{ Procrastination }
noun
- the action of delaying or postponing something
- for example: this fucking story
Hey all...
It's been a whole two months, probably more than that now, since I last updated and I honestly don't have an excuse. I could say that I was busy with work, or that I was struggling to figure out where I was going with the story and got overwhelmed, or a bucket-load of other things but in reality, I was just putting it off. I wanted to come up with a great chapter for you guys and I guess I just hyped myself up so much that everything I wrote just came out...blah.
So I stopped writing, for literally two months.
I honestly felt like I was going through withdrawal, but I felt it was necessary to get the creativity flowing again. I didn't want to force anything or write a half-assed chapter that I would regret later down the line. I also realized, which some of you might have considered obvious, that I need to stare physically planning my chapters ahead of time. You see, I do all the planning up in my head and follow the story line as close as I can in order to get my OC into the mix, but I never plan what's going to come out in the final draft. I don't plan every scene out like I probably should, so I'll do my best to begin doing that from this day forward.
Anyways! A big thank you to AltairMercer95, AnsCat, EllieDragon, Emerald Isis, Klarie88, Lorelei evans, RaysonInTheSun, Schlooper, StephJ, ThreeDarkAngels, elljayde, ninachr, salinagriego, sylph0fspace, butterflyangel1999, itsreagannn, reinhaus01, shaywilliams4151 and zubrowka for following/favouriting the story! I apologize for keeping all you new (and older) readers waiting for an update. I also apologize if I missed anyone!
As for reviews.
FAIRY4LYFE: Hello there! For the most part, I'll be following the main story but I do have some things brainstormed that might pull Scarlett away from the main events but I haven't planned them all out yet. I truly want to build Scarlett into the story line as much as I can to make her feel like the other characters, but please let me know if you have any suggestions! xo
EllieDragon: Holy smokes! Thank you so much for the review! You're truly too kind I don't deserve a reader like you ;-; One of the main reasons (there were a few) that caused me to actually post this fic was because of how underwhelming a lot of the relationships in the stories on this website between OC/Daryl are. I'm not saying that this stories going to be any better or that I have deemed EVERY Daryl fic this way, but I just wanted a relationship between an OC and Daryl that didn't come out of thin air and that was based on something. I'm a sucker for slowburn fics and this is definitely going to be one of them. I'm so happy to hear you love Scarlett, I'm trying to make her as bad ass as possible but still human, you know? Thank you for pointing out her lack of interactions with Lori/Carl, I'll work to integrate more in future chapters! And good lord your analysis of the father is very well done, but in order to keep it on the down low I can't tell you if you're correct or not until the reveal is here lol as for an update schedule *cough* lack there of *cough* it's really hard to say. I'm starting school in a week and if the workload isn't heavy I'll do my best to update as soon as I can. I do plan on going all the way to season 7 and on, it just might take a while LMAO anyways welcome to Blood in the Cut! xo
Welp, hopefully this chapter isn't garbage. I was planning to post it a couple days ago on my birthday but I had a bit to drink and wasn't too coherent lmao plus I needed to edit.
Once again, I apologize for being on hiatus. Hopefully it won't happen again :D
Here's to the new chapter~
It had been Dale who had seen them on top of the RV the following morning, which didn't surprise Scarlett much. He was always the first one awake amongst the group and he had seen the two of them on watch before. However, each time Dale saw them, the older man would simply scrunch his face up in confusion, as if he were trying to figure out the most difficult, mind-boggling math equation in existence. When Scarlett said a soft "good morning" to him, the man gave her a baffled greeting in return before walking away.
The red head had turned to look at Daryl with puzzled eyes. He'd been too busy staring down the stretch of highway to really pay Dale any mind, which Scarlett was secretly thankful for. He probably would have given the older man a hard time for the continuous surprised looks whenever he spotted them together. It couldn't have been that odd for Scarlett to spend some time with the younger Dixon brother, could it? The more she thought about it, the more she began to recall all the times the members of their little group gave the two of them questioning looks, or the off-hand comment that might come in its place.
It was only Daryl after all, not some rabid dog that would bite your head off with its sharp fangs and foaming mouth, but it appeared as if some of the group preferred the latter of those two options than the man himself. At least Rick was making an effort to work with him, especially now with Sophia missing since Daryl did have the most experience out in the woods.
To be fair, Daryl didn't exactly give two shits whether the group liked him or not. He could care less about getting to know the others as far as Scarlett could grasp, but his interaction with Carol the night before had shifted her mindset. The man had seemed ready to sit her down and talk her through everything they did and were going to do to find her daughter, and that alone made Scarlett realize that Daryl wasn't what he seemed.
Scarlett rolled her head down into her hands. She really should have tried to sleep last night.
"You having a mental breakdown or something?" She heard Daryl's scruff voice question from beside her.
"Trust me. You'll know when I'm having a mental breakdown." Scarlett muttered back, to which he let out a scoff.
"What are we talking here, a blubbering mess? Psychotic episode?" He pressed on, the humor in his voice dried out by the fatigue.
"Rage. Murderous rage."
"Huh."
With his short response, Scarlett turned her head to peer over at the man beside her only to see him staring right back.
"That's your reaction to someone when they tell you they get so angry they could kill people?" She questioned, dumbfounded and slightly amused.
"I can't tell if you're joking or not."
Pausing for a moment, she took in his words.
"I can't either."
The duo fell into silence once again, which was fine with Scarlett. A dull ache beat against her temples and her eyes felt dry, so taking the quiet moment to shut her eyes was much appreciated.
However, with the closing of her eyelids came a rush of her subconscious demanding answers for the questions that itched at the back of her mind. Would they be able to find Sophia? Could T-Dog stay free of infection with a wound that deep? How were they going to put a leash on Shane if he kept acting the way he was? And what in the hell had she seen amongst the trees yesterday evening?
"What'd you do to your hand?"
