When Hunters Become the Hunted
Chapter 20
The Barn
Part 1
It was quiet as the rays from the morning sun rolled in through the trees, light seeping in through the mesh screen of the tent, the gentle warmth caressing the bodies inside. It had been a long day previously, but despite it all, they'd had one of the first decent sleeps in a while.
Celeste was still laid out beside Daryl, her cheek resting on his chest. He'd gone to sleep with his white beater on, his arms bare and loose as they laid about. Kenzie had crawled between them at some point, her face buried against Celeste's stomach, her tiny thumb jammed into her mouth. She was comfortably laying there between the two of them, unhindered by the faint snoring coming from Celeste. Having her nose rebroken and set could only fix so much. As a result, she now had a partially deviated septum.
It was the pop from the fire outside that initially woke Daryl up, the quiet voices that followed, shuffling around adding to the noise. Celeste didn't fully wake up though until Daryl nudged her, his hand gently trailing along the curve of her jaw as she slowly peeled opened her eyes.
With a groan, Celeste rolled onto her back, yawning as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Her vision was still blurry, blinking as she tried to focus the image of the tent's ceiling. The lines of the seams went in and out for a moment, before finally solidifying and remaining as one. This put a small smile on her face as she let out another yawn, stretching her arms above her head.
"How'd you sleep?"
Looking over, she found Daryl staring at her, his lead propped up by his hand. He had a faint look of amusement on his face as he looked down at Kenzie, the little blonde still fast asleep.
"Pretty good actually," she yawned, a bead of sweat trickling down the back of her neck as reached down, her hand gently caressing the top of Kenzie's head.
It was hard to believe that she was still fast asleep, a bit of drool soaking into the front of Celeste's shirt. The shirt itself was loose, shifting as she did, the corner riding up and revealing a bit of her waist. She paid no mind to it though, instead catching the sight of amusement on Daryl's face as he looked over at her. His eyes were glued to the wet spot on her shirt as he tried not to snicker, finding it funny for some reason or other. Rolling her eyes, she turned her gaze back toward Kenzie.
"I wonder what she'd dreaming about," she voiced, running her fingers through the blonde strands.
They seemed to be getting thicker every day, the color darkening just a tad. It left her wondering if the blonde would fade out a bit, light brown replacing it or if it would just turn out to be a sandy blonde. For a moment, she found herself wishing it would remain the bright blonde that it was, a memento of her mother. She could only image what Karen had looked like as a child, picturing something similar to what was now in front of her. Would Kenzie truly grow up looking like Karen?
"Probably 'bout how soft a pillow ya are," Daryl joked, finally stretching his own arms as he sat up, groaning as he felt his back pop loudly through the tent.
"Ow," Celeste muttered, shaking her head as she pulled Kenzie up into her arms, earning a small groan of protest. "Time to wake up Sweetie," she cooed, gently running a hand along her warm cheek.
"Don' wanna get up," Kenzie mumbled, burying her face against Celeste's chest.
"You don' get up, ya won't get no feed," Daryl pointed out, now sitting near the entrance of the tent as he pulled on his boots.
Hearing this, Kenzie let out another groan, slowly opening her eye and narrowing them in frustration.
"Not fair," she whined.
"If you want anything to eat though, you're going to have to get dressed first," Celeste informed her, pulling her into her lap as she sat up.
"I don't wanna!" she whined again, folding her arms defiantly.
"Guess yer just gonna have to eat worms then," Daryl shrugged, grabbing his button up as he walked outside.
"Eww!" Kenzie cried. "I don't wanna eat worms!"
Celeste tried to keep from laughing as tears formed in the little girl's eyes. The poor thing had actually believed him.
"Well, we better get up dressed then, huh?" Celeste smiled, grabbing Kenzie's bag from the corner of the tent. "Now, do me a favor and zip up those windows so we can get dressed."
"Okay," Kenzie murmured, walking on top of the bedding as she zipped them up, shielding them from prying eyes.
Once Celeste was sure things were closed up enough, she pulled off Kenzie's top along with her own, tossing them into the small wicker basket that she'd placed inside of the tent. She'd gotten tired of Daryl's clothing just laying around on the ground.
"Alright, take your pants off for me," she said, digging out a clean pair of shorts and underwear for her.
"Done!" Kenzie exclaimed, standing there naked as a Jay bird.
It was honestly rather funny, how proud she was of herself, her hands on her hops as she stood triumphantly after managing to disrobe herself.
"Alright, do you want pink or orange?" Celeste asked, holding up two separate pairs of underwear for her to choose from.
"I want… Orange!" Kenzie finally decided.
"Alright, come her then," Celeste instructed.
