WARRIORS OF THE WALKING DEAD: SAVIORS OF MANKIND
CHAPTER TEN
Daryl stood outside the tent with Major Reese talking while the doctor made sure Katelyn was all right. She'd insisted on speaking with her alone, even though Daryl tried to argue with her.
"She has panic attacks now." Daryl explained quietly.
"Now? Because of the walkers?" Jackson asked, completely understanding why that'd scare someone.
"No. Because of assholes." Daryl said seriously.
"Oh." Jackson said. He didn't need to know the details, but he could imagine. He'd seen what men like Breed do, and there were certainly enough of those running around.
"Who's this jackass that pissed her off?" Daryl asked off-handedly. He didn't really care if anybody like him or not, but they'd upset Katelyn and that was definitely a problem for him.
"I took care of it. Apparently, when she dropped off baby Jamie, one of dad's barrack mates made a few inappropriate comments. She ignored those, but when one of them said something about you…they said she just turned around, walked back over and punched him square in the jaw." Jackson laughed. He admired a little fire in a person, and he knew how soldiers could be. They certainly wouldn't mess with her again.
"I believe her exact words were; 'My ears work just as well as my fist.'" Jackson said, chuckling.
Daryl laughed too. He wished he would have been there to see it. He couldn't imagine her doing that. She was generally shy and soft-hearted. Good to know she had a little warrior in her after all. He could work on that with her.
The doctor came out, holding the tent flap aside so they could enter.
Daryl walked straight over to the table and sighed when he saw her splinted hand. Sliding his palm under her arm, he lifted it to take a better look.
"Is it broke?" Daryl asked, looking at Katelyn with a frown. He wasn't happy that she'd hurt herself.
"Not really." She said quietly.
"It's a boxer fracture." The doctor corrected, shaking her head at Katelyn.
Daryl arched an eyebrow.
"So it's broke." Daryl stated, looking at Katelyn who blushed with guilt for trying to lie to him. She just didn't want him to be upset.
"It'll heal fast." She said, patting Katelyn on the leg. "I gave her a shot for the pain so she should probably go lie down."
Daryl set her hand down gently and helped her stand. He could tell by the way she swayed that the effects of the drug had already begun to kick in.
"Let's get you to bed." He said softly, looking at Jackson who smiled sympathetically.
Sliding his arm under her shoulder, he placed another one around her waist and helped her walk straight to the door.
"Thanks doc." He said gruffly, exiting the tent.
Heading straight for the tents, he saw everyone was sitting around and sighed. He was hoping to slip into their tent unnoticed, but now he was going to spend the rest of the night explaining what happened.
Rick and Rachel both jumped up to grab the tent flaps, trying to figure out what was going on. To them, Katelyn looked hammered, with her feet tangling up with each other as she stumbled into the tent with Daryl's help. If it hadn't been for the splint on her hand, they'd have thought she'd hit the bottle somewhere.
"You need some help?" Carol asked, hurrying over to them. She knew that Katelyn had gone upstairs and then Daryl had bolted. She couldn't imagine this was a good thing.
"I got it." Daryl replied, ducking under Rick's arm and into the tent.
Rick stepped just inside the doorway.
"Everything okay?" He asked, concerned that something else was going on.
Daryl laid her gently down on their mattress, looking over his shoulder at Rick.
"Yeah. She's doped up at the moment." Daryl said, pulling her shoe off with a plop.
"She hurt her hand?" Rick asked, trying to piece together exactly what had occurred. He couldn't help it. He still thought of himself as their leader and it bothered him when one of his own was hurt or in danger.
"Yup. Busted it." Daryl replied, pulling the other shoe off and tucking her legs into bed.
"How the hell'd she do that?" Rick asked, coming closer to hand Daryl the pillow that'd fallen on the floor.
"She popped a solider in the jaw." Daryl said, smirking as he smoothed her hair away from her face gently.
Her eyes were already closed and Daryl shook his head at her with amusement. She never stopped surprising him.
"Do I want to ask why?" Rick asked, suddenly tense.
"He said something that pissed her off." Daryl explained, pulling the blankets up under her chin, smiling a little.
