Huanted Moth Writing

Season Summary: Y/n is just a normal girl who loves to hunt with her dad. She has a loving and attentive mom. Her relationship with her brother is rocky at best but she still loves her small little life. That is until it's all turned upside down after she gets into an accident, with her dad passing away and her mom flushing her life down the toilet how is she supposed to manage when the world ends with it?

Prologue: The Before Times

  Word Count// 7k

   Warnings ⇢ Language, Character death(not twd cast), Talks of death, Violence, The killing of walkers, Hunting

Chapter One: I Met Two Old Guys In The Woods 

  Word Count// 6k

   Warnings ⇢ Language, talks of death and hunting 

Chapter Two: Swimmin’ With The Frogs 

  Word Count// ???

   Warnings ⇢???

Chapter Three: We Ate Some Fish, And Things Got Crazy 

            Word Count// 7k

             Warnings ⇢ Angst, Language, Death, Buarials, Daryl being a dick to everyone, Killing of Walkers, Hunting/*Cleaning Fish(semi-graphic), Typical TWD stuff really

Chapter Four: A Mad Scientist Gave Us Pasta

  Word Count//   7k

Warnings ⇢ Angst, Violence against women (Shane & Lori scene), Language, Death, Killing of Walkers, Typical TWD stuff really 

          It was quiet and tense as you and Carl read a book on the couch in Lori's room. After the events from that morning, no one was really in the mood to talk. The only words Lori said were to Carl. Telling him to study and stuff. So to get your mind off everything, you decided to read a book on mushrooms and other stuff on forging. 

While you were reading you heard a noise and saw Lori stand up and reach her hand up to the ceiling vents. 

“Something wrong Mom?” Carl asked, you looked to her for answers as she turned to you both.

“It’s, uhh…nothing, the air just stopped working.” she looked around then a moment later the lights went out. You gathered your books and followed Lori as she poked her head out to ask others if they were experiencing the same thing. 

Then from your view, you could see Jenner walking down the hall with his signature speed. Everyone started to bombard him with questions about what was going on and why the lights were out. 

“Energy use is being prioritized” he answered the questions bluntly. Dale got a shocked look on his face at the answer

“Air isn't a priority, and lights?” he asked the man who didn't even blink an eye towards him

“It's not up to me, zone fine is shutting itself down” Then he disappeared behind a corner. You all quickly followed him as Daryl demanded answers from him. Daryl matched his speed and got in his face.

“Hey man I'm talking to you, what do you mean it's shutting itself down??” the more you walked the closer you got to the big room. You soon met up with Rick the others who went to look around.

“What's happening?” Rick demanded, but Jenner just flew past him. Throwing the explanation over his shoulder. 

“The system is dropping all the nonessential uses of power. It’s designed to keep the computers running to the last possible second. That started as we approached the half-hour mark.” he checked his watch as he stopped “Right on schedule” and then continued walking.

He stopped, and everyone stared at him. All of them were scared and didn’t know what was gonna happen.  You looked to Dale as he put his arm around you, shielding you. You saw Jenner bow his head and looked at the rest of you before he spoke again.

“It was the French” he spoke cooly and bluntly. You scrunched your eyebrows in confusion, what does the French have to do with this right now, you thought. 

“They were the last ones to hold out as far as I know. While our people were bolting out the doors and committing suicide in the hallways, they stayed in the labs till the end” he took a breath “They thought they were close to a solution” he said sadly.

“What happened?” Jacqui asked his softy. You looked at him again.

“The same thing happening now.” he looked around “No power grid, the place ran out of juice” he threw his arms up like a madman “The whole world runs off fossil fuel, I mean how stupid is that!” Jenner looked to you all again. 

Shane grew pissed as he stared down the scientist. “I'll tell you what” he began to walk towards the man, but Rick cut him off.

“To hell with it Shane, I don't even care” he turned to you three “Lori grab our things, the rest of you, grab your stuff, we’re getting out of here NOW!”

As you all began to leave a loud alarm filled your ears. You covered your ears as VI's voice came over the intercom. 

“30 minutes to decantation” You looked to Lori and Rick confused then looked to the clock, and sure enough, the clock had thirty minutes remaining. During the confusion, you saw Jenner enter something and then you heard Rick yelling at everyone to hurry and grab their belongings. You ran after the metal door about the pass it when it shut on you.

You looked back to see Jenner talking to the computer monitor as everything sunk in. ‘he just locked us in here, were gonna die’ You wanted to cry but at that point, you felt nothing. This was supposed to be a safe haven, nothing was gonna go wrong, but it’s been all wrong since you got here.

But Shane attacked Lori and now the mad scientist just locked in here to die. Your attention was pulled away when you saw Darly run toward Jenner as he tried to hit him. But T-dog and Shane held him back. 

Once Shane and T-dog got Daryl away from Jenner, Rick demanded that he open the doors, but Jenner kept saying that he doesn't control the doors, the computers do 

“Can’t you override the doors? Please you have to do something” you begged the man as he looked back at you then Rick. 

“What happens in twenty-eight minutes?! What happens!?” Rick demanded from Jenner but that pissed Jenner off as he went on a rant about the CDC. But he controlled himself as he sat down again and explained the protocol.

“In the event of a catastrophic power failure—in a terrorist attack, for example—H.I.T.s are deployed to prevent any organisms from getting out.” you looked at him confused and scared, Jenner signed and looked down as he had VI defined H.I.T.s

“high-impulse thermo baric fuel-air explosives consist of a two-stage aerosol ignition that produces a blast wave of significantly greater power and duration than any other known explosive except nuclear. The vacuum-pressure effect ignites the oxygen at between 5,000 degrees and 6,000 degrees and is useful when the greatest loss of life and damage to structures is desired” VI explained in its soulless robotic voice.

“It sets the air on fire, it's painless” Jenner tried to comfort everyone but it was drowned out by Carol and Sophia's cries of anguish. “An end to sorrow and grief-” Jenner was cut off by a smash of glass. 

“OPEN THIS DAMN DOOR, NOW!” Daryl yelled making you jump as you looked back at the door now dripping with liquor.

Shane then rushed past you with an axe then Daryl somehow got an axe and they both started to hit the door but it did nothing, it barely left a scratch. A pit began in your stomach as they continued to hack at the door. Jenner kept spewing bullshit about how this was better. You wanted to ring his neck, because if you died, then your mother would have died for nothing.

“Can't make a dent,” Shane said with a deep breath, then Jenner sighed and pinched his nose.

“Those doors are meant to withstand a rocket blaster” That's when you felt Daryl rush past you with the axe held high.

“WELL YOUR HEAD AINT!”  everybody rushed towards him and pulled him back as Jenner stepped back away from the scene. Something in Jenner must've snapped inside him as he stared at Rick.

“You wanted this, you said it was a matter of time before everybody you knew and loved was dead,” Jenner said cooly while looking Rick dead in the eye. Everyone was looking at Rick, with confusion, shock, and anger. 

“What? You really said that after all your big talk?” Shane said in disbelief. Rick looked around before his eyes locked on Lori's confused and hurt face. 

“I had to keep hope alive didn't I?” Rick looked around desperately. But Jenner just interjected again.

“There is no hope, there never was” You looked down solemnly.

“There’s always hope. Maybe it won’t be you, maybe not here but somebody somewhere-” Andrea cut Rick off, making her mind known.

“What part of ‘everything is gone’ do you not understand” Her tone sounded annoyed and done. 

“Listen to your friend. She gets it. This is what takes us down. This is our extinction event.” Jenner reasoned that what he said was common sense. Like it was a known fact that humans would die because the dead were eating the living. You didn't like it, you balled your fist as your body went ridged and some tears leaked from your face.

You really couldn't believe this is where you would die, stuck underground with a whole bunch of people, and not surrounded by family when you were old and frail in a hospital. You couldn't even say goodbye to your brother, you couldn't see him anymore because your body would be nothing, not even dust. 

You were pulled from your thought when you heard a gun cock, making you look up to see Shane also rushing Jenner. You were actually kinda hoping he would shoot him so that he could suffer in his last moments. 

Rick tried to intervene Shane's path but Shane just pushed out of the way and aimed the shotgun. 

“Out of the way, Rick!  Stay out of my way! OPEN THAT DOOR OR I’M GONNA BLOW YOUR HEAD OFF. DO YOU HEAR ME?” he shouted in Jenner's face with the shotgun pointed at his head. Rick ran up to Shane and tried to pull him away again, trying to reason with him.

“Brother, brother, this is not the way you do this. We will never get out of here.” he stared into his eyes, Lori tried to convince him but he gave neither a reaction as he stared into Jenner's soul. You swear you saw Shane's finger twitch around the trigger before Rick spoke again.

“He dies, we all die” Shane looked at Rick then screamed and began to shoot the monitor screens behind Jennifer's head before Rick wrestled the gun out of Shane's hands. During the struggle, Shane began to fight back causing Rick to hit him with the butt of the gun, knocking Shane to the ground.

Rick lectures Shane while handing the gun to T-dog. He then composed himself and looked Jenner dead in the eyes.

“I think you’re lying” Jenner looked at him confused “You’re lying about there being no hope. If that were true, you’d have bolted with the rest or taken the easy way out. You didn’t. You chose the hard path. Why?” Rick got up in his face, looking into his soul.

“It doesn't matter” Jenner brushed it off and looked to the computer screen. But Rick didn't like that answer and questioned him again. Sometimes you forget he’s a cop.

“It does matter, it always matters. You stayed, and others ran, why?” Jenner was getting mad now. You could see the way his eyes and eyebrows narrowed causing his face to winkle in anger. 

“Not because I wanted to. I made a promise.” he stood up and pointed to the screen, TS-19 still projected, “To her. My wife.” he said with so much restraint like he was willing himself to stay composed. 

You felt pity for Jenner when he revealed the identity of the subject, just a smidge, you still wanted to leave the damn basement. 

“She begged me to keep going as long as I could. How could I say no?” he said sadly. In the distance you could hear pounding on the door again, looking over your shoulder you saw Daryl trying and failing at breaking the door down. 

“She was dying. It should’ve been me on that table. I wouldn’t have mattered to anybody. She was a loss to the world.  Hell, she ran this place. I just worked here.” he took a breath and composed himself “In our field she was an Einstein. Me? I’m just… Edwin Jenner. She could’ve done something about this. Not me.” Jenner was a broken man on the inside, you could tell. 

“Your wife didn’t have a choice. You do. That’s—that’s all we want—a choice, a chance.” Rick looked at the man earnestly.

“Let us keep trying! As long as we can” Lori pleaded with him. She locked eyes with him, her soft kind, and desperate eyes, then sighed and turned to the keypad again. You hear those femoral beeps again and jump up, grabbing your stuff, but what he said made you bold to the doors.

“I told you, everything topside is locked up” Then the door opened. Everyone was grabbing their stuff and running out. But when you looked back two people didn't follow. 

Andrea and Jaqui. 

You didn't have time to register why didn't follow because Daryl practically dragged you down the halls? You make it to the lobby. Glenn and T-dog went to try the doors but they wouldn't budge. Then Daryl and Shane went at the glass with axes, which didn't work either.

Everyone was freaking out and running, trying to figure out how to get out. Then you saw Shane load a shotgun and back away. When he fired the gun, all it did was cause a huge spider web crack. Then Carol walked up to Rick.

“I think I have something” You looked at her and saw the goddamn grenade in her hand “When I washed your uniform, I found this in your pocket” Rick took the weapon and everyone backed up to hide from the blast. You hid behind some stairwells and crouched down, covering your ears and bracing for the impact.

BOOM

You heard the sound of glass breaking and peeked out from behind the stairs and got up and and ran to the rest of the group, following them out as they ran. The once foul smell of the area didn't bother you, it reminded you that you were alive for another minute. 

Walkers were limping towards your group but you paid no mind as Rick and Shane handled them. Your eyes were on the blue truck in front of you. 

You ran with Daryl as you ran for the blue pickup. He was in the lead making sure there weren't any walkers. He reached the pick-up first and opened the door urging you inside.

“Comon hurry up!” he yelled at you. You jumped he pushed in the foot space area then got in himself. And just as soon as he did that, you heard the building blow. You covered your ears as you felt the truck sway from the blast. Daryl lay flat against the bench of the cab. When it was over you looked out the window to see nothing but fire and rubble. 

“You okay?” he asked as he looked at the building. You nodded your head quietly.

“Ye-yeah, you?” you asked, not tearing your eyes away. All you got was “hpm” in response. Moments later you got out of the foot space and sat down on the seat. Daryl sat on the divers side and started the truck when the other vehicles started driving off. 

Once a beacon of hope for your group, is now reduced to flames. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next // Coming Soon

Previous // A mad Scientist Gave Us Pasta

Taglist // @your-shifting-gurl, @underrated-jellygirl, 

                                              ~~~Day Seven~~~

             “Everybody listen up. Those of you with C.B.s, we're gonna be on channel 40. Let's keep the chatter down, okay?” everyone was gathered around and listened to Shane and Rick explain what was happening “Now you got a problem, don't have a C.B., can't get a signal or anything at all, you're gonna hit your horn one time. That'll stop the caravan. Any questions?” Shane looked around, and then Morales spoke up.

“We, uhh, we're not going,” he said, everyone looked at him in confusion, so Mrs. Morales spoke up.

“We have family in Birmingham. We want to be with our people.” She looked at her family as Shane warned them of the dangers of being by themselves.

“We'll take the chance. I gotta do what's best for my family” He said as he looked at Rick. Rick asked them one last time if they wanted to leave. “We talked about it. We're sure.” Morles semented one last time as Rick had Shane give them a gun. Daryl rolled his eyes as they did so. Everybody else went to say their goodbyes. You didn't know them well but still hugged the kids goodbye.

After the goodbyes, Dale walks up to you and asks if you want to ride in the RV. You thought about it, but the idea of being there if Jim died and turned and being in a small space didn't sit right with you.

