Maddy120296 - Yeah, I really dislike Carol too. I've always liked Lori much more than I ever found myself liking Carol on the show (which puts me in a minority of people, I think). But she isn't going to die a bloody, excruciating death . . . yet. I have plans for her ;)
zaii - I agree on the fact that I do plan on Lori and Tessa kinda bonding even more through their shared pregnancies but I also plan on putting a little friction between them too, although I'm not gonna elaborate on that any further. As for the gender of the baby, ya just gonna have to keep readin' ;)
Sorry-I-Wasn't-Listening - Thank you so much for liking it and loving Tessa :D! I love her too - she's probably my favorite OC that I've ever written and I try my best to write this in the direction that my fans want me to. I also do plan on having a lot more twists and turns in it, so keep reading! Another thing is that I grew up in the Deep South and down there I noticed that we don't say "Daddy" we say "deddy". I think it gives Ethan a little vulnerability because he is thirteen and in a number of ways he still is Carl and Sophia's age - not Glenn's. Its hard to find that balance sometimes.
I had originally intended for this chapter to have more content in it, however, when I uploaded it, the extra content tripped me over into the 6,000 word category and normally, I try to stay anywhere within the 5,000 word category so I quickly decided against it. The extra content is going to be in the next chapter and considering that its going to be a completely new chapter than the one I had originally planned on posting, its set me back a little bit in the course of the story but don't worry, its not too bad :)
So, enough of me gabbing! Read, enjoy and please, reviews are always welcome :)
- Nagiana
Favorite Line(s):
Daryl shook his head in exasperation. Great. Not only was he gonna have to contend with a Roid-angry Shane all the time, Tessa having a baby on the way and deal with a distraught Carol wanting to cling even more to him than she already was, but he'd also have to reinforce the Birds and the Bees talk with his thirteen-year-old son who looked like he was sixteen and acted like he was Glenn's age!
The Barnyard Massacre had been just that – a fucking Massacre.
And it hadn't really bubbled to a dangerous head until the moment they caught sight of Hershel leading two walkers down the corral pins towards the barn, Rick helping and holding one of his own.
They had all taken off a run for the barn at that moment, wondering what the Hell Rick was doing, and when they reached the barnyard moments later, Hershel, Rick, Jimmy and the walkers were just entering it. They all spread out in a scattered semi-circle, both to get room to escape should the walkers somehow get away from them, and so that they could better watch Shane's little spectacle that he had started earlier by handing out the guns, further escalate.
"What the Hell is going on here?" Shane asked in disbelief, his eyes wide with the same emotion, and Rick glanced at them as he struggled to keep the walker he was holding, in check.
"Shane just back the Hell off!" He yelled at him when he saw Shane running towards them and as soon as he heard his voice. He was drowned out, however, by both his best friend's voice and Hershel's, who spoke next.
"Why do your people have guns?"
"Are you kidding me?" Shane asked with disbelief still evident in his voice as he turned back to face the rest of the people standing dumbly in the barnyard, unable to do nothing but simply watch. "You see? You see what they're holding onto?"
"I see who I'm holding onto!" Hershel fired back passionately and Shane shook his head.
"No, man, you don't -!"
"Daryl!"
Daryl turned around when Tessa's slightly frightened voice reached him and he glanced back at Shane before immediately jogging over to her, where he took her into his arms. Their eyes stayed glued on the spectacle the entire time and when Daryl's hand slid in-between them to flatten protectively out over her stomach, Tessa wanted to let out a sob of relief. The gesture more than told her how he felt at that moment and that alone made her heart ache, in more ways than one.
"Deddy . . .?"
Ethan's voice came out not frightened like many other thirteen-year-olds would have – and indeed, like many there were showing at that moment - but surprisingly cautious. He glanced at his father, wanting to know how to react to what was happening, and Daryl nodded to him. "Stay right here. And no matter what this dumbass makes happen, ya protect ya momma, ya understand?" Daryl hissed to him over Tessa's head and Ethan nodded, the gun Shane threw him at the ready as the events quickly continued to unfold.
"Shane, just let us do this and then we can talk!" Rick tried to tell him - to diffuse the situation as calmly as he could like he always did - but Shane, as always when he was fired up, wasn't listening.
"What do you want to talk about Rick? These things ain't sick. They ain't people. They're dead – ain't got to feel nothing for them 'cause all they do is kill! These things right here – they're the things that killed Amy. They killed Otis – they're going to kill all of us -!"
"Shane, shut up!" Rick yelled over the snarls of the walkers and Shane shook his head, a sick grin of amusement appearing on his face.
