Well my lovelies, we are back! I'm so thrilled about the responses that Wolfsong is getting, you guys are great. Thank you so much for all that you do, it makes my writer's heart sing =)
FanFicGirl10: I just do NOT have a good feeling of Luna going on the run. Knowing you like i do my bad feeling is probably true :( So Luna is now 17-18 years old? Update Soon
Lol, my readers know me too well and that is awesome =D Aye, Luna is 17, Judith is 18. It was so weird having to shift gears and think of the original group as so much older now, and to be honest its still an adjustment when I write, but I always like a challenge.
RedneckBunny: Looooooved it! The scenes that play out in my head are so clear thanks to your writing. And after the first chapter, I've chosen to put in ear plugs to drown out the world to better understand Luna's situation. Decided to deafen her was the right choice. It made me try to understand her better with the plugs and I think everyone should read the story like this lol. Can't wait to see what happens on the supply run. You write so well I can't even begin to predict properly what will happen next unlike some stories I've read. The suspense kills me!
Whoa, that is so awesome! I didn't even think of doing that. Seriously, that rocks. I can never write unless I have music going at the same time, but I may try reading in silence when I'm editing through before I post. I really waffled back and forth on whether to have that happen to her or not but I'm glad I did, because it ties directly into a lot of the upcoming interactions I have planned for her and the other charries. I'm still always flattered that people call my writing unpredictable, I worry so much about that, especially in a fandom like TWD where the suspense is part of what makes it great.
Emberka-2012: I am very glad to see the continuation of the story. This is good news. Luna is so similar to both of her parents.
Nice to see you my friend, and I'm glad you find the continuation of my arc as good news =D Luna is indeed very similar to both her parents who incidentally are both very similar to each other, but also different too, and I'm hoping to be able to play around with all of these dynamics as the writing goes on.
carniwhore: So I never had the pleasure in complimenting how awesome your writing truely is in Wildflower, so now as I read this from you, you're work just blows me away. i love the fact you've decided to take a different direction with Daryl and Fox's child and describe their signing with each other and the group adjusting for their younger member geniusly. i especially love the bond you've created between Judith and Luna, I had to laugh at the thought of these two fighting with each other like sisters. i find if kind of ironic how Fox's daughter is bonded with Shane's- if only she knew Fox killed her biological dad ahaha. Awesome update! Can't wait to see what you've got in store. xoxo
Ahh, were you one of my many lurkers in Wildflower? Thanks for jumping on board the Wolfsong ship! When I started having the idea for Wolfsong in my head (which was still when I was writing Wildflower) I knew I wanted something different and so I played around with several different ideas and finally (albeit somewhat shakily) settled on having Luna being deaf. On the actual show itself, they've had charries with various physical disabilities (missing limbs and/or body parts seems to be a common one xD) but I decided to go with something that would impact something as fundamental as communication, not just survival. Ohh Luna and Judith, there will be more sibling spats between the two of them in the future, let me tell you. I have a sister as well and we're almost the same distance apart in age as Luna and J so I lift clues for their relationship from what I've gone through too. And as to the issue of Judith's parentage, there will be drama and angst for that in the future, I have so much planned, I'm so looking forward to bringing it all to you guys!
Brittney: Amazing as always. I love the relationship between Luna and the other characters and how tough she is. I can't wait for chapter 3!
I almost cut Chapter 2 down quite a ways because it was so long but in the end I decided less would not be more in this instance. I really wanted to build some kind of foundation for the bond between Luna and her family before launching into the real plot and conflict of it all, so I'm glad you enjoyed it!
WinterIsComing01: Wow! So fast forward into the future. It is so weird to think of everyone being almost twenty years older and all the kids are grown up and Carl is like, what, 30 now? CRAZY! But glad that Luna has developed into the little badass we all knew she would become. I love the father/daughter relationship. He seems so much milder with her now than he ever was before. Same for Fox - both seem to have mellowed out substantially but now Luna is the new insertion in their lives with equal parts of their traits. Can't wait to see how it goes on the run, but I do know you well, my friend, and I fear the worst...
I know! That was something I had to really adjust to as I was writing this. Picturing Carl as 30 was like… 0_0 almost impossible. Daryl is indeed much more levelheaded now than he ever was in the past, in part from age (most people do mellow with age, although there are a rare few that get crankier) and in part from being a parent. Luna's definitely made him a little bit softer, a little bit sweeter, again, I took cues from the sticky sweet fluffy moments in the show when he was taking care of Judith. The same goes for Fox too, although as far as she's concerned, she and Luna are so headstrong and cling to their pride in such a way that they butt heads, but I think that's something most mothers and daughters do. You do know me well my friend…very well… ;)
Kalo Suva: I really like Luna in this story, because she reminds me of my mom. My mom was about Luna's age when she got sick and lost her hearing and while she doesn't swing around knives and take down rednecks she is very independent and can handle herself :P. So yeah, I really appreciate how you made Luna a very capable person even though she's deaf :)
That's awesome! I definitely didn't want Luna to be someone who felt victim to her disability, or any less capable, or even more fearful for her safety because of it. Granted, some of that could be overconfidence on her part, but, that shall be decided later as Luna gets a taste of the world outside of camp ;)
Jerrie Higarashi: Oh how much I missed reading your writing :) So happy that Luna is doing well even though she can't hear very well. Fox and Daryl are such amazing parents. Love the bonding between Judith and Luna. It's so beautiful and you just started it. I have so much to say right now but I think that I'm gonna save it for the next chapter. Ciao Darling.
