I do not own The Walking Dead.
Previously:
A small chuckle left the woman's lips, apparently going along with her answer. "That's okay. Getting girly isn't my thing either."
Faye smiled too.
After all, she liked making people laugh, making them happy, even if it was just for a little while.
May it not be forgotten that Faye was not a morning person.
Daryl had woken her up to prepare for their next hunting trip – which, of course, was a struggle. The usual routine was for him to bark the quick command, and when her only response was to roll over, he would then proceed to yank off the covers or pull the pillows out from underneath her head.
(And Faye may have been too groggy to notice, but he always seemed to have an amused look when he did that. Screw him and his early rising brain.)
"Get up!" Daryl had opted for throwing her duvet on the floor. "Squirrels ain't gonna catch 'emselves."
The girl groaned, but lifted her head enough to rub her right eye. "This is totally against human rights."
"'S only against human rights if I don't feed ya, and that means we gotta get us some squirrel." He stood in the doorway, in front of the curtain. Faye rarely shut the door, so it was useful to have the sheet there for some privacy.
Why didn't she close the door? Well, there was that tiny little incident where she was trapped in a tiny room with no escape. You know, just the average near-death experience.
The girl was reasonably sure she wasn't claustrophobic. Reasonably. It was more the idea of locked things that bothered her. Or, more specifically, being locked inside things. Which was awkward, considering they were in a prison. Did that count as claustrophobia? Faye didn't count it, anyway.
"Come on. Early bird gotta catch a worm."
"Early bird wants to be a late bird."
"Early bird's gonna lose the pillows too if she don't get up!"
Begrudgingly, Faye swung her feet off the bed, pillows still clutched under her grasp as she pulled herself up with one arm. "See? Up."
"Fifteen minutes, then I want ya outside by the bike."
The girl scowled. "Can't I go say bye to Carl?"
Sighing as he lifted the sheet so he could leave, Daryl responded. "Half an hour, then we're off."
Movements still a bit sluggish, Faye got dressed into her usual clothes – the annoyance of wrinkles long forgotten – and yawned as she brushed her hair. There wasn't a mirror in her room, but she could feel where the scar was, hair not yet re-growing over it. After tracing it with her fingers, the girl shook her head and quickly put it up into a quick ponytail. It was messy, but who cared? There were probably bags under her eyes, too. She had gone to sleep late that night, but everyone seemed to permanently have rings around their eyes. Except Beth. She was, like, immune to them or something. It annoyed Faye greatly.
Once she re-made her bed – albeit, not very well – Faye headed outside, securing the holster belt as she walked. On it was her Glock 19 and knife, but not the axe she had found days earlier. That particular weapon was safely hidden under her mattress. On the way back from the 'shopping trip' she, Maggie, Beth and Michonne had taken, Faye had snuck the axe into her backpack without anyone noticing. She must have been lucky that day, as Michonne never brought it up again, and, if she ever did, the girl would say she put it in the armoury.
She would have been worried about getting caught had Carol not tasked her with doing so many chores, looking after her own room was one of them and the woman was far too busy to check through everything. Besides, what harm would it do to have an extra weapon? If there was ever an emergency, it was there so she wouldn't be defenceless. It was not a bad thing.
The early morning sunlight was pleasant as the girl stepped outside the cell block, but it wasn't nearly as warm as the past few days they had. Faye was thankful, it was more of an excuse to wear her hoodie. Stretching one final time, she headed round the front of the building.
As more people joined the prison, sleeping arrangements had changed and Daryl had volunteered to move to the new cell block, which in turn meant she did too. Carl was her best friend, but Faye wanted to be near Daryl. It made searching for the boy so much harder, though.
Out the corner of her eye, Faye saw a familiar looking face stood on the roof.
Why the hell was Carl up there so early in the morning?
The boy was looking at her, as if waiting to be noticed, and raised his hand in a wave before apparently sitting down.
Faye really wished they'd chosen a place to hang out closer to the ground, it always ended up being a hassle to get round the back of the building without getting caught. After the breach, the adults had been more attentive when it came to keeping an eye on them. Slightly.
Well, that was hardly going to stop her going.
Pushing open the doors to the roof, Faye walked out into the air. The breeze that came from being high up was pleasant.
"Hey," Faye called to her friend, who turned his head slightly in acknowledgement. "Why are you up here so early? I thought I was gonna have to hit you with a pillow to make you say goodbye."
