Author's note: Wow. I so totally did not think this small eight minute deleted scene would take so long, let alone be so long. It in all seriousness surprises me. I don't if this small scene can be considered as first season or second, I truthfully see it as somewhere in between…like season 1 ½. Anyway next chapter will start season two (hooray!). Though I can't honestly tell you when that will be published, especially since I am currently working on a marvel-type thick for my friends, which is quite fun although really stupid in actuality.
Oh I should also apologize for any really humongous words or strange language going on in this chapter. I don't think there much, but there might be. I blame Thomas Hardy's Tess of d'Urbervilles for it, I was reading it before writing certain parts of this.
Thanks to Eminemchick19 as always. Seriously without you, I probably would get nothing done. I'd probably run around like a chicken with their head cut off, trying to figure out whether or not I've lost my touch.
Question One: Mara is somewhat a bitch-but in all honesty I think it's well deserved. So the question is…do you think her and Rick can fix their friendship?
~Cassandra
Disclaimer: While I don't own The Walking Dead, I would gladly accept the rights of owning it for an early birthday present-anyone?
Warning: This chapter is extremely Daryl-centric, but don't worry Rick fans, the next chapter will most likely be Rick-centric, I promise.
"We're stopping again." Mara murmured, shoving another magazine in her weapon. She already went through a good half of one saving Shane's sorry-ass from a group of rapid walkers. It was surprising how well Mara could shoot from outside a car window, while Daryl made enough racket he could be heard all the way across town. Especially since not too long ago her First Sergeant told Mara, she was nothing if she couldn't shoot. A smile made its way to Mara's face as she hopped out of the truck. Her First Sergeant was one person, she wouldn't mind seeing as a walker.
"Looks familiar to ya?" Daryl muttered. Since their first ride together to the CDC, the conversing portion of their relationship had grown a mile stone. Sure it was a far cry from the constant chatter Mara was used too with Rick, but it was better. Now they could actually hold a ten minute conversation before going silent.
"Yeah, it's where the vatos stayed." Mara replied, a slight smile gracing her face.
"Looks like your friend finally grew a brain." Daryl grunted, grabbing her black bag.
Mara rolled her eyes, shoving her hand outwards to Daryl for the bag. He waved it off throwing it over his shoulders. One of the few conversation they had dealt with Mara's admittance of not having a bad back. She was nervous telling Daryl that she lied to everyone about being kicked out of the army. However her nervous didn't last long with Daryl actually burst out laughing upon hearing her actual reason. According to him, only an idiot wasted ammo on a walker that was no more than ten feet away from them. Something which made Mara feel strangely better about her situation. Perhaps she'd eventually tell Rick the truth as well. But for now Mara was still pissed at him.
"Bet they're barely hanging on. What makes you think they'll take in strangers?" Andrea questioned.
"The guns they gave us, they'll probably throw us a party." Daryl answered. He cocked his head towards Rick. "Good call…for once."
Mara bit her lip ignoring the guilt building in her stomach. Normally she defended Rick from being solely blamed. This time though-as much as she hated to say it, Mara agreed with Daryl. While she didn't blame him for trying the CDC, Mara did blame Rick for not listening to her warning. Call it being a woman scorned, but that was one thing Mara couldn't let go so easily. Not this time.
So instead of taking her 'spot' besides Rick, she walked alongside Daryl. The one person she knew had her back in this group. They moved quickly into the courtyard where only a few days ago Rick and Daryl stood ready to fight for Glenn's life. Mara felt an cold shiver run down her spine as she gazed around. Something was not right here. "Where are the lookouts? " Glenn voiced concern heavy in his tone.
"I have a bad feeling about this, Daryl." Mara said softly. "It's too quiet."
Daryl simply nodded understandingly. He had noticed it too. The minute they walked into the courtyard a deathly silence filled the air. There were no birds or critters making a peep so far. A sign that only meant danger was near in the animal world. Silently he glanced back at Mara almost as if trying to assure himself, the damn woman was alright. If Merle were still around, Daryl would surely be made fun of for caring about someone who wasn't blood. But for whatever reason-day or night, Mara just had that affect on him. Even if she was the most capable woman Daryl had ever met.