Hello my friend, so glad to hear from you again! Aye, Luna has indeed adjusted to life in a mostly silent world, but it will play to her advantage later on down the road, I'm so excited to show you guys what's in store for her, and for the other members of camp too =) Hah, the bonding between the two girls is only just begun, but because this is the Walking Dead it won't all be sunshine and roses unfortunately xD. Can't wait to see what you and all my other wonderful readers think of what I've got in store!
KatlynIreneGlasse: Yay! Luna gets to go on the run! I prefer Darlia for their name together. I'm in a serious hurry, I always read this at stupid times, my sister literally just had a baby, yay I'm an aunt! Anyway I am about to vist her so great chapter can't wait for the next one! See ya! Kat
Awww, awesome, you're an auntie! Congrats! Next chap is the run and I'm looking forward to what you guys have to say about what happens ;) See ya there!
Her feet had hit the deck long before the sun was up, and giving that this was high summer, that was saying something. She yanked her clothes on in record time and decided to go with her heavy duty combat boots on her feet incase she had to kick down a biter. Or a door. Both had happened in the past. She went to the little pegs that had been drilled into the wall of her room near the corner that served to hold the clothes she wanted to hang. There weren't many, but one of them was a black denim vest, and sewn into the back was the carefully crafted image of a wolf, head up, ears back, fur ruffled softly, a thick plumed tail curled around its flanks as it howled to the crescent moon just behind it's head, the fabric stark white against the black of the denim, similar to her father's angel wing vest. Maggie had done the actual sewing involved, but the idea had been from her parents, and a gift for her sixteenth birthday. Also added onto the vest was a large hood so that if she was out in it for long periods in the fields or on a hunt, she could protect the back of her neck from the sun as well as shade her eyes. She pulled the vest on over her body and immediately felt secure and almost empowered in a sense. Not only because it reminded her of her family, but because of what else was tucked away inside it. It was a knife, about half the size of the weapons she carried on her back, the blade curved markedly and had the sharpest, most lethal edged she'd ever come across. The edge was so sharp that if she cut fast enough, her victims (all animals up to this point) wouldn't even feel the pain of the cut before they bled out, but what made it even more special was its hilt. Handmade of red stained mahogany wood, and carefully carved into the wood was a message from her parents. I'm the weapon of last resort, hold me straight and true, the blood worth saving is worth more than the blood set for spilling. Use me to protect, not to hurt, and you'll always find your way home. She read the message several times, running her fingertips over the carved words and breathed in deep. Her parents had told her stories of the group before they'd settled here, the hard, sometimes devastating choices that they'd had to make in order to stay alive. She could hardly imagine what it would have been like to be there as the world was literally falling apart around them over the course of that first year, and she didn't take the imprinted words lightly. She made sure the knife was tucked into its holster and then strapped it inside her vest where it pressed gently against her ribs, brushing against her with every breath. She settled back into her skin and turned to her other weapons.
She buckled herself into the harness for her long knives and belted on her guns. The added weight on her hips was comforting and on a whim she yanked one free of its holster, spun, and aimed it at an invisible enemy, caressing the trigger very softly, not nearly enough to loose a shot, but the feel of the weapon in her hand was pleasant, the metal cool and the textured grip of the gun reassuring against her palm. She holstered the gun and then slid her quiver of arrows across her body and then her bow.
She got up to her feet and left her room and found her father waiting for her in the kitchen. He greeted her with a nod of his head which she returned and she snagged a piece of deer jerky off her father's plate when his back was turned. When he came back for the piece of meat and saw it missing he rolled his eyes.
"Getting slow, Dad, pretty soon the biters are gonna getcha," she signed with a huff of deep throated laughter.
"Hey, you have some respect," he growled, lightly thumping her on the back of her head before she could get out of the way. "Your old man has killed plenty of biters and still not a scratch."
Luna nodded as she tore a bit of jerky off with her teeth. "Mom told me when J was born you and Glenn and Maggie fought off a herd on a supply run."
Daryl felt the back of his neck flush a bit which he unconsciously rubbed before he could stop himself. He shifted against the counter, holding a cup of black coffee in his hands, taking a good swig before he responded.
"That's true. Me, Glenn, and Maggie had gotten caught looking for supplies for Judith and it was do or die." He signed rather than spoke, feeling those memories wash over him. It was still one of the nights that stalked his dreams. The screaming in both rage and terror as he and two of his adopted family had fought tooth and nail for their lives against an army of undead monsters, hacking them to bits, firing off rounds, blood spattering, gore splashing every which way as blackened entrails dragged the floor and made it slick, almost impossible to get any traction to flee as they struggled to make it out alive. He glanced at Luna out of the corner of his eye and was thankful when she was not looking at him. That had been the same night his daughter had been conceived. He still remembered coming back to the school the group had been sheltering in, still remembered Fox pressed belly to belly against him, both of them hanging onto each other for everything they were worth as both of them only half acknowledge how close they'd come to losing each other. He glanced at Luna again out of the corner of his eye, thankful she was busying herself with breakfast and thus not watching him. If he'd had a chance to do it over again…he would have waited to have Luna until they'd been settled in their current home, to lessen the risk, but they'd come through alright, and he counted himself very lucky for all that he still had in his life.
Luna rapped her knuckles on the counter to get her father's attention. When his head snapped up and he looked at her, she signed "Why wasn't Rick there?"
Daryl tilted his head for a moment, trying to figure out how to answer. "Lori had just died. Rick was in a mad place." He spoke faster than he could sign, trying to find a way to translate what he meant into a physical manifestation. He turned to Luna and took her by the hand. "The shock was too much for him to take for a while. But he came back."
