When Hunters Become the Hunted
Chapter 7
Attack on the Camp
After a few compromises and a bit of talk, the sheriff had made his way to the cube van and hurried on his way, taking Daryl, T-Dog, and Glenn with him. They were dead set on bringing the red neck back, no matter what, and Daryl was going to make sure of that.
T
About a hour after the group had left, Celeste found herself down at the bottom of the quarry with the other women. They'd gone down to do laundry, Ed, Carol's husband accompanying them. However, if Celeste were truly honest on the matter, she would have admitted that it was far from accompaniment when it came to Ed Peletier.
Ed was a large man, larger than Celeste had originally thought that he was. He was also intimidating to a degree, but she'd dealt with plenty of people that were intimidating in her lifetime. This man in particular was also extremely sexist, never truly allowing his wife to get a word in edge wise. In fact, she believed that the word chivalry wasn't even within the man's vocabulary.
"I'm beginning to question the division of labor here," Jacqui said, eyes drifting across the quarry to Shane and Carl.
The two had apparently ended up with the assumption that they could catch frogs, Shane making a gigantic fool of himself and splashing around loudly like a giant elephant. Jacqui didn't appreciate this much and neither did Andrea, both coming back with another load of laundry that they'd gathered from the back of the truck that Ed had so kindly driven down for them.
Carol smiled though as she watched on, enjoying the image of Carl laughing in the water. It was becoming rare to find something fun for the children to do. However, she had taken notice to the slight change in Carl when Celeste had appeared with Kenzie, almost immediately attaching himself to the little girl. He had taken it upon himself to act as a brother, seeing how he had no siblings of his own to speak of. Her daughter Sophia on the other hand, she had become his best friend.
"Can someone explain to me how the women ended up doing all the Hattie McDaniel work?" Jacqui asked, raising a brow in question.
"The world ended, didn't you get the memo?" Amy piped up half heartedly, a bit of sarcasm in her voice that told them she was rolling her eyes mentally.
"It's just the way it is," Carol sighed, handing off a dripping garment to Jacqui to wring out for her as she went back to work, her eyes glancing toward her husband every now and then.
T
The vehicle moved, sending a jolt through the haul as the wheels hit the ridged gravel path. It sent everyone scrambling that didn't have anything to hold onto, Glenn being sent forward into the dashboard, while T-Dog wobbled back and forth. Daryl on the other hand had taken the time to brace himself, catching hold of the floor before he managed to hit anything.
T
"I do miss my Maytag," Carol sighed, looking down at her prune ridden fingers.
"I miss my books," Celeste piped up, looking over at Carol as she rubbed at her forehead absentmindedly.
Before all of this, Celeste had practically owned a small little library within her tiny home. The books themselves had ended up taking refuge upon a large shelf that spanned one of the walls downstairs. She almost couldn't believe that that part of her life was now gone and scattered to the wind.
"I miss my Benz. My Sat Nav," Andrea supplied, scrubbing lightly at the shirt on her knee as she reminisced about her cars.
"I miss my coffeemaker," Jacqui nearly moaned out, wringing out a shirt. "With the dual-drip filter and that built in grinder, honey."
Celeste could feel a faint smile pulling at her lips as she heard this. Even though she had never been a huge coffee fan, she could still appreciate it from time to time. Especially, if a bit of Mocha was tossed in with it.
"I miss my computer," Amy sighed. "And texting."
Typical teenager Celeste thought, shaking her head.
"You know what?" Andrea said, a faint smirk pulling at her lips as she thought of something. "I miss my vibrator."
There were a few 'oh's' from the group at this, Amy sounding slightly mortified as she laughed. Although, it was Carol that topped the cake, looking from side to side for a moment as though contemplating something.
"Me too," she admitted, causing laughter to erupt into the air.
Granted, the group couldn't really blame her when glancing over at Ed. Who would want something like that anyway? The answer is no one.
Hearing the loud bursts of laughter, Ed made his way over, eyeing the group of women with an obvious look of distain.
"What's so damn funny?" he asked, pulling his cigarette away from his lips.