“I don't know, maybe I'll ride with Lori or something” Rick must've overheard you and walked over. 

“Sorry Y/n, don't think we’ve got room in the Jeep” Your face dropped a bit, but then you thought about Shane and his Jeep.

“What about Shane?” you asked Dale “Can I ride with him?” Dale had a weird expression on his face when you suggested Shane “Or not” You looked to Rick seeing if he had any ideas, and who just so happened to be in his line of sight, Daryl.

“Hey, Daryl!” Rick shouted as he walked over. Daryl was currently tying down a bike to the bed of his truck when he looked at Rick.

“What?” Daryl asked, not even looking at Rick as he stood by him.

“Ya mind lettin’ Y/n ride in your truck?” Rick asked him with a nonchalant voice, while Daryl looked like he had grown horns all of a sudden. 

“Hell no, have ’er ride with someone else” he refused. Rick just looked at him to eyes with his crystal blue eyes.

“Just do it, think of it as an apology for trying to burn her mom,” He said. Daryl glared and scoffed.

“Jesus Christ,” he muttered under his breath “Fine, she can ride with me” Rick nodded and called you over. When you stood before them Rick clapped Daryl on the shoulder.

“You’re gonna ride with Daryl okay” You nodded your head as Rick and Dale walked away you looked at Daryl. You stood there awkwardly, he looked at you from the corner of his eye. 

“Put yer bow in tha back and get in tha truck,” he said, you did what he said and put your bear bow by his crossbow and hopped into the cab of the blue truck. Through the window you watched everyone continue to pack their things away. You heard the driver-side door creak open and in hopped Daryl. He didn't say anything as he sat there, just biting his thumb. 

Soon you saw the Morales Jeep start driving off along with the RV, prompting Daryl to start the truck. Soon all of you were on the road.

                                                          ***

              It was about thirty minutes of silence. You were about to fall asleep from boredom, while Daryl was thinking about what Rick said, about how he tried to take your mom while you were right there. In his mind, he was right to do so but he guessed he could've done it better.

“Hey, sorry about yer mom,” he said breaking the silence “And yer brother I guess” You didn't know what to say.

“Umm, thanks” You nodded your head slightly “Sorry about yours too” It fell silent again as the CB crackled 

             “HEY UHH THE RV IS SLOWING DOWN, DALE THINKS ITS THE HOSE” 

You heard glenns voice over the CB and even Dale's voice as he cursed the RV

             “UMM YEP DEFIANTLY THE HOSE WERE GONNA PARK”

You looked up ahead and could see the RV pull over along with the other cars. Daryl parked the truck opening the Door.

“Stay in the truck” he got out and went to grab his crossbow. You opened the door hopping out and walked to the RV. Daryl was right by you looking at you with an annoyed look.

“Thought I told yer ass to stay in tha truck,” he said with an annoyed tone.

“Chill, just want to see what's going on,” you said back to him as you quickened your pace. 

You walked over to see Dale talking to Rick about the hose.

“I told you we'd never get far on that hose. I said I needed the one from the cube van.” Dale seemed to be a lot calmer than he was over the CB. Rick looked at the steaming mess trying to think of something. 

“Can you jury-rig it?” he asked, trying to help, but Dale just shook his head. 

“That's all it's been so far. It's more duct tape than hose. And I'm out of duct tape.” Dale admitted. By now everyone had left their vehicles and surrounded the RV. Shane had binoculars and seemed to have locked his sights on something.

“Think I see something ahead, gas station if we’re lucky” You looked in the direction before Jacqui rushed out of the RV. 

“Y'all, Jim, It's bad. I don't think he can take anymore.” she then rushes back to him while everyone looks around, Shane and T-dog decide to check out the area and Rick follows Jacqui into the RV. Dale went back to looking at the hose, he called you over and had you help him.

“You know what we're looking at?” he asked, you shrugged your shoulders “We are looking at a busted radiator hose, you know how we fix it?” he asked again, you shook your head no “You don't! You have to replace the damn things” he joked you laughed a little bit.

“How's the ride with Daryl?” he asked “You can always ride with me in the RV” he offered again. 

“It's fine, he’s real quiet so it any horrible” You leaned against the RV and saw Shane Jeep pull up again. Shane got out and handed Dale some duct tape.

“Here, that should fix it for now” he walked away when he saw Rick walk out of the RV with his head down low.

“Jim has told me he wants to be left behind,” he reveals to everyone “It's what he wants.” You all let out small gasps and wide eyes. 

“And he’s lucid?” Coral asked Rick with a shocked voice, Rick just nodded his head.

“He seems to be, I would say” Rick looked around unsure of what else to say, Dale had a conflicting expression on his face before he spoke his mind.

“Back in the camp when I said Daryl might be right and you shut me down, you misunderstood. I would never go along with callously killing a man.” he paused, gathering his composer.

“I was just gonna suggest that we ask Jim what he wants. And I think we have an answer” he finished. The air around him was thick as everyone thought about his words. Shane looked over at Rick and whispered to him.

Saying if it was right to just leave him here as they drove off. Lori had her hand around your shoulder, she squeezed it before she protested what Shane was saying.

“It's not your call, either one of you” She stared them down, and they looked at each other before they both entered the RV. 

                                                           *

              You watched as Rick and Shane carried him to a tree, you could hear the faint grunts and moans of pain from Jim. Everyone followed them up the small hill to say their goodbyes. You were next to Dale as you held some small flowers to give him. Your grandmother always said that flowers helped ward off evil spirits, thats why flowers were at funerals.

Shane tried one more time to try and convince Jim to try and stick it though but he just refused again. Shane backed away and Jacqui said her goodbyes while she kissed him on the cheek. When Jacqui left Rick walked up with a small gun and crouched down, asking if he would want it. Jim turned down the offer, saying you all would need it. 

Then it was yours and Dale's turn to say your goodbyes. You both crouched down to talk to him, dale went first.

“Thanks for, uh, for fighting for us” Jim softly smiled at him, giving him a small nod. Dale walked away giving you room to say goodbye. You placed the small flowers in his shirt pocket and looked him in the eyes.

“You gonna see your family soon,” you said to Jim in a soft voice. Jim closed his eyes and smiled

“I know” he smiled. You walked away and stood by Daryl waiting for him to go, you watched as he gave a small nod to Jim as he walked away. You looked back and gave him a wave goodbye as you all left.

                                                         ***

              You all had been on the road for hours. You could feel your eyes get heavy but you refused to sleep. Sometimes you'd be staring out the window and then begin to nod forward before you jolt back up, sitting up straight with wide tired eyes.

The first few times you did that Daryl would look at you with a confused and annoyed look. But after the first five times you did that, he just ignored it. 

“Just go ta sleep,” He said with a gruff voice. You rubbed your eyes and looked at him.

“You sure?” You asked him, he just nodded his head not saying a word. So you fished out your dad's coat from your bag, draped it over yourself and used your bag as a pillow, and slept. 

The group drove for a few more hours, you slept peacefully during the drive. Ocasuallying Daryl would look over when you made a noise. Sometimes he would smirk if you made a funny noise.

             “We’re about thirty minutes away from the CDC”

Rick's voice came on over the CB waking you from your sleep. You sat up and rubbed your eyes, your coat slid down to your lap.

“Were almost there?” you asked with a groggy voice. Daryl nodded with a ‘hmp’. You nodded and ate a food bar Lori gave you. You were about to take a bite when you looked at Daryl, you didnt see him eat anything yet and you guessed he was hungry. You broke the chocolate granola bar in half and gave one half to him.

“Here” he looked at it, he switched hands on the stirring wheel and took the half, and ate it.

“Thans” his words were muffled by the food in his mouth. You just nodded while you ate yours.

“You’re welcome.”

                                                              *

              You finally saw the big modern-looking building known as the C.D.C. When the truck was parked and you gathered all your things, you and Daryl got out. You wanted to throw up when the smell hit your nose, you could feel your throat start to gag. You used your shirt to cover your nose as you walked to the bed of the truck to grab your bow.

You followed Daryl to meet with the rest and all walked to the building. You had your bow drawn as you walked near Carol and Sophia. It seemed the closer you got to the building the darker it got, which didn't sit right with you.

You were half convinced the bodies on the ground would stand up and start attacking you all, but you tried not to think about that. But your body filled with dread when you saw all the doors to the CDC were closed, metal white shutters covering them. Shane and Rick tried to pry them open but they wouldn't budge.

“There's nobody here” T-dog voiced. You looked around as you stood by Daryl now. 

“Then why are there shutters down?” Rick tried to argue. You thought that was dumb reasoning, but you guessed he was trying.

“Maybe we should go back to the cars” Your voice was lost in the confusion when Daryl yelled and pushed you away, back towards Carol.

“Walker!”

you looked back to see one limp towards you all, Daryl shot it with one of his bolts. The group started to panic, not knowing what to do. 

“You lead us into a graveyard!” Daryl charged towards Rick. Shane tried to defend Rick, saying that he made a call. “It was the wrong damn call!” he yelled. 

Through the confusion, you notice a walker limp towards you all. Everyone was focused on arguing so you aimed your bow at the dead man's head. The arrow planted itself in his forehead, it staggered a bit before it fell to the ground.

“Fort Benning, Rick, Still an option” Shane tried to suggest but Andrea pointed out that you all had no food, and it was a hundred miles and you all didn't have gas. And with Glenn's input, it was a hundred twenty-five miles.

“Forget Fort Benning. We need answers tonight, now” You could hear Carl and Sophia cry. Lori was at her wit's end, she didn't know what to do and Rick and Shane arguing was not it. Shane started to herd everybody away to go back to the cars. You felt Carol usher you with her and Sophia as you all tried to go to the cars but Rick wouldn't move, his eyes were glued to something.

“The camera, it moved!” he announced, everyone stopped to see, but it looked the same. Shane walked up to Rick to try and drag him back.

“You imagined it,” He said as he put his hands on his shoulders.

“It moved. It moved.” Rick argued again, this time he pointed at a camera.

“Rick, it is dead, man. It's an automated device. It's gears, okay? They're just winding down. Now come on.” Shane tried to drag Rick away but he just fought out of his grasp and yelled at the camera. “Man, just listen to me. Look around this place. It's dead, okay? It's dead. You need to let it go, Rick.” Shane pleaded with Rick, but Rick just brushed him off as he slammed the shutters.

“I know you're in there. I know you can hear me.” Rick yelled at the camera. Shane and Lori tried to pull him away. 

“Everybody to the cars now!” Shane yelled, you could feel Carol pull you away again. You looked over your shoulder to see Rick bagging on the shutter again. It was utter chaos now, yelling and crying filled your senses and you kept your eyes out for any more walkers.

“Please, we're desperate. Please help us. We have women, children, no food, hardly any gas left.” you could hear Rick yell at the camera, you didn't know what to believe, Rick or Shane.

You saw Lori try and fail to pull and push Rick away, but he just kept fighting back and begging whoever was behind the camera. You, Carol, and Sophia kept trying to walk toward the cars, you were in front with your bow in case a walker came out of nowhere.

You could hear Rick shouting incoherently. You looked over, seeing Shane physically push Rick away from the shutters, but something happened.

The shutters opened, it was almost like seeing heaven. Clouds of white smoke field out the door and white light blined you. But you could faintly see a man. 

You all stood there, gobbed-smacked, before Shane started moving forward prompting all of you to follow him. Carol moved you and Sophia more in the group as the adults scouted the area. With guns held high, the men looked back and forth but seemed to miss the man with a gun.

 “Anybody infected,” the mysterious man said. All guns pointed in his direction and he stepped out into the light, reviling himself. 

“One of our group was” Rick replied “he didn't make it” he reviled. 

The man slowly walked forward with the gun pointed at you all with a coautious face. 

“Why are you here? What do you want?” The man asked. He looked pale and sweaty as he walked more in the light.

“A chance” is all Rick said.

“That's asking an awful lot these days,” the man said. Rick agreed with the man as he looked around at all of you. He was studying you all. 

“You submit to a blood test, that's the price of submission,” He told you all, Rick nodded his head and agreed “If you got stuff to bring in you do it now,” he told you. You watched as people all left to get their stuff while you stayed.

                                                            *

              You were all packed in the tight elevator, you stood between Carl and Sophia. You shoved your hand in your pockets waiting to get out of the elevator. You hated being crowded, it made you anxious.  

“Doctors always go around packing heat like that,” Daryl asked Dr. Jenner as you know now. He looked back at you all from his position from the front. 

“There were plenty left lying around. I familiarized myself.” He said, “But you look harmless enough” he looked around and stopped to look at you, Carl and Sophia.

“Except you three, I'll have to keep an eye on you guys” he joked, earning a laugh from you three. It was quiet again, leaving only the sound of the descending elevator. You tried to stand closer to Lori but it failed so you stood awkwardly close to Carl. He looked up slightly and chuckled a little bit causing you to laugh lightly. Then the elevator doors opened and Dr. Jenner walked forward, so all of you followed him down a hallway.

Many doors were lined the hallway. But you didn't have time to check it out cause Dr Jenner was walking fast, at a neck-breaking pace. 

“Are we underground?” Carol asked Dr. Jenner in a meek voice. 

“Are you claustrophobic?” he asked her, not looking back nor stopping. She replied that she was a little bit, “Try not to think about it” was all he said to her. 

He continued to walk until he led you all to a big dark room. The lights were down but you could see a digital clock that had big red numbers on it. It read 16:12:25.

“Vi, bring up the lights in the big room,” Dr. Jenner said, but you couldnt see anyone but still, the lights turned on revealing a white sterile room full of computers. He turned around to face you all “Welcome to zone five” he said with an unamused tone. 

“Whoa,” you said under your breath. But something didn't sit right with you, you looked around and couldn't see anyone, not even this ‘VI’ person he talked to.

“Where is everybody” he asked, “the other doctors, the staff” Dr. Jenner bowed his head, almost disappointedly.

“I'm it, It's just me here” he revealed to you all sadly.

