Curative

By Kaimaler

Okaaaaaay, so Rick knows now, but Laura ain't too keen on the idea of anyone knowing. We all knew Rick would be cool with it really, he's always been really calm in the worst of situations.

We're jumping into S01E03 now, so we'll be meeting Daryl and heading back to Atlanta. Woooooooot! :D

Laura never slept anymore, she didn't know why, but she never felt the need to nor the desire to. She just wasn't tired and she hadn't been since she was first cured.

After Dale told her she could use the shower in the RV, she felt so clean that she could almost hear her skin squeak when she rubbed her palms together. It made her so happy to have the old grime and blood from countless days spent in the city, she felt like she'd washed off the filth of a previous life. One she was only too happy to forget.

When night came, the group had surrounded a small ember fire and listened as Rick told them about how he had survived. Laura didn't know much about the man, but he'd been through so much in such a short span of time. Waking up in a hospital after being shot into a coma, finding the world had gone to hell and that his family was no where to be seen.

She felt so bad for him and what he had to deal with in order to get to where he was now. Rick had managed to make it out so far with only a few scratches here or there.

Then the group discussed what was going to happen when Merle's brother returned, how he'd react to being told Merle was handcuffed to a roof in the city. Then T-Dog told them he'd chained the door with a padlock, it served as more weight to the group and some relief. Knowing Merle was alive, that he hadn't been eaten alive by the undead actually made Laura happy, no one deserved to be chewed on like a dog toy, but it also meant that Merle was stuck on that roof. He'd dehydrate and die of thirst if the Georgia sun didn't fry his brain first.

She'd never thought she'd say it, but she wanted to help Merle.

The thought just made her shudder. Being around humans again already made her forget about the Voice, that it told her she shouldn't care whether or not Merle was cooked or eaten alive.

After a little while, everyone had started heading off to bed, but Laura was never tired. She headed to her tent for a little while, attempting to sleep even if she didn't feel like it, but she just couldn't. Like there was some figurative person throwing cold water on her face. There wasn't a single way she could get to sleep, she wasn't even comfortable laying down.

There was none of that satisfying feeling of after a long hard day, laying down and relaxing, the feeling of tired muscles unwinding. She felt nothing like that, her body was always unwound. Which was strange because she could tell anybody who asked the few moments in the last few months that she wasn't tense, which were few and far between.

Instead of trying to sleep, the concept about alien to her now, she got up, left her tent, and headed straight for the RV.

She climbed up the ladder as quietly as she could, trying not to disturb the people sleeping inside. When she got on the roof, she saw Shane sitting up there, shotgun resting against his leg, and staring off into space.

"What're ya' doin' up?" He looked over to her as she sat down on the roof.

"C-can't s-s-sleep." It wasn't a lie, she literally could not sleep. "J-just thought I'd c-come up a-and take a b-breather."

"You should try and sleep, y'all had a long day." Shane leaned back comfortably in his chair, "Would've figured you'd be passed out by now."

Laura shrugged, letting her braced leg lay flat and bringing her knee up and resting her chin on it. It was pitch black out, she knew that much, but she could see like it was day time. She could make out every last detail as if someone was shining a bright light on it.

She knew she would be up all night, but wasn't concerned, if she never felt tired, had no reason to sleep, that just meant they had someone on permanent watch, which was a nice benefit. It was extra security, something no one could complain about.

"So, you the same girl Glenn and Andrea were talkin' about a few days ago? The one that appeared out of nowhere and got them out of a bad spot." Shane remembered when the two had gotten back and Glenn was talking a million words per second about a girl who'd just showed up randomly and directed them away from a herd.

Laura was a little surprised by this, she was almost sure Glenn and Andrea hadn't said a thing about her little rescue attempt that day, judging by how Glenn hadn't brought up anything about her or the day they first met, except with Rick.

"Yeah, b-but that w-w-was a while ago." Her voice was quiet, she didn't feel so much stress on her throat when she spoke lowly. "S-surprised h-he even s-s-said s-somethin' 'bout it."