Daryl's words snapped her back to reality like an elastic band being released against skin. Blinking a few times, Scarlett looked at her bandage-clad hand.
"I, uh, scratched it in my sleep yesterday," she explained, stretching her fingers as she examined it. "Nothing serious, but Glenn insisted I wrap it up."
"You do that before?"
She gave a faint shake of her head.
"What was different this time?"
"I don't know," a sigh left her lips as she spoke. "Same bad dream as always."
Her face twisted into that of mild irritation as she continued staring at her injured hand. She was waiting for Daryl to press on regarding what had been tormenting her dreams, but he thankfully remained quiet. She couldn't tell if it was by the sour look on her face or if it was his intuition that kept him approaching the topic, but Scarlett didn't care. She was simply happy she didn't need to dive into the gritty details of it all.
As the silence between them continued, the sun rose higher in the sky and along with it awoke the rest of the group. Hearing soft rustling coming from the cars where the others had been resting, Scarlett stretched her limbs and climbed down the side of the RV. A part of her expected Daryl to follow, but the man remained on top of the vehicle staring at the stretch of highway ahead.
Leaning Stella against the side of the RV, Scarlett fished her water bottle out of her pack and began drinking its contents. There wasn't anything to eat, so everyone was opting out with water instead in order to quiet the rumbling of their stomachs. It seemed to be working for the meantime anyways.
Scarlett gave a quick nod to Rick as he passed by, to which he returned with a grim expression on his face. She could only assume that he was still thinking about what Carol had said to him the night before. He was probably under the impression that finding Sophia was his responsibility and his alone. Someone would need to have a conversation with him about that later.
A couple greetings were shared between everyone in the attempts to get rid of any grogginess that remained wrapped around their heads from restless sleep. Everyone gathered around one of the hoods of one of their vehicles and watched as Rick placed a large roll of leather down with a soft thud. The man quickly unrolled it to reveal it holding multiple sharp knives and tools that could easy take out some walkers if the aim was right.
"Everybody takes a weapon." Rick said simply as the others peered in closer to see the sharp instruments.
"These aren't the kind of weapons we need," Andrea argued, giving both Rick and Shane a look of annoyance. "What about the guns?"
"We've been over that," Shane answered without even glancing at the woman. "Daryl, Scarlett, Rick and I are carrying. We can't have people popping off rounds every time a tree rustles."
"It's not the trees I'm worried about," the blonde sighed before turning her attention to Scarlett. "And last time I checked paramedics weren't trained in firearms."
"Shane and I taught her how to handle smaller guns a few years ago," Rick came to her defense. "She knows how to use one safely."
"Are cops allowed to teach anyone outside the force on guns?" Andrea continued to push.
"Look, if it irritates you so much I won't even touch the gun, okay?" Scarlett sighed, getting tired of arguing. "I'll leave it strapped to my belt."
"You're missing the point!"
"No, I think you are," Shane stepped away from the shade of the RV to stand beside Rick. "Say somebody fires at the wrong moment, a herd happens to be passing by. See then it's game over for all of us. So you need to get over it. It doesn't matter what circumstances occurred for us to teach Holloway how to handle a gun. All that matters is that she's had training and knows how to carry. End of conversation."
There was a moment of shocked silence that passed through the group. Scarlett had been receiving mixed signals from Shane ever since the two groups had reunited at their old camp. One moment they would be at each other's throats and the next he would be standing up for her or making light conversation. It worried her slightly considering the fact that one never knew when Shane was about to go off. He was a loose canon at this point, but she still nonetheless nodded her head in his direction in a form of thanks. The man nodded back.
"The idea is to take the creek up about five miles, turn around and come back down the other side," Daryl explained in the attempts of steering their attention to the task at hand. "Chances are she'll be by the creek. It's her only landmark."
"Stay quiet and stay sharp. Keep space between you but always stay within sight of each other." Rick said, tossing his bottle of water idly in his hand.
"Everybody assemble your packs." Shane stated as a final thought, everyone turning to grab one of the sharp weapons lying out on the hood.
"Who found these tools anyways?" Scarlett questioned, looking around at the others as they began gathering their things.
"Carl found them." Lori answered, looking down at her son.
"Good find, big guy." Scarlett held out her hand to him, to which he happily gave her a high-five.
Giving the mother and son a hint of a smile, Scarlett slowly turned and grabbed Stella within her fist. Her bag was the only thing that belonged to her besides her beloved bat, but that was already fastened to her back. She was as ready to trek through the woods for a couple hours as she could possibly be.
As she began approaching Glenn near the edge of the road, Scarlett could hear bickering coming from near the RV. It appeared that Andrea was going at Dale again for her gun and at this point, Scarlett wanted to stay as far away from the woman as possible while she was on her rampage.
"Do you think she's ever going to calm down?" Glenn muttered the question to her, to which the redhead let out a slow sigh.
Within a few minutes, everyone had gathered near the side of the road with all their things, the exception being Dale and T-Dog. Daryl quickly hoped over the side rail and led the rest of the group down into the tree line below them. Rick remained second to the front of the line as the group carefully made their way through the foliage, followed by Andrea and Carol. Scarlett walked in the middle of the line with Glenn behind her, and behind him remained Carl, Lori and Shane.
Eyes carefully watching the trees for any sign of walkers, Scarlett's mind couldn't help but wander back to the times that Rick and Shane had taken her out to the range to teach her how to shoot. The first time had occurred only a few months after getting to know them and Scarlett recalled being a bit confused with the proposition made by the two officers. It had been one of the first times she'd let the Grimes family and Shane into her home that the former had mentioned the pistol she kept in one of the kitchen drawers after searching for a bottle opener. Scarlett had informed them that she kept it for protection even though she didn't know how to use it, to which they offered up the opportunity to teach her. This began multiple sessions of meeting up with the men at the range to learn how to shoot.