There was so much unspoken words between them in that one moment, but Luna felt everything that he wanted to say. That those dark days were behind them and that she need not worry of such things. The sun was beginning to turn the sky from black to a deep shade of indigo and navy blue and she knew Judith and Carl would be waiting for her soon. She cupped his cheek and pressed her second palm to his chest, blinking her eyes up at him.
"I'll come back," she said. "Promise."
A crooked smile crossed his face for her as he nodded. "I know sweetheart."
"I love you." These words she also spoke as well as drawing the letters into his skin lightly. He returned the affection and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders tightly. Even through his shirt she could feel the scars on his back and the hard muscle underneath them. She would never comprehend how kin could hurt other kin but she was thankful that she had never faced that worry. There were other pressures, stocking food for winter, biters, the chill of icy nights, predators in the woods, sickness, injuries, but she always had her family at her side. As long as she had them, everything else she could handle. Everything else had an answer. She didn't know what she would do without them, any of them, but especially the thought of being without her father was something she couldn't even begin to picture.
She let go of Daryl when she felt him shift slightly against her. Though she couldn't hear her mother's footsteps, she could feel the slight vibration in the floor from the weight of her feet on the wood and when she came just a little closer she caught the scent of spice and cedar woods.
"Didn't think you'd sneak out without saying bye to me did you?" Fox asked as Luna turned to her.
Luna shook her head and smiled before opening up her vest and showing the knife tucked away there. Fox nodded sharply with a slight grin and pulled her daughter into a tight hug.
"Give them hell," she signed, drawing the words into Luna's arm. She squeezed her mother's wrist tightly and drew the sign for 'I will' into her skin before she palmed her left cheek, feeling the raised ridges of her scars. Both her parents bore marks from their pasts, earned in different ways, but all signs of how much they had endured, that they had survived, that they had fought for. It was all Luna could do to hope that she could measure up somehow.
Just then the Jeep they'd be taking into town rolled up front. Luna couldn't hear the horn that was blowing but she'd seen the flicker of light change from behind the door from the car's headlights.
"Love you, Mom. Keep Dad on his toes while I'm gone," Luna signed as she pulled away and grabbed another piece of jerky before she spun on her feet and headed out the door. Daryl tried to stop himself but he couldn't help it. He followed her out and watched with a very paranoid heart as she climbed up into the Jeep and immediately began to sign with Judith, hardly even noticing he was there. Daryl came up on the driver's side where Carl was shifting gears and caught his eye.
"You watch out for her." He couldn't stop the threatening growl that leeched into his voice.
A flash of a slightly nervous look passed over Carl's face before it vanished and he grinned at the man. "How much trouble can she be?" he asked. When Daryl obviously didn't take to the humor, he continued. "Don't worry, Daryl. Save your squirrels to throw at someone else. It'll be fine. We'll be back by nightfall."
Daryl nodded and watched as Carl wheeled the Jeep around and headed for the highway through a carefully cut path that they had created over the years from their once a month supply runs. Daryl watched them go until he could no longer hear the rumble of the engine or its tires crunching over vegetation and rocks. He wasn't quite ready to turn around when he felt Fox come up behind him.
"They'll be fine," she murmured into his ear, lacing her arms under his and squeezing his waist a little, tugging him against her.
"I know. It's just never easy to see her leave." Daryl couldn't relax, even when Fox's hands came up his back and squeezed his shoulders, trying to loosen him up.
"It's just a regular run. She'll be back tonight with stories of less than a dozen slain biters." Fox reiterated. "And we haven't had a chance like this in a long time." Her voice had dropped down to a huskier croon than usual and now she tugged on his hair slightly, causing him to turn around. Her eyes were blazing with a hungry look and he couldn't deny the way his skin tingled as her eyes raked over him in all the right ways. His hands dropped to her hips and tugged her close even as she began to back up towards the house.
He let her distract him until well past sun up, well past when they were due to be in the fields for work, and when Glenn came pounding on their front door, the only sound that answered him was a strangled howl from the bedroom.
"Really guys?" he muttered to himself. He flopped down on the porch, content to wait them out, but after almost an hour and many sets of shrill pleasured filled shrieks grated through his ears he got up and made the three mile trek back to the fields where Rick, Maggie, and Benjamin were working.
"Where the hell are they?" Benjamin demanded, wiping sweat off his brow as he stretched his back from where he'd been digging in the ground. Rick nodded in agreement and looked at Glenn expectantly.
"Has Fox ever made work a priority if she's got an itch to scratch?" Glenn shot back.
Maggie snorted and Rick rolled his eyes while Benjamin cussed a blue streak, his New York accent so thick that it was hard to understand him as he ranted about bitches getting special treatment and needing to be slapped. Or something along those lines, Glenn really couldn't tell.
"It's one day Benjy, calm down," Maggie said eventually as the Yankee was still hissing under his breath, his hands digging through the soil, wrenching weeds out from between the stalks of wheat with violent force.
"Easy for you to say," Benjamin mumbled, his voice finally returning to normal.
"Aww, is someone feelin' lonely?" Maggie teased causing the blonde to blush something fierce and shut his trap faster than an alligator with a fish in its jaws.
Glenn took his place beside her and they worked together in the fields, their movements almost entirely in sync, until Glenn playfully nudged Maggie's shoulder with a grin.
"Maybe we should call it in tomorrow," Glenn whispered, lightly nipping Maggie's shoulder when Rick's back was turned which caused her to grin.
"Maybe we should," she agreed, her eyes flashing brightly, the answer to a question Glenn had been aching to have answered for a long time. They typically kept their trysts reserved for when people went to bed after having been walked in one too many times by other members of camp, but if Fox and Daryl felt like they could take liberties, then they could too. It was only fair after all. When they went back up to the house the sun wasn't quite down yet. Maggie and Glenn set to work on fixing something for dinner and Fox and Daryl finally emerged.