"Just swappin' war stories is all Ed," Andrea told him, a smile on her face as she tried her best not to laugh.
In the mean time, Amy had a child like smile on her face, the joke still fresh in her mind.
Looking around, Ed slowly made his way closer, glancing over each of the women. His eyes lingered on Celeste for a moment though, taking in one of the newer members of the camp. In his mind, she was a scrawny little thing. Although, small as she was, she was still pretty.
When Ed didn't say anything, Andrea looked over her shoulder, trying to figure out what the problem might be. When she saw him eyeing Celeste, she decided to speak up.
"Problem, Ed?" Andrea asked, raising a brow in question.
"Nothin' that concerns you," he replied, a bit of bite to his words. "And you ought to focus on your work," he said, directing it toward Carol as she sat there scrubbing. "This ain't no comedy club."
Upon hearing this, Andrea scoffed, Celeste doing the very same thing. It wasn't the first time that the young woman had been subject to or having had been around situations such as this. Ridicule seemed to almost be common place in the world, no matter where you went. Just as dejection and other things were as well. Even in the new world and ways of thinking, that was one thing that would never truly change.
"Ed, tell you what—," Andrea said, getting up from her spot on the shore and walking toward him with a piece that she'd grabbed from Carol. "You don't like how your laundry is done, you are welcome to pitch in and do it yourself," she said firmly. "Here."
With that, she tossed the piece of sopping wet fabric at his chest, only to have it roughly tossed back in her face.
"Ain't my job, missy," he stated, taking another puff of his cigarette.
"Andrea, don't," Amy said quickly, standing up to grab her sister after seeing the look on her face.
Ed had started something that Andrea was going to pursue, being the liberal person she was, there was no standing down with her. Especially, when it came to sexist men like Ed Peletier. She didn't care if he was Carol's husband or not, she was still going to set him straight in his ways if it was the last thing she did.
"What is your job, Ed?" Andrea asked, slowly getting up in his face. "Sitting on your ass smoking cigarettes?"
"Well, it sure as hell isn't sitting and listening to some uppity smart mouthed bitch," he retorted, licking his lips for a moment as he flicked his cigarette Andrea's way. "Tell ya what—Come on. Let's go," he said, calling over toward Carol.
Without a word, the quiet spoken woman stood from her spot, her head down as she made her way toward her husband.
"I don't think she needs to go anywhere with you, Ed," Andrea said bluntly, standing in front of Carol.
"And I say it's none of your business," he replied narrowly. "Come on now," he said again, as though calling out toward an animal, trying to coax it forward. "You heard me."
"Carol," Andrea spoke, stopping the woman for a moment, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Andrea, please, it doesn't matter," she said quietly, almost to the point of a whisper.
"Hey," Ed called out, grabbing Andrea's attention. "Don't think I won't knock you on your ass just 'cause you're some college educated cooze, alright?"
At the comment, Andrea was taken aback, mouth gapping at the fact that he had the balls to make such a statement. If she were still in civilized society, his ass would have been 10 feet under by now in the court system and more than likely in jail.
"Now you come on now or you gonna regret it later," Ed threatened, gesturing for Carol to hurry her ass up.
At that moment was when Celeste finally decided to stand up. There was a lot of stuff that she could tolerate, but she wasn't very tolerant when people were being threatened. Especially, someone such as Carol, a woman whom had been nothing, but nice to her the entire time that she'd been within camp.
"So she can show up with fresh bruises later, Ed?" Jacqui pointed out, her lips pulled into a firm line. "Yeah, we've seen them," she spat, only resulting in a faint laugh from Ed.
"Stay outta this," he said flatly, before raising his voice. "Now come on!"
"I suggest you back off, Ed," Celeste spoke up, making her way forward to stand in front of Carol and Andrea.
"And what ya gonna do about it?" he asked, getting up in her face.
"Now, listen here," she snapped. "You've got a little girl up there," she said, pointing up toward the camp. "Is that really the kind of example that you wanna set for her?" she asked.
"I suggest you stay outta this," he narrowed, before grabbing onto Carol. "Come on!"