Shane chuckled, "Oh yeah, he said somethin' alright. He was talkin' about a girl he saw in the city, that she barely said a word and got 'em both out without bein' bitten." He was grinning at the memory, Glenn was excited about Laura. "Andrea said he tried to convince you to come back with them, told you about the group an' all that, but ya' denied it. I see you've changed your mind though."

She rubbed the back of her neck, "I did. W-wasn't an e-easy choice, but I t-thought t-that if t-there r-really is a g-group of s-s-survivors out t-there, then I s-s-should give it a s-s-shot."

"Well, for what it's worth, I'm glad you decided to come along." He pointed out to the camp, "These people need hope, somethin' to hold onto and seein' a young girl like yourself alive and Rick comin' back, even with all that's goin' on, well, it makes them all feel a little bit safer, like you bein' here, alive, is a good omen."

"I'm n-no good o-omen." Laura shook her head and shivered, "I j-just g-got lucky. R-really, really, l-lucky."

He shrugged it off, "Whatever you did out there to survive, it clearly worked." He yawned, stretching out his arms. "Brings people hope, even if you didn't mean to."

She nodded but kept quiet after that, he was right though, people needed hope in these desperate times and she wasn't going to stop them if they thought her being alive and well meant that they had hope for themselves and their families.

Laura and Shane sat on watch together quite content in each others company. She caught Shane staring at her a few times, not in a strange or malicious way, but as if he was trying to read a book in the dark. Shane was interested in the young girl that showed up with Rick earlier that day, but he wasn't about to ask questions. He was glad to see other people had made it too.

By the time the sun began peaking up on the horizon, people were already getting up and about.

She watched them start their daily routines, gathering clothes for laundry, dealing with their water and food. Laura saw Rick exit his tent well after the people in the camp had woken up.

He looked much better then he did yesterday, like he was happier. Then again, why wouldn't he be? He was just reunited with his son and wife, to which everyone was equally shocked when they found out Rick was Carl's dad and Lori's husband. They were all happy really, to see a family together again with all the dangers in this world.

By the time Rick approached Glenn, she'd already been watching him glare at the people tearing apart his new car. She smiled at them, Glenn looked positively destroyed.

"Go ahead, strip it clean!" Glenn complained dejectedly. He really loved that car even though he'd only drove in it for little more then a few hours.

Rick left Glenn to mourn over the loss of his new car before joining his wife, Laura looked down the road to see Shane returning in his jeep. He'd left a little while ago, saying something about getting water for the camp.

The jeep pulled to a stop and Shane got out. "Water's here y'all, just a reminder to boil before use."

People started unloading the water, the containers ranged from cleaned gas cans, coolers, and lidded buckets. Laura stuck out her tongue, she had to make sure that if she was going to have some of that water, that she needed to make sure it came from either the cooler or the buckets. The idea of drinking water from a gas can disturbed her.

Her thoughts were sharply cut off by a shrill screech coming from the distance, she was instantly on her feet and when people started running, she leaped off the RV, landing hard but ignoring the throb in her leg.

She ran with the group, hurrying in the direction of the scream. As she was passing Glenn's car, she noticed a crowbar and took it with her, in the event that something did happen.

Lori had called out to Carl, a little girl's voice was crying for her mother followed by Carl calling for his dad too, the children both crying for help; someone passed Rick a weapon. She had a bad feeling about all this, she was hoping they didn't have to use it.

Could there really be walkers so far out?

Carl, Jacqui and a little girl Laura didn't know came rushing towards them, but Laura just followed Rick to what they'd run from.

Laura was right behind Glenn, the group coming around carefully to see a walker devouring a deer. She didn't think a walker could possibly chase down a deer, they'd outrun a walker so easily. Then she noticed three arrows embedded in the deer, someone had hunted this deer down only for a walker to snack on it first.

That someone would be very disappointed.

They all kept an eye out on the tree line, checking for more walkers while the one feasting on the deer hadn't even noticed them yet. They circled the walker until it was surrounded, people stood behind them as the walker started to look up from his meal to get a look at them all.

It was a good thing these creatures weren't intelligent.

