Curative
By Kaimaler
Forgot to mention, the title of the last chapter is actually part of the lyrics of Frank Sinatra's "This Town."
Just thought I'd mention it. :3
A big shout out to my inspiration for this story!
A Walking Dead fanfic named:
HeroHeroine
Written by:
Jalenvictoriaxo
And her newest story:
Everlong
Check 'em both out! They're great stories and so much fun to read! :D
Thanks for being so awesome Jalen! :D
They left her alone for quite some time, but not before slapping duct tape back over her mouth and covering her head with the sack again. She was really getting tired of the sack.
It'd been about an hour or so by the time she heard footsteps again.
She couldn't see anything really, not because it was dark, she saw perfectly fine in the dark, it was just the sack was so thick that the best she could see was shadows that blocked the little bit of light she got.
There were two sets of footsteps, one on either side of her. They lifted her out of the chair and dragged her along with them again.
She resisted, to the best of her ability anyways. Fighting them at every chance she got, she heard more people, speaking in another language that she couldn't understand.
Laura was petrified, she hated being here, she hated being trapped and feeling so helpless. The man from earlier wanted the gun bag, an extension of that would be giving up her friends. Well, the closest thing she's ever had to friends anyways, they were kind people even if they didn't get along all the time. She wasn't about to risk them just because she was scared.
If they were going to do anything to her, she hoped they'd just kill her.
Apparently, they had other plans.
They were pulling her up stairs which she constantly tripped over and nearly ended up with her face meeting very unmerciful stairs. When they got her to wherever they wanted her, she could feel a breeze and the strange sensation of being high up.
She heard voices but couldn't make them out until they brought her closer to their destination.
"-Felipe gets an arrow in the ass and you want a calm discussion? You fascinate me." She was confused, that was the man from earlier, she could recognize the voice, but what was going on?
"Heat of the moment, mistakes were made." Laura's heart skyrocketed at the familiar voice. It was Rick! They'd found her, they actually found her. She didn't know how or why, she was just too happy to even think about anything other then seeing them again. "On both sides."
"Who's that dude to you anyways, you don't look related."
"He's one of our group, more or less." She still couldn't get over the idea of Rick being down there. She wondered who he had with him, who came to save her. "I'm sure you have a few like him."
"You got my brother in there?" That was undoubtedly Daryl, still looking for Merle. She just hoped he remembered she was here too.
"Sorry, fresh outta' white boys, but I got a zombie girl. Interested?"
"I have one of yours, you have one of mine, sounds like an even trade." She begged this man would just let her go, Laura couldn't stand being here. All she could think about was being strapped down to a table in the lab or being tied up by those men who violated her. It scared her stiff knowing that she was in the same situation, unable to fight her captors.
"It don't sound even to me." Laura groaned. Just let me go, please. "My people got attacked, where's the compensation for their pain and suffering? More to the point, where's my bag of guns?"
"Guns?" Oh no, He wanted the guns. Would Rick really compromise with him for her? He only knew her for about a day, she thought of him as pretty friendly, someone she could see herself enjoying his company like family. But would he really risk losing those guns, the camp needed those guns to protect themselves.
"The bag Miguel saw on the street. The bag Felipe and Jorge were going back to get. That bag of guns."
God, how she wished she could see what was going on. Rick was holding one of these people hostage too? Is that why the man threatened her earlier?
"You're mistaken."
Laura almost died right there.
"I don't think so."
"About it being yours." Okay, time to negotiate the price down a little. Come on, haggle Rick haggle! She whined a little, there were still two men flanking her and she couldn't see anything, there wasn't a way she could escape so that Rick wouldn't have to choose those guns over her. Laura figured he would, needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few and she was one person who had just shown up yesterday.
Rick would have to keep the guns, she wasn't worth the supplies. The camp needed those guns badly.
"That bag was in the street, anybody could come around and say it was theirs. I'm supposed to take your word?" If Rick hadn't spontaneously changed his outfit in the last few hours, then the sheriff uniform should've at least hinted that Rick was telling the truth.
"What's to stop my people from unloading on you right here and now?" Laura was freaking out again, Leave Rick, just go. At first she wanted their help, but it was looking like a bad idea. "And I take what's mine."
"You could do that..." What the hell Rick. Laura rolled her eyes, he wasn't very good at this negotiating thing, was he? "Or not."