"Hey, Hershel, man, let me ask you something. Could a living, breathing person - could they walk away from this?" It was then that he pulled out his pistol and shot the walker the older man was holding three times - three dead bangs right in the chest. Everyone gasped and covered their mouths in horror whereas Hershel simply stared at the walker he was holding, his eyes wide with an indiscernible emotion. Tessa flinched and Daryl shushed her by pulling her deeper into his arms, his hand flexing slightly on her stomach as he did so.
"Don' look Tess if ya don' want to. I promise to God ya ain' missin' anythin'!" He hissed to her and Tessa nodded as she gladly buried her face in his chest, small sobs coming forth from her lips as she did so. She didn't know why this was freaking her out so badly. After all, she and Ethan had faced worse things on their way out of Atlanta and she had faced worse things in her life too up until then. Why was this event rattling her so badly? Was it because they were finally seeing the extent of Shane's burgeoning insanity, a man who ate with them and slept literally meters away from them?
Rick screamed out a 'no' as Shane continued blindly on, fueled on by his own sick fire. "Now, that's three rounds in the chest right there. Could someone who's alive just take that? Why is it still coming?" He shot the walker twice once more and again, everyone letting out more gasps of shock. "That there that I just shot – that's its heart and its lungs. Why is it still coming?" He raised his pistol for a third time and let lose another two or three rounds into the walker's chest. Rick was beyond angry at that moment.
"Shane - that is enough!"
"Yeah, your right man – that is enough!" Shane finally admitted, his voice growing darker and more ominous. Tessa heard Daryl utter a curse under his breath as the man raised his gun once more and finally put the bullet through the walker head that would put it out of its oblivious misery. Then, as if the entire thing was moving in slow motion, the walker fell dead to the ground, Hershel lowering the corpse down with unnecessary gentleness.
"I have had enough of risking our lives for a little girl who's gone!" Shane roared out, Carol jumping at his words and her eyes growing wide with horror as well. Daryl's eyes flickered to her, however, Tessa, who was still crying and trembling like a leaf in his arms, garnered much more of his attentions. "I have had enough of living next to a barn full of things that are trying to kill us! Enough!" He turned his eyes onto Rick then. "Rick, brother, it ain't like it was before!" He then returned his gaze back onto the rest of the people standing before them, their gazes rapt on him. "Now if ya'll wanna live - if ya'll wanna survive, you got to fight for it! I'm talking about fighting right here - right now!" It was then that he turned around and ran full tilt to the barn doors. Daryl let out a violent curse and glanced at Ethan.
"Ethan, take ya momma!" He quickly told him as he gently disentangled himself from Tessa and handed her off to their son. Ethan nodded and did as he was told, his arm wrapping around his mother's trembling shoulders as Daryl ran forward to stand beside Rick and the others in front of the barn doors, their guns at the ready. Rick all the while was begging the still stunned Hershel to take the pole holding the walker, from his hands so that he could focus on the indeterminable wave of walkers that would lumber out of that barn as soon as the doors were thrown open. However, Hershel never did, just fell to his knees and continued to gaze dumbly at the fallen walker Shane had shot dead in his hands. Eventually, Rick could only stand there, helpless, as the doors were thrown open and the walkers came lumbering and snarling out.
Daryl had just enough time to look back behind him and make sure that Ethan had a protective grip on his still crying mother before turning back to the walkers.
It was a massacre . . . a congealing bloody barnyard massacre. Vaguely, Daryl thought this must have been what countless Western shoot-outs must have looked like, however, he doubted Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday had anything like this in mind at the O.K Corral.
But no matter what it looked like, Daryl had only entertained the thought for little over a millisecond. The entire time he wasn't debating on whether or not doing this was morally right or wrong, the only thing flitting through his mind was that at any moment they could get swarmed and his family would find themselves in pretty deep shit – Tessa, their son and the baby Tessa was now carrying inside of her.
And then . . . and then, when they thought it could not possibly get any worse, it did.
"Oh my God – is that Sophia!"
They all stood there in stunned shock at Andrea's words, not one of them able to move until Carol finally did. She called out her daughter's name in a tearful voice before taking off full sprint towards the barn and her walker daughter. Daryl, reacting instinctively, easily caught the older woman round her waist and held her back, lest she reach her and get herself bitten. They immediately fell to the ground and when Daryl anxiously glanced behind him to see Tessa's reaction, he let out a sigh of relief when she vehemently nodded her head and mouthed, 'Hold on to her!' He nodded in return and readily complied. He held onto Carol with unnecessary strength and for a moment, it seemed like the only sounds around them were the sobs and cries coming from the various people standing there. Carl was sobbing in his mother's arms at seeing his only good friend left in the world, a walker, and Tessa had closed her eyes and buried her face in her son's neck in order to not look any longer as tears came to her eyes again.