A loud chewing noise was suddenly heard from around the corner. Shane glanced up at everyone giving them a warning hand to be quiet as they made their way around the corner. Mara felt her heart sank as her eyes made contact with a grayish colored walker chewing on the flesh of a dead vato. "Son of bitch." Shane hissed as they continued their way through the compound.
However instead of getting better like Mara prayed it would, it only got worse. All around them, bodies laid being devoured by hungry hungry walkers. The children started to panic as their equally panicked mothers tried to shield them. But there was no way either mother could keep their babies from seeing the horrors around them. Rick gritted his teeth, anger apparent on his face. He was about to tell everyone to move out when one of the walkers let out a growl. Soon all attention of the undead was on them. "Rick." Mara said calmly. "What do you want us to do? If we shoot them, the sound will only draw more here."
Rick glanced at her, seeing the resolve on her face. She cared about the noise just as much as he did right then. "To hell with the noise." He replied placing a perfectly aimed shoot through a walker's head.
"That's what I thought." Mara stated, pulling the trigger. It took less than five minutes for them to clear the lot out. All in all Daryl was right; killing a walker five feet away from you was easier than shooting a target two hundred and fifty meters away. She flipped the safety back on as everyone else lowered their weapons. Having a magazine meant more bullet capacity than the others' weapons. So while they were near empty, Mara had good twenty left in her magazine.
"Come on let's go!" Rick ordered heading towards the entrance. Mara followed him no longer thinking about her stupid grudge. Now wasn't the time to be petty.
Inside of old folks home was no better than outside. The stench of death overwhelmed the air along with its silence. Bodies were splayed everywhere Mara walked. It was like a mortuary without the white sheets. A curse escaped Mara's lips as she followed Rick into the next room. Her eyes landed on the slumped over bodies of the old folks. Besides her, Sophia let out a scared cry causing Daryl to lose his cool. "Put a sock in it." Daryl snapped.
Mara rolled her eyes. Like yelling at the poor kid was going to calm her down. "You leave her alone." Carol whisper.
"Just shut her up or I will!" Daryl hissed back.
"You back off the hell off and I mean now." Lori ordered.
Daryl glanced at Mara who gave him a chastising look. He closed his mouth glaring off in the distance. While the Officer Friendly's wife didn't scare him, Mara did. After all he'd seen that woman when angry and she wasn't a force to be reckoned with. "Are we leaving or not?" Lori asked Rick.
"We don't have the fuel." Rick answered, looking at his wife.
"We'll hunker down for the night-okay Rick, you, me, Daryl and Mara sweep the building-make sure we're alone." Shane decided. Mara blinked in surprise. Did officer asshole just include her in the manly side of things? Oh god, it really was the apocalypse after all.
Rick nodded turning to the others. "The rest of you barricade those doors."
Although Mara was truthfully proud to be a part of the manly side of business, she had to admit part of her wish she wasn't. Cause as proud as she was nothing would erase the sights she saw from her mind. Room after room they entered-each one of them the same. No walkers; plenty of bodies. "How can someone be so cruel as to slaughter a bunch of defenseless old people?" Mara mumbled quietly to herself.
"So ya noticed it too, lil'bit?" Daryl's voice came from behind.
Mara frowned, spinning around to face him. "Notice what the fact that every single one of them is uneaten or that they each have a matching bullet hole in their head? It's really not that hard to miss, ya know, Daryl?"
Daryl shrugged. "I bet, you and me are the only ones who notice lil'bit."
Mara rolled her eyes. "Fine you're on, but I bet you, you're wrong. There's no way the others can be that stupid."
"Ain't saying, they are. Just that they'll be too worried about walkers to piece together the clues."
She couldn't help but smile. "And yet everyone thinks you're nothing more than a dumb hillbilly. Careful there Daryl, don't want the others get a heartache when they realize the truth."
"Shut it, woman." Daryl drawled rolling his eyes.
Mara laughed lightly. "What's so funny?" Shane asked, as he and Rick walked over to them.
"Nothing." Mara answered her tone becoming serious.
"Find anything?" Daryl asked, throwing his crossbow over his shoulder.
"No. You guys?" Rick replied, his eyes own Mara.