“What about that person you were just speaking with? VI?” Lori asked the doctor confused.

“VI, say hello to our guests, tell them” he paused as he thought for a moment “Welcome” Dr. Jenner looked at you all as he waited.

“Hello guest, welcome” a robotic voice came out of nowhere, making you flinch a bit. 

“Im all thats left, im sorry,” Dr. Jenner said as he walked away.

                                                            *

              “It's gonna feel like a pinch okay” Dr. Jenner whipped the area on your arm before he grabbed a needle a vile “You scared of needles?” he asked in a soft tone. You shrugged your shoulders as you watched him. 

“I don't know, my mom used to donate blood though, she would take me with her sometimes,” you told Jenner, he nodded his head as he stuck the needle into your arm. Your arm tensed up and you scrunched your face in pain. You opened one eye hesitantly and watched as the blood filled the little vile and watched it.

“Woah, thats kinda freaky” you joked a bit. You got a small smile from the doctor before he pulled it out and placed a small piece of gauze on the injection site. You got up so andrea could go next.

She sat down and Jenner started the process all over again. You went to sit by Carl and Sophia as you all waited for Andrea to get done.

“What the point?” Andrea asked him “If we were infected we be running a fever” she pointed out to him. 

“I've already broken every rule in the book letting you in here.” he argued with Andrea “Let me just at least be thorough,” he said as he stuck the needle into her arm. “All done”

Andrea went to stand up but got light-headed, Jacqui caught her to make sure she didn't fall. 

“You okay?” he asked. You looked at Andrea and noticed that her face was really pale.

“She hasn't eaten in days” Jacqui informed him “None of us have” she finished. Jenner looked around at all of you when an idea sparked in his head

                                                             *

              Laughter filled the room as everyone ate a full-course meal of spaghetti and wine, or soda if you were Sophia, Carl, and you. You were scarfing down your noodles as you ate, the sauce was all over your face. Lori would try and tell you to calm down but you'd only go slow for a moment.

You sat by Dale before he got up to refill people's wine. When he got to Carl he dropped a very interesting fact. 

“You know, in Italy, children have a little bit of wine with dinner.” he said as he filled Lori's cup “And in France” he winked at you and carl.

“Well, when they’re is in Italy and in France he can have some then” She even went to cover his cup. But Rick kept saying what would it hurt if he had some. Lori looked at him and laughed as she uncovered it to let Dale pour it. Everyone laughed as he poured and he looked over to you and asked if you wanted some.

“No thanks, I've tried it before” You declined and watched Carl taste the nasty drink. You laughed when he made a face of disgust and Lori poured the drink into hers. 

“That's my boy. That's my boy. Good boy” she said while she rubbed and patted his back and drank her wine.

“Yuck, that stuff tastes nasty” Carl announced causing you to laugh at him. 

“Yeah, maybe you should stick to soda pop there bud” Shane joked half amused. You laughed a bit and went back to eating. Twirling your fork around the noodles before eating it. Out of the corner of your eye, you noticed Rick get up before he tapped on his glass with a knife.

“It seems to me we haven't thanked our host properly.” Rick nodded his head towards Dr. Jenner in thanks. 

“He is more than just our host” T-dog smirked as everyone cheered for him. You laughed at the adults and cheered with them.

But one person didn't seem to be in a festive mood as he asked Jenner a straightforward question, but one that ruined the mood.

“So when are you gonna tell us what the hell happened here, doc? All the uhh the other doctors” Shane asked him as the room now fell silent “They were supposed to be figuring out what happened, where are they?” you looked around the table in awkward silence.

“We're celebrating Shane, let's not do this now” Rick tried to squish the tension down but it only seemed to fire up Shane more.

“Whoa, wait a second. This is why we're here, right? This was your move” Shane argued with Rick

 “Supposed to find all the answers. Instead we uhh We found him. Found one man. Why?” Shane ranted to Rick. Shane looked around to see if people agreed with him, but nobody talked.

“Well, when things got bad, a lot of people just left. Went off to be with their families.” Jenner spoke up, and you all looked at him. “And when things got worse, when the military cordon got overrun, the rest bolted” he finished while he took a sip of his drink.

“Every last one,” Shane said as he slumped in his chair.

“No,” Jenner said “Many couldn't face walking out the door. They... opted out. There was a rash of suicides. That was a bad time” he finished. You looked down at your plate and seemed to have lost your appetite for the moment thinking about it. 

“You didn't leave.” Andrea pointed out the obvious. “Why?” she asked.

“I just kept working. Hoping to do some good.” Jenner finished his explanation. The air was tense now, many people stopped eating and just stared akwardly.

“Dude, you’re such a buzz kill,” Glenn said to Shane, you shyly nodded your head in agreement. Eventually, everybody finished their meals.

                                                             *

              You all followed Jenner down another hall. These, however, were the living quarters. You all followed him as he explained the rules for the power. 

“Most of the facility is powered down including housing so you’ll have to make do here. The couches are comfortable, but there are cots in storage if you like.” you all followed him again as he sped through the halls.

“There’s a rec room down the hall that you kids might enjoy. Just don’t plug in the video games, okay? Or anything that draws power.” he looked at you three kids, and your eyes widened at the thought of a game room “The same applies—if you shower, go easy on the hot water.” but that had everyone stop in their tracks to process what he said.

“Hot water?” Glenn repeated.

“Thats what the man said” T-dog confirmed”

Everyone scrambled to a room to put their stuff down and head to the showers. You picked an empty room with a couch and a coffee table. You set your bow down and put your bag on the table and grabbed some clothes and headed down to the showers.

                                                              *

              You got done with your showers first and headed to the rec room, excited to see what they had. You entered the room strolled over to the shelves and looked at the books. A lot of them were meant for adults but you managed to find one that piqued your interest. You grabbed the book and flipped through its pages and walked over to read it.

You go to sit down in a secluded area and read the book. After a while, you heard Carol, Sophia, and Carl enter the room. They didn't see you as you were behind the bar sitting down, you could hear them get out a game and Carol getting comfy on one of the couches. 

A while later you heard Lori enter the room and chuckle when she saw the sight.

“Any good books?” Lori asked with a cherry tone. You thought about going out there but you were so comfy in your little fort of blankets and throw pillows. Both Lori and Carol talked a bit before Carol ushered the kids to bed, now you were really glad you didn't come out, you wanted to enjoy your books a bit more.

It was quiet for a moment while you read your books before a door slammed shut and ripped your attention away. You couldn't see who it was though so you thought it was Lori leaving before Lori spoke.

“Jesus, you scared me,” Lori said to the unknown person. But you knew who it was when he spoke.

“I’m gonna tell you a few things and you’re gonna listen to me,” Shane said, his words slurred as he spoke to her. 

‘Oh, it's just Shane’ you thought, you relaxed and went back to your book.

“Now is not the time” is all that she said to him. Shane just chuckled dryly, like it was an old joke between them.

Come on. When is it ever the time?” he says to her “How can you treat me like this?” you could hear a thud on the door.

“You’re kidding, right?” Lori said in an agitated tone. You tried to ignore their intimate conversation and focus on your book. Shane made a noise, stating he wasn't kidding. “Because you told me my husband was dead.” she lectured him. 

“Jesus, Lori. I didn’t lie to you, all right? I didn’t. Do you know what it was like there? Huh?” You could hear her footsteps before you heard a door slam again. Shane's voice got louder and more desperate.

“Things were falling apart! They were slaughtering people in the hallways. It was a massacre. There were walkers everywhere!” His voice sounded almost like a plea, a desperate plea. 

“So you left him?!” Lori said, where Shanes was quiet, Loris had a bit of base in her voice. She had an accusatory tone in her voice.

“Everybody else ran. There were no doctors there. It was just me. He was hooked up to machines and I did not know what to do.” he took a breath from his ranting.

“I even took my ear and I put it on his chest and I listened for a heartbeat and I did not hear one. And I-I-I-I- I don’t know why. Maybe it was gunfire. I don’t know what it was, but there was no way he could’ve survived that. No way.” He slammed his fist on the door making you jump. 

You were fully invested the more their argument grew louder. Worried that something could happen

“He did,” Lori said boldly.

“Yeah, but then I had y’all to think about, didn’t I?” You heard them rustle a bit before you could hear them grow closer to the bar.

“I had you and Carl, and I needed to think about it,” Shane said to Lori, she said something back but you couldn't hear her due to Shane interrupting her “I had to get you guys safe to Atlanta. That’s what I had to do. Just stop.”

“If you thought for one second that he was still alive, would you have come?” he paused, waiting for an answer “ So I saved your life you and your little boy’s. That’s what I did. Right?” they were quite, making you peak you head out to see what they were doing.

Your eyes widened when you saw that Lori was pinned to a table with Shane on top of her. You quickly moved back to not be seen.

“And if I could’ve traded places with him, I would have. I would trade places with him right now because” you could hear Lori trying to cut him off. “I love you” he tried to shh her when she opposed what he said to her.

“NO you’re drunk” Lori protested.

“I LOVE YOU!” his voice boomed around the room. It made you jump, you froze a bit as you heard the commotion. 

You covered your ears as your eyes teared up. You could hear Lori try to fight him off, but it was muffled. You could hear screams as tears silently fell from your eyes.

It got quiet, you uncovered your ears. All you could hear was heavy breathing, then a door slamming. You could hear Lori sobbing. You wanted to walk out and comfort her like she does for you, but you were too busy processing what you heard.

After a moment Lori left the room. You calmed down but were sniffling. You got up and gathered your books and left the room.

                                                          ***

              Daryl was wandering around the halls drunk. His current bottle of whisky was running low and he was trying to find the kitchen where the booze was, but couldnt tell the difference between his lefts and rights so he was just walking around the CDC till he found the kitchen.

He took a swig from his drink as he walked past the generic paintings, he’d stop to look at a few to try and decipher what the purpose was. 

He was looking at one when he heard someone crying down the halls. He ignored it at first, ‘not my problem’ he thought. But the more he listened to it, the more it sounded like a kid crying. His conscious got the better of his drunk mind, and he walked over to the crying child.

He turned the corner and saw you crying on the floor. You were in a ball trying to be silent as you cried. Daryl froze in his steps not knowing what to do with said crying child now that he found it.

He grew up in an environment where showing feelings like this got you yelled at and called a sissy or weak. Hell, he even had a nickname for this kind of situation. 

He looked around, trying to find someone else to handle this. Hoping for Dale to pop around the corner or something but he was probably asleep already. Daryl heaved a sigh making you look up at him. You sniffed again as you wiped your eyes trying to compose yourself.

Daryl sloppily sunk to the floor with you. His back slid down as you made room for him and sat. he had one leg outstretched and one to his chest where his occupied hand sat. 

“Why are you awake?” you asked, your voice was a little horsed.

“Could- say the same fer ya” his words were a little slurred as he spoke. You shrugged your shoulders. “Ya thinkin’ of yer ma?” he asked, not knowing what to do.

“Umm,” you staled “yeah, she would've loved this palace” You wiped the wetness from your eye again.

He eyed the books you had next to you. One of them caught his eye, an Edgar Allen Poe book. He picked it up and inspected the cover.

“Wha’s this?” he put his bottle down and flipped through the pages.

“It's a book full of poetry and short stories,” you told Daryl, he huffed at it, closed the book, and put it back.

“Remember readin’ tha’ shit in high school” he picked up his bottle and took a swig. “So why are ya out here cryin’ and not in yer room?” he asked bluntly. Again you shrugged your shoulders not wanting to answer why.

He bit his thumb, thinking. 

“Do you miss your brother?” you asked him bluntly, not knowing what to say to him. 

Daryl looked at you from the corner of his eye. The question caught him off guard. Things have been crazy so he hadn't got a chance to think about Merle. He loved his brother, but he didn't really think about him. 

“Yeah,” he said, it was a short answer, not giving any room for interpretation. You nodded your head in understanding. “You cryin’ fer yer brother,” he asked you, looking at you from the corner of his eye.

You silently nodded your head. Your eyes were heavy from crying and tiredness but your mind wouldn't stop replaying what happened in the rec room.

“Ya should probably git ta bed kid” Daryl rubbed his face before he stood up. But due to him being drunk, he almost fell over, making you jump up and steady him. You hooked one of his arms around your shoulder and started to lead him to his room.

“Where's yer room?” you asked, your voice strained;’ from having to hold him up, but he was heavier than he looked. 

“Down the hall kid,” he vaguely pointed in the direction of his room.

You led him to the door opened it and lay him down on the couch. You noticed he was asleep already so you put a blanket over him then went to retrieve your books and walked to your room.

                                               ~~~Day Eight~~~

              You ate bacon sitting by Andrea and Dale. it was a lot more quiet than last night. Glenn was holding his face in pain, and maybe in embarrassment from his hangover. Carl ate his food unaware while Lori just poked at her food, only taking small bites.

You couldn't take your eyes off of her, you didn't know what to say to her, but you wanted to say something. 

You continued eating your food when Rick walked in and took a seat by Carl and Lori. Carl smiled at his dad.

“Are you hung over?” he asked with a hint of giddiness as Lori looked at him “Mom said you’d be” Lori rolled her eyes playfully. You guessed she was alright, she acted fine. 

Rick laughed at Carl's question “Mom was right” he said. 

“Moms have that annoying habit” she joked causing you to laugh a bit as T-Dog came in with a skillet of eggs. Soon after everybody trickled in as T-dog plated everybody's plate. He gave you and Carl a little extra and gave you a sly wink making you giggle.

Glenn kept moaning and groaning from the loud noises.

“Dont ever ever ever let me drink again,” Glenn said out loud causing a few people to laugh.

Shane entered the room and greeted Rick. you looked at Lori to see she got more tense as he walked over to the coffee machine. 

“What the Hell happened to you? Your neck?” T-dog exclaimed to him. You turned in your seat a bit to see scratch marks on his neck. His eyes widen at the question before coming up with an excuse.