However, a part of her wondered if their intentions to teach her derived from something else. She couldn't help but consider that maybe they had noticed the dark circles under her eyes, or the fact that she always sat at the kitchen counter right beside the drawer that held the gun, or that sometimes she would flinch when she heard the front door open, like she was expecting a monster to walk through the living room and not Victoria who was coming home from school. Maybe they had noticed that something had happened in that house that constantly kept the paramedic on edge, but she couldn't be sure.
Catching sight of something yellow in her field of vision, Scarlett was pulled from her thoughts to see a tent set up amongst the trees just a few meters away from them. It appeared that the rest of the group had seen it too, as Daryl ushered for everyone to crouch down.
"She could be in there." Shane muttered to the others.
"Could be a whole bunch of things in there." Daryl whispered back, slowly and carefully beginning to walk towards the small campsite.
Rick held up a hand to the rest of the group, informing them to stay put while he and Shane followed Daryl towards the tent. Scarlett stayed with the others to keep a watchful eye out for walkers, especially since she was the only one with a gun who had stayed put.
Scarlett watched as Daryl slowly approached the tent, carefully peeking through the flap to see if anything was there. A part of her worried for his safety, but the man was wielding a giant hunting knife as he walked around. Chances were slim that anything or anyone could sneak up on him, especially with how quiet he was being.
Nonetheless, she was still worried.
When Daryl gave a shrug, Rick quickly looked back at the group.
"Carol." The former sheriff whispered, beckoning her over.
Much to her surprise, Carol gave Scarlett a quick look of concern. The redhead wasn't sure why the woman would look to her, but Scarlett gave her a reassuring nod and the woman made her way towards the three other men.
The rest of the group slowly approached as well.
"Call out softly," Rick whispered to the woman. "If she's in there, yours is the first voice she should hear."
Carol swallowed harshly, giving Rick one last look before glancing back over at the tent.
"Sophia, sweetie, are you in there?"
There was no response.
"Sophia, it's mommy."
Yet again, nothing came from inside the tent.
"Sophia. We're all here, baby. It's mommy."
Silence.
Rick placed a hand on Carol's shoulder, ordering her to stay where she was as the man slowly came to stand close to Daryl at the front of the tent. Scarlett felt her throat close up slightly, worried at what they would find behind the yellow fabric of the shelter. Shane also joined the two men and very cautiously, Daryl began unzipping the rest of the flap of the tent.
From where she was standing, Scarlett couldn't see much inside the tent when Daryl finally pulled open the flap. There appeared to be a unfolded chair situated in the middle and someone sitting in it. By the cough of disgust that left Daryl's mouth, she knew it wasn't anyone living.
It was only when Shane and Rick started coughing as well that the younger Dixon brother ventured into the tent and remained there for a couple of seconds. A couple seconds too long.
"Daryl?" Carol called out to him.
The man didn't answer her.
"Daryl, what did you find?" Scarlett attempted to speak with him as well.
Thankfully, the man finally emerged from the tent with a bit of a disgusted look on his face.
"It ain't her." Daryl spoke.
"What's in there?" Andrea asked, trying to get a look at the tent.
"Some guy," he replied. "Did what Jenner said. Opted out. Ain't that what he called it?"
As the words left Daryl's mouth, the man stared directly at Andrea almost as if the statement was mostly for her. The bitter expression that fell on the blonde's face seemed to prove Scarlett's point.
And then she heard something amongst the rustling of leaves and other sounds of the forest that sent a shock right through her body. Bells had begun ringing off in the distance; similar to those that would be rang at a church. For a solid moment, Scarlett was worried that this was another trick of her mind but the look of recognition on everyone else's faces said otherwise.
In silent agreement, the group took off in the direction of the sound. Leaves and twigs crunched and snapped under their feet as they rushed towards the eerie chiming of bells, but they had to stop a moment to figure out where the sound was coming from.
"Which direction?" Shane breathed out.
"I think that way," Rick replied, pointing straight ahead. "I'm pretty sure."
Scarlett had closed her eyes at this point, trying to focus all her attention on the sound. As much as the sound bothered her, if there was a chance of finding Sophia, she would put aside her personal distain in order to locate the girl.
"Damn, it's hard to tell out here." Scarlett heard Shane huff in frustration.
"If we hear them, maybe Sophia did too." Carol quickly followed with her hope-filled words.
"Someone's ringing those bells, maybe calling others." Glenn chimed in as well.
"Or signaling that they found her." Andrea threw in.
Scarlett opened her eyes and continued jogging along with the rest of the group. She honestly couldn't tell which way it was coming from; she was just as confused as the others.
"She could be ringing them herself." Rick stated, leading the rest of them forward.
"Well, we better get there before the walkers do," Scarlett concluded. "Chances are, they're hearing the same thing."
Without further ado, the group quieted down and continued moving forward as they carefully listened to the chiming bells that seemed to be ringing all around them. It was most definitely coming from a church, Scarlett could tell that much. She'd heard that sound more times than she could count when she'd been a child. Her family went to church every Sunday, even after her mother had passed away. That was when the somewhat happy memories turned into not so pleasant ones.
Even when they had exited the tree line to see the church, Scarlett's stomach dropped. A part of her had hoped she'd been wrong with her assumptions of the bell's location, but her keen ears knew the sound too well. It stood in a type of meadow, a graveyard resting across the land before them. Beyond it remained the church, no larger than a small house. There was nobody in sight, leaving the group to come to the conclusion that whoever was ringing the bell must be inside its walls.
Scarlett swallowed harshly.
"That can't be it," Shane shook his head in confusion. "Got no steeple, no bells. Rick!"
The former sheriff's deputy still continued forward regardless of his friend's words. Scarlett hesitantly followed behind the man, and approaching footsteps from behind told her that the rest of the group was close behind them. Eventually breaking out into a run, Scarlett felt her dread spreading across her chest as they got closer to the church. Being mindful of the gravestones and not to trip over any of them proved a bit difficult at the speed they were moving, but the redhead managed to avoid them all.