Nodding her head, Kenzie came forward, holding onto Celeste's shoulders as she stepped into her panties, Celeste helping her pull them up. Next came her shorts, the two going through the same process once again. They'd been doing this for so long now that it was practically second nature, the process of motherhood slowly easing itself into Celeste's life. It was something that she still wasn't used to, but she knew that it was also something that she wouldn't trade for the world.
"Alright," Celeste smiled, the buttons on the little blonde's shorts now finished. "You wanna try puttin' your shirt on by yourself or do you want help?" she asked, watching as Kenzie stood there weighing her options.
Kenzie still wasn't fully used to dressing herself just yet. Karen had always taken care of it, helping her with every little task. Celeste was trying to help her become more independent though. After all, she'd be five years old come spring time. She wanted her to be able to manage the simple things on her own if at all possible.
"I can try," she finally said, pulling a random shirt from her little bag, her feet nearly tripping on one of the sleeping bags.
Digging into her own bag, Celeste watched with mild amusement as Kenzie tried pulling on her shirt. The blonde had tried tugging on it and some how ended with her head pressing against the hole in the sleeve, one of her arms dangling from the neck hole. After a few moments of this, the poor girl became frustrated, flailing her arms all over the place. If she kept it up, Celeste was pretty sure she'd start flying.
"Oh, Kenzie," she chuckled, slowly taking hold of her and pulling the shirt loose. "Put your arms up sweetie," she instructed, placing the arm holes over her tiny hands.
She then pulled it down, Kenzie's blonde mop popping through and shaking her head.
"Shirts are mean," she scowled, causing Celeste to snicker.
Looking up, Kenzie narrowed her eyes, pointing.
"How do you do it then?" she asked in frustration, a certain amount of sass in her voice.
"That's easy," Celeste answered, pulling her own shirt forward. "You see, I have a neat little trick," she explained, placing her arms through the sleeves first. "I put my arms through the holes first, then I slide it over my head."
Again, Kenzie watched, this time with her mouth hanging open. She blinked as she looked the shirt over, pulling on it with her little hands, the fabric stretching with each and every tug.
"Kenzie, what are you doing?" she laughed, a little confused as Kenzie continued to examine her as if she'd just performed magic.
"How?" Kenzie asked, folding her arms over her chest.
"What do you mean, 'how'?" Celeste snorted. "I just showed you how."
"Nu-uh," Kenzie shook her head. "It don't work," she argued.
Rolling her eyes and shaking her head, Celeste grabbed Kenzie by the shoulders and gently turned her around.
"Okay, we'll discuss this later," she said. "Right now, I want you to go out there with Daryl and get something to eat."
"But," Kenzie started.
"No butts," Celeste shook her head, before guiding her out of the tent. "Now, I'll be out in a minute. I expect to see you with a plate in your hand missy."
With that, Celeste closed the flap behind her, running a hand through her hair. Even after showing her, Kenzie still didn't believe her. she didn't know if she could make it any simpler though. Then again, she guessed that's what happened when one had children.
T
Daryl was by the fire when Kenzie finally stepped out, a sour look on her face. It almost made him laugh as she made her way toward him, tugging at the belt loop of his jeans.. the little blonde raised her arms after that, obviously wanting to be held.
"You two get in a fight or somethin'?" he asked, raising a brow in question as he grabbed her under the arms and lifted her up.
"She's playing tricks," she muttered sourly, wrapping her arms around Daryl's neck.
"Tricks, huh?" he questioned, shifting her a bit as he held a plate out in front of him, Carol dumping a small pile of eggs on top along with a single Spam patty.
"Pork chop?" Kenzie asked innocently.
Carol let out a small laugh at her words, a small smile pulling on to the older woman's face.
"Sure," Daryl nodded, not really sure how to explain the mishmash of meat that now sat in front of them.
Moving off to the side, Daryl pulled out one of the fold up chairs, kicking it open the rest of the way with the edge of his foot. He then sat down, plopping Kenzie down in his lap, fork in hand as he cut the Spam into tiny pieces. He didn't need her choking on it or Celeste would kill him for sure.
"Alright, now, eat," he told her, placing the fork in her hand.
He watched as she eyes the little cubes of meat for a moment, poking them with her fork and moving them around the plate.
"Kenzie," he warned, not wanting her to sit and play with it.
She looked up at him, before finally spearing a piece with the fork, shoving the thing in her mouth. Right away, the look on her face changed, the corner of his mouth twitching.
"Not pork chop," she whined, before pointing a finger at him. "Liar!"
Those sitting around the fire broke out into laughter, the little blonde scowling the entire time.