"Don't even bother mumbling your way through some lame ass excuse, Dixon. Must be nice to lounge in bed all day gettin' screwed six ways to fucking Sunday while the rest of us are breaking our backs." Benjamin growled as the two of them cautiously crept into Maggie and Glenn's cabin with the rest of the group.
"Shut your trap, Blondie, you're just jealous. Sides, when I'm bringing home bacon in the dead of fucking winter you'll whistle a prettier tune. I do my fair share," Daryl rumbled right back. Benjamin looked ready to argue with him until he was on the receiving end of one of Daryl's legendary stares and began to wither sharply. Fox slunk around behind him and cuffed him lightly on the back of the head for good measure. He ducked at the light blow and tried to grab for Fox who danced out of his reach but just barely, wincing as she moved, her legs and hips very stiff.
"Ooh, someone's getting slow. Maybe it wasn't Daryl gettin' screwed six ways to Sunday," Benjamin snickered coyly noting the way Fox was moving.
"I can still wrangle you faster than a viper can kill a squirrel," Fox warned, but there was a playful under-bite to her voice.
Daryl slunk away from where the two began to good naturedly wrestle and accepted a grateful shot of whiskey from where Rick was nursing his own glass near the counter in the kitchen. The two men met each other measure for measure and now Daryl did feel like he might owe some sort of apology.
"Call it in tomorrow if you want, Fox and I'll work double time," he offered, knocking back his shot, the burn distracting in a very pleasing way.
Rick waved his distorted apology away. "It's alright, Daryl. I shafted Shane more than once when Lori didn't wanna let me out of the bedroom."
Daryl shifted a little and was thankful nobody else was paying any attention to them. "They give us shit all the time about how we just wanna screw, somehow I think the end of the world went and turned the tables," he observed.
Rick shrugged his shoulder. "Who knows?" He took another drink of whiskey from his glass.
Daryl sensed the man's mind was elsewhere. He understood. Both the man's children were away from the safety of camp and as time wore on, they expected them to be home soon. His thoughts shifted and he poured himself another shot of whiskey and knocked it back quickly before capping the bottle.
Dinner was about to be on the table when they heard the car engine rumbling outside, but something was wrong. Normally the runners would have come in and asked for help in hauling everything into its designated place before settling into dinner, but this time it was different. Daryl and Fox had barely had the chance to turn around to go to the door when it flew open and Carl appeared, blood all down his front, streaked across his face, his hair askew, clothes ripped almost to the point of being shredded, eyes wild with a crazed light.
"They're gone!"
"Showtime ladies," Carl murmured softly.
They had parked the Jeep at the edge of town and they all piled out, moving carefully and quietly as they did so. This little town, who's name they didn't know because it had long since been ripped off the signs due to weather and exposure to various other elements of decay, was very quiet. The breeze was cool and soft on Luna's skin but brought with it the faint scent of decay and acrid rot. She stiffened and pulled out her bow and a single arrow, her eyes peeled. Immediately Judith tensed beside her and Carl took note as well, watching Luna's intense expression. He followed her gaze up the main street that led into town and watched as she whipped out from around the Jeep and notched her bow and pulled the string back smoothly and let the bolt fly. It sailed fifty feet and lanced into a broken open window of the closest building and impaled a biter that had been very slowly shuffling towards the outside world, drawn by the sound of the engine.
"Damn," Judith murmured. She hadn't even seen a flicker of movement or heard a twitch of sound from where Luna had shot.
"Death scent," Luna signed, by way of explanation how she'd been alerted to the biter, stringing her bow back across her body and keeping a steady look out. "Only the one," she assured them.
"Come on. Stick together. Luna, get your arrow and then let's go," Carl urged. Across his body was a rifle and in his hand was a pistol armed with a homemade silencer. His shaggy hair was in need of a trim and the breeze blew it haphazardly across his pale cheeks his sharp blue eyes sweeping over the street, noting any twitch of movement.
Luna moved swift and light, her feet hardly disrupting even a pebble as she loped up the street, keeping her bow out as she moved, her eyes peeled, looking for any sign of movement. The air tasted cool with just a faint hint of death that grew stronger when she came closer to the slowly crumbling building. The window was low to the ground, easily able to be stepped over, Luna picked her way over the broken glass carefully, finding the biter she'd shot, an arrow imbedded in its skull. She yanked it free easily, not able to hear the sound of blood oozing out or the bones continuing to crack as she did so. But she did keep her head up, her eyes spearing through the darkened building, keeping watch for anything that moved. The wind rustled a few dead leaves on the floor and caused a curtain that was heavy with dust to twitch, but there was nothing else in here.
She stepped back out and rejoined her companions, naturally taking her place out in front. Luna took point whenever opportunity presented itself, not only because she had the best eyesight, but also because she was far more vulnerable to be snuck up on from behind and so having someone at her back gave her eyes in the back of her head. She had the arrow she'd retrieved lightly strung up, ready at a moment's notice to pull the bow back and fire if necessary.
"What's on the list?" Judith asked as they continued up the streets, lonely power lines tracing like dead veins through the sky that was hazed with iron grey, a promise for rain. The sides of the buildings were scraped away, chipping, faded paint peeling off like layers of skin, revealing the worn age of the structures around them. Weeds and other plant life had burrowed through the concrete and made the roads and sidewalks uneven and cracked, little flecks of white rock skittering every which way as they made their way down the street. The world felt eerily still, even when the breeze blew, carrying the smell of cool moisture and just the very faint tang of death that always lingered through any portion of civilization.