Rick was the first one to reach the large red door at the side of the church. Shane, Daryl and Scarlett remained ready right behind him, telling the others to stay back. Placing a finger to his lips, Rick silently placed his hand on the red wood of the doors and pushed them open.
The loud squeak of the hinges made Scarlett's eye twitch but the sight before her made her stop mid-inhale. The first thing she saw was the giant cross at the front of the alter, a marble statue of Jesus crucified to it. Stained glass windows and poles with the American flag were placed accordingly around the room. The sight was too familiar and uncomfortable for her, but her eyes soon fell on the couple of bodies that sat at the pews.
Sunken eyes fell on the group, staring at them as if they'd just interrupted their personal conversations with God. The four walkers slowly stood up and Scarlett felt her grip on her bat tighten.
She never thought she'd see herself killing something in a church, but there was a first time for everything she supposed.
Scarlett felt Rick's eyes on her and she turned to give him a quick look, to which he nodded slowly. With a huff, Scarlett began walking forward with her eyes locked on one of the walkers. Walking through the pews towards it in order to gain an advantage, Scarlett bumped the walker in the chest with the end of her bat before bringing it down on its head. The blow was enough to knock the walker down but not enough to kill it, which led her to continue, and continue she did.
After her fifth swing, Scarlett staggered backwards and looked at the others. The three other walkers had been taken care of, leaving the group to stare at their surroundings. Scarlett's eyes had ended up staring at the crucifixion piece at the front of the room, slowly approaching it. She felt sick, not just because of the environment, but because once again, Sophia was nowhere in sight.
The loud bang behind her didn't even startle her.
"Sophia!" Rick yelled, kicking open one of the other doors furiously.
They were all desperate to find the little girl, to return her to her mother, but at the rate they were going, things weren't looking so great.
Scarlett continued to stare at Jesus Christ on the cross, eyes narrowed but somewhat anxious. It was times like these where her so called 'faith' burned into nothing, because if there really was a God, how could he allow a child to wander around lost with monsters around every corner? If he truly had a hand in everything, he would have done something to stop this. He would have stopped the many horrible things in her and everyone else's lives if he were as merciful as they preached him to be.
"Hey J.C., you taking requests?" Daryl said from behind her, his voice bitter and mirroring her feelings exactly.
Scarlett suddenly felt like she was burning, like her presence was not welcome in a place as holy as a church. She felt as though eyes were watching her, judging her even. So she opted to turn around and leave the church, feeling a few pairs of concerned eyes to follow her.
"…There's no steeple." Scarlett caught the end of Shane and Rick's conversation as she reached the doors. When she opened them, the ringing they had heard earlier had begun blasting through the whole church.
Running out of the church with the others right behind her, Scarlett made a sharp turn and ran around the corner. Coming to a stop with everyone else, her tired eyes fell on that of a microphone situated near the top of the roof. Connecting down via wires into a control box, she watched as Glenn ran forward and ripped the wires out.
"A timer. It's on a timer." Daryl said, fatigue and annoyance riddled amongst his words.
Scarlett shook her head and kicked at the dirt near her feet. Nobody looked happy with the situation at hand.
"I'm going to go back in for a bit." Carol mumbled, almost in a daze as she made her way towards the entrance of the church once again.
The others slowly began trickling towards the entrance as well, but Scarlett stayed planted to the ground where she stood. Rick caught her eye and cocked an eyebrow, but she simply shook her head and retreated to the shade of one of the few trees on the property.
Throwing her things down at the trunk, Scarlett placed her self amongst the tree's roots and let out a shaky breath. She'd promised herself years ago that she would never step foot inside another church unless it was for a funeral of someone she truly cared about. She supposed searching for Sophia was an exception, considering that a little girl's life was on the line, but she was still disappointed. She'd hoped her feelings of anxiety when it came to the house of God would disappear after a while, but man were they stronger than ever.
"Are you really leaving?"
Hushed voices arguing near the front of the church had Scarlett peeking around the side of the tree to get a better view of what was happening.
"Don't you think it's best for all of us?"
Near the steps of the church stood Lori and Shane, who appeared to be in a heated discussion.
Leaving? Shane was leaving?
"I think it is. What made you decide?" Lori asked, being up front with the man.
"Gotta back away," Shane muttered out, not looking in Lori's direction. "Just trying to be the good guy here, Lori. Even if you don't see it, none of this was intended. I hope you know that."
Scarlett couldn't find it in herself to feel bad for eavesdropping on the two's conversation, but she most definitely had her answer now regarding the supposed relationship between them.
"You're just gonna disappear? You're not even gonna tell Rick?" Lori questioned furiously, walking towards the man and demanding an answer.
"He'd only try to stop me. No, that's on you," Shane hissed back. "You tell him what you want. Or you tell him nothing at all. You're his wife."
"And Carl? We dragged him into this."
"I love Carl."
"He thinks you hate him."
"I'm trying to put some distance. I'm trying to make this easier," Shane explained. "This ain't easy on any of us, least of all me. I'm the one who losses you."
At that point, Scarlett had everything she needed to know and decided to turn away. She wasn't sure how she felt about Shane leaving. A part of her would miss the old Shane, the one that would try to crack jokes with her and bicker with her. Not the Shane that had come to fruition, the guy he was now.
Suddenly, her eyes were focusing on the sign near where she was sitting. She hadn't paid much mind to it until that moment, and once again dread washed through her. Southern Baptist Church of Holy Light it read, established in 1836. Underneath the main sign read; Revelation 16:17, to which Scarlett sighed.
"The Seventh Bowl of Wrath." She muttered to herself, scratching at her one good hand.
"Seventh Bowl of what?"