She hadn't a clue what was going on, but everything was quiet for a few minutes until the man called out something she didn't quite catch. Again, probably in that language she didn't understand.
Laura was shoved forward by the two men a few feet forward then held her still. One of the men snatched the sack off her head and she saw exactly what was going on.
Rick stood beside Daryl, a shotgun pointed straight at the man who she had spoken to earlier. Daryl's crossbow was trained on a particularly lanky looking kid in between them and the group that had captured her. Glenn was down there too, he hand a pistol in his hands, but he was clearly nervous with it. She could see that from a distance.
She shook her head at Rick, gesturing away, hoping he'd get her message. Run, leave.
"I see two options, you come back with Miguel and my bag of guns. Everybody walks. Or you come back locked and loaded, and we'll see which side spills more blood." Dammit Rick, just go already. She couldn't get her point across to him, she wasn't telepathic.
When Laura saw the group who captured her turn back inside, she felt relieved. Rick, Daryl, Glenn, and that kid, Miguel, were on their way out.
They dragged her back with them and didn't put the sack back on her head, thankfully. However, the two men were much more careful with her on the way down, seemingly okay with taking their time to let her get down the stairs safely.
Such a dramatic change in treatment made her suspicious.
"So, those were your friends, huh?" He sighed, peeling off the duct tape. "Pretty dedicated friends."
"O-only known 'em f-for a day. So d-don't 'spect to get t-those guns." She glowered at the man, "They have families to g-go back to, p-people they care about t-that need t-those guns, to p-protect them. I'm a s-stranger to them. They w-won't give up t-those guns for m-me."
"Guillermo." He took up a knife and cut the ropes that bound her hands. She rubbed the sore skin there, she still hadn't healed up properly. "And for someone they've only known for a day, they've really taken a shine to you."
She scoffed at him, "Keep her with the rest of the folk for now, we'll deal with her when her friends get back."
They lead her through a door to what looked like a small fenced in courtyard. It actually looked quite peaceful, if Laura ignored the men carrying guns and various other weapons around her.
Laura noticed a significant change in scenery from the foreboding looking structure they were in before and the hospital-like building she was lead into.
At the end of a hallway, the men let her go inside and do as she pleased. This wasn't something she could say she knew how to deal with, the people here were elderly folk who were sitting down and talking, others up and about. They didn't even notice the armed men behind her, it was like they were made out of rainbows, ready to give out free food and shelter, not gun toting kidnappers threatening to fill her with lead.
"Hello deary, what's your name?" A woman came up to her, she was one of the elderly here, but she waved Laura to come and sit with her and a few others that were just enjoying the day.
"My n-name is Laura, ma'am." She took a seat on the floor nearby the lady who invited her. "What a lovely name. I am Abuela, Felipe's grandmother. Have you met him?" Laura shook her head, "He's a such a sweet child. Maybe you can meet him later." She had such a heavy accent that Laura figured this Felipe must've been one of the people who took her.
"You have the most stunning eyes, dearest." Laura forgot she had her hood down, it wasn't like it mattered now. Instead of hiding herself, she took off her jacket and tied the sleeves around her waist. "Thank you ma'am. How long have you been here?"
"Oh, quite some time." She leaned back into her chair, "My grandson takes care of us here, he really is a sweet boy. He'd only be so lucky to have such a pretty girl like yourself."
Laura blushed, and while she was a little interested in the fact that she was actually blushing and could feel it, she was a little embarrassed by the woman's statement. "I'm not really i-interested in that k-kind of thing ma'am."
"And why shouldn't you be?" The elderly woman smiled, Laura took notice that Abuela actually never stopped smiling. "Pretty young thing like yourself should have many men in her hand, eh?"
Laura just cleared her throat awkwardly.
"Oh, yes." She pointed to a man sitting near her, "This is Mister Gilbert, Mister Gilbert, this is Laura."
Laura spent some time sitting with the people of the nursing home, just keeping them company and talking with them. It was as if the world outside was perfectly normal, like nothing in the world was wrong. Laura liked that feeling.
She had lost track of time and as it flew by, the more calm she was around these people. Smiling with them and all around enjoying herself quite fully. It wasn't something Laura had a lot of experience with and was more then happy to forget about the outside world and wallow in blissful ignorance of the apocalyptic would outside.
It was grand.
However, all good things come to an end and this one came to a screeching halt. Mister Gilbert started gasping, he couldn't breathe.