"We need medicine, Benjamin said his stocks were getting low. Fox wanted us to see if there were any strings for the guitar, Daryl wanted cigarettes and a bottle of whiskey, we need more soap and…" Carl trailed off and Luna darted forward and snagged the list out of his hands and scanned down it. She snickered when she did so and passed it to Judith.
"Come on girls, be mature," Carl muttered as Judith began to laugh right along with Luna. When both girls couldn't choke down their laughter, Carl rolled his eyes and plucked the list out of Judith's fingers.
"Hey, those condoms could be for your parents, Luna, doesn't have to just be for Glenn and Maggie." Carl's voice was teasing and his eyes delivered a mischievous spark which made Luna freeze in her tracks at the thought of her parents needing condoms. Her shoulders rolled and she pulled a face that made Carl snicker.
"Screw you," Luna signed, flipping him off as they made their way up the street towards the pharmacy, where they'd find at least some of the supplies they were looking for.
"Great. Now I won't be able to look my parents in the face for the next week," Luna signed to Judith as she fell into step next to her sister. Judith grimaced sympathetically.
"He does it on purpose," Judith agreed. She readjusted her shotgun across her shoulders and a small sliver of the large machete belted to her narrow hips gleamed in the sunlight that managed to break through the iron grey clouds overhead. Despite her small frame and almost delicate build, Judith was comfortable with weapons large and small. She tended not to carry as many as Luna did, but she could pack a helluva kick if she needed to, and from a young age Rick had taught her how to shoot straight, and Fox had been instrumental in teaching her how to use her machete, or any bladed weapon, with maximum efficiency.
They rounded a corner and had one more block to go before they reached the pharmacy. All of Luna's senses ratcheted up, little currents of electricity crackling over her skin, making her palms tingle slightly in anticipation. There were three biters on the far corner of the street where the pharmacy was located, shuffling slowly, filthy clothes barely hanging onto their emaciated frames, straggled hair falling out as they dug through an overturned dumpster, rooting around for anything remotely edible, boney arms and fingertips scraping the metal container. They'd only started scavenging from this town a month or two ago, having slowly but surely cleared the ones closer to camp. They'd driven a good two and a half hours at high speeds to get down here, blowing past some of the towns that were closer at the base of their mountain refuge having already picked them clean. The last thing, and the thing they always made sure they took back with them, was gasoline- since it took so much to get down here, and they always liked to have all of their vehicles topped off just in case something happened and they had to run.
Judith unsheathed her machete as she approached the biters on quick, small feet, Luna and Carl flanking her. The biters noticed their approach almost immediately, raising their heads out of the dumpster, staggering on ruined feet as they stumbled towards them, arms outstretched, mouths open, blackened rotting gums exposing deadly teeth. Luna wrinkled her nose at the disgusting smell but she didn't let out a single sound. She and Judith moved in unison and struck a single biter each, Judith with her machete, and Luna with one of her daggers, having stowed her arrow and bow. The blade sank in quick and deep into the blackened skin and brittle bones, leaking blood from the wound as Luna quickly yanked her dagger free and let the biter drop just as Judith did the same. She had taken her target's head clean off its shoulders and then Carl had swept in beside her with his own large bowie knife and stabbed, silencing its biting movements. The third biter lay forever stilled by his feet, its temple bearing a bullet hole, the sound of the gunshot suppressed with the silencer.
"Come on," Carl spoke quickly and Luna nodded, wiping her blade on a rag she had tucked into her belt for just such an occasion. They all carried one, long since having learned that keeping their weapons clean kept them in better working order.
They stepped into the pharmacy, having already propped the door open so they didn't have to risk jangling the bell attached to the door every time they came in. Luna crept cautiously, keeping her eyes peeled for any sign of movement. The slightest flicker in the back corner caught her eye and a low growl was bitten through her clenched teeth. She slunk forward, Judith at her back. The dim light of the store made the textures run together and the colors of the items and surroundings seem to shift and slide against each other like tangled sheets against Luna's skin. She blinked once to bring herself back into the moment, taking a long breath, tasting death and rot on her tongue. She felt Judith's warm presence at her back and was comforted, the rapid beating of her heart easing back down slightly. Until she rounded the corner.
A massive pool of red, sticky blood was caked to the floor, pouring from a human body splayed out against the base of the wall and caught slightly on some shelving nearby, the limbs spread eagle, neck twisted over, a deep bite wound in the side of the man's neck, the arms and legs completely chewed to the bone, just like they would strip meat off of a rack of ribs. Luna's stomach rolled and she skittered back a step, a strangled sound coming from her throat in surprise.
"Carl!" Judith called, getting her brother's attention from where he was stuffing supplies into his bag from the other side of the store. He came trotting over and skidded to a halt in his tracks when he saw the mangled corpse. It wasn't an entirely uncommon sight, but what made this body unusual was the fact it was fresh. The color wasn't entirely pale, the blood was red and had yet to congeal on the floor, and the corpse was obviously not a biter yet, still laying quietly, not having been raised again from the dead.
"This happened recently. Within hours," Luna signed, looking quickly to Carl and Judith.
"Look at the clothes. This isn't someone who lives around here," Judith noted. She lightly prodded at the man's attire, which consisted of camouflage, heavy duty boots, and what appeared to be a bullet proof vest. There was a gun holster on his leg and an empty sheathe for a knife on his calf.
"Could have been…" Carl murmured, turning the man's head this way and that, looking for the extent of the bites. There was even flesh ripped off by the back of the skull from voracious biter teeth, bits of hair and scalp trailing the floor.