The sudden voice startled her, eyes going wide as she turned to see the rest of the group approaching her. It had been Daryl to ask the question, sitting down beside her as the others stood around under the shade and away from the sun's glare.
"Revelation 16:17," Scarlett pointed at the sign, to which everyone turned to look. "The Seventh Bowl of Wrath."
"I don't understand." Glenn shook his head and looked down at her.
"It's the part of the bible that talks about Armageddon," she explained. "'Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came from the throne in the temple, saying, "It is done!"'"
"You can recall that from memory?" Andrea questioned, eyebrows raised.
"Wasn't my choice. My father was a priest."
Before anymore questions could be asked, everyone heard the gruff clearing of a throat and the group turned to look at Shane approaching them.
"Y'all gonna follow the creek bed back, okay? Daryl, you're in charge," Shane began explaining. "Me and Rick, we're just gonna hang back, search this area another hour or so just to be thorough."
"You're splitting us up. You sure?" Daryl asked, eyeing the other two men carefully.
"We'll catch up to you."
"You better." Scarlett said in a firm tone, eyeing the men carefully.
"I want to stay too," Carl suddenly spoke up, taking everyone by surprise. The boy hadn't said much since they'd left the camp. "I'm her friend."
Both men looked at each other, a small smile forming on Shane's lips as he attempted to hide it away. Rick looked at his son before looking at Lori.
"Just be careful, okay?" She said to the young boy.
"I will."
"When did you start growing up?"
A small smile played at the corner of Scarlett's lips as she stood up and gathered her things. Rick approached his wife and gave her a quick hug before digging into his belt and offering her his gun.
"Here, take this. Remember how to use it?"
"I'm not taking your gun and leaving you unarmed." She replied, declining his offer.
"Here, got a spare," Daryl spoke up, walking forward with a small pistol in hand. Scarlett wondered where he'd gotten it from. "Take it."
A bit surprised, Lori still took the gun from Daryl. The sight made Scarlett smile slightly.
Without another word, the two groups went their separate ways. Scarlett wasn't exactly fond of the idea of splitting up, but she could see the benefits of Rick, Shane, and Carl staying behind just in case Sophia was around. There was a good chance that Sophia had heard the church bells ringing at some point and Scarlett believed her to be smart enough to find her way towards the sound. However, she didn't like it. Her intuition was telling her that something bad was going to happen. Maybe that was her mind being worked up from being near a church or what, but she still felt uneasy as all hell.
Nobody spoke for a little while as they followed Daryl along the creek bed. It was easy to see that everyone's minds were weighing heavy with the situation before them. Nothing appeared to be going right, and their luck only seemed to be getting worse and worse.
"So this is it?" Carol questioned, breaking the silence and taking a seat on a nearby log. The rest of the group stopped walking. "This the whole plan?"
"I guess the plan is to whittle us down into smaller and smaller groups." Daryl sighed, leaning up against one of the trees as everyone took a moment to rest.
"Carrying knives and pointy sticks," Andrea grumbled, turning her bitterness towards Lori. "I see you have a gun."
"Oh for fuck's sake-" Scarlett began, getting tired of the same old argument coming from the blonde but was interrupted by Lori herself.
"Why, you want it? Here, take it," Lori asked in a firm tone before holding it out to the blonde. "I'm sick of the looks you're giving me."
Andrea gave her yet another look of rage and disbelief before taking the gun out of the brunette's hand.
"All of you," Lori muttered, digging her water bottle out of her bag before turning her attention to Carol. "Honey, I can't imagine what you're going through and I would do anything to stop it. But you have got to stop blaming Rick. It is in your face every time you look at him."
Scarlett remained quiet with everyone else, getting ready for Lori's slow burning wrath.
"When Sophia ran, he didn't hesitate, did he? Not for a second," the older woman continued. "I don't know that any of us would have gone after her the way he did or made the hard decisions that he had to make. Or that anybody could have done it any differently."
Nobody said a single word as they listened to Lori's harsh but necessary words.
"Y'all look to him and then you blame him when he's not perfect, the exception being Scarlett because she knows him like I do," Lori stated, giving the redhead a quick glance. "If you think you can do this without him, go right ahead. Nobody is stopping you."
The woman angrily drank from her water, refusing to make eye contact with anyone. Much to Scarlett's surprise, along with everyone else's, Andrea hesitantly stepped forward and held out the gun to Lori. The brunette took the gun back slowly.
"We should keep moving." Scarlett muttered just loud enough for everyone to hear. Their little group appeared stunned into silence by Lori's words, but everyone slowly got up and began walking again.
Scarlett ended up being at the front of the group with Daryl, unconsciously following his lead as they walked by the creek. She truly wondered if more than just Carol had felt that Rick was responsible for Sophia disappearing. It seemed almost ridiculous to her to blame him for something so completely out of his control. Maybe she was biased, considering that she did know him a lot better than the others in the group, but even then it was still hard to believe.
"She always get like that?" Daryl suddenly muttered to her, walking next to her as if he had appeared out of thin air. Damn him and his quiet feet.
"Lori?" Scarlett questioned and he nodded. "Sometimes, when something's really bothering her. If you thought that was bad…" She let out a low whistle.
"Murderous rage?" He asked, quoting her words from that morning. The redhead raised an eyebrow at him as she ducked out of the way of some branches.
"Something like that." She laughed dryly.
The sound of a distant gunshot had the group coming to a halt, eyes wide and searching for any threat. Scarlett's thoughts went immediately to the safety of Rick, Carl, and Shane, worried that they had run into trouble. It appeared that everyone was thinking the same thing.
"You don't think…?" Glenn began, looking over at Scarlett and Daryl.
"I'm sure they're fine," Scarlett stated, eyes still looking through the trees. "One shot probably means one walker. If it were multiple shots, then I'd be worried."
While her words were more meant to calm the others down, she couldn't help but draw a bit of calmness from her own thinking. Her logic made sense, and she would believe it until proved otherwise for the sake of her mental wellbeing. Lori, however, looked unconvinced but still continued on with them.
