WARRIORS OF THE WALKING DEAD: SAVIORS OF MANKIND

CHAPTER NINE

Knock. Knock.

"Come on in." Andrea called.

Major Reese ducked into the Atlanta tent, taking off his hat out of habit.

"Hey Major." Andrea said, smiling.

"I need a favor from you." He said sheepishly.

"Really?" She arched her eyebrow with amusement at his posture.

"Yeah. Most of my men haven't had to fight walkers on the ground where they're in hand to hand combat. I was hoping that you and Michonne would be willing to help me train my men." Jackson said earnestly.

Andrea was surprised. Usually they asked Rick or Daryl for stuff like that.

"All right." She said, squaring her shoulders to him. "I could do that…if…you'll do me a favor."

This time, Major Reese arched his eyebrow.

"I want an M-16." She said, smiling at him.

"Uh…I can probably get you one." Jackson said, surprised.

"Then we have a deal." She said cheekily, holding out her hand to shake.

Jackson chuckled and shook her hand.

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Katelyn headed up the stairs, into the 2nd floor of the school to drop off one of the kiddos with their father. Heading through the thicket of soldiers, she started to get nervous. They weren't used to having civilians up here, she could tell that instantly. She tried to ignore the hoots and hollers as she passed by, toddler in her arms. She started to feel like her skin was crawling with all the eyes on her.

Her breathing started to quicken, feeling like she couldn't catch her breath. Ducking into a women's bathroom, she leaned against the wall, trying to take deep breaths and calm herself. Little Jamie was staring at her, like he knew something was wrong and she tried to smile to reassure him but it must have been weak because his lower lip started to tremble.

"Oh, it's okay, honey." She cooed, starting to bounce him so he'd be entertained.

The poor thing just kept crying which was setting Kate more on edge now. She was frustrated with herself and getting angry. She knew it wouldn't help, but she couldn't help it. Ever since the whole prison "adventure", she had these stupid panic attacks. They were incredibly inconvenient.

Growling, she headed out the door, diving into the crowd of male bodies again. Counting in her head in order to distract herself, she made her way to Rm. 213. Ducking in the door, she quickly scanned the room, taking in the makeshift barracks the upstairs had become. James Sr. was sitting over on his bed, putting on his boots, having just got off shift. He saw them and smiled, waving Katelyn over.

"He got scared when we got up here." Katelyn explained, leaving out the part where her being upset probably caused him to get upset.

"Hey buddy." Sgt. Dennis took him gently out of her hands, flying him through the air making airplane noises, causing Jamie to giggle.

"Da da." Jamie googled causing Katelyn to smile. He was a cute baby.

"Thanks, Kate." James said, as she turned to leave.

"No problem, Sgt. He's adorable. It makes it easy." She said, smiling at him before heading across the room.

That's when she heard them.

"Damn, bro. You hittin' that?" One of the men asked him, while the others started laughing.

"Hell no. Have you seen her boyfriend?" He replied, causing Katelyn to take a breath again, in order to calm herself. She really hated it when men talked about her like she was a piece of meat.

"The crazy lookin' one with the crossbow?" Another asked, to which everyone responded with "DOH!"

"That inbred, hick, red-neck? You need to show her some city love." The last one said.

That did it. Now she was pissed.

Spinning around, she stomped back over to the asshole who made the last crack and decked him in the face.

God that felt good.

"My ears work just as well as my fist, you prick!" She said with a deadly cold tone, staring the man who was now holding his jaw in the face.

Turning around, she bolted from the room as the other men exploded in laughter.

Katelyn wasn't even polite as she shoved her way through the throng of men. By the time she was nearing the stairs, the adrenaline had worn off and she was shaking so bad, she could barely walk.

Just three more steps, Katelyn. She told herself, as spots started blotting out her vision.

Stumbling over to the wall, she leaned against it for a second. The men around her had turned with confused faces to stare at her. When she looked up, she saw them, and panic took full hold of her. Backing up along the wall, she felt her way to a doorway and slid into the alcove so she couldn't see them. Facing the door, she grabbed the doorknob and tried to open it, but it wouldn't, of course.