Just as it was about to charge Rick, he whacked its head and the walker reeled back. Then they all started beating on it, the onlookers were sickened by the brutality, but it only lasted a short while before Dale swung his ax and decapitated the walker.

"That's the first one we've had up here," Dale pointed out, the group now relaxing a little. "They never come this far up the mountain."

One of the people who had been taking apart Glenn's car looked around for a moment, "They're runnin' out of food in the city, that's what."

She had to agree, there was just about nothing in the city at all. She couldn't even find a scrap of food while she was there, speaking of food, she was still mighty hungry.

A twig snapped, footsteps, that much was clear. Shane aimed his shotgun to the woods, they all held up their weapons, ready to defend themselves. It only sounded like one walker, there wasn't enough noise to indicate more. Laura swore the tension could be cut with a knife while they waited for the walker to show itself.

And, instead of the hungry, cannibalistic monster they expected to come roaming around the corner, was a man wielding a crossbow, who once looked up from his feet jumped back at the sight of a gun being pointed at him.

"Jesus."

Shane lowered his gun, they all seemed to relax. They knew this man.

"Son of a bitch." The man came around the rocks, catching sight of the dead deer and the walker who had bitten into it. "That's my deer!" He was pissed off as he approached the deer, inspecting the infected deer corpse.

"Look at it, all gnawed on," He came up to the walker and started kicking it's lifeless corpse. "By this filthy, disease bearing, motherless, poxy bastard." The group looked a little disgusted by his cruelty towards the dead walker.

"Calm down son, that's not helping." Dale shook his head, but only succeeded in being the mans new target.

"What do ya' know about it ol' man?" He got up in Dale's face, Shane put his shotgun between Dale and the man, he seemed used to this behavior. Which made Laura a little more uncomfortable. "Why don't you take that hat an' go back to On Golden Pond."

He turned around and began pulling out his arrows from the deer. He sighed, "Been trackin' this deer for miles." He pulled the last arrow out, "Gonna' drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison. Whadd'ya think, think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?" He circled the neck where the walker had chewed on, but Laura hoped they knew better then to eat the infected deer.

"I would not risk that." Shane answered, he liked the idea of venison, but they could survive without it.

"It's a damn shame." He stared at the deer for a few seconds before facing them again, "I got some squirrel, about half a dozen or so, that'll have ta do."

Could this be...? Laura stared at the man a little longer, he looked a little like Merle, even had the same thick southern drawl. She figured this must be the brother, he had to be, unless there was someone else they were waiting for to come back from a hunt. He didn't seem as volatile as Merle did.

Then again, they're about to have to tell him where Merle is. That will get messy.

The walker head interrupted them, it's jaws clamping down. It couldn't move around, but it was still trying to bite them. Laura heard Amy behind her and saw Andrea lead her away before the hunter stepped up with his crossbow. "Come on people, what the hell." He shot a bolt into the decapitated walker head, put his boot on it's forehead and pulled the arrow back out. "It's gotta be the brain, don't y'all know nothin'?"

They all walked behind the hunter back to camp, none of them saying a single word until Laura heard him call out for Merle.

Dammit, the man wielding the crossbow was Merle's brother.

"Merle!" He strode into camp, "Get yer ugly ass out here! Got us some squirrel. Stew 'em up."

"Daryl." Shane called to him, "Slow up a bit, I gotta' talk to you." Here it comes, the inevitable moment where they figure out if Merle's brother is as violent and loud as he was.

The man complied, he slowed down and turned to see Shane nearing him. "'Bout what?" Daryl looked a little worried now, "'Bout Merle?"

"There was a problem in Atlanta." Shane said and Daryl just looked between Shane and the other people in the camp, like he was thinking about something. He took a few steps forward, turning his attention to the ground. "He dead?"

"Not sure." That only served to piss off Daryl further, who stepped up to Shane. "He either is or he ain't."

Laura rested her hand on her gun, clicking the safety off as Daryl got close to Shane. She wasn't about to let another person like Merle jump someone she liked just because they're pissed off.