What little conversations had began before the gunshot were demolished by their busy minds. The silence came back and followed them like a fog in the air. Scarlett watched as Lori kept turning to look behind her, in the direction of the sound and where her husband was.
It appeared Scarlett wasn't the only one to notice.
"You still worrying about it?" Andrea asked, causing everyone to turn around and see Lori stopped a few feet behind them.
"It was a gunshot." Lori replied in a monotone voice.
"We all heard it." Daryl stated, as if trying to calm her down in an indirect way.
"Why one? Why just one gunshot?" She pressed on, looking back at the group.
"Maybe they took down a walker." Daryl attempted once again.
"Please don't patronize me. You know Rick wouldn't risk a gunshot just to put down one walker. Or Shane, they'd do it quietly."
"Maybe they got into a tricky situation and that was the only solution," Scarlett tried her best to calm the older woman. She slowly approached her and placed a cautious hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure they're okay. There's no point in making up stories and driving ourselves crazy when we don't know what happened."
"Exactly, Scarlett. We don't know what happened," Lori explained, giving the redhead a stressed and anxious look. "That's what's bothering me."
"Shouldn't they have caught up with us by now?" Carol asked, posing a good question.
"There's nothing we can do about it anyway," Daryl explained. "Can't run around these woods chasing echoes."
"So what do we do?" Lori asked, some of her frustrations from earlier flaring up in her eyes. Scarlett could see it clear as day.
"Same as we've been," Daryl concluded calmly, which surprised Scarlett. He wasn't giving Lori any attitude. "Beat the bush for Sophia, work our way back to the highway."
"I'm sure they'll hook up with us back at the R.V." Andrea stated calmly.
"It'll be okay, come on." Scarlett patted the woman's shoulder in an attempt to get her moving again. The action worked and their little group was off once again. Well, that's what she thought, until Andrea began speaking to Carol.
"I'm sorry for what you're going through," the blonde spoke. The group had ceased their walking once again. "I know how you feel."
"I suppose you do. Thank you," Carol said a bit hesitantly, but nonetheless agreed. Scarlett watched as the woman's eyes welled with tears. "The thought of her out here by herself…It's not knowing that's killing me. I just keep hoping and praying she doesn't wind up like Amy."
Scarlett winced at Carol's choice of words, as did everyone.
"Oh God," the woman seemed to notice her mistake and grabbed ahold of Andrea's hands. "That's the worst thing I've ever said."
"We're all hoping and praying with you, for what it's worth." Andrea continued, surprising the others with the fact that she didn't blow up.
"I'll tell you what it's worth – not a damn thing," Daryl spoke up, obviously fed up. "It's a waste of time with all this hoping and praying. Cause we're gonna locate that little girl, and she's gonna be just fine."
Scarlett went quiet as did everyone else, but she was quiet for a whole different reason. While others were probably a little offended by his choice of words, the redhead couldn't help but agree. Hoping and praying had never proved useful to her once in her entire life. It entailed false hopes and dreams that were crushed with reality. That's why Scarlett liked dealing with facts, things backed by logic. She didn't have a good relationship with religion to begin with, but she felt she couldn't go along with it even if she tried.
"Am I the only one Zen around here?" Daryl asked, eyeing the rest of the group. "Good lord."
"I agree with him," Scarlett spoke up, taking the others by surprise. "Whether you believe in God or not is your own business, so if you find strength from it, by all means pray and hope away. But we'll find Sophia no matter what. We've got a whole group of adults out looking for her and like Daryl said, she's going to be just fine."
"I thought you said your father was a priest?" Glenn asked, being the first one to approach the somewhat sensitive topic.
"Yeah, and he was an asshole," she replied, hiking her pack higher up on her shoulder as she turned to keep walking. "Kinda ruined the whole 'religion' thing for me. But like I said, hope and pray as much as you want, but it'll be wasted. We're going to find Sophia with or without God's help."
Nobody spoke with Scarlett after her little revelation about her relationship with God, or lack there of. She didn't mind; she felt like she'd revealed a bit too much about herself for her own liking, but there was no point worrying about it now. What had been said was said, out in the open and lying out on her hypothetical table for everyone to see. She supposed that if the world was ending, there wasn't much of a need to hide anything anymore.
But some secrets were too sensitive to come to light.
She'd seen the same figure in the corner of her eyes twice since they'd started they're trek back to the highway. The first time had been when they were just leaving the church; she swore she saw someone looking at her from the window of the chapel. However, it had disappeared in the blink of an eye. The second time had been only moments ago, hiding behind a tree and watching them. Again, as soon as she'd looked in its direction the figure had disappeared.
Maybe she was losing her mind.
"We'll lose the light before too long," Daryl spoke up, causing the group to come to a simultaneous halt. "I think we should call it."
"Let's head back." Lori nodded once at the proposition.
"We'll pick it up again tomorrow?" Carol questioned, looking between the group members.
"Yeah, we'll find her tomorrow." Scarlett agreed, feeling her own fatigue beginning to wrap around her limbs.
Scarlett was starting to feel even more tired than before. She hoped by the time night fell and they got back to the RV that she would just pass out and manage to get some sleep.
"You didn't sleep again last night." Glenn stated to her as the continued through a section of tall grass.
"You're starting to know me too well." She scoffed, causing him to sigh.
"Scarlett, I swear to God you need to get some rest or you're gonna collapse."
"Maybe the Big Guy up in heaven will do me a solid and put me to sleep forever."
"That's not funny."
"Not everything's a joke, Glenn."
Her friend sighed and continued to walk beside her for a little while. Just as Scarlett was sinking back into her thoughts again, Glenn spoke up.
"You didn't come into the church earlier but you said your dad was a priest," he began and she closed her eyes, knowing what he was going to ask. "What do you have against religion?"
