I do not own the Walking Dead.
Previously:
As the group made their way back to the cafeteria, Daryl gave Faye a light pat on the back. "Nice job, ya shut 'em up. All that, uh, really true?"
Faye knew he meant the part about her Dad, but she ignored it.
(That bit was completely true.)
"Nah, that guy wasn't twice my size."
There was more than a little food in the cafeteria.
"This what you call a lil' bit of food?" Daryl said, shining a torch in the leader's eye.
The man shrugged. "Goes fast."
Well, it will if you feed it all to Big-Tiny.
What kind of a name was Big-Tiny, anyway? Maybe it wasn't his real name, like T-Dog. Then again, the prisoners were making jokes about a little bed, perhaps it was that.
She was probably over thinking it, though. It was just a name.
"You can have a bag of corn, some tuna fish-"
"Said half, that's the deal." Rick interrupted, looking round the food supply. Faye hoped they got stuff other than tuna fish, she hated the stuff. Rick then investigated what must have once been a fridge, food inside gone off and stinking of rot. The door was immediately slammed again.
The silence was extremely awkward when the blonde prisoner spoke up. "Can't wait to have my own pot to piss in."
Faye scrunched her nose up. That was disgusting.
In the end, Rick left the decision to Daryl on whether Faye would join them on the raid of a cell block. The leader had expressed how he thought it would be a bad idea, also saying some words in the hunter's ear, but then let Daryl be the decider.
"I think ya know what I'm gonna say." Daryl crouched down to her level, the prisoners busying themselves picking a weapon.
"Please!" Faye frowned. "I can do it! I'll even stay at the back, if you want, I'll just keep watch to see if any come up behind us! I won't be in the way."
Daryl shook his head. "Still too dangerous."
"It's like you said, I'm a good shot." Faye was pretty sure Daryl muttered something under his breath about her being stubborn, but she didn't care. "I can handle myself!"
"Look," Daryl waved a hand in what must have been annoyance. "We might not be able to let these guys live near us. Or send 'em away. Get what I mean?"
Oh.
Oh.
Faye stayed silent, shuffling on her feet. She'd known this was a possibility, if they made a move, she'd been prepared to do it herself. Well, she thought she'd been prepared. When she didn't reply, Daryl continued.
"If we gotta off with 'em, ya shouldn't be there. Ain't no kid gotta see that."
Faye shrugged a little. It wasn't that she didn't care, death worried the girl and plagued her nightmares. She just didn't want to think about it, pushing any bad thought to the back of her mind. "I've seen worse. Please, I can handle it."
Daryl ran a hand through his hair, obviously debating in his head. Faye was pretty sure he didn't know how to handle this with a kid, but she could manage fine. Eventually, he replied. "Fine. But if one thing goes wrong, you're goin'-"
"I go back." Faye finished.
Daryl nodded. "Women gonna have my ass for lettin' you go. Carl too, ya know."
"The women can go to me!" Faye grinned. "And Carl? What, nah, he'll just be jealous. I'll make sure of that!"
Standing up to his full height, Daryl acknowledged the other two men as Rick and T-Dog walked back in. At Faye's presence, Rick raised his eyebrows, but didn't speak as the four stood in front of the prisoners.
"Why do I need this," The prisoner held up a crowbar before pulling out his gun. "When I got this?"
Because noise ruins every plan.
"You don't fire guns, not unless you're back's up against the wall. Noise attracts them." Daryl replied. "Really riles 'em up."
"We'll go in two-by-two. Daryl on point with T. I'll bring up the rear with you." Rick pointed his knife towards the smallest prisoner. "Faye, you're there, too, keeping an eye out so nothin' sneaks up on us. Stay tight, hold formation, no matter how close the walkers get. Anyone breaks rank, we could all go down. Anyone runs off, they could get mistaken for a walker - end up with an axe to the head."
Daryl added to the instructions. "That's where you aim. These things only go down with a headshot."
"Ain't gotta tell us how to take down a man."
The girl frowned. That hadn't been the response she was expecting.
Faye crept sideways, glancing forwards to make sure she didn't bump into Rick or the small prisoner. Knife held up, Faye kept watch as the other's waited for walkers to finally catch them.
"It's comin'!" Stupid blonde prisoner, wouldn't shut up. Their naivety was frustrating. The man was quickly shushed.
It was hard to not turn around when she heard the snarls of walkers, but knowing the other's would be able to handle it, the girl stayed focused on her job. It was her one thing to do, she was going to do it well.
But when the prisoners let out a battle cry, Faye couldn't help but turn and see what had gone on.
They all ran forward, beating and stabbing the walkers in practically every spot but the head. Lining up with Daryl and the others, it was clear some more guidelines needed to be put in place.
After regrouping and moving forward, the convicts were ordered to hold their positions.
"Gotta be the brain," Daryl said, walking up to a walker with his crossbow raised. "Not the stomach, not the heart. The brain."
The arrow flew, the walker went down.