"Its a different kind of pork chop sweetie," Lori called out, a small smile on her face.
She'd gone through similar things with Carl over the years, trying to get him to eat a variety of different foods. Certain attempts were better than others, but occasionally, they ran into a few bumps here and there. Apparently, Celeste was running into a few of the same problems with Kenzie as well.
The poor thing looked so confused as she sat there in Daryl's lap, eyeing the meat once more.
"Lil' Bird," Daryl sighed, stealing the fork from her hand. "It ain't gonna kill ya."
With that, he deliberately stabbed a piece and shoved it in his mouth. For a moment, she acted like he had two heads, gaping openly at him.
"See?"
Daryl lifted his tongue, moving it this way and that. He made sure that there was no trace of it left, before handing her back the fork, thanking whoever it was that she had no clue what cooties were. He nearly cringed at the thought of having to deal with something like that.
"Hey, Cel, ya fall over in there or somethin'?" he suddenly called out, hearing the scoff that followed.
"Very funny, Dixon," Celeste bit back, finally stepping out of the tent.
Her shirt was changed, along with her pants, her boots now adorning her feet. She'd placed her hair up in a ponytail, too lazy to do anything else with it as she kept it off her neck. As she stepped forward, he noticed that her face was a little flushed, a frown pulling at his lips.
"You alright?" he asked, reaching out and clasping her wrist in his hand.
Her pulse beat against his fingers oddly for a moment, his eyes trailing down. Glancing back up at her, he found her staring out at nothing.
"Hey," he piped up, pulling her back from wherever she'd gone.
"Y-yeah," she breathed out, blinking as she rubbed a hand over her face. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just hot," she assured him, moving her hand into his and giving it a small squeeze before grabbing a plate of her own.
Oddly enough, it was actually a little chilly that morning, a breeze on the air sending the branches swaying above their heads. Andrea even had on a long sleeved shirt at the moment and Carol a wrap around to keep herself warm.
"Here you go, honey," Carol smiled, sliding a pile of eggs out onto the young woman's plate. "You want any coffee?" she asked, gesturing to the kettle full of hot water. "It'll warm you up."
"No thanks," Celeste said, shoveling a bit of egg into her mouth.
"You sure?" Carol asked, trying to be as accommodation as possible.
Nodding her head, Celeste gave the woman an appreciative smile.
"Yeah," she said, before pausing. "I'm sure Daryl would appreciate it though."
At the sound of his name being said, said redneck perked up a bit, looking over at the two women.
"Sure thing," Carol said quietly, dropping some instant into a cup, before pouring the steaming water in.
"I'll help clean up after though," Celeste said with a smile, carefully taking the cup from her and heading back toward Daryl and Kenzie.
T
Carol watched on as Celeste went to sit with Daryl and Kenzie. The brunette looked at little wornas Carol felt. Despite being able to help out in the camp, she felt useless. Everyone else was out searching for her daughter, but her.
She still remembered when Daryl had come back with the bundle in her arms. Before she realized how small it was, she'd had a spark of hope that he'd found Sophia. She'd had to walk away though when she realized that it was actually Keenzie that he'd found, the little blonde out cold from heat and exhaustion. The look on Celeste's face had been unreadable at first as she stumbled out of the house, her blue grey eyes tired and rimmed with fatigue. Like Carol, she'd been worried sick, even though Kenzie wasn't hers. With the way that she cared for the child, any other person would have assumed Kenzie to be her daughter. They all had assumed such when the two had stumbled into their lives that day, the little girl clinging to the woman's leg.
Now, as she looked on, she began to realize something. Looking between Daryl and Celeste, she began to see the true spark that ran between them. Celeste's head was laid against Daryl's knee, the child in his lap chewing away at the food on her plate. There was a particular gleam in the young woman's eyes as she glanced up at Daryl, the older of the two picking lightly at Kenzie's hair and causing the child to become flustered.
Waving her hands around, Kenzie pushed at Daryl, turning around in the man's lap and poking him. He didn't seem to mind though, giving the child a look of amusement. He was enjoying himself, a genuine smile pulling at his lips. For the first time in a while, he actually looked relaxed.
Turning away, Carol let her gaze fall back down to the skillet in her hands. She wished that she'd had such a life with her husband, wishing that he'd been kinder; gentler even. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Glenn stand. He was wringing his hands nervously, a frown forming on the woman's face. What did he have to be nervous about?
"Uh, guys…" he started, eyes darting around as he looked everyone in the group over momentarily.
He was hesitating, but she couldn't figure out why.
"So…" he paused again, swallowing the massive lump in his throat. "The barn's full of walkers."