Abuela left for her grandson, Felipe. Mister Gilbert was having breathing troubles.
They said it was because of his asthma, that he needed his medicine in order to get well again. He sat there gasping for air, taking long deep breaths. Laura didn't know what to do, she wasn't trained to be a doctor or a nurse. She could only sit on the sidelines and hope for the best.
She had long since learned that Guillermo ran this place, that he watched over them and the armed men helped defend the old folks home. It was amazing to Laura, she'd never seen people like this before.
When Abuela returned with the man Laura recognized as the one who had an arrow up his ass earlier, she made another discovery. These people, the ones who took her and threatened her and her friends were protecting these people against the monsters she'd come across. People like her father or the men who captured her before.
She was so focused on Gilbert she didn't notice Rick, Daryl, Glenn, and T-Dog join them.
Felipe came up to Mister Gilbert, talking to him calmly as he readied the medicine. She felt relieved when his breathing started to level out.
"What the hell is this?" Rick looked at her as if he was so shocked by this discovery that he couldn't process this new information.
"Oh, um, a-asthma attack." Laura answered, turning her head until she tore her eyes from Gilbert and onto Rick. "He j-just couldn't breathe right."
"Thought you were being eaten by dogs, man." T-Dog sent her an incredulous look that said he was well beyond the point of freaking out. Especially with everything about the guns and Miguel.
Laura just turned around and looked at the chihuahua's who barked in response to being looked at without consent. She grinned, she always used to love dogs.
"Can I talk to you for a second?" Rick and Guillermo walked away from the small crowd, Laura ignored them and kept an eye on Gilbert. While Rick went off to talk to Guillermo behind her, she did see T-Dog, Daryl, and Glenn go with, just to make sure everything was alright.
They spoke in hushed voices, obviously Rick was not very happy about this.
When they started to leave the room, Daryl passed behind her. "Hey, come on." Laura turned on her heel, seeing Daryl wave her along to follow them. Looking back, she said her goodbyes and left with them.
Entering one of the rooms, Rick set down the bag of guns and Guillermo took a seat. "What about the rest of your crew?" Rick put a hand on his hip and Laura only just now noticed he was carrying a very mean looking shotgun. He wasn't planning anything, was he?
"The Vatos trickle in, check on their parents, their grandparents, they see how things are and most decide to stay." Laura remembered the men who looked like part of a gang, she was wondering where they came from. "It's a good thing too, we need the muscle. The kind of people we've encountered, the worst kind. Plunderers, the kind that take by force."
"That's not who we are." Yeah, what the hell guys. Laura frowned at Guillermo, he just assumed they were plunderers and had attacked them, threatened them, without even giving them a chance. That's how good people die.
"How was I to know? My people got attacked and you show up with Miguel hostage." Guillermo looked around to the group, "Appearances."
"Guess the world changed." T-Dog looked positively worn out, Laura made a note to check on them all later, see if there was anything they needed. She couldn't get her head around why they came back for her, they could've died.
"No, it's the same as it ever was." Guillermo caught Rick's gaze, "The weak get taken. So we do what we can, the Vatos work on those cars, talk about getting the old people out of the city. But most can't even get to the bathroom by themselves, so that's just a dream. Still, it keeps the crew busy and that's worth something."
He looked down, then glanced to the boarded up window behind him. "So was bar all the windows, weld all the doors shut, except for one entrance. The Vatos go out, scavenge what they can to keep us going." He gestured to the Vatos talking in the other room across from them. "We scan the perimeter night and day. And we wait.
Laura hadn't known all this before, she was listening intently and wondered if they ever meant to harm her or their group. It wouldn't make sense, if what Guillermo was saying was true, but then again, stranger things have happened.
"The people here, they all look to me now." He dropped his shoulders slightly. "I don't even know why."
"Because they can."
Rick gave Guillermo his shotgun, who took it graciously. He unzipped the gun bag and started checking guns, then putting them on the desk Guillermo was sitting on the edge of. Making sure the ammo was right for each gun, Rick zipped up the gun bag and threw it over his shoulder again.
"Thank you, we do need these guns." Guillermo stood, setting the shotgun down before shaking Rick's hand.
The sheriff offered a half-hearted smile.
"I almost forgot." Guillermo took out a handgun, it was the one Laura had been carrying. "You may want this back."