“Must’ve done it in my sleep” He brushed it off. You looked back at Lori to see her fiddle with her hands. Rick's face looked confused.

“Never done that before?” Rick said with a confused tone. You piece two and two together to figure out how he actually got the mark on his neck. It made you shudder thinking about last night. 

Jenner entered the room saying good morning while rushing to the coffee machine. Everyone said good morning to him, but Dale straightened his posture when he saw him.

“I don’t mean to slam you with questions first thing” Dale started but Jenner interrupted him.

“But you will anyways,” he said with a monotone voice. You could tell it annoyed Andrea as she glared at him.

“We didn't come here for the eggs,” she said with a fierce tone. Dr. Jenner turned around and looked at you all a sighed.

“Follow me,” he said walking away at his fast pace.

You all followed him to the big room again with the computers.

“Give me playback of TS-19” Jenner shouted into the air as if it was normal.

“Playback of TS-19” the disembodied voice boomed over the empty room again. On a big monitor, you could see some science data showing on the screen, it didn't make any sense to you but you saw a person's head on the screen which caught your interest. 

“Few people ever got a chance to see this. Very few,” he said while gazing at the screen.

“Is that a brain?” Carl asked.  

“An extraordinary one. Not that it matters in the end.” he pressed some buttons on the panel before asking VI for something “Take us in for E.I.V”

“Enhanced internal view.” the screen zoomed in on the figure's face, showing the brain from the inside. The inside of the brain was… “it looks pretty” you said out loud as you sat on a table, it showed blinking lights, kinda like stars shine at night. 

“Yes, it is pretty” Jenner agreed with you, smiling to himself.

“What are those lights?” Shane asked. It broke Jenner's attention as he thought of the answer

“It’s a person’s life— experiences, memories. It’s everything. Somewhere in all that organic wiring, all those ripples of light, is you— the thing that makes you unique and human” he explained it like he was explaining his favorite thing in the world but was interrupted.

“You won't make sense, ever” Daryl joked sarcastically. But Jenner just continued like he didn't hear Daryl.

“Those are synapses. Electric impulses in the brain carry all the messages. They determine everything a person says does or thinks from the moment of birth to the moment of death” You gazed at the lights, totally mesmerized by everything Jenner was saying.

“Death? That’s what this is, a vigil?” Rick asked walking over to him to get a better look.

“Yes–Or rather the uhh,  playback of the vigil.” you noticed Jennrt stumbled on his wording. Out on the corner of your eye you notice Andrea walk up.

“This person died? Who?” She asked while looking at the screen.

“Test subject 19. Someone who was bitten and infected” Jenner stared at the screen “and volunteered to have us record the process.” he gave a heavy breath as he told VI to do something.

“VI, Scan forward to the first event.” her voice boomed throughout the room again as the screen fast-forward. A mass appeared on TS-19 brain.

“What is that?” you asked, your voice sounding small.

“It invades the brain like meningitis.” he gestured to the image “The adrenal glands hemorrhage, the brain goes into shutdown, then the major organs. Then death.” your eyes widened as you saw the body die in front of you. It tried to get gasps of breath as it writhed in front of you.

“Everything you ever were or ever will be–gone.” the brain then went black and still.

A silent tear rolled down your cheek as Sophia asked about Jim. you noticed Andrea was crying a bit when Lori said something to Jenner about her losing Amy. and Jenner gave his sympathy 

He told VI to scan to his second event which led to the screen to speed up as Jenner talked again.

“The resurrection times vary wildly. We had reports of it happening in as little as three minutes. The longest we heard of was eight hours.” he paused for a moment “In the case of this patient, it was two hours, one minute– seven seconds.” a red light formed in the black mass, it was small but soon engrossed the entire thing.

Everyone looked on in shock and horror as it covered more and more of the brain. “It restarts the brain?!” Lori exclaimed in disgust.

“No just the brain stem.” he corrected “It basically gets it up and moving” he further informed.

“But they’re dead?” Rick confirmed, “It's dark, lifeless, nothing like before” Rick said aloud. “Most of it is dark” he looks to Jenner.

“Dark, lifeless, dead. The frontal lobe, the neocortex, the human part—that doesn’t come back. The you part.  Just a shell driven by mindless instinct.” Jenner got impassioned as he spoke.

You watched the subject “came to life” again as they squirmed around. Its mouth snapped at something while the head moved like a wild animal befor it stopped due to it being shot in the head. Carol gasped in shock and asked what that was. Andra deduced that Jenner shot the subject in the head, and asked him directly which he deflected.

“VI, Power down the main screen and the workstations” he walked away from her as the lights turned off around you all. Andra followed him, wanting answers.

“You have no idea what it is, do you?” her voice full of accusations. 

“It could be microbial, viral, parasitic, fungal.” Jenner began to list off various ways a disease like this could spread until Jaqui interrupted him.

“Or the wrath of god,” she said cooly.

“Or that too”

Andra and Carol both began to question him about the virus and if there was anyone else who was trying to stop it.

“There may be some. People like me.” his voice sounded dejected, and you felt sorta sorry for him.

“But you don't know? How can you not know!?” Rick's voice sounded agitated

“Everything went down. Communications, directives—all of it. I’ve been in the dark for almost a month.” Jenner explained in a defeated voice.

“So it’s not just here. There’s nothing left anywhere? Nothing? That’s what you’re really saying, right?” Andra’s voice is full of accusations and worry.

Everyone started to panic a little. Their faces were full of dread and anguish. You brought your knees to your body when it really started to hit you that this would be your life now. Constantly running from walkers your whole life. 

“Dr. Jenner, I know this has been taxing for you” Dale broke the silence making you trun you head to him 

“and I hate to ask one more question, but, that clock” Dale gestured towards a clock “it’s counting down. What happens at zero?” 

Jenner was quiet, to quiet. Like he was staling.

“The basement generators—they run out of fuel,” he said curtly and walked away before anyone could say anything. But he wasn't fast enough.

“And then?” Jenner just ignores Rick as he walks out “VI, What  happens when the power runs out?” Rick's voice was full of dread. You were filled with anxiety with him, you hugged yourself tighter waiting for the robot's explanation.

“When the power runs out, facility-wide decontamination will occur” Its fake voice causes a chill to run down your spine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next // If only we were in france

Previous // We Ate Some Fish, And Things Got Crazy.

Taglist // @your-shifting-gurl, @underrated-jellygirl, 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

             You ran down from the hill and into Dale's trailer. You balled yourself up in the bed and cried. What Jim said struck your core. You just left your mother there to die and didn't even try to help her, or even go back to help Jason. God, you couldn't imagine how he must've felt if he saw your mother's corpse after the eaters devoured her poor body.

You wondered if Jason was even alive right now, or if he was by himself alone trying to look for you while you were here safe and sound, being fed fresh food and sleeping in a safe place. With people to watch over you. You were such a terrible person, you should just leave, you thought to yourself. 

Through your crying, you missed the RV door opening, and you felt the bed dip. You look over and see Dale with a saddened look on his face.

“Are you okay kid?” he asked putting a hand on your shoulder. 

You sat up sniffling and tried to wipe your tears away, “ye-yeah” but you just cried again. Dale just pulled you in for a hug. This is the first time you felt like you could outwardly grieve for your family.

Dale rubbed your shoulder comfortably, even rocking you back and forth in a soothing motion. “That's it hon, just cry it out” Your crying slowly died down, and soon you just sniffled and hiccuped “Do you want to talk about?” he asked you in a soft voice.

You wiped your eyes again before you started, “wh-when this all started my family ran to the woods.” you looked at Dale and rubbed your back “And, one ni-night we were just sitting, ea-eating dinner when the ea-” you cleared your throat “the eaters came out of nowhere. My mo-momma took my arm and we ran.” you started to cry again.

“It's okay take your time” Dale comforted you.

“And as we were running eaters came out and started attacking momma. She fell to the ground and I just stood there and watched as more swarmed her body.” you cried harder before you continued 

“And I just left her and my brother” You buried your head in your knees “I just left them, for all I know, Jason could be alive and suffering and here I am having a full belly and sleeping safe and sound!” Dale looked down at you with pity, and pulled you in for another hug. By now his shirt was soaked with your tears.

“It's okay Y/n, it's not your fault.” he rocked you back and forth again “I'm sure they’re very glad you're safe and sound. he rested his chin on your head.

“And you shouldn't feel guilty about being safe,” he pulled you back and looked you in the eye “I’m sure your brother is fine, and I’m sure once we find him he will be overjoyed to see you again” he smiled reassuringly, which made you smile softly.

*

             You left the RV when you calmed down and after dale gave your some water and walked toward Lori and Carol for their lessons. You were surprised to see Jim tied to a tree. You just looked away and walked to the table and sat with Lori. 

“Hey hun, how are you?” she asked with a sympathetic look on her face.

You just shrugged your shoulders and next to her. She was teaching Carl some English stuff, showing him some stuff about a book. You could see both Dale and Shane walking down the hill towards Jim.

They started talking but you couldn't hear them clearly only getting bits and pieces from the conversation.

“How long are ya gonna keep me like this” you heard Jim ask but you couldn't hear Shane. But you could feel eyes on your back and grew uneasy.

“Sorry if I scared your kids and your little girl,” Jim projected his voice to who you assumed was Lori and Carol.

“You had sunstroke. Nobody's blaming you.” Lori said, she had a neutral tone in her voice, but you could tell she didn't want him talking to you guys. You personally tried not to look at him, you were embarrassed by what happened earlier. 

“You're not scared now, are you?” Jim asked, you and Carl shook your heads while Sophia said no. Jim just looked at you all studying, you were getting antsy under his gaze wanting to be anywhere but here. But you noticed his eyes seemed to land on Carl.

“Your mama's right. Sun just cooked my head is all.” Jim tried to joke awkwardly, but you just cracked a small smile out of pity. But something was on Dale's mind that he couldn’t get rid of.

“Jim, do you know why you were digging?” He asked, Jim didn’t answer instead he just looked confused “Can you say?” Dale asked again.

Jim looked to the floor before he answered.

“Had a reason, don’t remember” Dale nodded his head egging him to continue, by this point you were solely focused on Jim and Dale “Something I dreamt last night” he looked over to Carl and you.

“your dad was in it, you guys as well,” he told you, your eyes widened a bit “You were worried about him and you were frozen in place” he paused “Like you saw something, can’t remember the rest.” He paused.

“You worried about your dad?” He asked Carl. He just looked down sadly before he responded.

“They’re not back yet” he looked back up, Lori's jaw clenched from fear or annoyance, you couldn’t tell but you knew she wanted to end it.

“We don’t need to talk about that” She rubbed Carl’s shoulder talking to Jim. But Jim also tried to do damage control, trying to comfort Carl.

“Your dad's a police officer, son. He helps people, probably just came across some folks needing help that’s all” he paused, you could tell that it wasn’t helping, cause the look on Lori's face was still the same.

“That man, he is tough as nails, I don’t know him well but” he paused, finding the words “I could see it in him, am I right” he looked up at Shane with a small grin.

“Oh yeah,” Shane shook his head in agreement. Jim looked at Lori and Carl, studying them almost.

“There ain’t nothing gonna stop him from getting back here to you and your mom, I promise you that” You blinked when he said that, it was heartwarming that a stranger cared that much. You notice Shane bending down and picking up a bucket.

“All right” your attention was drawn to Shane “who wants to help me clean some fish, huh?” You, Carl, and Sophia all got up and chased after Shane. 

Out of earshot, Lori walked up to Jim, she squatted down in front of him to tell him something before Jim looked her in the eyes with deadly seriousness.

“you keep your kids close, don’t ever let them out of your sight” he looked away as Lori walked off shaken by his words, the first thing she went to do was find you and Carl.

*

You were helping Morales build a new fire pit. He was explaining to you how now you can have a bigger fire but it won’t be seen in the distance. You saw him building them by himself and asked what he was doing, he explained and so out of boredom, you started helping him build them. Carl and Sophia were busy. Sophia was with her family while Carl was with shane. 

But it wasn't long before you saw Carl and Shane walking up the trail. You even saw Sophia and Carol, though they seemed to be in small sprites. You ran over to Sophia and Carol concere d for sophia.

“You okay Sophia?” you asked her, she looked at you and smiled. 

“Im fine are you excited for later” You nodded your head as you both walked to where Shane was.

When you both sat down you could see Shane had a bucket of some of the fish. You watched as he handed Carl and Sophia fish before he gave you one. 

They were doing something called a ‘Fish Fry’ it sounded fun. It reminded you of your family cookouts. One year you all went out of state to Oklahoma to visit your dad's family and you had the biggest cookout you’ve ever seen.

“Alright,” Shane said, catching your guy's attention “Who knows how to clean a fish?” He asked, you slowly raised your hand. You didn’t fish much but you knew the very basics of cleaning and gutting fish. 

~~“Alright Y/n would you like to come demonstrate with me?” He asked, you nodded your head and got up to sit next to him. Shane then went on to show Carl and Sophia how to clean the fish, a few scales would hit your face and Shane would chuckle.

But when you got to the actual gutting Sophia and Carl let how ewes and yucks. You had a grossed-out face but it wasn’t anything too bad for you. Shane gilled the fish and had you slice the belly open and clean out the stomach.~~

“Well look at you, see how she does that” Shane went on to explain how you would cook it, while you went to start another one.

*

             hours had passed and the much-awaited fish fry was here. Everyone was sitting around the fire eating the fish Andrea and Amy caught. People were finally relaxing after what happened earlier and having beers. Jim had been untied from the tree and seemed to be back to normal. 

You sat next to Lori as you ate. She seemed to want you and Carl by her all the time, unless you were with Dale you had to be with Lori.

You ate your fish when Morales spoke up after starting at Dale for some reason.

“I’ve gotta ask ya, man, it's been driving me crazy” he finally said, Dale was confused and asked what was wrong “That watch” he pointed to Dale's  wrist. You thought it was an odd thing to wonder about.