It took a moment to register what he'd just said, the skillet nearly slipping from her hand as his words started to sink in. glancing around, everyone had stopped, frozen in place. Celeste looked more awake now than she had been, Daryl's lips parting slightly as he tried to process Glenn's words. T-Dog had stopped mid drink, the cup of coffee now still in his large hands. In the back, several things seemed to be going through Shane's head, his features moving from shock to anger.
T
Everyone was on edge as they huddled near the barn. They'd finally noticed the groaning as Shane stepped forward, trying to get a look inside. There was just enough light shining through the breaks of the wood for him to get an idea.
Inside, he could make out a few walkers. The things were stumbling, feet dragging as they wandered aimlessly, milling around the inside of the barn. One of them somewhere in the back, it was missing its jaw. Another one was walking around with a chunk of flesh missing from its neck, it's skin a sickly pale color as it shuffled forward. He didn't step back until one was suddenly in his face, the parasite slamming against the door with a growl.
"You can not tell me that you're alright with this?" Shane growled, spinning around and moving back from the barn.
It was directed at Rick, his eyes wandering around at the rest of the ground. Both Carl and Kenzie were present, the latter of the two hiding behind her 'mother'. Lori on the other hand had her arms wrapped around Carl, keeping him back as far away from the barn as she could. Neither women were looking to let their children any closer than they already were, the two mothers standing near one another.
"No, I'm not," Rick said firmly, raising a hand. "But we're guests here," he reminded. "This isn't our land."
"My God, this is our lives, man!" Shane yelled, eyes narrowed in irritation.
"Lower your voice!" Glenn pleaded, trying to get the man to calm down.
"We can't just sweep this under the rug," Andrea pointed out.
"It ain't right, now remotely," Shane muttered, pacing back and forth between people.
Watching all of this, Daryl made a point to keep near Celeste, his eyes trailing down toward Kenzie. The little blonde was clinging to Celeste's leg, face buried in the material of her jeans.
"We either gotta go in there, we gotta make things right or we just gotta go," Shane said simply, his hat in hand as he twisted the thing back and forth. "We've been talking about Fort Benning for a long time."
"We can't go," Rick said forcefully.
"Why Rick, why?" Shane bit okay, deliberately pushing for an answer.
Rick was about to say something to that, but Carol spoke up first, pointing out what they all knew.
"Because my daughter is still out there," she pointed out, arms crossed over her chest in frustration.
She wasn't leaving without her daughter. Dead or alive, she at least had to know where she was. She was all that she had left and she was going to find her. She had to.
Sighing, Shane turned around, hands cupping his face as he tried to find the words. For a moment, it actually sounded like he was trying not to laugh, Celeste's eyes narrowing at the man. After all, could he really just dismiss everything and leave a little girl behind?
"Carol," he bit out. "Okay, I think its time that we all just start to consider the other possibility."
"Shane, we're not leaving Sophia behind."
Rick's words were firm as he glanced back at Carol. He needed her to know that he wasn't giving up on her daughter, just like he hadn't given up on finding Kenzie. It was still possible to find Sophia, especially, since they'd found Kenzie. After all, if Kenzie could survive, that why not Sophia? Sophia had a much higher chance at survival than Kenzie did by a long shot. Not that he'd ever point that out to Celeste, but even he knew that she'd agree.
"We're close to finding this girl," Daryl piped up, stepping forward out of frustration. "I just found her damn doll two days ago."
"You found a doll, Daryl, that's what you did. You found a doll," Shane exclaimed, his words almost mocking in nature.
"You don't know what the hell you're talkin' about!"
Daryl was getting pissed now, a scowl on his face as Rick between the two, his hand out as he tried keeping them separated. It was obvious how frustrated they all were, but he didn't need a fist fight. It was worse though when Shane went on about statistics, talking about the first 48 hours. It was like they didn't already know that, but he just wouldn't stop.
"Shane, Shane stop!" Rick ground out, trying to put distance between the two men along with shutting his deputy up and putting an end to things.
Shane wasn't done though. No, he kept going, fueled by his own anger and frustration.
"Let me tell you something else," he said, moving closer. "That little girl over there," he pointed toward Kenzie, the hair on the back of Celeste's neck bristling.
In the back of her mind, Celeste knew where this was leading. Shane didn't like Daryl and it was obvious, he thought that he was no better than his brother Merle.
"That was dumb luck!" Shane spat.
Pushing Kenzie toward Lori, Celeste moved forward. She didn't like how this was going.
"You're lucky she wasn't bit! Otherwise you'd have had to put a bullet in her skull!"
"That's enough!" Celeste snapped.