"Nothing. We're completely alone here." Mara answered.
Rick nodded trying to gather his thoughts. The idea of staying in place so filled with death was nowhere near appealing. Unfortunately though…it was their only option right then. Frustrated Rick ran a hand over his face. "Let's clear some of the rooms up here, Rick." Shane suggested. "If we have to stay here, we might as well make ourselves somewhat comfortable-maybe even look for some food as well."
"Sounds good to me." Mara agreed. "Plus having a semi-clean area would help calm the women and children down a little."
The men gave her an odd look. She felt her face heat up a little. "What?" she asked.
Shane grinned a little, rubbing the back of his head with his hand. "Nothing…it's just that…last time I checked you were a woman too. Or is there something you ain't telling us here, princess?"
Rick couldn't helped but crack a grin at the unamused look on Mara's face. It wasn't one of pure hatred like she normally gave Shane. No it was more of the type of look a younger sister would give her brother when being teased. "Fuck you. I'm more woman than you can handle, officer." Mara said, though there was no venom in her tone.
"Whatever you say, princess." Shane grinned.
"As one of my Drill Sergeants said I am not anyone's princess, princess. Now come on, I'd like to get all this dirty work out of the way so I can relax. Maybe even clean Kindness here to make sure, she don't jam." Mara murmured heading to the nearest door.
"Kindness?" Rick questioned.
"It's what she named her damn gun." Daryl snorted following after her.
Rick opened his mouth to ask why, but shut it. Although Mara seemed to be less hostile, only a fool would think she completely forgiven him. Another sigh escaped him. Being a married, Rick knew for a fact there would be a lot of groveling in his near future. The question of how much though was still a mystery. After Rick couldn't even figure out why he was groveling to woman not his wife in the first place.
Clearing the rooms out took less time than Rick thought it would. They had easily cleaned out four rooms for the group to use. As well as respectfully placed any bodies there in the last rooms at the end of the hallway. All that was left to do was get everyone safely upstairs for the night. "Upstairs is our best bet. We've cleared a few rooms, we can barricade those if we have to." Rick propositioned. "We'll be alright…"
"You mean it this time or are you lying to us like all those other times before." Carol accused.
Mara felt her blood boil at the woman's words. That, Mara couldn't let slid. "That's unfair." Lori said, surprising Mara. "And no help at all."
"She's right." Mara supported. "What happened back at the CDC-back at the campgrounds is no one's fault. Especially not Rick's."
Rick glanced from Lori to Mara, before looking down. Both women were defending him, yet at the same time he felt like one was more supportive than the other. Moreover, the woman he felt the most support from wasn't the one it should be from. "What the hell happened?" Glenn mumbled.
"What do you think?" Andrea snorted. "They got overrun."
Daryl snorted causing Mara to roll her eyes. In the short time Mara knew the man, she could tell he had a low tolerance for idiots. Even if his definition of idiots was different from everyone else's. "You got something to say?" Andrea questioned angrily.
"Yeah, how about observant?" Daryl spat.
"Observant…big word from a guy like you-three whole syllables." Andrea retorted.
"Hey watch it-both of you." Mara barked, giving them a look. "Andrea, Daryl is not some stupid redneck-so stop acting like he is. Daryl quit being an asshole and tell them already."
Daryl rolled his eyes, but calmed his temper. "Walkers didn't do this. Geeks didn't show until all this went down. Somebody attacked this place-killed all these people-took whatever they wanted. They're all shot in the head execution style; y'all worried about walkers-I'd be much more worried about the people who came in and did this." Daryl explained.
A bored sigh escaped Mara as she tried to decide whether to watch Rick's sudden epiphany or Daryl's antics while explaining it all. She knew she should probably be trying to help navigate this whole issue, but in all honesty Mara was kind of done with the whole leadership position. That was Rick's job. Hell, Mara didn't even come in second for command. Shane held that position. So why bother dragging a dead horse around? Besides she could use a good vacation anyway. "Get a dictionary." Daryl said to Andrea. "Look it up, Ob-ser-vant."