“What’s wrong with my watch?” Dale asked confused as he inspected the watch. 

“I see you every day, the same time, winding that thing like a village priest saying mass” he joked as the other chuckled.

“I’ve wondered this myself” Jacqui spoke up next to you. Dale tried to defend himself but Jacqui just rebutted him. 

“Unless I’ve misread the signs the world seems to have come to an end” she gestured around her “At least hit a speed bump for a good long while” she smiled at him.

“But there’s you every day winding that stupid watch” Morales joked again, you didn’t understand why it was a big deal, time was important, and you needed it to know. 

“Time, it's important to keep track, isn’t it? The days at least” he looked around, you nodded your head in agreement, and Dale looked at Andrea “Don’t you think, Andrea? Back me up here” he chuckled as Andrea looked away, saying ‘don’t get me involved’ with her face.

“I like what” he tried to recall, “A father said to his son when he gave him a watch, that had been handed down through generations. He said,

‘I give you the mausoleum of all hopes and desires, which will fit your individual needs no better than it did mine or my fathers before me; I give it to you not that you may remember time, but that you may forget it for a moment. Now and then, and not spend all of your breath trying to conquer it” 

Everyone was quiet as Dale finished his monologue, you thought it was impressive that he remembered that after drinking. After the moment of silence, Amy broke it by teasing Dale. Everyone started laughing at the remark.

“I liked it, it was nice.” You said with a smile as you took a bite of fish. 

“Thank you, it’s uhh” he tried to remember the name “It’s uhh right, it’s Faulkner” he remembered “William Faulkner, maybe my bad paraphrasing.” It got quite again as everyone went back to enjoying their meals. You noticed Amy get up when Andrea asked her where she was going.

“I have to pee” Amy's cheeks were a little red as she told Andrea with an annoyed face “Jeez you trying to be discreet around here” Everyone laughed as she walked off towards Dale’s RV.

A few moments later you heard the RV door square open and you turned your head to see Amy.

“We’re outta toilet paper?” She shouted towards the fire pit. You dropped your plate when you saw the eater take a bite out of Amy's arm. She screamed alerting the rest of the group, as you looked you could see more of them appearing out of nowhere.

Everyone started running away, including you. You could feel Lori try and grab your arm but you were to fast for her to grab you. Shane was shouting before you heard him shooting off his shot gun. 

Everyone was panicking not knowing what to do. You couldn’t do anything since your bow was in Dales RV and eaters were surrounding it right now. So you found a thick branch and started to thought swing it around if they came to close.

Your next course of action was to find somewhere to hide, the tent was too flimsy and the cars were locked, so the best thing you could do was to try and get rotters away from the RV. 

You were about to head to Lori and Shane when you saw her.

She was limping towards you, her long brown hair all matted with blood and twigs. Chunks of skin and meat were missing to the point you could see her bones. 

Her belly was hanging loose and swinging back and forth as she stumbled towards you. You blocked everything out at that moment. You could feel tears welled in your eyes form seeing her. 

                    “Mama?”    BOOM

A bullet shot through her head. Her body fell to the ground limply and you felt someone grab you by the arm. You tried to fight it, trying to go back to your mom. The person dragging you away roughly pulled on your arm.

“Hey! Snap out of it!” Daryl yelled in your face, you looked at him as tears fell down your cheek. you tried to blink them away as you nodded your head.

not too far away you could hear Rick yell for Lori and Carl. obviously, they managed to get the guns with how much gun fire you were hearing.

You could heard Carl yell for Rick. You could hear your name being called out and felt Lori grab you, she hugged you as Rick pulled both of you into a hug.

Lori pulled away and went to look for injuries on both you and Carl, before pulling you into a embrace again. The cries of Andrea caught everyone’s attention, you could feel Lori drop to the ground on her knees, she clutched onto your legs as she looked on in horror.

“I remember my dream now, why I dug the holes” Jim said in a grim tone.

You turned your head to look behind you and you saw your mother's limp body lying on the dirt and the tears just fell from your eyes silently.

                                            ~~~The Day After~~~

             You watched as the sun rose over the trees. It was dead silent, not something you want when in the woods.

Everyone went “to bed” but you don’t think a single person fell asleep. You yourself went into the RV, got your stuff, climbed the ladder, and sat on the RV. 

Everyone was on guard, with people taking watch on all parameters all hours of the night. Some would ask if you wanted sleep but you would just shake your head as you watched the camp, specifically the area she was in.

*

             in the distance, Rick could be seen talking to Shane and Lori. 

“she still won't move?” he asked about Andrea, they all just looked down shanking their heads

“she won’t even talk to us” Lori started “She's been there all night, what do we do?”

“Can't just leave Amy like that, we need to deal with it,” Shane said “Same with the others” he finished. Rick nodded and walked off to talk with Andrea, but he shortly returented after Andrea pointed a gun in his face.

After Rick came back he looked at you with concerned eyes, “Do we know what's up with her yet?” Rick asked as he looked at you. 

“Yeah, she hasn't left that spot since shes sat down” Lori pointed out. Dale sighed sadly before he spoke up.

“That may be her mother” Lori whipped her head around “She told me yesterday that her mother was attacked and bitten, and how she got separated with her brother” Dale informed them.

“and why didn't she say anything?” Shane asked pointedly. Dale just shrugged his shoulders, as he looked at you.

You sat next to your momma's body, and you looked into her now grey eyes. A lot of her face was disfigured because of the gunshot but she still looked like your momma. you wanted to hug her, hold her hand, brush her hair out but you don't think they’d let you touch her.

“Grief is a strange thing,” Dale said, Lori got up and walked over to you.

when you heard footsteps coming and saw Lori you weren't surprise. she sat down with you and pulled you into a side hug.

“she looks beautiful,” she said as she rested her head on yours “How are you feeling” she asked softly. you didn't say anything as you moved closer to her. you were like that for a while before she got up to check on Andrea. She said she'd be right back.

*

in the background, people were already cleaning up camp. moving them away to be buried or burned from what you could guess. Lori hadnt been back yet, you guessed she was checking on Carl. 

Glenn, T-dog, and Morales would help move the bodys. And sometimes you would look up and see Glenn give you a sad face of understanding of some kind. Others would just give a odd face, to them she was just a random ‘walker’.

Behind you, you could hear an argument about what to do with Amy. you could hear Daryl say that they should just shoot Amy from where they were but everyone said no leading him to scoff and walk off. You watched him walk past you with the pix axe in hand, he also scoffed at you but didnt say anything.

You watched as Daryl walked away and helped Morales move a body you vaguely reconized towards a burning pile of dead rotters. You could hear Glenn ask them what they were doing in a tone of dissertation. 

“WE DONT BURN THEM!” he yelled “We bury them, understand?” he finished. Daryl sneered at Glenn before he and Morales picked up the body and began to move it. 

“You reap what you sow” Daryl said under his voice. This pissed off morales, as he told daryl to shut up. Which just made Daryl more pissed off “Y'all left my brother for dead. You had this coming.” he looked around the camp, his eyes seemed to land on you.

When you heard foot steps again, steps you thought it was Lori, but the fact that they were heavy should have tipped you off. 

You saw Daryls gross boots at the head of your Momma, as he hooked his arms under hers it sent you into a panick since no one knew her, meaning shed be burned. With out thinking you grabbed onto her pulling her back.

“STOP, DON’T TOUCH HER!” you screamed, catching everyones attention. You could tell Daryl was about to argue back but rick stopped him.

“DARYL, leave her be” Rick looked at him with a pointed gaze. Daryl just scoffed again and dropped your Momma on the ground. He walked past you “Whiney bitch” he mutted under his breath. 

You just glared at him as he walked away, Your eyes were wide with hatred and your lips were twisted into a sneer . ‘Im gonna punch him’ you thought, you thought of many things you could do to Daryl when they were interrupted by Jacquis screams.

“A WALKER GOT HIM, A WALKER BIT JIM” she yelled as Jim tried to defend himself. You stood up at the news and walk forward to see what was going on. By the time you got closer everybody was surrounding him. Daryl was demanding him to show the bite.

Feeling scared Jim grabbed a shovel to defend himself but that didnt work as T-dog grabbed him from behind allowing Daryl to lift his shirt revealing the bite on his stomach. Your eyes widend as stepped back away from him

In Jim's delirium, he kept going on and on about how he was “okay”. 

*

             Everyone was now in a circle trying to find out how to help Jim. Some wanted to actually help while others had more barbaric solutions.

“I say we put a pickaxe in his head and the dead girl's and be done with it,” Daryl said nonchalantly like he didn't just suggest killing a man.

“Is that what you'd want if it were you?” Shane said to him, you looked at Daryl to see how he responds.

“Yeah, and I'd thank you while you did it,” Daryl said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. You rolled your eyes. But looked at Dale when he spoke up.

“I hate to say it, I never thought I would” he paused trying to find the words “but maybe Daryl's right” Your eyes widened while Daryl had a smug look on his face.

“Jim's not a monster, Dale, or some rabid dog.” Rick shot back with some annoyance in his tone, Dale tried to defend himself but Rick just interjected “He's sick. A sick man. We start down that road, where do we draw the line” Rick looked around, and again Daryl opened his mouth with an unwanted opinion.

“The line's pretty clear. Zero tolerance for walkers or them to be” You glared at him but you knew it was kinda true, and if your brother was here he’d probably be agreeing with him. But Rick wasn't satisfied with that answer.

“What if we can get him help? I heard the C.D.C. was working on a cure.” He said as he looked around, seeing if people agreed, you nodded your head in agreement. It seemed like a good plan, shelter, medicine, hell maybe food. But Shane countered that as well.

“I heard that too. Heard a lot of things before the world went to hell” Shane said. 

“What if the C.D.C. is still up and running?” Rick argued back at Shane. Rick seemed almost desprete about getting to the c.d.c when arguing with shane. 

“Man, that is a stretch right there.” Shane joked. 

“Why? If there's any government left, any structure at all, they'd protect the C.D.C. at all costs, wouldn't they? I think it's our best shot. Shelter, protection” listed off the pros og going to the c.d.c.

“Okay, Rick, you want those things, all right? I do too, okay? Now if they exist, they're at the army base. Fort Benning.” Shane argued back, you also thought it was an okay idea. It probably had the things the c.d.c had  plus weapons.

“What if it’s overrun? We’d be sittin’ ducks” You piped up, feeling the need to say something. Lori seemed to want to say something to as well.

“And it’s 100 miles in the opposite direction” She said what was on her mind.

“That is right. 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.” Shane seemed to ignore your point somewhat, you felt like you weren't even there.

“The military were on the front lines of this thing. They got overrun. We've all seen that. The C.D.C. is our best choice and Jim's only chance.” Rick actually acknowledged what you had to say instead of brushing it off. 

You looked over at Daryl when you saw him turn around and look at Jim. He turned back with a determined look on his face, and with a rough voice he said.

“You go looking for aspirin, do what you need to do.” he started to walk away towards Jim, making your eyes go wide as you saw him holding up the Pix axe “Someone needs to have some balls to take care of this damn problem!” He shouted, and everyone began to run after him to prevent him from harming Jim, Lori grabbed you to stay by her.

 He almost swung it up before Rick ran towards him holding up his gun to Daryl's head. “We don't kill the living,” Rick said in a cool and calm tone. Shan had his shotgun and stood in front of Jim. Daryl just looked him up and down, sizing him up before he spoke.

“That's funny coming from a man who just put a gun to my head.” Daryl retorted back at Rick before Shane said his mind.

“We may disagree on some things, but not on this. You put it down. Go on.” Shane ordered him, Daryl scoffed planting the pix axe in the ground, and stormed off somewhere. You saw Rick talking to Jim helping him up. Rick guided him to the RV where you assumed he laid him down to rest.

While Dale walked up to you and guided you to Andrea. You both walked up to her, she was sadly gazing at her sister, she even brushed a few flyaway hairs behind her ear. 

“We came to pay our respects.” she didn't say anything as you both say down next to her. “Did I ever mention how I lost my wife?” He looked at Amy, you were slightly curious, you didnt even know he had one. Amy finally spoke up at him with a most sad voice.

“Cancer, wasn't it?” her voice almost cracked, Dale nodded as he agreed, he looked at you as you looked at Amy’s body. Her once pink star shirt was covered in blood, same with her blonde hair. Her arm and neck had chunks ripped out of her.

“I-I dragged her to every doctor, every test. And after all the surgeries and the chemos, she was ready. She accepted it, you know?” he paused, his voice started to get that sad crack “But I never could. And I spent the last few years so angry. I felt so cheated.” He stopped to regain himself  “Since she passed, you girls were the first people, That I cared anything for.” He said that looking at you two. You smiled at his words.

With a melancholy smile, Andrea reached into her bag and pulled out a gift wrapped in red tissue paper, she carefully unwrapped it. Dales eyes widened at the sudden realization.

“This is her birthday?” She nodded.

“Her birthday was always like um, like a week-long affair. But I somehow always missed it. I was away at college or too busy for kid's parties.” Andrea smiled to herself.

“She'd call all excited. I always said that I'd make it home and I really always meant to, but I never made it past that phone call” She looked at Dale with guilt in her eyes.

“I know things are hard enough for you without adding guilt into the mix, huh?” Dale said to her, he also looked at you for a split second, before looking back at her. She fully unwrapped the red gift paper and pulled out a mermaid necklace, it was pretty and you were sure Amy would've loved it.

Andrea bent down and put the necklace around her neck. Dale got up and walked away, but you stayed behind with her. 

“Im sorry about her” Andrea looked at you with a soft smile. “She was very kind to me” Andrea had the biggest smile on her face.

“She always was, she’d give you anything you'd want if it’d make you happy” She played with her hair and she held Amy's hands.

“I-I, I lost someone to.” you said “My momma, she's actually in camp.” you opened up, and she looked at you with a sad look. “I- I want to bury her, but her hair is a mess. She hated her hair being messy” You softly smiled. 