She just shook her head, "I don't want it, I h-haven't even had a chance to u-use it. You n-need it more then me." Guillermo grinned, putting the pistol back in the belt of his jeans.
When they left the presence of the Vatos, Laura was all too happy to be heading back to camp. First, they had to make it to the truck. They took the same path back out of the city and were only a few minute walk from the rails they parked on.
Laura was hanging back behind them a little bit, she didn't have to sneak around the walkers they had come across and kept walking with her hands in her pockets and her head down.
She was in deep thought about her fear, when the Vatos took her. It was rational, after all, they are actually a rather tough looking gang, they did threaten her friends and her, they beat the hell out of Daryl in the alley, all without even trying to speak to them on neutral ground.
"You alright back there?" Rick stopped for a moment, the others still walking a bit ahead of them, but they did spare a glance at Rick and Laura. She looked at the distance between the group and her. It was a good ten feet or so.
"I'm fine, just c-calmin' my nerves." She answered, sending him, or trying to, a reassuring smile. Rick was not convinced.
"It's okay if you were scared, anybody would be in that situation." She shook her head and bit her lip. "I wasn't really scared, well, I mean. I w-was scared, b-but it w-wasn't because of t-them. I just f-fell into a bad p-pattern of thinking. That's a-all."
He walked a little faster with her, trying to catch up with the group. "I know what you're talking about. Maybe you'll think about talking with someone now?" Rick really wanted her to get help to deal with trauma, but he wasn't about to make her talk. Just offer to listen.
"Rick, I tell you what." She chuckled, "W-when we get back t-to camp, I will w-write a fuckin' b-ballad about everything s-screwed up in my life and p-personally perform it in f-front of the whole camp and have it d-dedicated to you."
He laughed at this, patting her on the back. "You were distant yesterday and now you seem much happier. After being taken by the Vatos, I was honestly concerned about you." They'd finally caught up to the group, Laura and Rick side by side and Rick's hand on her shoulder. "When Daryl told me someone took you... I've known-" He looked to the group who could hear them and while Laura had said she'd tell anyone, he didn't want to make her uncomfortable here."I've known victims who were recovering from their experience and have a similar one later on. Most of them are never the same. I'm glad to see you pulled through."
Laura smiled brightly. "Yeah, I was t-terrified, thinkin' they w-were, uh, gonna' do the s-same thing, or at least s-somethin' similar. But I saw y'all and w-wasn't really that scared a-anymore."
Rick and Laura shared a comfortable silence, until Rick noticed T-Dog and Daryl stealing looks at Laura, like they were wondering what was going on. The sheriff narrowed his eyes, asking himself what they were looking at.
Until he looked back to Laura who was not wearing her hoodie.
"They've b-been starin' since w-we left the w-walker infested s-streets." She knew exactly why too and they had decided to keep it to themselves. So Laura untied her hoodie and slipped it on, pulling up the hood and zipping the jacket up.
At that, they all started to become disinterested. It was funny to think of them as the equivalent of their walkers. They get one look at her and wonder if she's human or undead, but when she hides herself well enough, they all just go about their way until they really were to focus on what they had seen. So far, none of them had.
Rick carefully made his way in between her and the others, a protective arm over her shoulders. They didn't really see what he was doing and Laura was glad for that, but she appreciated him defending and comforting her.
"Can't believe y'all c-came back for me though." Laura wasn't keeping her face covered like before, just partially. "Would've thought t-that when G-Guillermo demanded the guns and Miguel f-for me, that'd y'all would just grab the guns an' get back to camp."
"We ain't leavin' you behind, girl." T-Dog rolled his eyes at her.
"Yeah, we weren't just going to run away." Glenn hitched the pack on his back higher, "I don't think any of us would."
T-Dog flanked her other side now. "Damn straight. Couldn't leave ya' back there even if I wanted to."
Almost there. She thought, a little celebration going off in her head. She wanted to get back to camp, return the guns and see how long it took for her to meet all the people there.
So far the group was very promising. With Glenn, T-Dog, Daryl, Dale, Shane, the Morales family, Andrea and Amy, Jacqui, and Rick with his wife and son. She liked the idea of being with people again, it was promising.
"Admit it," Glenn spoke up, "You only came back to Atlanta for the hat." Laura smiled.