One by one, the prisoners all walked forward and took out a walker each, finally listening to the command of 'hit the brain'. When more started to come, formation still tight, they began to take out the walkers more efficiently. Faye didn't have to do much, still keeping an eye out for any walkers coming from different directions.
Then, she noticed Big-Tiny back away.
"Hey!" Faye called to him. He muttered something back, maybe along the lines of 'I'm fine', but Faye still informed one of her group. Rick was closest. "Rick! Big-Tiny wandered off!"
The man frowned as he turned to face her before nodding to T-Dog, motioning his hand for the two of them to get the larger prisoner. By the time the two got there, he was facing off against two walkers.
T-Dog got the one in front of him and Faye ran around the side, attacking the one coming from behind. Kicking it roughly in the shin, the walker fell to it's knees just before it scratched the large prisoner. The girl shoved her knife through where Big-Tiny must have hit it once before and it fell forward. Rick, Daryl and the other prisoners ran in when it fell forwards, Faye pushing it to the side.
Frowning as she looked, the walkers arm and head pooled with blood. She then turned to the large man, who still looked alarmed. Faye spoke, wiping away the specs of blood on her neck and cheek. "You didn't hit it hard enough. Would've come up behind you, then your scratched, then you're dead." She was surprised by the seriousness of her own voice.
Rick waved his arm a little. "This why we don't break rank. You wouldn't be alive if it weren't for my people," He emphasized the 'my' ever so slightly, just enough. "We have to stick together. On our own, we can get easily surrounded, got it?"
Big-Tiny looked around slowly. "Alright. Thanks."
The last word was quiet but Faye gave a slight nod to him as she walked past, Daryl giving her a light slap on the shoulder in what she thought might have been a 'well done'.
She didn't ignore the look in Tomas' eye as she passed by.
On the move again, the group continued to make their way through the winding passages. Faye was stood at the back once again, a step or two behind Daryl and Rick.
She hoped they'd be done soon-ish. She had some serious bragging to do, but needed to stay focused on the task at hand.
(Also, it was dark and gloomy walking through the corridors. It creeped her out, the prisoners not helping at all. Of course, she wouldn't admit this.)
"You see the look on his face?" Faye looked up to see Daryl muttering to Rick. Yeah, how could anyone miss it? That guy was scary, the girl would've stood in front of the two men had he not been there.
"He makes one move." Rick replied, not turning to face the man.
Apparently, Daryl agreed. "Jus' gimme a signal."
It almost saddened Faye that she wasn't surprised in the least.
After a few more minutes, the group reached a laundry room, another set of two doors on another wall. When there were no walkers inside, they all gathered in.
Rick threw the keys at the leader-prisoner's feet.
"I ain't openin' that." He protested.
"Yes, you are." Rick replied smoothly. "You want this cell block. You're gonna open that door - just the one, not both of them. We need to control this."
Doing as he was told, the keys were picked up and the black-haired man held the door handles. Faye went around to the other side, mimicking T-Dog. "You bitches ready?"
The man yanked at the door, making everyone flinch, but it did not budge. Never mind the others, was he ready?
He pulled again. When it didn't open, he spoke. "I got this."
Faye held back a snigger, and all traces of humour left as both doors came flying open, walkers immediately pouring in.
"I said one door!" Rick bellowed.
"Shit happens!" The prisoner yelled back, too busy killing walkers to continue the fight.
One walker stumbled towards her and Faye gripped her knife as she plunged the blade through it's eye, the body falling forward. As quickly as the first had, another walker made it's way towards her, Faye readying her knife again as she edged towards it.
However, Faye was forced to jump back with a quiet squeal of surprise as it fell towards her, tripping over the first dead body. Faye heard the small prisoner snort next, making no move to help.
Come on, Faye, you're supposed to make them think you're strong. Get it together, girl!
Before the walker got to it's feet again, Faye slammed it's head back down to the floor, hoping her wince at the sound of cracking skull was unnoticeable. Getting it over with quickly, the girl thrust the knife into the back of the walker's head with a hard shove before yanking out the weapon as pushing away the body.
The prisoner went back to ignoring her as Faye stepped back from the killing for a moment. Maybe Daryl had been right, maybe she should have stayed in Cell Block C. These up close and personal kills, the last one especially, she just wasn't used to it yet. The blood ran from her knife down onto her hand, Faye shaking her head vigorously to remove the bad memories to the back of her head, where they belonged.
Suddenly, her attention was brought away by a shout, and Faye span around to see Rick pinned down by a walker. Not preoccupied by anything or anyone else, the girl ran over and grabbed it's shoulder, pulling the body up far enough for the man to pull up his own weapon and stab it through the eye.
Faye murmured to Rick as the man got up. "What the hell was that?"
"Him." Rick muttered, the dark tone of his voice unmissable. Once the final walker was killed, Rick stood in front of the prisoner, machete in hand.
The black-haired man was apparently trying to play it cool. It didn't amuse anyone. "It was coming at me, bro."
"Yeah, yeah, I get it." He got it in a different way, Faye thought. "Shit happens."
The silence was unbelievably tense, the fight was inevitable. Faye would have backed away, but felt unable to move.