“I think there's a comb in the RV, i think your Momma would want to do that before you buried her,” she said as she continued to stare at Amy. you nodded and got up to go into the RV

                                                                *

             You Laided out a white sheet on the ground next to your momma and began to try and move her without much luck. Daryl made it look so easy earlier. Without you noticing, rick walked up to you.

“Need a hand, Y/n?” He asked, you looked at him and nodded your head. You walked up and grabbed her arms and he grabbed her legs and you both moved her on the sheet.

“Ca-can I bury her with the rest?” you asked “Shes my mom, I want to her be at rest” Rick nodded at.

“You can bury her with the others, its very kind of you to do that for her” he gave you a small smile before he walked away.

You closed your momma's eyes and mouth and laid a blanket over her and started picking out all the leaves and other things that made it in her hair. You grabbed the comb beside you and began to comb out her hair gently. 

You had a lot of memories of doing your momma's and dad's hair, they both had long hair that reached their mid-backs. You’d braid your dad's hair and put your momma in crazy elaborate hairstyles. 

You put little braids in her hair before you decided to just grab all her hair and put it in a big braid. You got up and began to position her arms and legs, laying her arms on her chest before you wrapped her body up. Tying it and with a sharpie you found in Dale's RV you wrote on a piece of paper.

“Dawna Myers, 1973-2010, Loving Wife and Mother” 

You placed the note in between the rope and cloth. You looked at her, thinking something was missing, and then you thought of it, flowers! she loved blue flowers.

You looked around trying to see if someone would go with you, when you noticed everyone was alerted, you looked to see what they were looking at. Your eyes landed on the sisters, Amy finally came back. You stopped to stare at her. Andrea seemed to be talking to her, but Amy kept softly clawing at Andrea, she even had a grip on her hair. 

BANG

Amy’s body went limp again as she hit the floor, Andrea had a bittersweet face as she looked at her sister again. Everyone looked at her with sad faces.

                                                               *

             Lori and Carol agreed to join you along with Sophia. You and Sophia picked flowers, her goal was to find yellow flowers for her dad. You brought your Bow and quiver just in case and Lori had a small gun. You weren't sure she knew how to use it though.

Sophia didn't really have a stong look on her face while she looked. It made you curious.

“Are you sad about your dad?” you asked her with a small voice so her mom didn't hear you. She looked up with wide eyes, and looked at her mother before turning to you.

“Im not sure, im sad he’s dead I guess” she shrugged her shoulders “but” she paused before shaking her head and changing the topic “so that walker you sit by is your mom?” She asked.

“Yea, she died a few weeks before Daryl and Merle found me” you picked a Chicory and added it to your small bouquet of different flowers, not all of them were blue, some were yellow, purple, white, and orange. The same went with Sophia.

“Girls, I think it's best to head back now!” Lori shouted back, you both walked up to them with your bouquets in hand. 

When you got back to camp you and Lori walked over to your momma and watched as Glenn and T-Dog hoisted her up and brought her to the bed of Daryl's blue pickup. You watched as it drove off up the hill and soon everyone followed to watch the bodies be buried. 

                                                                                 *

             Daryl drove his pickup and parked it walking towards Shane and Rick. this entire thing bugged the living hell out of him and he had to voice it or he’d go crazy.

“I still think it's a mistake not burning these bodies. It's what we said we'd do, right? Burn 'em all, wasn't that the idea?” he looked around as everyone began to appear. Shane somewhat agreed with what he said but still went along with it.

“So what, the Chinaman and kid get all emotional, says it's not the thing to do, we just follow ‘em along?” He argued, “These people need to know who the hell's in charge here, what the rules are.” He pointed out there was no real leader of the group, no real structure.

“There are no rules.” Rick countered but Lori was close enough to argue with Rick on that stance.

“Well, that's a problem. We haven't had one minute to hold onto anything of our old selves.” She looked around at the three men “We need time to mourn and we need to bury our dead. It's what people do.” Lori squeezed your shoulder in support. 

Your mother was one of the first to be buried. Glenn and T-Dog grabbed her body gently and sat her down in a hole, closest to a tree. When she was down you carefully climbed down into the hole with her, you laid the flowers on her chest and kissed her covered forehead.

“Goodbye momma” You whispered before Glenn helped you out the hole.

Then it was everyone else's turn. There were a few who cried, most reminded stoic. Then it was Amy's turn. Andrea wanted to place Amy down, so she dragged her body to the closest hole, she had trouble trying to get her in, Dale tried to help but Andrea just refused and did it herself.

                                                                  *

             You all began to walk down the hill with you walking next to Lori and Carl, and Rick behind you all. 

“Burying other people is bad enough, but the thought of one of us” he whispered harshly in Lori's ear but you could hear what he was saying. Lori just shushed him, but Carl turned around.

“Are we safe now, Dad? Now that we're together?” Carl asked while Rick took a knee to talk to Carl. he looked at you two before he spoke.

“I won't leave again. I promise you that. Not for anything. Now give me a chance to discuss some things with your mom, okay?” He looked at you “Y/n could you take Carl to the tent please?” you nodded your head and you and Carl walked off while Lori and Rick had quite a heated discussion.

You and Carl were walking quietly before he spoke up “Was that your mom?” he asked, you looked at him and nodded your head as you shoved your hands in your pocket. “Was it just you and her?” he asked again.

You shook your head “No, it was us and my brother.” you rolled your eyes a bit “And her husband but he’s an idiot” he giggled a little bit.

“Where’s your brother now?” he asked, you shrugged your shoulders in response.

“I don't know, he’s probably alive, he knows the woods pretty well” you explained “he taught me some stuff, how to hunt, how to sleep in the woods, and other stuff.” but there was something on carls mind that he could’nt get rid of.

“You said your mom's “husband, is that your dad?” he asked, your steps slowed down a bit.

“No, my dad has been dead, for a few years now.” you had a sullen look on your face “I miss him, a lot actually, he died in a crash a few years back.” you looked at Carl and he just said “oh”.

You two walked to the tents in silence not saying anything else. You left when carl went into his tent when rick arrived and you just walked back to the main area and sat down on the makeshift couch. Next to Sophia and Carol. They both smiled at you but said nothing, you didn't mind it though. 

To busy yourself you started drawing in the dirt again. You drew Lori then Carl, Sophia was next, then her mom. Your favorite was Dale and his goofy hat, you'd have to show him later. You heard the RV doors open and saw Lori sitting there, you thought about going to talk to her but her eyes were closed so decided against it, you guess Shane didn't think about that.

From what you could see they were having a heated discussion that Rick walked in on. The three of them talked, you saw Dale walk up then the three men walked away to the woods. You saw Lori walk over to you.

“Hey hun, where's Carl?” she asked.

“He’s in your guy's tent, think he was tired,” you told her, she nodded and walked away. She came back not too long with Carl, and a stick you think.

“Hey Y/n, you know how to widdle?” you nodded your head “Can you show me” she smiled as she pulled out a pocket knife. You shrugged your shoulders and moved closer to her. 

“So ya hold it like this” you took the stick and knife from her “and then like this, kinda at an angle. And push up” You showed her and did it a few times. You handed it to her.

“Like this?” she asks, you nod your head and watch as she carves away. Over time more people came up to the campfire, and Andrea even fell asleep on the chair. 

It wasn't long before you noticed Rick, Shane, and Dale walk over to the Campfire. You smiled at Dale but he had a weird look on his face as he stared at Shane. Said man started to speak up drawing your attention to him.

“I've been, uh, I've been thinking about Rick's plan. Now look, there are no, There are no guarantees either way. I'll be the first one to admit that.” He paused as he looked around, gathering his words “ I've known this man a long time. I trust his instincts. I say the most important thing here is we need to stay together. So those of you that agree, we leave first thing in the morning.” 

You guessed Shane came to his senses and agreed to go to the C.D.C. Rick looked around and nodded. Everyone nodded and Rick walked off towards the edge of the quarry. 

Lori and Carol made dinner. After everyone ate they all walked away to pack their stuff. You didn't have much besides your Bow stuff and your bag, which was still on top of the RV. 

                                                              *

             After you helped Rick and Lori pack up you decided to sleep on top of the RV, Lori and Rick did offer for you to sleep in the tent but you turned it down. Lori did give you a blanket and a pillow though. 

You climbed the RV sat up in your sleeping area and laid down. You thought the only people who'd go up there would be Shane and Dale but to your surprise, you heard Daryl grunt as he sat down. 

“What are ya doin’ up here?” he asked gruffly, “should you be in bed or somethin’” You wanted to roll your eyes at him but you were too tired.

“Im sleepin’ up here, got the okay from Dale,” you told him while looking at the sky.

“Why ain't cha sleepin’ in a tent with Lori or some shit? Ain't she always motherin’ you or somethin’” You frowned at that.

“Didn't want to intrude on them, and I don't wanna sleep in tha RV cause of Jim” You heard Daryl huff and he didn't say anything for a while.

“Why were ya crowding tha’ walker?” he asked while he lit a cigarette. You looked at what was now a graveyard.

“She was my momma, wanted to bury her,” you said quietly “Jason would kill me if I didn't” You laughed a bit. You couldn't see it but Daryl scrunched his face at the new name.

“Who the hell's Jason?” he asked roughly. 

“He's my older brother, I don't know where he is though” Daryl's eyes softened just a bit and that bit of information.

“He lost too?” he asked, thinking of Merle.

“Yeah, but he knows what he’s doin’ so im not worried” You paused “still, kinda miss him though” He had a hard shell but sometimes he’d be nice. Like how he still made your favorite food on Sundays, watched movies with you, and took you hunting when he didn't have to.

“Was he an ass sometimes?” Daryl asked bluntly. You didn't say anything but you nodded. “Yea mine too, but thats what older brothers are for I guess” It was quiet again as you started to feel tired. 

The no sleep from last night was getting to you and before you knew it you fell asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next // A Mad Scientist Gave Us Pasta