"Don't tell anybody." So Rick did have a sense of humor. He always looked so serious, then again, she met him after the apocalypse when he was searching for his family, the only other times she saw Rick was when he was either fighting for his life or trying to adjust to living in an infected world.
"You've given away half our guns an' ammo." Daryl was in a huff. He was still rather pissed about Merle and Laura got that.
"Not nearly half." Rick growled back to the man.
"For what? Buncha' ol' farts gonna die momentarily anyhow." They all walked around the bus and pole. "Seriously, how long do you think they got?"
"How long do any of us?"
They were just about there and all of them stopped when they saw the area, rails, fence, bus, and all. Sans one cube van.
"Oh my God." Glenn sighed. They all scanned the area, just in case they missed it.
"Where the hell's our van?"
Glenn pointed to the rails, "We left it right there, who would take it?"
Rick sneered, "Merle."
Daryl looked like he just came upon a revelation. "He's gonna' be takin' some vengeance back to camp."
Laura ground her teeth. "If he so m-much as thinks about touching any one of 'em, I'll be servin' the walker's Merle Dixon stew."
"We need to go, now." Rick started, they left at a jogging pace, to move as fast as they could without exhausting themselves, which would only prove detrimental for both them and the camp.
It was a long trek back to camp, they hadn't said a word since they left Atlanta. They were all thinking about camp, wondering if Merle had made it back and if he had, what would he do?
Laura thought Daryl might have an idea about the subject, but the men behind her were far too busy trying to keep their breath as they headed for camp. She smiled, one more wonderful benefit of being cured, she had never felt tired since the first few weeks she had woken up.
When they all started to get a little slower, Laura had made more progression ahead of them. She would run a little faster every few minutes, not really meaning to, but just because she felt the urgency of getting to camp with Merle on the loose. Like he was some starving lion ready to plow through camp the second he caught their scent.
A fraction of a second went by when they heard the sounds of a gun going off in the distance, multiple shots, and screaming.
Laura bolted, running as fast as she could then leaving the others behind her.
They'd already arrived at the dirt road up to the camp, but they were too far away. They would all have to book it if they wanted to make it to camp in time to minimize whatever damage was being done.
She realized a little too late that she didn't have a weapon, but that wouldn't hurt her, only hindered her from helping others as effectively.
Laura sprinted into camp, seeing the bodies on walkers almost covering the ground. There were a few feasting on late camp members and others that were heading to the RV where the survivors of this attack had begun to gather at, but were becoming quickly surrounded.
How she wished she took her gun back from Guillermo now.
Scouring the ground, she found a hatchet and took it up firmly. Happy with it, she charged the walkers that were encroaching on the group.
She grabbed a walker and spun it around, sinking the hatchet blade into it's skull. More walkers started to get close to the group and Shane had to reload eventually.
Laura ran up to them and Shane aimed at her, yet held back and she wasn't shot, so she figured Shane must've been able to recognize her from the undead. That was a good thing, she only had to make a personal note to never run up on a man being surrounded by the undead at night again.
Taking up a place in front of the herd, she held as many off as she could.
"Get back!" Shane shouted over the women's screams, the order was directed at her but Laura refused and went to their right side which was becoming infested with an increasing number of walkers.
She grabbed two walkers that were the furthest to her sides by their shirts and held onto them while digging her feet into the ground an inch or so, all walkers caught in between were forced against her. She used all her strength to hold them back and was straining under the pressure. The walkers were piling up on her, they were all pushing forward at once. Laura felt like a barricade, there would only be so much she could deal with before being overpowered, but she wasn't about to let them get eaten and there were too many walkers on this side to be taken out at once.
Shane was reloading as fast as humanly possible while others did their best to cut down other walkers using anything from shovels, knives, and baseball bats.
Laura couldn't tell if these walkers were random and arrived the same exact day and time Merle escaped without a hand and had a twisted reason in his head to attack them, or if he had somehow caused this
If Merle could cut off his hand, beat down walkers with one hand, and escape Atlanta while suffering from blood loss, then she didn't really see how Merle couldn't have done this. Unless he was already passed out or dead from said blood loss.
The build up of Walkers caused her feet which were still partially in the ground to slide back. She groaned as her arms were being pressed on by the walkers, she could feel her body being pulled apart slowly as the walkers tried harder and harder to get passed her.
Every time another walker would press into the small crowd of walkers she was holding onto, she would be pushed back a few inches.