Tears began to spill as she frantically tried to open the door, but it was locked. Leaning her head on the door, she felt the familiar darkness encroaching on the outer edges of her mind and slid to the floor. Scooting into the corner, she leaned her head down on her knees and slipped into oblivion.

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"Hey! You seen Katelyn?" Daryl asked, worried after she didn't return from the "school".

Rachel, Andrea, and Carol shook their heads.

"She took little Jamie up to his dad, but I never saw her after that." Carol said.

"Upstairs?" Daryl asked. He knew those were the men's barracks and wondered what would be keeping her. She certainly wouldn't want to stay up there. She didn't like being around that many men.

Shit! He thought, bolting toward the stairs. He was gonna fucking kill someone if they put one finger on her.

Racing up the stairs, he had no trouble locating her because there was a crowd of soldiers standing around. The good news was, they all looked confused, but they parted instantly when they saw him coming. He must have looked murderous.

Scanning the area quickly, he saw one of the soldiers crouched down next to Katelyn who was crumpled in a doorway alcove. Rage came instantly to him and he grabbed the soldier by his collar, yanking him backward and jumped between Katelyn and him. Turning, he saw two soldiers grab the one he just threw and haul him out of the way before Daryl could leap on him. Three more soldiers jumped between them to keep Daryl from going after him.

"Woah. Woah. Woah. He was just trying to help." A thick-muscled, dark skinned soldier said, putting his hand up against Daryl's chest to stop him. "Calm down. We were trying to help."

Daryl's breathing was heavy and his eyes were like two pools of rage.

"Somebody go get the Major! Fast!" The soldier said, calling out to someone behind him.

"The Major is right here!" Jackson had been informed of ruckus in the hallway before Daryl even got there and headed straight there when they described who it was.

Stepping into the middle of the standoff, Jackson nodded at Daryl, then turned to issue orders to his men.

"Disperse! Immediately! Sgt., go get the doc." He said to the large one who'd gotten in between Daryl and the other soldier.

Daryl waited until they all started walking away before dropping down next to Katelyn who'd awakened but was confused as to what was going on.

"Hey." He said, lifting her chin to look at her face, his tone instantly gentle even though his hands were shaking and his body tense. He wanted to make sure nothing had happened.

"What happened?" He asked, looking intensely into her eyes.

She looked up at him, her mind muddled for a moment, then she remembered and her face instantly crumpled. Embarrassed, she ducked her head down into his chest so no one could see her.

The rage started to boil back up as he thought the worst.

"What happened?" He insisted, lifting her face back up to inspect it for any injuries.

"N…nothing." She whispered. "I…I punched one of the soldiers."

With that, she burst out crying.

"Did he deserve to get punched?" Daryl asked, trying to maintain some calm for Kate's sake.

"A little." She said timidly.

"Did he touch you?" Daryl asked through clenched teeth, ready to kill someone if need be.

Jackson must have noticed because he motioned for the Sgt. to find out who she punched and why, and secure them for their own safety. If one of his soldiers did touch her, then he might just let Daryl have at him.

"N…no." She said.

"Then why did you punch him?" Daryl asked, truly confused now.

"I don't want to tell you." She said miserably, moving her face so she didn't have to look at him again.

Daryl sighed, dropping his head down to take a deep breath, trying to figure out why she'd hit him if he didn't touch her.

"Did he say something about you?" He asked.

"No" She muttered, still refusing to look at him.

"I'm not getting it, sweetheart. Why'd you hit him?" He asked, terribly confused. "Were you scared?"

"No." She said, getting upset because she just wanted to go back to their tent.

Jackson stepped nearer and squatted down.

"Did one of the men say something about Daryl?" Major Reese asked knowingly.

She nodded.

Daryl burst out laughing and let his head fall into his hand.

The other little asskicker.

Daryl looked at Jackson who was smirking.

"Come on. Let's get you outta here." Daryl said, sliding his arms under her knees and back so he could lift her.

Carrying her down the stairs, he headed straight through the gym and to the medical tent where the doc was waiting for them.

Jackson was walking behind, shaking his head with amusement.