When Rick's gunshot came, telling everyone that the little Sophia was finally dead, Tessa still didn't look. She couldn't look, in fear that she would see Ethan in Sophia's place.
The gunshots had finally come to a stop and as the dust started settling down, almost everyone ended up crying – everyone in Hershel's party, especially. Daryl stood, hefting Carol to her feet as he did so and when she eventually thrust him away from her and ran off back in the general direction of camp, he gladly allowed her to so that he could run back to Tessa. He dropped to his knees to the dust and the dirt beside her and their son and gently retook the sobbing woman from Ethan arms back into his own. Tessa slumped against him, her face immediately moving to bury in his chest as the tears continued to come. Her arms moved to wrap limply around his neck and Daryl shushed her all the while, his eyes pinned on his son still sitting beside them.
Ethan appeared to be different from his mother, though.
Beth was one of the ones from Hershel's party who was sobbing the most, as her mother had been one of the unlucky walkers who had been a part of the massacre. Ethan tensed when she managed to break free from Jimmy and run over to the corpse of her mother, his eyes pinning on her. They were wide and alert, just like a guard dogs. Daryl kept Ethan from going to her with a firm hand on his shoulder, however, and when his son turned a glare onto him, Daryl silenced him with a subtle shake of his head.
"Tha' ain' ya place – she ain' ya worry!" He hissed to him before nodding towards Jimmy. "Tha's his place – she's his worry. And if he can' handle tha' – if she decides tha' she can' rely on him anymore, then tha's when ya make ya move." Ethan's lips pursed in slight irritation but he nodded nonetheless as they turned their attention back onto what was happening.
Everyone watched her with sadness in their eyes as she dragged the walker pinning her mother's corpse to the side before shakily - tearfully - flipping her mother over. When Annette Greene almost immediately came to life then, gray, mottled hands grabbing blindly at her daughter's blonde pigtails and clothing, no one there alive could have beaten Ethan to his feet and matched the time it took for him to sprint over to her. Shoving her gently aside, he pinned the barrel of the shotgun to Annette Greene's head before impassively pulling the trigger. Her head blew open seconds later, splattering them both with blood and bits of bone and gore and while Daryl had to admit that it wasn't exactly the cleanest, nicest way you could have gone about killing a mother with her daughter kneeling just right there beside you, he had to admit that when his son took her into his arms, she allowed him to with an easiness and smoothness that temporarily made him and everyone else in Hershel's party balk in either shock or surprise, they didn't know.
"Come on Beth, your fine – your fine – I'm here!" He murmured soothingly as she allowed him to haul her up to her feet. Sobbing, she turned around and her arms moved to wrap around his neck then in a way that didn't exactly lean towards friendly. His arms wrapped around her waist in turn as he held her close.
Daryl shook his head in exasperation. Great. Not only was he gonna have to contend with a Roid-angry Shane all the time, Tessa having a baby on the way and deal with a distraught Carol wanting to cling even more to him than she already was, but he'd also have to reinforce the Birds and the Bees talk with his thirteen-year-old son who looked like he was sixteen and acted like he was Glenn's age.
Great - just fucking great.
Could his life get any more complicated?
Later that afternoon, after the barnyard massacre faded away into nothing more but an incident in history, the day hadn't ended up growing any better than the day had been before. While Hershel's people wandered slowly back up to the house, Hershel leaning on his daughter while Beth remained sobbing in Ethan's arms, Tessa remained back with Daryl and the rest of their people. Lori had taken Carl back to the camp as well, the little boy's face remaining buried in his mother's side as he continued to sob out his anguish at losing a friend.
"Are ya okay, babydoll?" Daryl asked her and Tessa nodded as he helped her get slowly to her feet. Dale quickly moved over to join them and took a gentle but firm hold on her elbow, helping her as much as he could with just that tiny grip.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. Just go . . . go check on Ethan." She told him, her eyes flashing with alarm at the knowledge that he had been the one to take Beth back up to the house and not her boyfriend, and Daryl nodded, immediately getting the same picture as he moved away from her and back towards the house. Tessa turned to Dale, wiping away a stray tear as she did so.