That was until there were so many shoving her back that she just began to slide back. "Oh no you don't!" She gritted her teeth, screwed her eyes shut and started to walk forward, into the walkers. It succeeded in slowing them down quite a bit, but she was using a strength she didn't really have and it was getting more difficult to resist them.
"Let them go..." Her eyes snapped open. The Voice was back, it was always around when she felt threatened. Why wasn't it there when the Vatos took her? "Join them in their feast. There is plenty to go around."
"No!" She cried out, her heart pumping furiously now and her body struggling with the number of walkers on her.
Gunshots, more guns then just Shane's, starting firing off rounds around the camp. She turned her head to see what was going on and there was the group she'd been with in Atlanta had finally caught up and starting clearing out the undead.
T-Dog and Daryl had come up to the group of walkers she was holding back from the others and started unloading on the walkers. Gradually her weight was lifted until the last walker she held back fell dead.
She sighed deeply. The two men went off to help clear out the rest of camp with the others.
Laura went around and got to cut down a few walkers who were wandering the camp site before they were all sure that there weren't any more walkers for the moment.
"Carl!" She heard Rick call out, Laura hadn't bothered to look at the group to see who was who or where they were, only to stop walkers from overrunning them.
She saw Carl run up to Rick and him pick up the terrified boy while Lori was rigid and fearful. Rick pulled her to him, they were all crying, anguishing over the suffering that had happened.
The camp grew ominously quiet, the group was reeling in shock from the event. So many bodies were scattered about that they couldn't tell their own people from the walker corpses.
They were all still scanning for more, checking ones on the ground and watching the treeline.
"Amy!" Laura flinched at hearing the girl's name, Andrea was crying out Amy's name over and over. Laura had just now noticed that Amy had died, bitten twice, an artery in her wrist and her jugular veins torn open. She died of blood loss.
She had nothing to say, only joined the others as they started to move the bodies.
The woman and children had taken shelter in the RV for the night while a group comprised of Rick, Shane, T-Dog, Dale, Glenn, Daryl, the mechanic she never met, Morales, and herself began cleaning up overnight.
It was about two hours later she sunk her hatchet into another corpses' head then hooked her arms underneath the arms of a walker corpse that someone spoke to her. She expected Rick to talk to her earlier, but to her surprise, it was apparently Daryl's turn to share his words of wisdom with her.
"Should be gettin' some sleep." He grabbed the walkers feet, helping her carry the body into the burn pile. They hadn't started the fire yet, they were going to wait until daylight so they didn't risk attracting more walkers.
"I can keep t-this up all night, Daryl." She smiled weakly to the man. They repeated the process and the two of them carried another walker body to the pile. The hunter glanced at her every now and then. She caught his eyes finally, the sharpest blue she'd ever seen.
"Hey, Daryl." Laura rubbed the side of her face. "I'm real sorry 'bout Merle. I mean, he ain't the n-nicest guy I ever met, but he was still ya brother. So, yeah... Just tryin' to say that I really wish he was here with ya now. Hell, w-wished we hadn't cuffed him up there in the first place."
Daryl's mind stumbled back as she talked about Merle. He'd given her a black eye, attacked T-Dog and was sorry they didn't find him? He knew fine well Merle didn't, as Rick put it, play nice with others, but for all she knew Merle could have been a cold blooded murderer. He knew his brother better then any of them, obviously and he wasn't expecting Laura to actually feel bad about him not getting his brother back. He nodded to her, "Thanks." He grumbled.
She grinned at him, "Maybe later, after all this, ya' can show me how'ta hunt, huh? I gotta' say, moment I saw that crossbow an' all 'em squirrels, I couldn't help but feel a li'l jealous."
He smirked, "Maybe."
The next few hours of the night were spent quietly, dragging bodies away.
When the sun came up, Shane lit the pile. Most people couldn't stand the smell and tied whatever they could around their nose and mouth to stop from having to deal with the horrendous odor.
Andrea stayed up all night with Amy, lovingly running her hand over the deceased girl's hair. She wasn't crying anymore or doing anything really, she just sat there looking at her sister's face.
Laura wasn't about to bother her, she was still on the unfamiliar side when it came to losing family like they had done. Andrea lost Amy, Daryl lost Merle, Rick was searching for his family, though he found them, the story he told that night around the fire portrayed a very defeated side of Rick. The loss these people suffered, she just couldn't relate. Didn't mean she wasn't going to try and help them through it.