"If there's one, there might be more," Luna signed, her eyes flashing hotly. She looked up at Carl, her heart beginning to thump hard in her chest.
"Let's get what we need and go," he growled. Luna nodded and they all got to their feet and Judith took her blade out and rammed it cleanly through the man's skull, preventing him from coming back as a biter. It was the most humane thing to do.
They scanned the pharmacy, moving fast, grabbing up what they needed and stuffing it into the bags they'd brought with them. When they were loaded up and ready to head to the next spot, they turned to leave, still on edge about the fresh corpse. Luna kept her eyes peeled and took a detour around to the back lot of the pharmacy, having noticed that one of its windows was broken. The glass was knocked on the outside of the building, littering the asphalt beneath the sill, scarlet blood flecking some of the jagged remains.
"J!" she spoke her sister's nickname to get her attention. She whirled around the corner and came to Luna's side, Carl bringing up the rear quickly, making note of a small group of biters at the far end of the lot that were headed their way.
"Look! It's fresh!" Luna signed quickly. "Someone's nearby. They might be alive. Someone jumped the window to get away."
"Who would do that?" Carl questioned as he stood up. "Never mind. We don't have time for that. Whoever it is, they're gonna have to manage on their own. We have stuff to do. Let's go!" His voice was sharp and unquestioning. He began to pull away and Judith made to follow but Luna stayed for a moment longer, staring down at the scene. She was conflicted inside. Someone was out there and probably injured and needed help, but there was no sign of them, and more biters headed their way. She wanted to stay, she wanted to track the blood trail that was spattered on the pavement and find out who was nearby, but as she looked up and saw the biters staggering towards her, their jaws snapping, unheard rasping growls wheezing through their chests, arms outstretched towards her, she skittered back.
"Luna!"
She very faintly heard a distorted version of her name as Carl yelled for her. Luna leapt back away from the stiffs and sliced one through the face, stabbing another clean through the skull, but three others were closing in. She scrambled back, heart racing like a jackrabbit kicking madly behind her ribs. She inhaled sharply, spun, and ran, using the speed in her living legs to put distance between her and the corpses and as she turned, she saw Carl with his pistol raised. Luna ran to their side as he popped off three shots and dropped the biters to their eternal rest. She skittered up to her family and sucked down a clean breath of air that was less tainted by death-scent, trying to quell the slight tremble in her hands.
Carl lowered his pistol and then rounded on Luna. "When I say come, you come, you got that?" he snarled. She didn't need to hear his voice to feel the anger radiating off him.
"I'm fine!" she signed back angrily, standing up to her full height and wiping more blood off her dagger.
"You could have been bit!" Carl snapped. "This is why your parents didn't want you going on the run! You don't listen!" He spun on his heel and stalked away. Judith and Luna followed at his heels and the two girls looked at each other.
"I had it under control," Luna signed to Judith.
Judith nodded but bit her lip slightly. "It was a close call," she signed, not quite meeting Luna's eyes.
Luna huffed an annoyed breath. "I could have kicked their asses," she shot back, scraping her boot against the pavement for good measure.
Judith snickered at Luna's bravado. The girl had a double dose of pride inherited from her parents. It was the hardest thing in the world for her to admit that she'd either made a mistake or wasn't as capable as she thought. Judith had long since learned not to challenge Luna too much when it came to that, less they end up bickering, or even brawling. "Sure you are, Luna-tic."
Luna's face morphed into a teasing expression of anger. "Skinny twig!" she shot back, but at this point she was all but choking on laughter, even as they followed Carl back onto the town's main street.
Judith gave off a mocking affronted expression. "Angry bitch!" she retorted with a playful, teasing light in her eyes and a mischievous grin on her face.
"Featherweight!"
The two dove towards each other to begin a wrestling match, and if they had been at home, Carl would have kicked back and watched to see who would win while people took bets, but due to their situation, and the fact he was still irritated at Luna for being stubborn, he wrangled them apart.
"Enough! You two can screw around later when we get home. We've got work to do!" he growled. He let both of them go and they straightened up again and slunk back towards his heels.
"Jeeze, he's worse than Dad," Judith signed as they moved deeper into town.
"Damn straight. What crawled up his ass and bit the bottom of his spine?"
Judith choked on Luna's choice of words but stifled her laughter when they approached their next destination, a car garage in order to take some spare parts, just in case something decided to break down right at harvest time and they couldn't waste the gas to go into town so soon. Carl had both girls wait outside and keep watch while he went in and began looking for the parts they needed, but in the stillness, Luna's mind began to spin again. Maybe whoever they'd found had tried to escape out the window but then had been pulled down and devoured by the biters. It wasn't uncommon for biters to abandon a kill from being distracted by a noise or another scent, forget that it was there, and only stumble on it again later by accident to finish. She kept her eyes peeled for any sign of movement with Judith until Carl returned before they started to head back to the Jeep in order to put their supplies inside and drive until they found a place to siphon off gasoline. There was a station half a mile away but they had nearly drained its tanker dry on the last run, they probably would have to start stealing from cars before they were finished taking what they needed. Sure enough, they only just managed to fill the Jeep before the underground tanker in the gas station had nothing left to give. They hauled out a can of white spray paint and started marking up the cars that were empty with big white X's. They'd gone through two cars and were just about to start on a third when Judith whipped her head forward towards the nearest corner.
"Carl!" she yelled. She snagged Luna by the wrist and pulled her down behind the truck they were siphoning off of when she saw a trio of black SUVs come around the bend.