"What just happened, Dale?" She asked, still slightly dazed, and found herself wishing that she still had Daryl there, his strong arms still wrapped around her and his hand still splayed out on her stomach. The older man's sighing and his weak shrugging brought her out of her thoughts, however, making her realize that probably wasn't gonna happen until later that night, when it just her and Daryl alone together in their tent.
"Anarchy just happened, Tess . . . anarchy fueled by chaos."
Daryl had returned from inside the house by then with Ethan in tow. He jogged quickly down the stairs, the screen door banging shut behind him and Ethan. She could tell that by the tenseness of the two Dixons' body language that they had shared words on the way out. She heaved a sigh as she watched them exchange some more pretty heated words before Daryl pointed towards the camp. Ethan took off at a huff for it at that moment and she shook her head wearily. Great - now she had the little spat between Daryl and Ethan to deal with as well!
"Could this day get any worse, Dale – for any of us?" She asked him wearily and Dale shrugged with the same emotion. She watched as Daryl moved for the Winnebago then, where Carol was surely holing herself up inside crying those silent, stoic tears of hers. She ignored the twinge of jealousy that fired up in her heart but successfully squashed it down seconds later. She knew Daryl and he would never look at Carol in that way – especially now that he knew she was pregnant. But she was still human nonetheless and hardly noticed the look of interest on Dale's face as her eyes followed the path he took to the Winnebago.
"You've been watching him with that expression on your face all day. And a number of times you two have even fought! What's going on between you two, Tess?" He asked and Tessa glanced at him as crossed her arms in front of her chest. She shifted nervously from foot to foot. Andrea and T-Dog were still standing behind them and were debating on what to do with the bodies. Tessa glanced behind her at them before turning back to Dale. She knew a lot of people in the group grew anxious whenever she and Daryl fought. She knew damn good and well that the only reason Daryl was being cordial and more . . . civilized and open to the rest of the group was because of her and Ethan. Take away those two things and they doubted he would remain the way he was now, for long.
Daryl Dixon was vicious. She had known it since the day she first looked across the highschool lunchroom and saw him sitting alone. She had seen it in his eyes at that moment - the moment she knew almost instantly that he was that kid – that unutterable bad boy who was only looking for an excuse to bring a gun to school and blow everyone he hated away. And when she first introduced herself to him and started trying to forge a friendship with him (whatever that may have entailed) and that anger started dissolving and started to give way, she started realizing that there was more to him than just that anger. She started to see that there were really two different people living inside Daryl's head - two different sides of him that were complete opposites from the other and that he - literally - could hop from one to the other at the drop of a hat.
There had also been a number of times throughout their relationship that Tessa found herself remembering the old Cherokee fable her grandmother used to tell her, the one about the two wolves:
One evening an old Cherokee Indian told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all. One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"
The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."
Daryl was the poster child for the fable, she found herself steadily realizing, as their relationship progressed from a fragile friendship, to a phenomenal sex affair and then finally, to a tender, loving relationship of the kind that you either read about or only saw in old couples who had been together for thirty some-odd years. Inside Daryl was a very angry wolf – a wolf who was vicious and who could do unparalleled amounts of damage when left uncontrolled. However, there was also another wolf inside him that walked side-by-side with that dangerous one. It was a wolf who had the strength to subdue the other as long as Tessa was around him. It was a side of untold loyalty, love and tenderness and granted, he didn't show it to everyone but while Tessa was around him, that good wolf reigned supreme.
While Tessa remained around him, he felt like he was human.
Tessa shrugged, leaving her thoughts when she realized that she had stayed quiet for too long. "It's just . . ." She sighed and shrugged. "Dale, I'm pregnant." She confessed, her voice coming out as blunt as a falling hammer, and Dale's eyes widened in shock.
"You're pregnant too?" He asked and Tessa nodded, knowing that he was referring to Lori as well.
"Yeah, we're around the same weeks along too, we think. I've struggled with telling Daryl since I first found out and when I finally did today, he . . . he doesn't really know what to think, I guess. That's why we've been so cool towards each other lately. Although he seems to be coming around, I think . . ." Her mind reminded her of how tightly he had held her earlier when they reached the barnyard and when she had called out to him. She remembered how his hand had immediately moved to cover her stomach and the small, hopeful smile that graced her features was practically infectious. Dale replied with a comforting one of his own as he placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't you worry any, Tess! If he hasn't come around to the idea now, then I guarantee you that he will! Daryl loves you – he won't ever abandon you – that is something I am always confident of!" Tessa smiled in thanks as he continued, "And if you ever need any help with the baby, then please, come to me. I don't have any experience, per say, speaking me and my wife never had children, but I'd love to be the grandfather figure this baby deserves!" Tessa smiled another thankful smile as he hugged the older man tightly. She swore to God at that moment that if Dale ever died, she didn't know what she'd do.