"Get off of her!" Celeste exclaimed, moving to pull her away, only to have him slap Carol across the face for saying something to him. "Son of a bitch!"
With that, Celeste pulled her first punch, knocking him back a bit as the others grabbed hold of Carol. They pulled her away from her husband, putting distance between the two as Ed growled out, catching Celeste across the face with a loud crack and sending her to the ground effortlessly.
"Now, I told ya-" he was cut off by Shane, the deputy pulling him away by the back of his shirt and tossing him to the ground.
The entire time, Carol was crying out for her husband as Shane began beating the shit out of him. In fact, if it weren't for the blood now running down her face, Celeste may have felt slightly sorry for the man. That wasn't the case though as she slowly sat up, cradling the side of her face in her hand along with her nose. Both had begun to ache terribly and she was afraid that Ed may have actually gone and broken her nose.
"Shit," she groaned, spitting a bit of blood onto the sand, before wincing at the pain in her jaw.
No doubt, she'd have a nasty bruise later.
"Now, you listen to me," Shane growled out, getting in Ed's already bloodied face. "You lay a hand on your wife, your little girl, or anyone else in this camp again, and I swear to God, I'll beat ya to death!" he spat. "You got that?"
When Ed finally managed to reply, Shane punched him in the face again, before jarring the man's ribs with his boot. He then got up, Carol running forward and falling by her husband's side, eyes red as she sobbed.
"I'm sorry, Ed," she choked out. "I'm sorry!"
This kept up for a bit as Shane moved toward their group, his eyes trailing toward Celeste as the young woman continued to sit on the ground cradling her face. He moved closer to Celeste, taking in the sight of blood as he tried to cool his temper. Even so, Celeste nearly flinched away from him as he knelt down in front of her, grabbing her face in his hand.
"Let me see," he said, turning her head to the side.
Her body went ridged at the contact, her hands digging into the sand and filling her nails with pieces of dirt. As she sat there, she could feel Shane's fingers prodding lightly at her cheek making her flinch and twitch beneath his touch. They then trailed up her face a bit to her nose, her teeth clamping down tightly.
"Well, it's definitely broken alright. That's for sure."
"I'm pretty sure I could have figured as much," Celeste muttered, wincing and nearly throwing her fist out when he took hold of the bridge of her nose, sputtering slightly as she kicked at him. "The hell's wrong with you? That hurts!"
"Guess that tells ya you're still breathing," he replied, pushing himself up and walking off toward came, leaving the others behind.
T
Before anyone knew it, darkness had fallen and fish was being served, courtesy of Andrea and Amy. They'd gone out on the 'lake' earlier that day, taking Dale's canoe and fishing poles with them. Looking at the two, Celeste never would have guessed that either knew how to fish. Apparently, Andrea knew all about nail knots though. What those were, Celeste had no clue, but she still knew how to fish nonetheless. She may not know all the terminology, but she didn't care.
"Here," Andrea spoke up, breaking the woman from her thoughts for a short moment.
Looking up, Celeste found a fish being presented to her, Andrea's hand still outreached toward her smaller form as she sat hunched over in her seat. Her nose was still paining her from earlier, fire still burning beneath her skin every time that she bothered to take a breath. Even her shoulder was sore from her little scrap, a small patch of red glaring against the flickering light of the pit.
"Thanks," she mumbled, tentatively taking the fish from her friend's wary embrace.
This would be her second piece of the evening, the first slab already having been devoured not just twenty minutes ago. It had been something that she had savored, having not had fish in over two months at least. Now, the harmonious aroma was teasing her senses, looking tantalizingly up at her from her lap.
"So…how are you feeling?" Andrea asked quietly, taking a seat to the right of Celeste.
In response, Celeste chewed at her lip for a moment, the delicate skin peeling as she did so. She wasn't really sure if she wanted to talk about things. Her nose was still aching, not trust anyone to actually touch it or put it back in place. She figured if nothing else, she might see if Daryl of even Merle might fix it when they got back. After all, looking at Merle's nose, she was sure that he'd had it broken at least several times in his life.