"Stay down!" Carl hissed to his sister from a few car lengths away. They were across the street from the Jeep where they'd left it in the gas station parking lot, and with a sinking feeling in her stomach, Luna watched as the SUVs encircled the vehicle, blocking their access to the Jeep. To make matters worse, biters had been attracted by the sound of the engine, a small pack of them stumbling along from two streets up, cutting off their escape in the opposite direction, and at their back were a string of small shops and other buildings, God knows what inside them.
A set of men dressed similarly to the one they'd found in the pharmacy piled out of the SUVs, all of them holding what appeared to be assault rifles. Luna watched the movement of their feet from the pavement where she and Judith were crouched. When the men began to fan out, approaching the nearby vehicles, she reacted instinctively, grabbing Judith by the wrist and pulling her down to the ground, forcing both of them underneath the truck, holding their breath, hoping to stay undetected. She saw Carl had done the same, his hands working slowly but surely to loosen his rifle so he could have easy access to it if necessary.
"Affirmative, we've got a Jeep, supplies in the back, engine's still warm, they're in the vicinity."
"Find them. They could have subjects we need." Judith could tell by the sound this voice was coming from a radio, which she signed to Luna.
"They're looking for people?" Luna asked, her fingers moving rapidly.
"Yes," Judith affirmed. They became very still again when they saw the shoes beginning to disperse, but they were slowly but surely heading closer to their hiding place. Carl signaled to his sisters to get their weapons ready, and Luna pulled out her second dagger, both hands full of her knives. Judith started to slide her machete free, but in doing so, her shotgun scraped the concrete with a loud, grating sound.
Everything froze and imploded all at once. Boots began running towards them and Luna began slashing at the incoming pair out from under the car as hard as she could. A shrill cry sounded that vibrated around her eardrums as a muffled whine as her blade bit through the rubber of the man's shoe and sliced into his ankle. Luna was about to roll free and slide loose of her confinement when Judith screamed.
Two hands had a hold of her ankles and were dragging her by force out from under the truck. Luna let out a deep throated snarl of rage that someone dare put a hand on her sister. A violent, overwhelming instinct to protect her own roared through her and burned through all traces of her fear. She stabbed again with her dagger and gave herself room enough to maneuver and rolled out from under the car.
"Let her go!" Carl yelled as Judith was hauled by the hair and back of the neck by two men, her machete having been wrenched or kicked free of her hand. Carl had his rifle aimed and now Luna stashed one knife smoothly in her holster and yanked her handgun free and aimed it at a second pair of men who were pointing their rifles at her as Carl covered the two that had hold of Judith.
"How old are you?" one of the men asked, this question directed at Luna. She narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth, brandishing her gun. She could have answered if she chose to, but she was in no mood to cooperate like this.
"Biters!" Judith howled from where she was being held hostage against the men.
The men panicked at her warning, dropping her and whirling around just as one of them was taken over by a Walker. His scream echoed tenors of breaking glass as teeth sank deep into the meat of his upper arm. The other managed to lunge away from the initial bite but in doing so his forward momentum was too much for his balance and he tripped over his comrade. As he did so and tried to scramble up, another biter lunged and scratched its bloody nails down his face and neck, getting its teeth into the side of the man's face, tearing off a huge chunk of meat, causing red blood to gush like a river from the wound.
"Engage!"
"Judith, Luna!" Carl yelled over the din of gunfire as the rest of the men lined up and began to slaughter the incoming Walkers like a firing squad. The three of them ran for their lives towards the Jeep and had almost managed to pile in when half of the ones dealing with the biters whirled on them and aimed their guns straight at their hearts.
"Drop your weapons! Now!"
Carl glanced at both girls and they both could see what was in his eyes. Luna's blood burned with the knowledge, crackling electric energy snapping over her skin and through her hands. With barely another passing heartbeat Carl lunged and whipped his rifle forward and squeezed the trigger as Luna did the same with her pistol and Judith with her shotgun. The blasts roared through the once quiet street and blood began to flow freely. They all ducked and tried to drop back behind the Jeep for cover but then Carl was struck in the shoulder and the thigh by two well placed shots. When he collapsed the men lunged forward and everyone went down in tangle of limbs, hair, clothes, and guns.
"Get the girls!" came the sharp order hollered over the din of gunfire and bloodcurdling screams.
Judith screeched and struggled, her sounds much higher pitched compared to Luna's guttural cries, her voice out of practice and unaccustomed to being used so much. The deaf girl kicked out wildly, her limbs flailing every which way, her fingers curling into claws, viciously scratching at someone's face, bloody lines appearing in the wake of her movements. Her teeth bared and when an arm came over her face as a body was pushed into hers, reaching for the free hand she had twisted up behind her back, she sank her teeth in just like a biter, worrying her head back and forth. A pained howl erupted right in her ear, rattling her and someone snatched her by the hair and yanked her hard, simultaneously pulling her back while someone else twisted her shoulders, shoving her belly to the asphalt. Before long both Judith and her arms were twisted up behind their back bound in some kind of sharp plastic ties and they were hauled towards one of the SUV.
"What about him?" one of the men asked as he kicked Carl who was lying on the ground, struggling to get up because of the amount of blood gushing free of his leg and shoulder. The other men shoved the kicking, screaming girls into the back seat of the SUV, fighting tooth and nail to hold them down.
"He's too old. Leave him. Let's get these two out. We met our quota."