Carl shrugged as the girl sat cross legged next to him. "It's not that early."
"Is for me." Smirking, she nudged him. "You should think of others more, I would have loved to hit you with a pillow."
"I'll remember for next time."
"Good." Faye sighed, leaning back on her hands. She really did have to make this quick, Daryl would be waiting soon, but the view was always so pretty when they were high up, looking beyond the prison over the trees. "You didn't answer my question."
Faye didn't think this was going to be one of Carl's good days. He was answering in short sentences and wasn't responding to her joking around. All in all, those were bad signs.
"Couldn't sleep much, I wanted to get out of the cell. Told Dad I was going for a walk." He replied easily.
The girl frowned. "Bad dreams?"
"No, just…" Carl shook his head. "Just had stuff on my mind."
"Wanna talk about it?" At the shake of his head, Faye internally sighed. "Well, I've gotta go, Daryl will be waiting. I'll catch you later, okay?"
The boy snorted. "Don't bring back any strays this time."
Whether he meant that as a joke or a snide comment, it dripped with sarcasm and set a scowl on Faye's face. "Really? Strays?"
He either didn't notice the girl's tone of voice or didn't care, as he carried on. "Yeah, so? They're useless people who couldn't make it on their own. And what do we do? We bring them back here so they can use our supplies. Strays."
Faye stood up. "No one can make it on their own."
"We did. We made it out on our own just fine." He hunched over a little, crossing his arms as he locked himself out more and more. "The last thing we need is a load of dead weight on our shoulders if things ever turn bad."
"Things are bad. That's life. What we need to have is numbers, Carl. If we had the amount of people we have now when the Governor was here, maybe fewer people would have died. That is not what I would call dead weight." Faye was doing her best to keep her cool, but Carl had been pushing her for more than a month and it was all boiling up until this point. "I mean, what brought this on? You have been completely fine with all the new people until-"
The child cut herself off. He had been making progress, great progress, even. And then, one day, it had ground to a halt. All of a sudden, he was back to square one. It was after…
"-until I brought someone back. Is this about me? About bringing back David, Diana and Patrick? It is, isn't it?"
His silence confirmed her questions. "What did you expect me to do? Leave them to die? They had nothing, I did what was right."
"You walked in a room with three strangers!" He spat out. "How dumb are you, Faye?"
Oh, he did not just go there.
"They outnumbered you, they could have had more guns, they could have killed you three times over and you fucking waltzed in there and invited them back!"
The girl crossed her arms. He hadn't been there! He didn't understand the situation. "They surrendered their one weapon to me! They were completely defenceless; they would have died if me and Daryl didn't bring them to the prison."
Carl stood too, suddenly breaking out of the huddled position he'd put himself in. "So what? They aren't our problem! Strangers are dangerous, what if they hadn't-"
"Who cares about what ifs?! What would you have done, huh?" Faye took a step forward, words more venomous than she intended them to be. "You'd rather I shot them all dead?!"
Carl's glare had never been as cold as the one he was giving her now.
Well, maybe she felt like slapping him for calling her dumb. How the hell did he like it? So what if that had been a low move, people had been calling her dumb her whole life, Carl was supposed to be one of the few people that forgot about that.
"Shut the hell up!" Carl said, voice raised just enough so that he wasn't heard from the bottom of the building. "You're supposed to be on my side!"
"Yeah, just like I'm supposed to blindly agree with everything you say?" Faye snapped.
He waved an arm in exasperation. "No, but you're not supposed to ditch me when you find a new friend with comic books and stupid hipster glasses!"
"Oh, so you're jealous of Patrick? That's what this is? Being short sighted isn't being a fucking hipster, Carl. And I've never ditched you once, I have stuck by you through all the shit that's been going on. Don't you think I'd rather be with you than with someone I barely know?"
A compliment had never been so sour.
"How am I supposed to know what you do while you go hiking outside the prison?"
"Hiking?" Faye shook her head. "I go out with Daryl getting food for the group. I have a job. I pull my weight."
"By what, shooting a few squirrels and hiding behind Daryl when it gets tough? Like you always do?"
"That's what you really think? Well, it's great to know that I'm just another one of your strays. Thanks for the pity."