"I have nothing against religion," she replied, stepping around a large tree before falling into step with Glenn again. "I just don't like it. If other people get strength from religion, that's fine by me. Just don't force it down my throat."
"Your father must have loved that."
While she knew he meant it in a joking way, Scarlett felt her jaw clench. He knew too little about the situation to recognize why his words triggered her, but he definitely saw her face change into something much darker.
"I said something I shouldn't have, didn't I?" He asked, slowly panicking. "Shit, I'm sorry-"
"Hey, it's fine," she cut him off before he could go into anymore of a frenzy. She forced the corner of her mouth to turn up in a reassuring manner. "You meant no harm by it."
Glen gave her a concerned look for a long moment, as if trying to read her face to make sure she was telling the truth. When she saw the tension leave his shoulders, Scarlett knew he believed her. And it was true, she wasn't angry with him. How could he possibly know what had caused her to dislike the aspect of religion? She would be a bad friend if she expected him to understand everything without an explanation, and she would explain everything one day. If they lived long enough.
"How much farther?" Lori called out from behind them, causing the duo to look over their shoulders at the others.
"Not much. Maybe a hundred yard as the crow flies." Daryl muttered back, taking the lead once again.
"Too bad we're not crows." Andrea grumbled.
Scarlett couldn't agree more. Her feet were starting to ache something horrible and she could only assume the others were feeling the same way. At this point, she just stared at Daryl's back and followed the man mindlessly. She wasn't going to lie to herself; she was starting to feel a little weak from her lack of sleep.
Her eyes focused a little bit as she stared at the younger Dixon's back. The man had nice broad shoulders, watching as the muscles flexed as he adjusted his grip on the crossbow. His arms were no joke either, very toned and defined. She wouldn't say that she was marveling at his physic, but she was definitely impressed. Scarlett felt like this information should have been something she already knew, considering the time she had spent with him. She supposed she'd never really looked at him before and the thought made her frown.
A scream cut through the air, causing everyone to pause. As she looked at the others, Scarlett concluded they were missing one of their group and quickly began running towards the screaming. The yells had to have belonged to Andrea, and one of the few things to cause such a horrific cry was most likely a walker.
As they got closer, Scarlett spotted Andrea lying on the group along with an unfamiliar woman on a horse wielding a wooden baseball back. If it wasn't the fact that she was carrying the same weapon as the redhead that made her like the unfamiliar woman, it was the fact that she had saved one of their own.
"Lori? Lori Grimes?" The mysterious woman questioned Andrea frantically, attempting to calm her horse. The rest of them slowly approached the woman.
"I'm Lori." The brunette replied, giving the new woman an odd look.
"Rick sent me. You've got to come now." The unfamiliar woman stated firmly.
"What?"
"There's been an accident. Carl's been shot."
Everyone's eyes widened in shock and Scarlett felt like she was going to vomit. So that had been the gunshot they'd heard, but she had been stupid enough to believe that nothing bad had happened. Now Carl, the other of the two children in their group, was in danger and suffering greatly.
"He's still alive. But you've got to come now." The woman continued, ushering Lori to go with her.
"Is he being treated?" Scarlett asked, coming out of her daze while being the first of the group to speak up.
"Yes, my daddy's looking after him."
"Scarlett should go, too. She's a paramedic." Andrea stated, taking the new woman by surprise.
"You are?" The woman nodded at Scarlett.
"Yeah but…" Scarlett blinked a couple times, looking between the others. "You've only got the one horse. Lori should go with you, she's his mother."
"We could use all the medical help we can get…" the shorthaired woman muttered to herself before looking back at the group. "Lori, come with me for now."
Lori quickly began taking off her backpack and approached the horse, the woman helping her up onto the saddle.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! We don't know this girl!" Daryl attempted to argue with Lori. "You can't get on that horse!"
"Rick said you had others on the highway, that big traffic snarl?" The woman questioned with eyes on Scarlett as Lori positioned herself behind her.
"Yeah." The redhead responded.
"Backtrack to Fairburn road. Two miles down is our farm," the woman continued to explain quickly. "You'll see the mailbox. The name is Greene. I need you, the one with the red hair, to get to the farm as soon as possible. You think you can get there in a day?"
"I'll walk it if I have to." Scarlett nodded.
"Good."
Without another word, Lori and the shorthaired woman took off on the horse, leaving a trail of dirt behind them. Everyone stood dumbfounded at the turn in their situation before a low moaning came from the walker the girl on the horse had knocked over earlier. The walker stood up and Daryl let out a huff.
"Shut up." He swore as he shot an arrow into the walker's skull.
To say Scarlett felt frantic was the biggest understatement ever made. Knowing that Carl had been shot and that she needed to take off to the woman's farm as soon as possible had her scratching at her hands violently. If the others had noticed her behaviour, they didn't say anything about it. Actually, nobody said a word about anything as they walked back to the highway. It was only when they got there that they informed Dale of what was going on.
"Shot? What do you mean shot?" He yelled to them in confusion as they approached the familiar set up on the highway by the RV.
"I don't know, Dale. We weren't there," Glenn breathed out heavily. They did practically run back to the highway after Lori took off on horseback with the other woman. "All I know if that this chick rode in out of nowhere like Zorro on a horse and took Lori."
"You let her?" Dale responded, looking to Daryl this time.
"Climb down out of my asshole, man. Rick sent her," he responded. "He knew Lori's name and Carl's."
"I heard screams, was that you?" Dale continued to ask questions, this one directed at Andrea. The blonde walked right by him without so much as a glance in his direction.
"She got attacked by a walker. It was a close call." Glenn answered.
Scarlett was pacing back and forth as these conversations continued to happen. Her hands felt like they were burning, so she took what was left in her water bottle and poured it over itching hands. It was only when she did this that Glenn took notice.
"Scarlett, what are you doing?"