Previous // We Ate Some Fish And Things Got Crazy

Taglist // @your-shifting-gurl, @underrated-jellygirl, feel free to ask about being added to the tag list :D

~~~The Quary Day Four~~~

The sun shown through the tents windows waking you up finally. You sat up, rubbing your tired eyes and looked around expecting to see Carl or Lori but their beds were empty. You stood up and put your shoes on and walked out of the tent walking down the small tral to camp fires.

There you saw Lori sitting down doing something while Carl played by himself by a car not to far away.

You walked up and sat down by her “Morin’ Lori” you said in a tired tone.

“Moring hun, how did you sleep?” she was checking on something in a cast iron pot.

“I slept okay I guess” You rubbed your eyes while sitting down beside her.

“Yeah I bet we couldn't wake ya up so we just let you sleep” she teased. You noticed a girl walking up to you two holding a red bucket.

“Any luck?” Lori asked, putting the lid on the pot. As she was walking up Lori grabbed a small metal bowl and a wooded spoon. The girl poured mushrooms into the bowl.

“How do we know if they’re poison?” Lori gave an unknowing look, you knew though.

“Uhh, there's only one sure way I know of” You waited for her to tell her, but she just started to fiddle with one.

“Ask Shane when he gets back?” The girl said Lori nodded “Yeah you got it” Lori got up taking the red bucket with her “Umm, I'll be right back Y/n, you think you two could keep an eye on that for me?” you both nodded your heads while she walked away.

You just kinda sat and looked at the fire when a voice interrupted, “I don't suppose you know if a mushroom is poisonous or not huh?” the blonde girl had asked you.

“Oh umm, yeah I do,” you said awkwardly, you grabbed the bowl and sat next to her “If a mushroom has white gills or white spots on its camp it's more than likely poisonous” You looked at her before you picked up a Mushroom.

“see this one is good because it has brown gills and doesnt have a bulb at the bottom” you sat it aside, and picked up a different one “but this one is bad, see? It has white gills and a bulb”

You looked at her again “Okay so these ones are bad?” She picked out four of them and showed them to you, you nodded your head “Yeah” she smiled “Wow, how do you know this stuff?” she gleamed at you.

“My dad taught me,” Her eyes seemed to light up “My daddy taught me and my sister how to fish” She smiled at the memory of her father “OH I never introduced myself, Im Amy” she smiled “and my sister is Andrea, were from Florida” 

“Im Y/n, im from western Georgia” You smiled at her, and you looked up at the sky to see it was a cloudy morning “You think it’s gonna rain?” you asked her, she looked up to the sky.

“I don’t know, it could” She looked back down and started stirring the pot, she looked sad and like her mind was somewhere else now. You decided to wander around camp eventually ending up by Dale’s side, watching him work on the RV.

“What are you doing Dale?” you asked, he lifted his head to look at you. He smiled a little bit.

“Oh nothing, me and Jim are just working on the radiator hose on the RV” who you guessed was Jim waved at you before going back to work. “It likes to quit on us a lot, which isn't good if we need to leave for whatever reason.” he explain to you.

“Oh, hopefully, we won't need to leave soon” You watched him as he poked and prodded at the thing, trying to figure out why it wouldn't work.

“Hey uhh, Y/n could ya hand me that wrench?” you looked down at the small amount of tools he had and reached down for the wrench.

“Yeah, here you go” he took the tool from you “Why do you have little tools?” you asked, you'd figured he’d have a lot more 

“Ahh well, I let the supply people barrow them, but now I kinda wish I just kept them, but they’re supposed to be back today so it’s not a big deal” You nodded your head in understanding “So how’s that book coming along Y/n? You like it so far?” he turned his head to face you 

“It's okay, im almost done with it, maybe a chapter or two left” You read a few chapters last night while you tried to fall asleep, maybe thats why you slept in.

“Dale got you reading that Case of the missing man?” Jim spoke up, you nodded your head when he looked at you, and he laughed “Dale been getting people to read that book since he’s got here” Dale rolled his eye while Jim moved closer to you “Between you and me, I think he’s been trying to get rid of it” he laughed and so did you.

“Alright, alright get back to work” Dale waved his hands dismissively with a smile. You watched as he continued to mess with the engine “Boy, this hose isn't long for this world is it?” Dale commented 

“No, sir” Jim responded dejected

“Where the hell are we gonna find a replacement” Dale said with an annoyed tone, in the background, you could see Amy pacing back and forth. She looked antsy 

“It's late” her voice was full of worry “They should've been back by now”, you and Dale looked up at her as she paced back and forth

“Worrying won't make it better” dale said but she just stormed off in anger, you got up to go find Lori, to see if Amy's fear was justified and if you guys should go out looking for them.

You found her taking clothes off the line and stood by her, she was watching Shane and Carl do something but you couldn't see due to their back being to you, but they were laughing.  

“He–” you were cut off by another voice coming over a radio 

“HELLO, BASE CAMP! CAN ANYBODY HEAR ME”

Shane and Lori walked off toward the RV where another radio system was, Dale was already on the RV by the time you all got there

“BASE CAMP! THIS IS T-DOG, ANYBODY HEAR ME?”

Dale got on the radio “Hello, Hello, reception bad on this end, Repeat Repeat” 

“SHANE IS THAT YOU” t-dog’s voice carried over the radio

“Is that them?” Lori asked, the radio crackled before T-dog's voice came over again

“WERE IN DONW DEEP SHIT RIGHT NOW, WERE TRAPPED IN THE DEPARTMENT STORE,” “he said their trapped” Shane committed the obvious

“GEEKS ALL OVER THE PLACE, HUNDREDS OF ‘EM WERE SURROUNDED” T-dog voice cut out

“T-dog, Repeat that last, Repeat” All he got was static. Everyone stood around in silence, not knowing what to do.

“He said the department store” Lori repeated what he said, Dale agreed with Lori and so did you. Shane looked defeated like he knew what was gonna happen “Shane” Lori started but Shane interrupted her

“No way, we do not go after them” he looked around at everybody “We do not risk the rest of the group, y’all know that” Lori looked at him with eyes of disbelief. But Amys was worse

“So we're just gonna leave her there?!” Amy looked pissed and Shane could sense she was gonna blow up, “look, Amy, I know this is not easy–” Amy cut him off “she volunteered to go, to help the rest of us” Shane just nodded his head in some kind of mock understanding.

“And she knew the risks, right?” Amy just looked at him with wide eyes “See if she’s trapped, she’s gone. So we just have to deal with that, there's nothing we can do” Her wide eyes narrowed at him in rage.

“She’s my sister, you son of a bitch!” she stormed off giving him the side eye. Lori and Shane stared at each other before Lori ran off to find Amy. 

It was quiet around camp, the not knowing if they were gonna live, and the fact no one could do anything about it. You were torn yourself, obviously, you wanted them to come back but sending people to get them could be for nothing, and in turn, endangering them instead. 

*

A few hours passed and everyone was still at a standstill on what to do. Amy sat in her and Andreas tent, still pissed at about not being able to go and help, with Lori trying to console her, at some point Lori gave up because she came out with an exhausted look on her face.

You were sitting with Shane, Carl, and Lori. She was giving Carl a haircut while you tried to finish your book, you only had a handful of pages left before you were finally done. You looked and saw Jim stringing up cans on some barbed wire around the camp. 

“Baby the more you fidget, the longer it's gonna take, so don't okay” she lectured Carl, 

“Im trying, but why do I have to get a haircut? And why doesn't Y/n have to?” he pointed to you “Well Y/n is a girl, so she can have her hair,” she countered his argument, “and if she wants a haircut she can ask” You shook you head playfully when she looked in you direction.  

“You think this bad, wait till you start shaving” Shane was cleaning his gun “That stings, that day comes when you wishin’ for one of yer momma’s haircuts” Carl just rolled his eyes

“I'll believe that when I see it” Shane and Lori just laughed, “Tell you what, you get through this with some manly dignity, and tomorrow I'll teach you and Y/n something special” he leaned in like he was telling a secret, so you leaned in to “I will teach you guys to catch frogs,” your face dropped in disappointment though.

“I already know how to catch a frog,” you said “Yeah, I already caught frogs” Carl agreed with you. 

Shane just laughed “I said Frogs, plural” he straightened his back “And it is an art form, my tiny friends, and is not to be taken lightly” You smirked at his cockieness “There are ways and means. Few people know about it. I'm willing to share my secrets.” you and Carl looked to Lori.

“Oh im a Girly girl, you talk to him” She directed your attention to Shane again “it's a one-time offer, guys... not to be repeated” he continued to clean his shotgun like he didnt care for your ansrew, but you saw his little smirk. 

You got a curious look on your face as a thought popped into your head.

“Why do we need frogs Plural?” you asked with a confused voice. Shane had a mischievous look on his face.

“You guys ever eat frog legs?” Carl got a disgusting look on his face. “They’re okay, not a lot of meat on ‘em” you shrugged.

“EWW, you’ve eaten frog legs?” he replied, you nodded your head when Shane responded.

“NO, yum!” he tried to counter but Lori agreed with Carl, “No, He’s right eww” Shane just laughed some more, elbowing you to join in

“When you get down to that last can of beans, you're gonna be loving those frog legs, lady. I can see it now” Shane began to tease Lori, putting on a girl's voice "Shane, do you think I could have a second helping, please? Please? Just one?" you and Carl began to laugh at his impression of lori.

Lori just gave him a look with shocked laughter “Yeah I doubt that”, she continued cutting Carl's hair “Yeah, don't listen to her man, you, me, and Y/n will be heroes! We’ll feed these folks cajun-style Kermit legs” you shook your head and tried to finish your book

“I would rather eat Miss Piggy” You looked up from your book and laughed “Yes that came out wrong”

“Heroes Kids, spoken of in song and legend. You two, Y/n and Carl.” he winked at Carl and you, “Think about it” You guys were laughing quietly when in the distance you heard, what sounded like a car alarm. 

Shane got up and so did you and Lori. you all rushed to the main area to see Dale ontop of the RV “talk to me, Dale! What do you see?”

“Can't tell yet” he yelled down to Shane, Shane took his rifle and walked over to look at the quarry ridge. A hopeful Amy asked if it was the supply group. “I'll be damned” Dale looked through his binoculars.

“What is it?” Amy asked, you tried your best to see but the trees and rubble made it hard from where you were “A stolen car is my guest” Dale thought aloud. The alarm got louder and louder before it finally pulled up into camp. It was a red sports car, an expensive one you guessed. 

The door opened to reveal the driver, who happened to baseball movie guy, he had a huge smile on his face, not knowing people were about to be yelling at him.

“Holy crap, will you turn that thing off” Dale badgers him, He just laughs it off “I don't know how to”

Then Amy and Shane are on him, “My sister, Andrea” “Pop the hood Please, POP THE DAMN HOOD PLEASE” “Is she okay? IS SHE OKAY" they both end up yelling at him.

“What? Okay okay. Yeah yeah yeah. Yeah yeah!” he got in the car popping it open but Amy wouldn't leave him alone about her sister “YES, shes okay, shes okay” you could tell he was already getting overwhelmed “Is she coming back?” amy persisted “yes” Glesnn said with a heavy sigh.

Shane managed to shut it off when he slammed the hood shut with annoyance.

“Why isn't she with you?” Amy was getting desperate “Where is she? She's okay?” he gave a final yes “Everybody is okay” he gave a cringing face “Well Merle not so much” glenn whispered under his breath. Now that everybody calmed down Shane could finally unleash on Baseball guy.

“Are you crazy, driving this wailing bastard up here? Are you trying to draw every Walker for miles?” Shane scolded Glenn but Dale came to his defense “I think we’re okay” but that just irritated Shane more “You call being stupid okay?”

 Dale, being levelhead, explained to Shane that the alarm was echoing all throughout the hills, so it be hard to find the origin of the noise for them, Shane gave him an annoyed look. So Dale did end up chewing out glenn.

“Sorry” he looked around awkwardly “Got a cool car” he tried to lighten the mood, but all he got were flat faces. From behind him, you saw a huge truck pull in, it looked like a movers truck. He looked back and gave a sly grin.

You were standing close by Dale when the truck pulled in. The first person you saw was who you assumed was Andrea 

“Amy” they ran towards each other with tears in their eyes. A man appeared and two younger children ran to him hugging him too. 

All the people who went eventually came out of the truck, and from the corner of your eye you saw Lori take Carl aside to talk to him, he looked like he was holding back tears. 

“You are a welcomed sight for sure,” Dale said as he hugged the father, “I thought we had lost you folks for sure”. Shane kept his eyes on Lori and Car.

 “How y’all get out of there anyway?” Shane asked, the baseball guy piqued up “New guy, he got us out” There was someone else new, maybe you won't feel so alone now. Shane gave him a strange look “New guy?”

“Yeah, crazy Vato just got into town” the father explained “Hey, helicopter boy! Come say hello” he yelled to the “new guy”.And oiut came a man dressed in a sheriff's uniform, he had an uncertain look on his face “Guys a cop, like you” the dad continued. Shane looked at him with disbelief, like he just saw a ghost. 

New guy also had a look of disbelief. His eyes were watery too. “Oh my god” he started to walk forward and Carl started to run towards him, Lori not too far behind. “DAD, DAD” you could hear Carl's shrill voice yell, this new guy was Carl's dad, the same man he told you was dead.

They meet in an embrace, hugging each other like their lives depended on it. He picked him up and walked over to Lori who stood there shell-shocked. She eventually hugged him with tears in her eyes. The new guy and Shane locked eyes and they smiled.

***

“Disoriented.” he exclaimed  “I guess that comes closest. Disoriented. Fear, confusion… all those things but”  he licked his lips “Disoriented comes closest.”. It was night and you watched as Lori and Carl were in Ricks– as you come to learn– arms. Everyone was in their family's arm, it just made you feel even lonelier now without yours. 

“Words can be a meager thing” Dale explained, “sometimes they fall short”. Rick nodded his head and continued “It felt like i was ripped out of my life and put somewhere else” you gazed at the fire “For a while I thought I was trapped in some coma dream, something I might not wake up from ever.” Lori was brushing Carl’s hair, like your mom use to do.

“Mom said you died” Carl spoke up in a quiet voice, rick nodded his head in understanding when he looked at his wife “She had every reason to believe that” he looked at his son “Don't you ever doubt it” Lori spoke up about it after looking around

“When things got really bad, the hospital told me that they were gonna medivac you to Atlanta, but it never happened,” she said in a small sad voice.

“Well im not surprised after Atlanta fell,” Lori nodded “and from the look at that hospital it looked like it got overrun” he had a disgusted look on his face, if it looked anything like that super market you'd probably have the same face to.

“Yeah,” Shane scoffed “Looks don't deceive I barely got them out” Shane spoke up. Rick smiled gratefully at Shane, “I can't tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane. I can't begin to express it.” Rick exclaimed Greattfully, Dale laughed “There go those words falling short again, Paltry things” Dale committed, things got quiet again as the Grimes family embraced each other. 

“Hey Lori, I think im gonna sleep outside tonight” Lori looked at you “Why is that hun?” you shrugged your shoulders “Just feel like it, its nice out you know” the truth was, you would feel like an outsider sleeping in their family tent.

Lori's face scrunched up “Are you sure you want to sleep outside?” you  nodded your head, but Dale spoke up “Why don't you sleep in the RV hmm?” you looked at Dale with big eyes.

“You sure?” he nodded his head, “thanks” you smiled at him. He reminded you of your grandpa.

In the distance you could hear wood clattering and then wood being thrown into a fire, you looked behind you to see a big man sitting back again with a bigger fire,

“Hey Ed, you want to rethink that Log?” Shane yelled to him. The big guy just yelled back, still sitting down “It's cold man”. The more you looked the more you realized that was Sophia's family. “Cold doesn't change the rules does it?” Shane shouted back “Keep out low, just embers so we can't be seen from a distance, right?” 

It was a good rule to have, but Ed didn't seem to care “I said it’s cold, you should mind yer own business for once” he shouted back, Shane got up and walked over to Ed. The air was tense and everyone was quiet. You couldn't hear what was said since he was whispering. 

When he came back to his spot Dale spoke what was on his mind, “Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon?” Daryl was still on his hunting trip in the woods so he didn't know anything yet “He won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind.” you agreed with Dale, if your brother was left behind you'd be pissed as well.

T-dog spoke up, saying he’d tell the other Dixon what happened, which turned into a debate on who should tell him between T-Dog and Rick, but Glenn spoke up about how it would look better if Rick told him since he was white, as opposed to T-dog who was black. 

“I did what I did, Hell if im gonna hide from it” You gave props to T-dog for being brave. But Amy spoke up “We could lie” That was also a good idea you thought, but Andrea thought otherwise “Or tell the truth, Merle was out of control,” she brought up “Something had to be done or he’d have gotten us killed” andrea leaned forward to talk to Lori.

“Your husband did what was necessary, and if Merle got left behind it was nobody's fault but Merles” she finished her thought. But Dale disagreed 

“And thats what we tell Daryl?” you looked around dumbfounded “I don't see a rational discussion to be had from that, do you?” he looked to Andrea “Word to the wise we’re gonna have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt” Dale was being realistic, which was good, cause either way the outcome would lead to an upset Daryl.

“I was scared and I ran, im not ashamed of it” T-dog stated, Andrea just agreed and asked why it was relevant “I stopped long enough to chain that door. Staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at any one time. It's not enough to break through that” he explained “Not that chain, not that padlock.” he rambled on “My point Dixon's alive and he's still up there, handcuffed on that roof. That's on us” T-dog walked away, probably to his tent to go to sleep.

*

After a while everyone went to sleep, before you went to the RV you stopped by the tent and grabbed all your stuff, you said goodnight to Lori and walked to the RV. When you walked in Dale called you back, walking down the hall you stopped in the doorway to see Dale setting up a bed for you, “it's not much but it's something, I uhh even put up a curtain for ya here” Sure enough you saw a curtain split down the middle separating the room in half.

“Thanks,” you smile. You set your stuff down and lie on the stiff bed. Outside you could hear the thunder roll in again from earlier. You looked outside the window to see the rain hit the window. The sound of the rain helped you drift off to sleep.