A second later, the machete was imbedded in the prisoner's head in one slash.
Faye stared wide eyed and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, pulling out her gun to mimic Daryl, pointing it at the blonde prisoner's head. While Rick chased the small prisoner away, Daryl ordered the remaining three to their knees. Daryl stood by Big-Tiny, Faye by the blonde and T-Dog by the third.
Had she not just witnessed her leader almost killed, Faye might have felt pity for the nervous man. Unfortunately, she had seen it, and she felt no pity. "We don't have no affiliation whatsoever with what just happened! Tell 'em Oscar, Tiny!"
Oscar had the right idea, hands held up in the air. "Stop talkin', man."
"Come on, little lady, I know ya probably don't wanna be pointin' that gun at me! I'm scared of 'em myself, scare the bejeezus outta me-"
When he continued to ramble nervously, Faye flicked the safety off and back on again with her pistol, making the clicking noise. This made him stop and she spoke. "Listen to your friend. Shut up." She was quite proud of that.
Eventually, Rick returned without the small prisoner and interrogated the three remaining prisoners.
Just like before, Axel - who's name Faye finally discovered - begged for his life, it was a pathetic sight to say the least. Big-Tiny had explained how Tomas - yet another name - threatened them, how he'd told Tiny if he had gotten scratched, he would've killed him. But Oscar was different. He didn't beg, Faye thought his words made the biggest impact.
"I ain't never pleading for my life. And I ain't about to start now. So you do what you gotta do."
All three were left alive, all three moved into the cell block.
Faye still didn't trust them. As the three adults left the prisoner's with a sentence of advice, Faye simply stared at them. Maybe they were expecting some kind of remark from her as they waited expectantly.
She simply gave them one last glance before shutting the cell door, the clang echoing through the silence.
On the way back to their cell block, the adults talked a little while Faye followed silently, processing the events of the day in her head.
Two more people were dead. Two more people to add to the landfill in the back of her head.
Faye was brought back to reality by the creek of Cell Block C's door opening, Carl walking over with a smile when he saw her. Surprising her, the two children had a little hug before joining the other's at Hershel's cell. "Next time you do that, tell me where you're going. You just disappeared!"
"Sorry!" Faye said with a sheepish grin.
Once outside the cell door, they remained silent, smiling as Hershel began to open his eyes.
This was a good thing, Hershel helped keep everyone level headed, he was someone you could go to if you needed advice. The group needed the old farmer, he was like a granddad to them all.
Daryl lightly put a hand on her shoulder, making the girl notice his presence. He bent down to speak to her quietly, not to disturb anyone. "Ya did good today."
Faye smirked as she whispered a reply. "Does that mean I can try the crossbow?"
"Not a chance."
"They let you go find the infirmary on your own?! I had to beg Daryl to let me go and that was with three of the group!"
Carl and Faye had retreated to her cell once he demanded to hear everything that had gone on. She'd already explained her part, and Carl had just told her of his trip.
"You saved Hershel like a badass all on your own and I just followed some prisoners!"
Carl didn't want to deny her words, but had to. "Technically, they didn't let me."
Faye raised her eyebrows. "So, you just left without telling anyone."
"Yeah." The boy waved a hand when she opened her mouth to speak again. "And you're not allowed to call me a dumbass 'cause your a hypocrite 'cause you left without saying anything and didn't ask Carol or anyone-"
"Woah, slow down, I wasn't gonna call you it!" That was a lie. The girl frowned. "Besides, why would I ask Carol? She's not my Mom, she can't boss me around."
Carl scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "She's someone. I didn't get away with it, Mom got angry with me. So did Beth."
"Beth?" This was new. "Why would she be mad at you? You helped Hershel, wouldn't she be happy with you?"
"Exactly! I barely said anything to my Mom when I got the supplies and then she said I can't talk to her like that! What does she know, anyway? I saved her Dad, she should be grateful."
Faye was unsure how to respond. Slowly, she replied, hoping to take his mind off Beth. "I thought it was pretty neat. Did you, err, take out any walkers?"
This got his attention. "Yeah! I shot a couple of them, right through the eye. They were great shots." The boy smiled before adding a final note. "I knew you would find it cool."
Faye glanced at his face, a little heat rising to her cheeks. "Yeah, well," Faye tried to make the conversation light again. "If you were cool, that makes me awesome."
"What?"
"You might've killed two with a bullet, but I killed three with a knife!"
It was only once the two children left the cell, that Faye realised they had been boasting about killing.
Author's Notes:
Fifteen chapters, hope you enjoyed! Thank you for the reviews, I appreciate your continued support.
What did you think of the mini prisoner arc? Did you like Faye having a bit more action? Let me know :)
Saw the new episode of Season 4 today, I love to see Daryl open up more. I know some people didn't like it, it didn't really advance the plot, but I still enjoyed it. Also, Episode 2 of the game is out tomorrow! Will any of you be playing? I'll be waiting by the computer for it to download.
Next chapter will be up on Thursday, I'll see you then!
Please review, I love to hear your thoughts and advice.
Thanks.
Cobalt Flame.