"Could be better," Celeste finally spoke up, before taking a bite of fish.
Off to the side, she could see Kenzie enjoying herself as she sat with Carl and Lori, a look of contentment on her tiny face.
"You know, I'm pretty sure that Carol is grateful that you stood up for her," Andrea expressed. "I still can't believe he actually broke your nose though."
"I can," Celeste mutter in irritation, stuffing another piece of fish in her mouth, nearly swallowing it whole.
"Momma, can you pass the fish please?" Sofia asked, holding her plate out toward her mother.
"Sure sweetie."
With that, the pan was passed around, sending pieces her and there for whoever wanted one. The aroma itself rose into the air around the fire, casting shadows around while lighting bits and pieces of the faces that surrounded it.
With a sigh, Celeste placed her plate on the ground and stood, rubbing her forehead as she made her way toward her tent. As she went, she heard a conversation start up among the campers, Dale being the center of it. They had asked about his watch, the old trinket that adorned his left wrist. Apparently, he wound it up each and every day without fail.
"What? It was Falkner," Dale laughed after quoting the man. "William Falkner."
Celeste merely shook her head as she pushed back the flap of her tent, stepping inside to grab a bottle of pain killers. It was really the only thing that she could think to do at the moment, seeing no other way to relieve the pain. Moving her bow to the side, she pulled open her bag and began to rummage through it, the sound of feet shuffling nearby. She swore, if it was Shane, she was going to kick his ass.
It was when the side of her tent began to rustle that Celeste got annoyed, making her way back out of the tent.
"Would you-," Celeste stopped short, eyes going wide.
Seconds later, a scream erupted across the camp, panic breaking loose. It was the parasite in front of her that left her frozen, its milky white orbs staring back at her as it let loose a growled and lunged at her.
Falling backwards, Celeste pushed away, nearly taking her tent with her as she scrambled away from the gnashing teeth in front of her. She could feel herself shaking as she backed away, the creature falling forward and grabbing her leg, a scream erupting from her mouth as it tried to bite down on her foot.
"Mama!" Sophia yelled in the background, her voice crying out for her mother among everyone else's cries and shouts.
It was then that Celeste was hit with realization. Kenzie. Kenzie was out there with those things.
"Kenzie!" she gapped, eyes going even wider as she pulled away from the monster, reaching out and grabbing for her bow.
Again, it made to bite down on her foot, receiving a blow to the head with her boot.
"Get back!" she yelled, kicking at it again as she grabbed for an arrow, her fingers skimming the edge of the shaft as she scraped it forward. "Get off!" she yelled again, kicking it in the face as her fingers curled around the arrow.
She then hauled her hand back, quickly plunging the arrow into the creature's eye with a sickening crunch, blackened blood oozing from its eyes and onto her pant leg.
"Mom!" she heard Carl cry out, her eyes raising toward the chaos outside.
Swallowing her fear, she grabbed her quiver and knife, quickly pushing herself up and running outside.
"Kenzie!?" she called out among the cries, searching the area with her eyes. "Kenzie!"
She could barely hear over all of the screaming and shouting, her eyes shooting everywhere in an attempt to locate the little girl that she'd been charged with.
Panting, Celeste pushed herself backwards, scrambling to notch an arrow in her compound as she ignored the mess in her tent. Again, she heard a scream, her eyes landing upon Carol and Sophia as they backed themselves into a corner.
"Carol, get down!" Celeste yelled, pulling her bow up and leveling out the sights in one quick moment, before send her arrow shooting from its hold.
It made contact as expected, pinning the walker to a tree by its throat.
"Get her to the RV!" Celeste called out once more, before notching another arrow and pulling back the string with two fingers.
Her fingers slid loose, eradicating the walker's very existence as it made contact with its dilapidated skull.
"Behind you!" she heard Carol call out, but by the time she heard it, it was too late.
The walker was already upon her, a scream escaping her lips as she fell forward into the dirt, her lungs heaving at the new found weight of the thing on her back. Without thinking, Celeste clawed at the ground, kicking her feet out in an attempt to break free.