If needed, she'd do her best to comfort Andrea, if that meant a shoulder to cry on or someone to talk to, Laura would be there. Granted, if she made the same offer to Daryl he'd probably just stab her.
She wouldn't blame him for it either.
However, she had made the offer in her own way. After speaking up about Merle last night, Laura asked about hunting with Daryl and while she was serious about learning how to hunt and that the crossbow had such an endless amount of uses in the walker-infested world, she figured hunting would get Daryl's mind off of Merle, if only for a little while.
By this point, Daryl was cracking into the heads of corpses with a pickax and when done with a body T-Dog and Glenn tossed it into the burning pile.
When Laura heard a gun being cocked, she turned around to see Andrea aiming her gun at Rick who was very slowly backing away. She wondered what happened to warrant Andrea drawing her weapon on Rick. An overprotective feeling washed over her, but was gone as quickly as it came. Rick could take care of himself and Andrea was in pain, all they had to do is leave her alone.
Regardless, Laura went up to the group as it appeared Daryl was talking quite fervently about something before storming off. He went right by her and he seemed thoroughly pissed for the morning.
What a healthy life he leads.
"What's his deal?" She walked up to Rick, her head turned to see Daryl with Morales dragging a body away.
"He thinks we should shoot Amy." He answered, his eyes had followed Daryl to before landing on Laura. "What do you think?"
Laura blinked and shook her head. "Wait, me?" He nodded, "Why not you?"
She just shrugged and interlaced her fingers behind her neck. "What do I think about shooting Amy... I'm assuming from the w-way y'all are discussin' this that it'd be done without Andrea's consent?" He was reluctant, but nodded again. "Ah, that's a tough call... If it were up to me, I'd just wait to see what Andrea does. Amy hasn't turned yet, maybe that's all she's waiting for. Doesn't matter though, when the time comes I'm sure she'll do what she thinks is best. Let's give Andrea time with her sister."
Shane looked a little disappointed in her opinion, but she could tell he respected it.
Rick gave her a faint smile. "Alright, we'll try it your way."
Laura patted Rick's back, "Gotta' get to work. Call me if y'all need me."
"Reap what you sow!" She turned around to see Daryl still pulling the body with Morales in front of the RV. "You know what? Shut up man."
Daryl walked away from Morales. "Y'all left my brother for dead!" He pointed to the pile of bodies, "You had this comin'!"
It was another who said what to Daryl moment. Certain things would set him off she noticed, but she could see that any discussion to be had about Merle may not have the best outcome...
Shortly after Daryl stormed away for the second time, Jacqui backed away from the mechanic. "A walker got him! A walker bit Jim!" So that's his name. She approached Jim with the others, he was afraid, but that was understandable.
"Show it to us." Daryl had somehow managed to storm off in one direction and yet come up from behind her, which was the opposite direction in which he had left in. "Show it to us!"
She picked up the weirdest things.
Jim turned around and picked up a shovel, they were circling him now. As he held that shovel out like a weapon, everyone starting making noise. Shane trying to tell him to put it down, Daryl telling T-Dog, the only person behind Jim, to grab him.
T-Dog jumped to Jim and grabbed his arms, but Jim didn't even try to fight back. "I'm okay, I'm okay!" Daryl rushed forward and pulled up Jim's shirt, revealing the teeth marks of a walker bite.
Both he and T-Dog stepped away as Jim kept repeating those words like a chant.
They separated Jim from the group, sitting him down at the bumper of the RV while the others conversed about his future or lack thereof. Laura sorely wished she could do something, anything. Like her father did when he found a cure, she was so close to the one thing that could solve so many of their problems and yet... She didn't even think about trying to take the vial with her.
She hadn't known about the outside world then, about what had happened to it, but she still felt like had she just taken that case with her so many problems would've been solved.
Standing with the group now, none of them really knew where to start. Except Daryl, he always had the answer.
"I'd say we put a pickax in his head an' the dead girl's an' be done with it." Coincidentally, Daryl was holding the pickax.
Shane looked up, "Is that what you'd want? If that were you?"
"Yeah, an' I'd thank you while you did it." Another statement Daryl made that Laura really didn't doubt. She could actually see him thanking the person who'd kill him if he got bit.