The words seemed to stun Carl for a moment, cogs turning in his head with an angry expression still adorned on his face. He finally recovered, after what seemed like a long time considering they had been firing comments back at each other non-stop for a few minutes. "Wait- what?"
"I was alone, could hardly take care of myself and wasn't gonna make it on my own. I'm a stray, too. But don't worry, I'm just dead weight, feel free to shoot me if I get in your way."
There was no sudden apology as the girl turned, striding off the roof. No emotional hug as the two realised how wrong it was to fight. All Faye got was the slight softening of Carl's expression as he realised she what she meant, and that she was walking away, and she was not sorry for a word of it.
The sound of the door slamming echoed as the tears were blinked back from Faye's eyes.
"Faye, can't help ya if I don't know."
"There's nothing to help."
"See, I ain't stupid-"
Well, lucky him. That made one of them. 'Cause, you know, Faye was, obviously.
"- and ya obviously pissed. Or upset. Okay, I dunno what, but you've just gone completely off the trail 'cause ya too busy kickin' the shit outta a rock."
Oh. Daryl hadn't been kidding when he said she did that. Looking around on the ground, she found he was correct, there were no longer any paw prints to be seen. "Fine, something's wrong."
Faye walked behind the hunter as he retraced their steps, deciding he would lead them both while her mind was obviously preoccupied with other things. The girl felt she should probably thank him more, he certainly put up with a lot of venting from her. "Go on, then."
"Me and Carl had a fight. I was a complete bitch. Everything's ruined." She tilted her head to the side in thought. "That pretty much covers it."
"Don't call yourself a bitch, ya ain't." Daryl said. "A fight's been comin' for weeks with the both of ya, everyone saw it but you two."
Sticking her hands in her pockets, she silently admitted he was probably right. Faye had meaning to get plenty of stuff of her chest when it came to Carl, and apparently he had done the same with her. All it led up to was an explosion of insults that just let off steam. "Yeah, but this isn't something I can just apologise for."
"Then don't."
Faye held up a hand as if to push her point, but the man wasn't looking anyway. "I have to!"
"Why?"
"'Cause…" She sighed, putting her hand back in her pocket. "'Cause I brought him shooting someone into it."
"And?"
"And?! And that was a dumb thing to do!"
"And the better option was t' ignore it for the rest a ya lives?" Daryl replied, a little snappier than before. "Killin' that kid was wrong. 'S bad enough that Rick ignores it, I ain't lettin' you. Carl needs t' know what he did was bad, and if that means ya shout it at him then that's just the way it's gotta be."
The girl blinked. Nobody had said it so bluntly before, the topic was a taboo. That's what made it so much worse that she'd said it to Carl. "Yeah, but…"
The man stayed firm. "No, buts. You've been puttin' up with his crap for weeks, it stops now-"
"What? Someone making a mistake is crap?! Someone losing their way is crap?!"
Faye knew she walking talking far too loudly and that Daryl wasn't just making this up and he was probably right but the whole point was to vent and now she had begun and had to finish.
"I just want Carl to be there but he's not! And even if I stick with him and try to help he just goes backwards and I end up fucking everything up!"
Finally, Daryl stopped. Turning around as he crouched down to her level, the man put a hand on her shoulder before speaking. "It ain't you fuckin' stuff up. Ain't even Carl, really. But this world changes you and you gotta let the boy decide for himself whether that change is gonna be good or bad."
"How can anything good possibly come from this?" Her voice finally quietened and her head was lowered.
"Ya get stronger. Ya realise who ya wanna protect." As usual, the sheer certainty of his words assured the girl.
"I just don't wanna lose him."
Then there was that half-smirk Daryl always carried. "I know ya don't."
They continued tracking for a while, Faye opting to let the hunter continue to lead. Eventually, Daryl managed to shoot two squirrels – the first being easy and Faye was sure the second was caught by pure blind luck it had been running away so fast. As the man began to go collect his catch, Faye saw something move from the corner of her eye. Jerking her head towards it immediately, she found it was just a lone walker. But, it was a walker coming towards them all the same.
"Hey, Daryl!" She hissed, and he turned around. She held up her knife. "I'm gonna get that one."
He frowned a little, but nodded. In turn, he lifted the crossbow. "Don't want this?"
"I got it." She shook her head.