"You don't know nothin'!" came the gravel in Daryl's voice as he shouted back at Shane, pushing at Rick in an attempt to get passed him.
"Hell, if the other had seen you comin', all methed out with your buck knife and geek ears around your neck, she'd have run in the other direction!"
At this, Daryl snapped, lunging forward. His face was red in anger, steam almost pouring from his ears as Rick tried holding him back.
"You're lucky the other one didn't run when she saw your pathetic ass!" Shane added.
The man was silenced before he could say anything else, silence blanketing the area around them as she slapped him across the face. She was furious. No, she was beyond furious. He had no right to talk to Daryl like that. No right to involve the children in his little childish grudge games. He was merely adding to the current amount of testosterone and it was getting old.
"Don't you dare talk to him like that!" she snapped, eyes narrowed and set on Shane. "You have no right, none at all!"
Pointing toward Kenzie, she felt tears well up in her eyes.
"That little girl over there," she started. "She fought fer her life! She fought fer every second that God gave her, holding on to what she knew in hopes that someone would find her."
A couple of tears slid down her face as she spoke.
"Daryl has fought tooth and nail for those girls an' he took an arrow to the side in the process!" she hissed. "So unless you're willing to do the same, you useless son of a bitch, then shut yer damn mouth!"
For a moment, she thought that Shane might actually slap her back, Daryl moving and pulling her toward him. He'd be damned if he let Shane touch her again after the CDC. When he didn't move to act, Daryl let his muscles relax for a moment, watching as Shane finally narrowed his eyes.
"Don't you ever touch me again," Shane said lowly, eyes locked with Celeste's.
The woman stood her ground though as she stood in front of Daryl.
"Then you keep your mouth shut and stay away from Daryl," she snapped. "I'm tired of all the bullshit tha' you put him through. The degradation and humiliation that you try to place on him just because you can't get yer shit straight."
Again, it looked like he might smack her, the man taking a step forward. Rick got between them though, his hands up as he kept Shane at a distance.
"Just back off, Shane," he ordered, shoving at his chest to make a point when he didn't listen.
"Keep your hands off me!"
"Then back off!" Rick countered. "Look just let me talk to Hershel, okay?"
"Man, what are you gonna figure out!" Shane screamed, rounding on Rick, only to have Lori come forward and push him back.
"If we're gonna clear this barn, I've gotta talk him into it," Rick told him. "This is his land, not ours.
Stepping forward, Dale decided to speak up, wanting to try and alleviate things a bit. He didn't like where things were currently going.
"Hershel sees those things in there as people," Dale said firmly, finger pointed toward the barn. "Sick people. His wife, his step son."
Shane's mouth was hanging open as he listened to this, anger slowly rising back into his head.
"You knew?" Rick choked out, eyes wide in surprise.
"Yesterday, I talked with Hershel," Dale admitted, nodding his head.
"And you waited the night," Shane snipped, voice condescending.
"I thought we could survive one more night," Dale bit back. "We did."
Looking out at the group, Dale's eyes trailed over each person. He made eye contact with Rick first, the Sheriff nodding his head in understanding. It didn't matter if they'd have known last night. They wouldn't have been able to do anything. Next was Daryl, he was a bit miffed, but he accepted things. They were still there and that was all that truly mattered. Celeste followed after, a hint of fear in her eyes. She understood, but it still left her on edge nonetheless. His eyes trailed over Lori and Carol, the two of them as on edge as Celeste. T-Dog was silent, in the same frame of mind as Daryl. Glenn was beside himself, the young man at a loss for words. There was nothing he could truly say to any of them.
"I was waiting until this morning to say something. Glenn wanted to be the one."
"The man is crazy, Rick, if he thinks those things are alive!"
Rick had his hand up as he yelled, the commotion pushing the growl from the barn to become lowered. They all stepped back as the monster crashed against the barn doors, the chains keeping them closed. Kenzie started screaming at that point, tears in her eyes as she ran toward Celeste and Daryl. Daryl was the one to pick her up, pulling her and Celeste back and away from the barn as the beasts started pounding on the doors. Even Carl had started crying out of fear, running to his own mother. It was time that they moved away from the barn.
Alright everyone, that was chapter 20. I hope you all liked it, especially, the parts with Kenzie. I had a lot of fun writing it and plan to do more in a similar nature in future chapters. Daryl is going to have a large roll in Kenzie's upbringing as him and Celeste move closer together. Please, let me know what you think as it pushes my writing forward? I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts on things and how they are progressing. I'D LIKE TO KNOW IF THERE'S ANYTHING YOU'D LIKE TO SEE HAPPEN? Please, let me know in either PM or REVIEW. Thanks everyone.