Rick came forward, "There's no easy way to say this, so I'll just say it." Laura definitely wasn't going to let anything happen to Rick, she couldn't stop Merle from beating up T-Dog, too afraid to fire a gun in the city out of fear of attracting more walkers. Out here, one gunshot wouldn't hurt anything.

"Who're you?" Rick was beside Shane now, "Rick Grimes."

"Rick Grimes, got somethin' you wanna' tell me?" Daryl and Rick were face to face now, Merle's brother seemed to only get more and more irate as seconds went by. "Your brother was a danger to us all, so I handcuffed him to a roof hooked onto a piece of metal. He's still there."

Daryl turned around and right as Rick was talking to Daryl T-Dog had shown up. She was concerned about the man, not just because he got beaten up, but because he was angry at himself for Merle being stuck up on the roof.

"Hm, let me process this." He came back up to Rick, "You say you handcuffed my brother to a roof? And you left him there!"

"Yeah." Laura winced, Daryl hadn't done anything yet, but if Merle was any indication for the brother's attitude towards bad news, then he was just getting started. She knew Rick and Shane could handle themselves, especially against just one person, but she couldn't help herself.

Daryl stepped away for a moment and everything went quiet.

That was before Daryl threw the bundle of squirrel's at Rick, who easily dodged them and right as Daryl went for Rick himself, Shane ran him into the ground. T-Dog rushed to them, but they all backed away when Daryl pulled out a rather large and dangerous looking hunting knife.

He went straight for Rick, swinging the blade only once before Rick was able to grab him and twist his arm behind his back, giving Shane enough time to run up behind Daryl and put him in a headlock, dragging him away from Rick.

Laura was now only a few feet behind Rick, she was ready, but they quickly got a handle on the situation.

"Best let me go!" Rick picked up Daryl's kife, "Nah, I think it's better if I don't." Shane forced Daryl to the ground, he couldn't get away from Shane's hold. Laura backed up then, seeing they had taken care of things.

"Choke hold's illegal." He was giving up fighting at this point, he knew he couldn't get Shane off him. "Yeah, better file a complaint." Daryl was still angry, that much was clear but Laura didn't really blame him for that part, granted, Merle was a pain in the ass, he was still Daryl's brother and had a bit of a right to be angry.

Rick kneeled in front of Daryl, "I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic, you think we can manage that?" Daryl didn't answer, he wasn't even looking at Rick. "Think we can manage that?"

They both knew he wasn't going to answer any time soon and Shane let him go. Both of the cops took a step back from the man, letting him breathe for a moment so they could have this calm discussion.

"What I did was not on a whim." Rick got close to Daryl, like he had done with Merle the day before. "Your brother does not work and play well with others."

"It's not Rick's fault, I had the key." T-Dog spoke up, "I dropped it."

Daryl looked at him, "Couldn't pick it up?"

"I dropped it down a drain."

After a few moments, Daryl was on his feet again, but this time he wasn't gunning for anyone. "If that's supposed to make me feel better, it don't."

"Then maybe this will," T-Dog caught Daryl's attention again, "I chained the door to the roof so the geeks couldn't get at 'im, with a padlock."

"It's gotta' count for something." Rick was right, T-Dog may have dropped the key, but he risked his neck to chain that door up. Which is going to be the only reason Merle is still alive.

Then, he put the back of his hand to his face, the man was actually crying. Not sobbing or anything, but he was genuinely sad enough to cry, at least a little bit. "To hell with all y'all." He tried to sound angry, but his voice was breaking off. "Just tell me where he is, so I can go get 'im."

"He'll show you, in't that right?"

They all looked at Lori who was staring back at Rick, who nodded back to the group. "I'm goin' back."

Laura's jaw tensed up, the hell was Rick thinking? Going back to Atlanta. It was dangerous for him, he knew that, he barely made it out alive the last time he was in Atlanta. However, Atlanta was just as safe as camp to her, she'd go with them both.

She checked her gun, she only had five shots, wouldn't do much good if a horde snuck up on them. She could deal with a pretty large number of them, but she wouldn't be able to save them all if they didn't keep their wits about them.

By the time Rick came out of his tent, she was already ready and waiting.