Mara shook her head, trying to hid her smile as she followed Daryl out the room. In all honesty, Mara liked Andrea pretty well. She didn't find the woman to be as annoying or stupid as fans claimed. But what Daryl did to her was totally well deserved. Still that didn't mean standing there laughing like an idiot was the appropriate thing to do. Even if she was slowly losing her concern about getting along with everyone. So instead she did the smart thing and began cleaning Kindness.
"They ran sacked the kitchen…all we found was one can." Shane revealed tossing the can to Daryl. After everyone's startling revelation, the others were quick to head upstairs. All of them wanting to forget about today's occurrence. Not that Mara could blame them. She too wished to forget even if only for a night.
"They hit the dispensary too-tore the door off its hinges. Took everything except this." Rick added handing Lori a package.
" So a pack of cough drops…and garbanzo beans…" Daryl read, frowningly. He plopped down next to Mara, quickly unscrewing the can. Not far from them, Glenn quickly passed out paper plates. Mara sighed strapping her sling back through the loops of her weapon.
"Is there any water?" Sophia asked nervously.
Shane moved to grab a water bottle from his bag. He tossed it in his hand. "Just the one bottle I brought-"
"Five. I have four more in my ruck." Mara corrected looking up from her weapon. The others stared at her curiously. Taking another sigh Mara gently placed Kindness down on the ground, before grabbing her ruck that laid not too far from her. "My brothers made me the food bearer on our trip so I have enough snack food to last four people about a week. Plus extra, seeing how I was originally planning on heading out on my own back at the CDC."
"What do you have in there?" Carl asked, gazing at her.
Mara cracked a small smile. "Honestly. Probably nothing you'll like. Majority of what I have are MREs."
"MREs?"
"Meal Ready To Eat. The life line of the US Army when the chef aren't around. Though you would think my brothers wouldn't want to eat this stuff when out of a warzone. I guess, the peanut butter though is just too delicious for them to stay away from." Mara laughed to herself. She pulled out of the tanish brown container passing them over to Daryl, who cocked an eyebrow.
"Chicken Fajita. Southwest Beef with Black Beans." He read, staring at her.
She shrugged. "Don't get too excited. They're nothing delicious."
"Will two be enough for all of us?" Lori questioned, eyeing Mara as well.
"With an entrée, a side, a bread plus spread, and desert. I think two should be enough to suffice us for tonight. Won't fill us up, but it'll keep us from starving. Besides I'd rather not risk us wasting food until we know for sure, where we can get some more." Mara explained.
"She's right. Two will have to do us for the night. Besides we have garbanzo beans plus…"Shane revealed two small bags of chips from his bag. "Salty snacks. Courtesy of the CDC. I thought I would be having midnight snacks in my air conditioned room. Not that they'd be dinner."
Mara couldn't help but laugh slightly at Shane's tone. As weird as it was, the two of them had been strangely getting along since earlier that morning. Not that she trusted him or anything-that was out of the question. But perhaps the strain of this morning's actions brought upon a mutual agreement on both parties; neither had enough energy or desire to continue their usual cruel behavior towards each other. Or maybe it was the fact that Mara unofficially stepped down from the race for second in command. Whatever the reason was, Mara truthfully could care less.
A sigh escaped Mara as she shoved a cold garbanzo been in her mouth. Next to her, Daryl chewed noisily on the little amount of chicken fajita Glenn had dished out for him. His eyes widened as Shane mumbled something incoherent while bringing out a bottle of wine. "Is that to share?" he asked, mouth full.
There was a small snort escaping from Mara, but he ignored it eyeing Shane expectedly. Shane looked back him as if sharing with a redneck caused him actual confliction. He glanced at the wine bottle one more time then to Daryl and Mara. "Well seeing how you two saved my life, Imma gonna be nice to you." Shane replied, handing it over to Daryl.
The reply caused Mara to roll her eyes. He made it sound like he did them the favor by them saving his life. Silently she wondered if Daryl caught the tone as well, but whether he did or not it appeared not to matter to him. The man was like her brother Bryon and loved his booze. "I figure I deserve the first swig." Daryl said, opening the wine.
