me to find you guys and you reward that with accusing her of the same thing that you did?"

"I didn't know, Rick," she tried to defend, lifting her eyes so she could finally look at him as tears made them appear glassy. "I saw you two together, like best friends, and I panicked. I thought that she was taking you away from me and I had only just got you back. Carl only just got his dad back-"

"You had no right, Lori. The next time you think that I cheated on you, come to me instead of the innocent party that you're accusing. The belief that Daryl was alive was the thing that kept Jamie alive, kept her going no matter what. And then you go and say she threw that away to have a one night fling with someone she knew for less than two days?"

"I'm sorry," Lori sobbed, Rick angrily stepping away when she reached for him. "I know I did wrong, Rick. I know that I hurt her, she and Daryl have both made that very clear, but I didn't think that Shane would go and try to kill her. He thinks she's a threat to me and…I don't know, decided to fix it." Rick kept his back to her, his shoulders tense and his back pole straight. "Please, Rick. I'll fix things, I promise you. I'll make everything better-"