There was no point in trying to conceal herself between the trees; the walker already had its sights set on her. Just as she began to raise her knife, Faye felt a cold drop on her nose. Pulling a face that would have been embarrassing had anyone actually seen, the girl cursed. She shouldn't have been surprised by the rain, the sky had hardly been cloudless, but this meant they would probably have to cut the day of hunting short. Which was troublesome, because she wasn't quite ready to face Carl, yet.
That was if he even wanted to see her.
The girl sighed, but didn't let the disappointment distract her from the task at hand. There was still a walker to kill, and by the looks of it, there was another one behind it.
The first took her blow to the knee hard, falling to the ground as Faye imbedded her blade in the back of its skull. She had to stand on its back to yank out the knife, but it was a clean kill.
Feeling a little adventurous, the girl charged at the second walker, slamming it against the tree. The bloody hands grabbed her shoulders just as she plunged the knife through the white eye, grip loosening as it collapsed. She let it fall to the ground.
Hey, at least killing walkers was a good way to let off steam.
Blinking, the child finally noticed the increasing number of raindrops as she wiped her sleeves. She tilted up her head, and she saw the sky was darker than she remembered as she looking through the treetops.
Daryl probably noticed it too.
"Faye!"
Speak of the devil.
Before she had a chance to shout back to him, he continued, tone more alarmed than it should have been. "Hide!"
Hide? From what?
She did as he said, taking cover from behind a tree, but had no idea what she was taking cover from, or even if her spot would conceal her.
She waited.
…
…
The loud snarl of walkers confirmed she hadn't chosen well enough.
Between the trees, walkers began to pop up wherever Faye looked. How the hell hadn't they been prepared for this? Had they already gotten to Daryl?
No, he could take care of himself, she didn't have to worry. She had to worry about getting herself outta there, Daryl would just have to follow her tracks. It was too late to hide again; the walkers were too close and had her in their sights. Darting to the right, Faye ran as fast as her legs would take her. Everything was suddenly so loud as her heart pounded so much louder than before, the walkers growling, the increasing sounds of rain hitting the forest floor.
Ducking under an out-stretched arm, the girl quickly pushed her hands to the floor to stop herself tripping over.
Tripping over would mean she stopped.
Stopping would mean death.
And Faye didn't want that. It was counterproductive.
Soon, the rain was so hard it was difficult to see or even hear whether the walkers – or even Daryl – were following her, but she didn't take the chance.
Unsure where exactly she was running to, the fact dawning on her that the rain would wash away any tracks for Daryl to find, Faye pushed on through the heavy weight of her soaked hoodie. Her hair began to fall out her loose pony tail, strands plastered to her face. It hardly helped with any sense of direction she had left.
If she had any in the first place, that was.
Eventually, after who knows how long running, she could see the trees thinning out into what she hoped would be some buildings, or possibly the town they had stopped in at first. That would be the perfect place to wait for Daryl. She could maybe even dry off, too. Catching a cold was the last thing she needed when the whole plan had already gone to shit.
Faye stopped running once she reached the tree line, suddenly realising how much her lungs were heaving after the sudden sprint. Her previous hope had turned out to be correct, as she was now stood looking down a street, houses on both sides with what looked like an abandoned car on the road. Sighing, she pulled off the green hoodie, which was now weighing her down. The girl held it above her head as she walked out onto the road. She was colder now, but maybe she could get away with being a little less wet.
(Who was she kidding, this wasn't going to help in anyway.)
Shivering as she walked along the road, Faye looked for a house that didn't look broken into, most of them having their doors kicked in. Or, at least, she thought they were open, the pounding rain made it a guessing game.
Faye was almost at the end of the street when she finally saw a suitable house. Well, it would probably be as good as any other, but-
"Hey, girly!"
Faye froze.
That was not Daryl. That was most definitely not Daryl.
Slowly turning her head around, Faye could see the silhouette of the man who had yelled to her. She could barely make him out as she squinted, but he was large. From the looks of it, he had come from the 'abandoned car', as there was another figure stood by the door. Both seemed unaffected by the rain.
Large enough to take her down, easily. His tone mocked her as he continued.
"Why don't we go find somewhere nice 'n cosy, huh? Just the two of us."
Faye bolted.
Author's Note:
I'll keep this short.
Check out a drawing I did for a scene from last chapter, the link to my deviantART account is on my profile.
Enjoy the cliffie!
Please review, I love to hear your thoughts and advice.
Thanks.
Cobalt Flame.