They broke apart at that moment and when Tessa looked up and saw Andrea's slightly jealous look, she immediately scoffed inside. What did the woman expect? She went all G.I Jane, shot Daryl, started antagonizing Dale and then started sleeping with the most insane member of the group! How could she possibly expect Dale to react to all that let alone keep allowing her rake him over the coals every time he grew worried about her?
"I should probably go find Daryl. There are still a few things we need to clear up." She told him and Dale nodded and continued to smile comfortingly as she turned around and began making her way back to camp. However, Andrea's voice coming from behind her caused her to stop. She turned around and didn't pretend to be happy as the blonde woman made her way over to her, a small, still slightly apologetic smile on her face. "What do you want, Andrea?" She asked her coolly, and Andrea shrugged.
"I just . . . I'm wondering how you've been. We haven't talked at all since Daryl came down from the house -"
"And there's a good reason for that!" Tessa interrupted her coldly and Andrea pursed her lips and nodded.
"You're still angry. I get that -"
"No, I don't think you do yet!" Tessa interrupted her again, her eyes narrowing slightly. She took a few steps towards her then, her voice lowering as well. "You shot my boyfriend, Andrea – the father to my child and the one I'm carrying now!" Andrea's eyes grew wide with shock at the sudden news that she was pregnant but Tessa continued on, keeping her from saying anything. She shook her head in slight disbelief. "Tell me, 'cause I've been wondering this since Hershel patched him up and I actually had time to breathe and think, but when you saw Rick and Shane and Glenn and everyone out there grouped around my man – not doing anything to him – why did you still pull that trigger?" She shrugged again. "What did we ever do to you?" Andrea shook her head and gave her own shrug.
"I-I . . . I don't know Tessa!" She spoke and Tessa nodded.
"Let me guess: something came over you, right?" Andrea didn't reply. She simply stood there, gaping at her like a fish out of water for a moment and Tessa took that time to grin and let out a dry, humorless laugh. "You know, Andrea, ever since you all diked out and learned how to shoot a gun and overall just adopted this totally Shane view that your such hot shit and that your own shit don't stink, I think you've lost the ability to know the value of a human life! Like I said, you could have killed him and in that process of killing him, you would have wrongly robbed his son and the child I am carrying, of their father. You would have robbed me of – Hell, my husband, because why not – we already consider myself his wife in everything but name!" Andrea shook her head.
"Tessa, I've told you I'm sorry but quite clearly, words are not enough and I'm fine with that! I also know that there is absolutely nothing I could ever do to -!"
Tessa let out a genuine laugh then, a full-bellied, aching laugh that immediately took Andrea aback and had T-Dog and the others still standing behind them to look over in interest. Even those at the camp looked up to see who the source of the strange noise was coming from and indeed, it was a strange noise. Tessa couldn't remember the last time she had laughed that hard or heard anyone else laugh that hard.
Eventually, she regained control of herself long enough to calm herself down and when she did, she placed her hand to her mouth and gazed at Andrea in slight awe. "My God . . . you really do think you can do no wrong, do you? You think you can shoot anything – that you can do anything - you can treat anyone however you wish and they cannot do a thing about it - that you know everything!" Andrea opened to mouth to interrupt her, but Tessa shook her head, interrupting her as she stepped closer to her, her grin dissolving into one of expressionlessness. "Look, Barbie, I might not be able to hit the broad of a barn with scattershot and I also know that I wasn't exactly level-headed when Shane decided to pull that seriously stupid stunt at the barn, but I can seriously fuck you up with a knife or a hatchet – Daryl wasn't kidding about that!" She stepped closer to her, to the point where Andrea actually had to take a step backwards. Tessa's teeth gritted with anger, her eyes adopting a particularly Merle-ish tone.
"And I swear – to God! – that if you ever shoot anyone in this camp again that is not a walker – not just Daryl or Ethan – especially Daryl or Ethan – I will carve out your heart like it's a fucking turkey dinner and then eat it!" She gave a sickly sweet simper then before she spun around on her heels and began walking off in the direction of the camp. "Just consider it part of my rather barbaric genes, sweetie!" She called over her shoulder and it was then that she heard T-Dog let out a long whistle.
"Damn, remind me never to get on her bad side!"
Tessa stopped when she heard his voice and turned around, where she shook her head. "Oh no, that's not it T-Dog. Don't you dare mess with those I consider my family. If you do, ya gonna end up having a bad time!"