Rick knew if he needed to be worried, Daryl'd be fired up and ready to kill someone but since he was calm, Rick didn't.
"You're gonna have to explain this to everyone, so you might as well get her situated and then come out and tell us all at once. I can smell a story coming on." Rick said, ducking out of the tent to give them some privacy for a moment.
Daryl kissed her on the forehead and stood to walk back out of the tent.
Time to face the music.
The group sat around in lawn chairs, pretending that the lamplight was a fire. They turned the lights out at night, leaving lanterns as paths through the gym to simulate night time. The tents created a city of sorts with the paths getting their own names, like Atlanta Road, which was what they called the path that led in front of the Atlanta tents, or Scrub Street where all the medical staff was staying.
"What the hell is going on, Daryl?" Andrea, always the first to butt in, asked.
Daryl frowned. Why'd it have to be her?
"She broke her hand." He said, being difficult on purpose.
"Yeah, I got that, but how?" She pushed.
"I need a beer." Daryl muttered, getting handed a cold beer by Rachel who reached for one the moment he came out. She tossed one at Merle as well, who grunted in appreciation.
"Thanks." Daryl said, before draining the entire bottle in one tip.
Rachel handed him another one.
This time, he nodded, and sipped slower on it.
Daryl sat down in one of the chairs and recited the tale. Not the part where she freaked out, but the other part.
Everyone burst out laughing at the same time.
"Who'd a thought she had it in 'er?" Andrea said, nodding approvingly.
"Maybe having a Dixon in 'er, rubbed off." Merle said suggestively, earning him a towel thrown in his face by Andrea.
"You're such a pig." Andrea said.
"How's he look?" Rachel asked, ignoring Merle's disgusting comment.
"Don't know. Major took him. Made sure I couldn't find 'im." Daryl said, trying not to think about it.
"What the hell did the guy say?" Andrea wondered aloud.
"Don't know." Daryl stated.
"We'll get it out of her tomorrow." Andrea said, nudging Carol conspiratorily.
"Just leave her alone about it, Andrea." Daryl snapped.
"Okay…sorry." Andrea put her hands up in mock surrender. "I'm going to bed."
"Night." Rick and Rachel said in unison.
"I'm gonna take this in my tent and drink it, then turn in." Daryl said, standing and grabbing another beer.
"G' night." Rachel said, smiling at him. She liked Daryl. She was gruff and crude sometimes but he had a heart of gold and she could see that he had a noble soul. Unlike his crazy-ass brother.
Merle got up next and headed off to his corner of the gym.
"Good night Merle." Rachel called out.
He didn't even bother to turn around, just raised his hand in acknowledgement.
While everyone was looking at Merle, Carol slipped into the tent after Daryl. She wanted to talk to him.
"Is she really okay?"Carol asked quietly so no one would overhear, as she entered the tent.
Daryl tilted his head to look at her.
"I don't know. She had another panic attack." Daryl said softly.
"I'm worried she's gonna have one at the wrong time…like right in the middle of a herd." Daryl said, sighing.
"Teach her to fight, Daryl." Carol said simply.
"Will it make a difference? She knows how to use a gun." Daryl said, dismissively.
"No, Daryl. Teach her to fight. Tonight, she punched someone because they said something about you. Teach her to use the same anger when someone tries to hurt her too." Carol said, putting her hand on his arm.
"But instead of defending herself, she just shuts down." Daryl said.
"So you teach her the skills to fight off zombie or human. She'll gain confidence in her ability to stop what's happening. That's what did this to her. Trust me. She thinks she has no power in this world, so she hides. If you give her some power, she'll stop having the panic attacks." Carol patted his arm, squeezing it comfortingly.
"You think so?" Daryl asked, a small semblance of hope sparking in his heart.
"Yeah. I do. It helped me. It'll help her." Carol said softly.
Daryl nodded. He could see that she was different. More confidence now that she knew how to fight in this world and wasn't dependent on someone else.
Tomorrow, Daryl would to Jackson about starting a self-defense class for the survivors and he could work with Katelyn once her hand got better. There were a lot of people who could benefit from being able to defend themselves in this world.