"Shane, do something!" Carol begged, watching her friend struggle.
"I can't, I don't have a decent shot," he told her.
"Just shoot the damn thing!" Celeste yelled, reaching behind her and digging her nails into the monster's neck as it tried to bite down on her, halting it in its tracks.
"I can't!" he said, his eyes scanning the area around him as he shot off another few rounds into some nearby walkers, forgetting about the woman wreathing on the ground.
Celeste cursed the man under her breath as she kicked her leg backwards, managing to snap the walker's rotting leg in half. That only got her so far though as she ducked her head forward to avoid being bitten.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see movement, a pair of feet shuffling toward her with a groan.
"Shit!" she yelled, only to have the walker on her back become dead weight.
She then found the other on the ground within moments, an arrow to the brain as it laid there, glassy white eyes staring back at her.
Biting back a scream, Celeste bit down on her tongue, pushing to free herself as she heard more groans approaching. She barely even registered the weight being pulled off of her as she grabbed for her bow, quickly pulling it back and releasing an arrow into another nearby walker.
"Get up!" she heard Daryl yelled, his hand grabbing hold of her arm and pulling her up with him.
She merely ignored him, quickly looking around.
"Kenzie!?" she yelled, searching still for the little blond.
"She not with you?" Daryl asked, grabbing hold of her arm, eyes widening slightly as he looked to either side of him.
"No, she was with Carl and Lori when it broke out!" she cried.
"Everyone, keep moving!" she could hear Rick yell. "Make your way to the RV!"
"Just get, I'll take care of this," Daryl said, trying to push her in the direction of the RV.
She merely shook her head, not wanting to budge as she shot off another arrow.
"Not a chance!" she snapped, eyes narrowing as she spotted Shane.
He was ushering Carl and Lori behind him, pushing them against the RV out of harm's way. All that he cared about was keeping them safe. No one else mattered to him.
"Come on, move!" Shane yelled, another shotgun going off and taking down a nearby walker.
People continued to scramble about, screams erupting from their mouths as walkers continued to close in on the surrounding area. Everyone was trying to stay alive, weapons in hand as they attempted to beat the creatures off and away from them.
"Rick!" Celeste yelled out over the stream of fear. "Duck!"
Her arrow shot forward as he ducked out of the way, landing straight into the skull of a nearby walker that had attempted to get a jump on the old officer, a look of gratitude radiating from him as he stood back up and pointed behind her. Quickly, she whirled around, shooting her leg out into a roundhouse kick. It landed firmly, colliding with the creatures gut and sending it to the ground. Without a second thought, she pulled out her knife and wedged it between the things eyes, blood spurting up and coating her cheek and shirt. She barely took notice to it though as she closed her eyes, the putrid smell nearly over riding her senses.
The same thing continued to repeat itself for what seemed like an eternity. The sounds of gunshots seemed to leave a permanent echo within her soul. The blackened blood stained her skin leaving her clothes sticky. Then, everything just seemed to stop, leaving her in a haze. There were no more parasites. Bodies littered the camp ground, both newly dead along with the now permanent and rotting. The whole site was wrecked with a mumble of words lingering in the air as people seemed to almost drop to their knees, crying out for their loved ones.
"I found her!" Daryl called out, Celeste's eyes going wide as she pushed herself up off of the ground.
Quickly, she made her way toward him, finding him by one of the vehicles. He had Kenzie in his arms, her little mop of hair stained red with blood as she shook in his hold.
"Kenzie!" Celeste cried, reaching forward and taking the girl from Daryl and into her arms.
She fell to her knees moments later, tears rolling down her face as she held her close, Daryl standing to her side.
"I remember my dream now…" Jim's words seemed to quietly flood the air. "Why I dug all those holes…"
He'd foreseen the event and didn't even know it.
Sorry for the wait everyone! I hope that you enjoyed the chapter. Please MESSAGE me and REVIEW with your thoughts and possibly ideas. When I'm not working, I plan to start updating my stories again. The next chapter should be out soon, so keep an eye out!