"You guys go easy on that stuff. Don't forget where you two are." Lori chastised. Fear evident in her eyes. It was obvious that she was thinking about last night's incident. Especially with the way she distrustingly eyed Shane. A small pang of sympathy hit Mara. Part of her wanted to give Lori assurance that what happened last night would never happen again, but that would mean blowing her cover of not remembering last night. Which meant Daryl and Rick would know she remembered kissing. Hence more drama than necessary.
"Yes ma'am." Daryl answered politely.
He paused for a second before uncorking it. Taking a large swig he passed it over to Mara who shook her head. "Thanks, but I'd like to remember if Andrew Lincoln or Norman Reedus decide to drop in again and kiss me." Mara explained.
"Whatever you say lil'bit. Doubt that fantasy is ever gonna happen again though." Daryl muttered.
Mara shot him a smile. "Probably not, but just to be safe I'd like to stay sober."
Their meal carried out in silence other than a brief harsh exchange between Andrea and Dale. An exchange that almost made Mara angry at Andrea. However despite how much Mara wanted to be angry, she couldn't muster up enough energy to be it. Besides Andrea's and Dale's relationship was none of her business anyway. So continuing her isolationist movement Mara ignored the tension in favor for savoring the cold cooked rice on her plate. Next time if there was more water, she'd show them how to work the heater. Being warm wouldn't really make it taste any better, but it would stop it from tasting uncomfortably disgusting.
After sometime Lori finally stood up and approached her husband. "What's next? We need to decide."
Rick looked back towards Mara and Shane. His eyes filled with exhaustion and frustration. It almost made Mara feel guilty about taking her 'vacation' from leadership. Keywords being 'almost'. Luckily for Rick though, Shane was not a woman scorned. Therefore was willing to be helpful and take up his manly position as second in command. "Fort Benning, Rick?" Shane offered.
Rick nodded looking down. Lori nodded as well. "Fort Benning." She restated.
A small snort escaped Rick as he continued to bow his head. "I should have listened to you, Shane. Would have saved us a lot of grief if I had. Jacqui would still be alive-"
"It was her choice, man." Shane comforted. "Do not take that on."
"He right." Mara pipped. "Jacqui's death is not your fault, Rick. Besides you weren't the only one vetoed Fort Benning, remember? I was in favor for the CDC as well. So any blood on your hands is shared."
Rick opened his mouth trying to find equally comforting words to Mara. It surprised him how fast she could switch from being angry at him to taking his side. But it was comforting to say the least. Her bi-polar attitude let him know that he hadn't lost his friend completely. Cause if he had, Mara would have no difficulty staying made at him. "It was her choice. It was her decision to make. Not yours. No more than it was with Jim." Lori assured.
He nodded trying to take in his wife's comfort, but all he could think of was the people lost. Maybe if he wasn't leader…maybe then things would have been better. "All these people…" Glenn spoke suddenly. "Who would have done something like this? Just come in here-and murder everybody-even all the old people they found…how sick is that?"
"This something we need to be discussing right now?" Lori reproached.
"Better if we…uh-got some sleep…huh?" Shane suggested as the men stood up.
Mara stood as well. While she may have given up second in command, there was no way Mara would be kept out of the loop like the rest of the women. Helpless unknowing damsel in distress was not her title card. "Sounds good to me." Mara agreed, she sent the kids a small smile. "I'll tell you guys, what. I have some things I have to take care of with the men outside, but if you two are good for your mothers-I'll tell you guys about the greatest superhero that ever lived."
"Batman?" Carl asked causing both Lori and Carol to smile.
"No. Even cooler than that. These guys-these guys…well they're actual people. In fact I used to be best friends with them-anyway I am giving away all the good stuff, before already starting. You two behave and I'll tell you all about the wonders of Sam and Dean Winchester." Mara replied, winking at them.
Behind her, Rick smiled softly watching her interact with the kids. He would always be amazed at how motherly Mara could be. Especially when only hours ago she blatantly killed multiple walkers without blinking twice. The thought made Rick's smile broaden a little. And to think only a few day he was worried about whether or not she could actually shoot. Mara gave the kids one last smile before heading out the door; Daryl following immediately after her, closing the door as he exited it.
"Hey, the kids are terrified." Shane whispered harshly to Glenn.