"-could you just throw me a bone here, man? Just tell me why? Why would you risk your life for a douche bag like Merle Dixon?" Shane followed Rick up to the camp site, he turned around and faced the distraught man.

"Hey, better choose your words more carefully." Daryl warned.

"Oh no, I did. Douche bag's what I meant." Shane faced Rick again, "Merle Dixon," He spat out the name like it was poison. "Man wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dyin' of thirst.

"What he would or wouldn't do doesn't concern me. I can't let a man die of thirst." Rick insisted, "Me, thirst and exposure. We left him like an animal caught in a trap, that's no way for anything to die, let alone a human being." Rick turned away from a very disturbed looking Shane.

"You and Daryl, that's your big plan?" Lori queried.

Laura was going to, but she knew she couldn't hold off a horde if they were to come by one, but she could still help.

Rick put his hands on his hips and turned around to see Glenn, who hadn't noticed the look Rick was sending him until it was too late. "Oh come on."

"You've been there before, you know the way. In and out, no problem. You said so yourself." Glenn took off his hat and ran his hand over his hair. "It's not fair of me to ask, I know that, but I'd feel a lot better with you there, I know she would too." Lori did not look like she appreciated being used in Rick's argument to save Merle.

"Well that's just great, now you're gonna' risk three men, huh?" Shane was agitated, Merle was a bastard and they all knew it, he couldn't stand that right after Rick got back that he'd leave to bring back Merle Dixon.

"Four." T-Dog announced, to which Daryl scoffed, "Well my day just gets better and better, don't it?"

"You see anyone else steppin' up to save your brothers' cracker ass?" Laura knew T-Dog was only coming along to right his mistake, dropping that key down the drain yesterday. She could easily tell the man wasn't the same since then.

"Why you?" Daryl sounded skeptical.

"You wouldn't even begin to understand, you don't speak my language." T-Dog remarked.

Dale sighed, "That's four."

"It's not just four, you're putting every single one of us at risk. Just know that Rick." Shane commented sternly, "You saw that walker, it was here, it was in camp. If they move out of the city and come back we need 'em here, we need 'em to protect camp."

"Seems like what you really need here... are more guns." Glenn recollected, "Right, the guns."

"Wait, what guns?" Shane asked, "Six shotguns, two high-powered rifles, over a dozen handguns." Laura blinked, that was a lot of guns. "I cleaned out the cage back at the station before I left. I dropped the bag in Atlanta when I got swarmed, it's just sittin' there waitin' to be picked up."

"Ammo?" Shane was almost hoping there wouldn't be enough to warrant Rick leaving for Atlanta. "Over seven-hundred rounds, assorted." Shane twitched, they could really use those guns and that ammo.

"You went through hell to find us, you're just gonna' turn around and leave?" Lori was heartbroken, she just got her husband back. "D-Dad, I don't want you to go." Carl said, which Laura could see was the only thing that really affected Rick.

"To hell with the guns," She growled, "Shane is right. Merle Dixon? He's not worth one of your lives even with guns thrown in."

Shane had nothing to say, for once, because he knew the camp really needed more guns. They were desperate for weapons to defend themselves, they few they had didn't do them much good if a bunch of walker's waltzed up into camp one night.

"Tell me, make me understand." Lori stood up to Rick, "I owe a debt, to a man I met and his little boy." Lori swung around to look at Carl, "Lori, if they hadn't taken me in, I'd have died. It's because of them that I made it back to you at all. They said they'd follow be to Atlanta, they'll walk into the same trap that I did if I don't warm 'em."

"What's stoppin' you?"

"The walkietalkie, in the bag I dropped, he's got the other one. The plan was to connect when we got close." Lori looked defeated by now, but she still wouldn't let him go without a fight.

Shane rubbed his jaw, "Is it our walkies?" Rick sighed, "Yeah."

"So use the CB, what's wrong with that?" Andrea offered.

"CB's fine, it's the walkies that suck, they're crap. Date back to the seventies, don't match any other bandwidth. Not even the scanners in our cars." Laura closed her eyes and groaned, what a terrible PD they must've had. Couldn't even afford to supply their officers with decent equipment.