"I need to leave," she muttered back. "We need to leave. We gotta do something to get to that farm."
"You want to leave?" Daryl questioned, coming up from somewhere behind her. He didn't sound too pleased with her proposition.
"The girl said they could use all the medical expertise they needed to help Carl," Scarlett answered. "If he dies and I'm sitting here doing nothing, I'll never forgive myself."
"I won't do it. We can't just leave." Carol spoke up, causing Scarlett to shakily wipe at her eyes.
"Carol, the group is split. We're scattered and weak." Dale stated, obviously stressed with the situation.
"What if she comes back and we're not here?" Carol questioned in a more frantic manner. "It could happen."
"If Sophia found her way back and we were gone, that would be awful." Andrea stood in the doorway of the RV, startling a few of them. Nobody had heard her emerge from the vehicle.
"Okay, we got a plan for this. I say tomorrow morning is soon enough to pull up stakes," Daryl spoke calmly. "Give us a chance to rig up a big sign, leave her some supplies. I'll hold here tonight, stay with the RV."
"If the RV is staying, then I am too." Dale concluded, agreeing with the plan.
"Thank you. Thank you both." Carol managed to say in a hushed voice filled with emotion.
"I'm in." Andrea agreed as well.
Scarlett remained quiet, chewing on her thumb. It made sense in a way, to stay and make a sign for Sophia, but she had to go. She needed to be there to help make sure Carl was all right.
"Okay, you guys stay. That sounds like a good plan, but I've got to go," she finally spoke up, looking at the others. "I'll go alone if I have to."
"I'll go with you." Glenn stated, causing her to blink in surprise.
"You don't have to."
"You two can take Carol's Cherokee," Dale said to them. "Find this farm, reconnect with our people and see what's going on, but most important you've got to get T-Dog there."
"It's his arm, isn't it?" Scarlett muttered, looking at Dale in displeasure.
"That cut has gone from bad to worse," He replied, nodding over towards the back end of the RV, where the man in question was wrapped in a blanket sitting on the pavement. "He has a very serious blood infection."
"Fuck me," Scarlett cursed. "Okay, now we really need to go. He needs antibiotics ASAP."
"What happens if he doesn't get them?" Carol asked.
"He'll die," The paramedic threw her bag down rather aggressively and leaned against one of the abandoned cars. Her expression was nothing but bitter and miserable. "You know what would be nice? If one good thing could happen today. Yeah, that'd be nice."
Her narrowed eyes landed on the sky above her. The sun was setting fast and she wanted to leave as soon as possible. A part of her wondered if she should check T-Dog's arm one last time, but she didn't want to risk making it worse. She trusted Dale's word; it was hard to miss a blood infection from an open wound.
"I've got my brother's stash."
Scarlett blinked her dry eyes and heard something land on the hood of the car she was currently leaning against. Curiosity got the better of her and as she looked down at what had been presented to them, her eyes almost popped out of her head.
Sat on the hood of the car was a bag full of prescription bottles, some more full than others. She could feel Daryl's eyes on her as he held out the bag. A part of her wondered why he hadn't handed the drugs forward when she had asked for medical supplies yesterday, but she didn't really care at the moment. They had them now and that's what mattered.
She snatched the bag off the hood like a thief stealing the finest gold, eyes wide as she went through its contents.
"Crystal, X. Don't really need that," Daryl continued to talk as she went through the bag. "Some kickass painkillers."
"Ativan, Ambien, Oxycontin, Vicodin, Adderall, Xanax, Percocet…" Scarlett muttered to herself as she went through the bag, her hand stalling on a bottle and pulling it out. "Oxycycline."
"Not the generic stuff neither. It's first class," Daryl finished, causing the redhead to look up at him with wide eyes. "Merle got the Clap on occasion."
She could tell he was trying to joke with her, but she was at a loss for words. The chances of finding an antibiotic in times like these were unheard of, and here Daryl comes with his brother's huge stash of drugs. She was almost too thankful to have the younger Dixon around and didn't know how to express her thanks. It was a miracle, and Scarlett didn't know what to say.
"I think you broke her." Glenn spoke up at Scarlett's lack of a reaction, causing a few chuckles the circle the group. Everyone was relieved regarding what Daryl had brought forward.
Scarlett could tell Daryl was getting uncomfortable with her bewildered stare fixed on him, so she turned to stare at the bottle in her hands instead of the man beside her.
"Dale, would you mind giving T-Dog one of these," Scarlett spoke in a much lighter voice than she was expecting. The others seemed a bit confused as well but Dale nonetheless came forward and took the drugs from her. When the older man ventured over to their injured companion, Scarlett finally found her words.
"You just saved his life."
She hadn't been expecting the smile that had split across her face, but the reaction came without her consent. She was so grateful, and for a moment, she forgot that Sophia was missing, or that Carl had been shot and needed her help, or that the dead were walking around. That tiny bottle would be able to bring forward the only good thing that had presented itself to them in days. Maybe she was delirious from not sleeping, but in that moment, that tiny bottle of antibiotics would mean another person got to live, and it was because of Daryl. She hadn't felt that happy in a while.
And it terrified her.
Taa-daa! Chapter 15 done!
I can't believe we're only fifteen damn chapters in. I'll try to pump out another one as soon as I can to make up for my absence these past few months.
So! We got a bit of insight regarding Scarlett's relationship with her father AND religion. I apologize if any of you are religious, I mean no harm with this chapter/Scarlett's views. Only a few interactions between Scarlett and Daryl this chapter, but I plan on writing half of the next chapter in Daryl's POV to show you guys his stance on everything that's happened.
I apologize if there are any errors in terms of grammar. It is 1 am here currently and I just had to get this chapter out to you guys.
I truly hoped you all enjoyed and I'll post again as soon as I can! Feel free to leave a review/comment, I love hearing from you guys :)
Cheers,
- GuiltyCalamity