"Guys, I'm really sorry." Glenn whispered back. His face filled with numbness. Although Mara and Glenn were close in age, it was obvious Glenn was more shielded in the evils of the world than Mara was.
"We're all rattle and exhausted-no one's thinking clearly. But we have to start. Our lives depend on it." Rick rallied.
"Damn right." Shane agreed. "We can't let our guard down again."
"No we can't." Mara chimed, folding her arms. It everything in her power not to point out that her guard hadn't been down. Nor would theirs have been if they listened to her.
"Back at camp there was the fish fry then the walkers…" Shane muttered leading them to where Dale and T-Dog sat.
They all huddled in together. A group of ragged men plus one really out of placed woman. It was the dream team as her Drill Sergeants would mockingly say. However whether Mara or anyone else liked it, it was their team. "Fort Benning that's the consensus." Rick stated. "We're wasting too much fuel driving so many vehicles, we need to lose a few. We'll siphon the gas out of whatever vehicles we don't take. It should get us free of the city."
"It's a start." Shane murmured. "Let's just try and get a little shut eye tonight okay? T-Dog, you have first watch."
"I'll take second shift." Mara said, causing the men to look at her. "What? I can't take fireguard cause I'm a girl? Hate to break to you boys, but I have more experience at it then you do. Granted women slept on the third floor of the barracks, so not much went on. Still that doesn't take away from my experience value."
Rick couldn't help, but crack a small smile. Now that sounded like the Mara, he knew. "Fine you can second shift Mara, but if anything happens-"
"I'll inform the Drill Sergeants." Mara replied, rolling her eyes. "Seriously Rick, I'm twenty-three not five."
"Could have fooled me." Shane muttered.
"Hahaha, you're hilarious. Luckily for you, Shane, I have two children that were promised the greatest story ever told. So we'll have to post-pone this little spasm of ours for later." Mara retorted. Having that said, she stood up and made her way back to where everyone slept. As she told Shane, there were two children awaiting to discover the brilliance of Supernatural and the Winchester brothers.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter. Your reviews keep me going. Thanks to DixonVixon, 0netflixme0, watergoddesskasey , LittleMeep,, ScornedxRose, and…
Hell's-funny home: Well here's that really Daryl-centric fic for you. I was honestly going to try and sneak in a Rick and Mara moment, there just wasn't a place for it. Besides I think Mara was still too mad at him to really reconcile yet. In all honesty Daryl just got away with it, cause he saved her life. Otherwise she'd either be dead or pissed off like Andrea is.
GypsyWitchBaby: I have no idea whether or not Mara will tell them about her next vision. In fact I have no idea when her next vision is even going to be.
. nelseyc: Please don't die. Dying isn't nice.
Latona2: I do enjoy Mara's bad ass moment, especially since she wasn't really big in that department in the beginning.
Padme4000: I have seen Angel. In fact I was in love with Angel for quite some time, unfortunately though I never really got far into it, because whenever it was on I had school. I never thought of the correlation between Mara and Cordelia either, that's pretty cool if you ask me. And I totally agree with you on them becoming a pain as well as confusion for Mara later on in the game. Especially after I introduce a certain character into the story. (spoiler alert!)
junkie munkie It mean so to me that you tried this fic. I know what it's like to avoid fic like the plague, I pretty guilty of it too, but sometimes I give it a click and am wonderfully surprised. So I hope that was what this was like for you. As for who saw Mara and Rick kissing, I am afraid that won't be revealed to later on, but I am sure you have your suspicions.
Eminemchick19: It's alright that your review is quick. You do so much as it is to help support this fanfics and keep it going, that I seriously can't express my gratitude to you. Any way I look forward to your next chapter of Extinction, though admittedly I am kind of scared for when Brook leaves them-I don't want her to leave! :,(
Hell Hath No: Lol I am glad you love this story and I totally understand how much you love Daryl/Mara/Rick. Sometimes even I wonder about that pairing. Anyway I totally understand how you feel about Hope in my other story, she is a completely different character from Mara, and is truthfully somewhat difficult to write. However because of the premise of my story, I didn't feel as if another Mara character would do justice to someone who murders a lot of people. Any who I won't be insulted if you decide not to continue with it.