"I need that bag." He stressed, Lori and him sharing a silent argument. She had nothing more to say, so Rick stepped around her and went to Carl. "Okay?" To which Carl only nodded.

Shane's jeep was moved so they could back the truck up to camp. Rick and T-Dog went to Dale and the other man, the one she figured was a mechanic.

Laura just hopped into the truck, they hadn't noticed her yet and she anticipated an argument when they did, but she could make a few excellent points. The guns, for instance, who was going to get them? T-Dog, Glenn, Daryl, or Rick? All it took is one bite or one scratch, even if it's as small as a needles point, they'd be dead. Not her though, she could skip into the street without a care in the world.

They could use her, lower the risk of something bad happening.

Unexpectedly, here was her first conversation, if it could be called that, with Daryl.

"The hell are you?" She heard him behind her, but she didn't think he'd actually talk to her. "L-Laura. I c-came back w-w-with R-Rick yes-s-sterday." She was aware, like before, that her stutter sounded like she was afraid, but she really wasn't. Daryl seemed far more tame then Merle, even though he did try to jump Rick.

"What're ya' doin' on the truck, we're leavin'." Laura looked to Rick and T-Dog talking to Dale and the mechanic, "Not y-yet it s-s-seems, gotta w-wait for t-them."

He seemed to catch her drift. "Uh uh, you ain't goin'. I'm ain't dealin' with some whiny ass woman."

Laura looked to Daryl. "This w-w-whiny ass w-woman can w-walk t-through a h-horde of w-w-walkers a-and not get h-hurt, c-can you?" His face was contorted, like he was thinking about something.

"Ain't possible, now get off." He didn't think she was being literal, he thought she was boasting and pointed out the back of the truck, but Laura remained still seated on the edge of the truck floor. "You deaf, I said get off!"

She just threw him a sarcastic grin, "W-when we g-get to Atlanta, t-trust me, y-you'll w-want me a-at your b-back then."

He spun around and honked the truck's horn to get their attention. "Come on, let's go!"

Shane and Rick stepped up to the truck, "You got any rounds in the python?" Rick shook his head, "No." Shane just grinned, he knew Rick couldn't have had any bullets.

Laura realized that meant when Rick put the gun up to Merle's head, that he couldn't kill him. He had no bullets.

"Last time we were on the gun range, sure I wound up with a few loose round of yours." He chuckled and dug in his bag, "You and that bag like the bottom of an old ladies purse."

Shane looked up, "I hate that you're doin' this man. I think that it's foolish and reckless, but if you're gonna' go, you're takin' bullets." Shane pulled out a few shells, "Not sure I'd want to fire off a shot in the city, not after what happened last time."

Laura could agree with that.

"That's up to you." Shane showed him the bullets, four, two in each hand. "Four men, four rounds. What're the odds, huh?... Let's just, let's just hope that four's your lucky number." He handed them to Rick. "Thank you."

As Rick got in the passenger side, Daryl came up behind him. "Get this dumb bitch off this truck." He ground out, Rick furrowed his brow and turned to see what Daryl was talking about. He saw Laura sitting in the truck, just waiting to go.

"Laura, what're you doing?" He asked, she just stood up and came to him.

"You k-know you n-need m-me, the city is t-t-too dangerous f-for you." She patted her holster, where her gun was safely strapped in.

Rick shook his head, "I can't have you going into Atlanta, it's not safe. I don't want you to get hurt."

"Rick, y-you know f-fine w-well, the o-only p-people likely t-to get hurt o-o-or killed o-on this t-truck is you g-guys." She shrugged, "S-sides, w-who're you g-gonna s-send a-after the guns? Y-you'll a-all be e-eaten b-before you l-lay a hand on t-that bag. I c-could do a w-whole d-damn ballet a-and still w-wouldn't g-get bit."

He nodded, then looked to Daryl. "She has a point."

The redneck huffed, "Whatever, I ain't watchin' her ass though."

"You don't have to," Rick looked back to Laura, "Isn't that right?"

She nodded firmly, "You g-got it Rick."