The SUV doors slammed shut, drowning out Judith and Luna's cries. Carl shoved himself up to his feet as the SUVs engines began to crank up. He snatched up Judith's shotgun that had fallen to the ground and peppered their tailgates, aiming for their tires, and though some of his shots hit the kickback of the gun against his bleeding shoulder caused him so much pain he could barely see. Blood was still spilling out of his leg and now there was a herd of biters coming up from the north end of the street. The SUVs were headed south. Carl cut several strips of his shirt off and tied one around his thigh to stem the bleeding and then the other around his shoulder. He was lucky it was the right, although with every movement he could feel the lead slug digging further and twisting in ways that were probably really bad, but that was inconsequential. He had to get Judith and Luna back.
He threw his weapons into the Jeep and gunned the engine hard, slamming the gas pedal to the floor. The tires squealed and screamed, smoking and spinning wildly before finally grabbing pavement, the engine protesting at the rough treatment before shooting forward. He corrected the potential fishtail as he whipped up the street and shifted gears again, picking up more speed, running down the SUVs just ahead of him. He didn't know which one Judith and Luna were in, but all he knew was he had to stop them, stop them all, and then blow their brains out for daring to lay a hand on his family without so much as a warning or provocation. Flashbacks of almost twenty years ago struck him in the chest, another friend, another person he was supposed to watch over and keep safe, ripped free of his grasp, and a funeral for the hollowed out shell that remained. His knuckles went white as his throat tightened with rage, refusing to be defeated again.
He reached over to the front seat and smacked the latch for the glove box. It fell open, some of his contents spilling out onto the floorboards, but not what he was searching for, a forty-five caliber handgun. He snatched it and flipped the safety off, jerking the wheel and gunning the Jeep hard, shifting the gears as the engine heaved and shuddered with the stress Carl was putting it under, but he just kept his foot on the accelerator. He hit the button to roll the windows down and immediately wind began to tear at him and blow his hair every which way but he took aim out of the passenger side window, holding onto the steering wheel with one hand and squeezing the trigger with the other.
The glass on the SUV he was following shattered, the driver jerking wildly, apparently not fatally wounded but Carl could hear a cry of pain and see blood spattering on his face.
"Stop you bastards!" he yelled, raising his pistol to fire again. This time he killed speed and aimed for the back tires, popping off as many shots as he could before he had to correct the Jeep or risk flipping over a curb as they whipped around a narrow turn.
After they cleared the turn he began taking fire as one of the other SUVs in the convoy rolled down its windows and a rifle appeared out of the glass and began shooting back at him. Carl swerved hard, trying to avoid the bullets, which chipped the edge of his windshield, causing the glass to begin to spider-web dangerously. He jerked the wheel and raised his pistol again, aiming to take out the one shooting at him, but just then the road curved violently and though he scrambled hard for the wheel to change directions, it wasn't enough. He had just enough time to jerk the wheel and feel an explosion of fear burst through his chest right before the Jeep slammed straight into a light pole and he went flying clear over the steering wheel, across the dash, through the windshield, rolling across the glass strewn hood before falling to the ground in a pile of limbs and blood.
There was a deep pain right below his neck and just from the sharp shooting sensation Carl was certain he'd broken his collarbone. He flexed his toes and was relieved to find they could still move, so his spine and neck were in tact, although he could barely breathe from having the wind knocked out of him. He staggered to his hands and knees but his wrist and elbow gave out and he slumped forward, his cheek scraping asphalt hard. He spat out a mouthful of blood and probably a piece of his tongue too that he'd accidently bitten off and forced himself up again, this time leaning most of his weight on his good side. His head was reeling, like his skull was a spinning top and someone had just taken it and spun it as hard as they could, and now he was so dizzy that the world tilted violently on its axis. He forced his feet underneath him and tried to push himself upright, scrambling against the light pole and smashed front end of the Jeep to hold himself upright. His stomach bowed in on itself and he retched hard, breakfast coming up and spattering onto the blood and glass speckled pavement as he wheezed for breath, his head continuing to roll around on his neck. He wiped his mouth on the back of his hand and leaned both his arms on the dash, his body aching but as he held still his head struggled to make sense out of the world.
"Judith, Luna," he panted, trying to force his mind to stay free of a foggy haze that was starting to descend on him. "Judith…Luna…gotta get back to camp…gotta find them…"
He was in no condition to drive, but he had no choice. His father had taught him how to hot wire a car just in case he should ever find himself stranded and that proved to be invaluable now as the Jeep was totaled and absolutely unfit to drive. He found a nearby truck and staggered towards it drunkenly, his feet barely coordinated enough to walk. It took four or five tries to get the car's engine going, his fingers thick and clumsy as he fought through the confusion and disorientation from the crash.
The biters were coming up the street by the time he got the truck's engine going. He hauled the most important supplies out of the Jeep, stuffed the supplies into the tail bed of the truck, and climbed into the driver's seat. Walker hands began to slam the windows of the car as he put his foot to the accelerator and finally started rolling, bypassing the wreckage of the Jeep. Over and over he told himself what he had to do, it was the only thing he could hold onto to fight off unconsciousness as he drove. He was shaking and sweating, blood still leaking from his wounds as he kept going. Flashes from his past came to greet him, monster's yawning gapes roaring forward to devour him whole as he struggled to remind himself of who he was and what had happened. He drove mostly on instinct and muscle memory, some baser part of him remembering where to turn and how to navigate the complex and very narrow trails that took him back to camp. By the time he pulled in his strength was all but gone, but he sensed that he was so close to help that it gave him one last burst of strength. He piled out of the truck, barely shutting the door before running across the open yard and up the porch steps to Glenn and Maggie's house knowing that was where the group would be. He shoved the door open, not surprised to see Fox and Daryl staring at him with wide, concerned eyes, but it was his father's gaze he sought first.
"They're gone!"
It was all he could say before he collapsed into a pool of his own blood at his family's feet.