"I hate to say it, I never thought I would, but maybe Daryl's right-" Rick didn't look at the group. "Jim's not a monster Dale, or some rabid dog. He's a sick, sick man. We start down that road, where do we draw the line?"
"Line's pretty clear, zero tolerance for walkers or them to be." Daryl argued. Laura was a little torn between the idea of killing Jim while he was still human and alive. It was murder as far as she was concerned and yet, Laura wouldn't lie and say she knew how this new world worked, she was still trying to understand it.
"What if we can get him help?" Rick offered, "I heard the CDC was workin' on a cure." He spared her a look that lasted only a few seconds.
Oooh no Rick. He was going to have a talk with her later, she just knew it.
"I heard that too, heard a lot of things before the world went to hell." Shane clasped his hands on his shotgun.
"What if the CDC is still up and running?" Laura's eyes closed like someone had pointed a flashlight in them. She hadn't been to the CDC building in a long time, she didn't check it while she was out in the city for the fear that her father may have tried to go there. She didn't want to risk running into him.
"Man that is a stretch right there."
"Why?" Rick asked, "If there's any government left, any structure at all, they'd protect the CDC at all costs. I think it's our best shot. Shelter, protection, rescue-"
"Okay, look Rick, you want those things. I do to. Now if they exist, they're at the army base Fort Benning." Laura had no idea what Fort Benning was, she had no place in this part of the conversation.
"That's a hundred miles in the opposite direction."
"That is right." She was convinced on both sides already, "But it's away from the hot zone, now listen to me, if that place is operational it'll be heavily armed. We'd be safe there."
"The military was on the front lines of this thing, they got overrun. We've all seen that!" Rick exclaimed, "The CDC's our best choice and Jim's only chance."
The group was silent, there were two options, neither very promising. CDC or this Fort Shane was talking about. Laura was well acquainted with the CDC, knew her way around the building and knew a lot of the staff so she was biased on the argument. She couldn't pick out of fear she will pick CDC because she knew the place or Fort Benning in an attempt to not be biased.
"You go lookin' for aspirin, do what'cha need to do." Daryl turned around, raising the pickax in his hands as he went for Jim. "Somebody needs to have some balls to take care of this damn problem!"
"Hey, hey hey!" Rick ran up and put his revolver against his head, again, and Daryl stopped.
"We don't kill the living."
Shane stepped in between Daryl and Jim. He lowered the pickax and stared Rick down. "That's funny, comin' from a man who just put a gun to my head."
"We may disagree on some things, not on this. You put it down." Shane defended, he and Rick were on the same page. "Go on."
Daryl threw the pickax down and stalked off.
Laura needed a break from all this. Humans and their groups, the dysfunctional and argumentative members made her head spin. She didn't see why they couldn't just agree on something and, if they could agree, just deal with majority opinion over minority.
Right as she left the group and stood at the treeline, Rick was soon to join her.
"What can I do ya' for, sheriff?" She leaned against a tree as he neared her.
"I need to know-" Laura sighed, "If I have the cure Dad used on me?"
"Yes."
Laura shook her head, "I don't know what to tell ya'. I don't have it, I don't know where it is, I don't know where he is, and I don't know how to create the cure. I'm sorry I can't be of more help, but I have nothin' to offer for Jim. I really truly wished I did Rick."
"I know, I just had to ask. Just to be sure." She pushed herself from the tree. "I understand Rick. My Dad used to work at the CDC, the one in Atlanta, so I know it pretty well. At least, the floors they let civilians on anyways. I wasn't allowed in the trickier places."
"You're familiar with the CDC building?" This was news to Rick.
"Yeah, but my Dad hasn't worked there in years. I couldn't tell you if it was up and running or not." She rubbed her temples. "Look, today and yesterday has become this giant blur in my brain. I need to get my head on straight before I rejoin y'all. Okay?"
He nodded, his hands on his hips. "Take all the time you need."
When Rick went to see Shane, Laura began to feel her head swimming.
"It's time for breakfast." That damn voice wouldn't leave her alone, she was fine for now, there wasn't anything wrong with her and no one was trying to kill her. As far as she knew anyways.
A gunshot rang in the air and Laura looked into the camp and saw Andrea putting down her gun and continued showing her affection to Amy even though she was long gone.
Laura headed into her tent, she needed to think in peace and quiet. There was so much that went wrong in such little time that she had to stop for a moment and wonder how much of it that could've been stopped.