~~~The Quary Day Five~~~

The next morning you woke up early and looked for Carl and Sophia. You wanted to explore the area a bit more and you got the okay from both Lori and Carol. You found both of them at a little round table.

“Hey do you guys want to go explore?” they looked at you with wide faces “I already asked your moms, and they said it was okay” they both replied with ‘yeah’s’, they got up from their spots and followed you. You decided to go through a trial that leads to the woods, you were hoping to find some deer or any kind of bigger game.

As you three walked the trail you started to smell something awful, your first thought was an animal died nearby, but the closer you got the more you started to hear the horrible gurgles of blood from an eater. You pulled back the leaves to see an eater feasting on dead deer.

Carl and Sophia screamed and backed away, they yelled for their parents as you backed away grabbing an arrow from your quiver, notching it in your bow aiming it at the eater to make sure it didn't attack you or the other kids. 

“Stay behind me” they continued yelling, you were shocked the eater wasn't drawn to the screams.

You heard Lori's cries and looked back to see everyone running towards you three. The men had weapons and ran past you when you pointed in the direction of the thing. You followed not far behind. They all circled the eater with weapons ready, they pushed you back to protect you but if you needed to you could still shoot it.

The thing finally seemed to notice you all and stood, it stared at Rick before it lunged at him, but someone batted it away. The thing fell to the floor and everybody started beating on it. All taking turns. Finally, Dale took an axe to it, cutting its head off. Everybody seemed to calm down after that.

“Thats the first one we’ve had up here” Dale exclaimed with an exhausted voice “They never come this far up the mountain” he looked around shocked.

“They’re running out of food in the city, that's what” Jim replied.

Everyone just looked at it in disgust and confusion when they heard rustling in the forest. You aimed your bow in the direction of the noise as it got louder and louder.

When out from behind a tree you saw Daryl walking out with his crossbow. Shane just scoffed when he saw him. 

“Son of a bitch.” he cursed “That's my deer! Look at it.” he walked up to it, then looked at the eater “All gnawed on by this” he started kicking it “Filthy! disease-bearing! motherless poxy bastard!” 

Dale tried to calm him down “Calm down son, thats not helping” but it just pissed him off more.

“What do you know about it, old man?” he got up in Dales's face “Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to "on Golden Pond"?” he insulted him, you wanted to laugh but it wasn't the right time.

“I've been tracking this deer for miles. Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison.” He keeled down to take his bolts “What do you think? Do you think we can cut around this chewed-up part right here?” he asked looking at the others.

“Would not risk that” Shane replied, Daryl just sighs “That's a damn shame. I got some squirrel” he grabbed the rope holding them “about a dozen or so. That'll have to do.”. He began to walk off when out of the corner of your eye you saw the rotter's head move “Oh god” Amy and Andrea walked off.

“Come on people” Daryl noticed this and shot it in the face “it gotta be the brain, don't y’all know anything?” he walked off with his now bloody bolt. You all followed him back to the main area. You could see Lori and Carol comforting Carl and Sophia.

“Merle,” nothing “MERLE, get yer ugly ass out here” Dayrl continued walking “I got us some squirrel lets Stew ‘em up” he began to look around for his brother, and the other caught up to him. “Daryl, slow up a bit, I need to talk to ya” Shane called out to him

“About what?” he stopped in front of the RV, Shane continued to walk up to Daryl “About Merle. There was a” he paused “There was a problem in Atlanta.” Daryl froze, and looked around, “He dead?” he asked. Shane shrugged his shoulders “We're not sure” he looked at Daryl. You could begin to see Daryl get mad

“He either is or he ain't” he began to circle Shane, with the rest all catching up. 

Rick decided to speak up “No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it” Rick started but was cut off by Daryl “Who are you?” he said with snark as Rick walked up to Daryl.

“Im Rick Grimes” he introduced himself, Daryl scoffed a bit “Well Rick Grimes, you got something you wanna tell me?” Rick stood in front of Daryl “Your brother was a danger to us all,” he started “So I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there” You moved closer to Dale, more like behind him just in case 

“Hold on. Let me process this.” he began to pace back and forth a bit “You're saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof and YOU LEFT HIM THERE?!” he yelled at Rick, who just stood there, taking it. Rick hung his head low “Yeah”

Daryl stepped back, looking rick up and down, with a scowl that could scare an eater. With a grunt, he threw the squirrels at Rick and started to charge him but Shane intercepted it. T-dog noticed it and came running. While on the ground you noticed Daryl pull his knife out and get up

He began to swipe at Rick, before Rick grabbed his arm and made him drop the knife Shane came up on him from the other side. They rustled him down to the ground “BEST LET ME GO!” he yelled, trying to fight the hold Shane had on him. Shane eventually got him in a chokehold, one that Daryl said was illegal.

Daryle eventually stopped fighting, rick got into his face “I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that?” he looked to Shane “Do you think we can manage that?” Shane nodded his head, and after a minute Daryl mumbled the best yes he could before Shane let him go. 

Daryl was still on the ground when Rick got up close with him again “What I did was not on a whim. Your brother does not work and play well with others.” he explained when T-dog spoke up “It's not Rick's fault. I had the key. I dropped it” he admitted

“Couldn't pick it up” Daryl retorted back to him with snark.

“Well, I dropped it in a drain” T-dog admitted, daryl rolled his eyes and scoffed before he stood up, throwing dirt at T-dog “it supposed to make me feel better it don’t!” 

“Yeah well, maybe this will” T-dog stood by Shane, it made you wonder if he stood there in case Daryl tried to lunge at him too “I locked the chain to the door so the geeks wouldn't get at him” he looked at Daryl “with a padlock, that's gotta count for something right?”

Daryl just looked around, and wiped his eyes, “the hell with all y’all” he cursed you all “Just tell me where he is so I can go get ‘em” he looked to Rick but Lori was the one to answer 

“He’ll show you, isn't that right?” they both looked at Lori, her voice and tone were almost taunting, but you guessed Rick didn't see it like that

he looked around for a moment, “I’m going back”, Lori just stormed back into the RV. daryl scoffed and walked away. Everybody just stood around, not knowing what to do. Rick walked off to his tent, picking up his clothes on the way.

*

You tried to comforter carl but you have still shaken up yourself. You made sure to never be that close to an eater since you got split from your family. You would jump at evey small noise coming from the woods, every heavy breath sounded like one of them, and when lori grabbed your hand it made you jump.

“Its just me hun, You're okay” She rubbed your arm gently and spoke softly “what you did was very brave but its okay if you’re scard” you reflected on what she said and looked away ashamedly.

“I didnt even do anything though, Daryl was the one that killed the ‘poxy bastard’” you huffed and crossed your arms. You were a coward, you couldn't even kill it when it’s back was to you. 

“You're still a kid, I didn't expect you to kill the thing, but you made sure Carl and Sophia were safe, and that's brave” You nodded your head and smiled softly. From down the hill, you could hear Shane talking to someone, he seemed to be heated

“Could you throw me a bone here, man? Could you just tell me why?” Rick and Shane came into view “Why would you risk your life for a douchebag like Merle Dixon?” Daryl looked at Shane with annoyance 

“Hey, choose your words more carefully,” Daryl warned him but Shane just rolled his eyes “No I did, douchebag is what I meant” he stared at Daryl with judgment “Merle Dixion, The guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dyin’ of thirst.” from what you experienced when you first met merle that comparison checked out.

You looked to Lori again as they continued fighting. You could tell she was getting more and more annoyed, but you were to engrossed in the conversation.

“so you and Daryl,” everybody looked at her “thats your big plan?” Rick looked at Glenn “Oh come on” he sighed, 

“You know the way, you've been there before, in and out no problems” Rick explained “You said so yourself. It's not fair of me to ask” he paused “I know that, but I'd feel a lot better with you along. I know she would too” rick looked to Lori.

Shane went on about how Rick was risking three men now, but T-dog spoke, about how he wanted to come to. Daryle just scoffed at him, asking why, T-dog just said he wouldn't understand.

“That's four,” Dale said aloud, Shane just paced back and forth “It's not just four. You're putting every single one of us at risk. Just know that, Rick.” He pointed a finger at Rick “Come on, you saw that Walker. It was here. It was in camp. They're moving out of the cities.” he proclaimed  “They come back, we need every ablebody we've got. We need 'em here. We need 'em to protect the camp.” 

rick started going on about how he had a bag of guns, and how he dropped them in the city. All kinds of guns, from shotguns to handguns. And about 700 rounds of ammo.

“You went through hell to find us” Lori started, her voice getting angrier “Yo-you just got here, and now you gonna turn around and leave!?” you could tell Carl was getting worried about his dad, “Dad I-I don't want you to go” rick looked conflicted now. 

“To hell with the gun. Shane is right. Merle Dixon? He's not worth one of your lives, even with guns thrown in.” Rick walked closer to you guys, stopping at Lori as she stood up “Tell me. Make me understand.” Lori argued, 

“I owe a debt to a man I met and his little boy. Lori, if they hadn't taken me in, I'd have died.” He explained the best he could to her “It's because of them that I made it back to you at all. They said they'd follow me to Atlanta. They'll walk into the same trap I did if I don't warn him.” Rick pleaded with Lori

“What's stopping you?” She crossed her arms and looked down.

“The walkie-talkie, the one in the bag I dropped.” Lori couldn't even look at him “He's got the other one. Our plan was to connect when they got closer.” he finished

Shane asked if it was ‘our walkies’, and Rick said yes. Andrea asked why he couldn't just use the CB they have. But Shane just explained that their walkies were old, from the seventies, and only worked with each other, not even on scanners. 

“I need that bag” Lori nodded her head, and Rick walked around her to keel down to Carl, you still had a hand on Carl's shoulder “Okay?” he asked him, and he nodded his head. He looked at you and nodded his head. 

You all watched as they left in the truck, taking Dale's bolt cutters with them. It was quiet for a bit, Carl went to their tent to lie down, and Lori followed him.

*

You tried to finish your book, on your last chapter, and it was actually getting good when Shane and Carl came up to you “Hey Y/n, you want to catch some frogs, plural, with us?” you shut your book and stood up,

“Yeah!” running with carl to the quarry. 

You and carl waited for Shane by one of the banks where you saw some of the women washing clothes. 

“Okay, so the plan is,” Shane began “were gonna rile up the water and wait fore ‘em to swim out and catch ‘em, got it?” he looked to you two for understanding, and you both nodded. You were excited but after about thirty minutes you couldn't catch or even find any frogs.

“Im not gettin’ anything” Carl announced in a flat tone. You waded through the water towards carl as you nodded your head in agreement. 

“Yeah. Being all wily, staying submerged. Little suckers, they know something's up. That's what's going on. Just going to have to do this the old-fashioned way.” Shane got up from his rock, and motioned you over to him, “So here's what we gonna do” You stood by Shane as he told you guys what the new strategy was 

“me and Y/n are gonna scare the frogs your way Carl,” he handed Carl a net “And you’re gonna catch them with the net, got it?” he looked at both of you, and you both said yeah “You are the key in all this, okay?” Carl nodded “All we’re gonna do is go after one of them, all right, scare the rest of them off. They're all gonna scatter.” he patted your shoulder “And we’re gonna drive 'em his way, okay?” 

“Yeah,” you got into your position and Shane laughed

“What you need to do is you need to round up every bad boy you see, all right? Are you with me?” he spoke to Carl

“Yeah. Yeah.” Carl exclaimed excitedly 

“Hell yeah. Give me your mean faces.” you and Carl gave him your best mean game faces “Are you ready?” he exclaimed one last time, “YEAH” 

He got into position, he looked at you, and you looked at him, Then he started to thrash in the water so you did the same, trying to kick up rocks from the quarry floor, thrashing your arms. Carl had his net in the middle of it. You and Carl laugh while Shane bobbed in and out of the water. He even began to lightly splash you

“All right, they're coming your way. They're coming your way. Go on, get 'em, get 'em. They're coming your way, come on.” he shouted excitedly “Catch them frogs. Catch them frogs. They're coming, little man! Get 'em! Get that net in there and get 'em!” 

You trashed around some more before Carl brought the net close to him

“Just dirt” Carls face dropped, “maybe they’re somewhere else?” you said. Shane just shrugged his shoulders “All right, we've got to start over. Come on, let's find this bucket” You helped Shane with the bucket, plunging yourself underwater

When you came back up you saw Lori coming down the path and stopping in front of Carl “Hey, Carl, what did I tell you about not leaving Dale's sight?” you waded over to them and sat down on a rock

“But Shane said we could catch frogs, remember?” Carl argued “Yeah, we were just about to move to another bank,” you told her as you ringed some water out of the bottom of your shirt.

“It doesn't matter what Shane says. It matters what I say. Go on back to camp” she guided him up and out “I'll be right behind you, and you can stay if ya want Y/n” As Carl walked away you just looked at yourself self “I  think im gonna ask for a towel first” you waded through the water trying to get to the women washing clothes

You could hear Shane and Lori, talking but could only make out bits and pieces of it “You stay away from my son. You don't look at him. You don't talk to him” You heard Lori say “hell you should stay away from Y/n”, the more you moved the less you could hear. Finally, you made it to Amy, Andrea, Jacqui, And Carol. With Ed, not far away.

“H-hi, do you guys have a towel?” Jacqui looked at your soppy wet clothes.

“my lord child, you look like you just walked through a hurricane” She put the piece of clothing down and began to look around “All we got is a wash rag sweetie” You took the rag from her, thanking her, and began to dry your self the best you could so you weren't sopping wet when you went to change

Juqci went right back to work, and Ed was right behind them smoking. You could feel his eyes on you “Hey, why don't ya maker yer self useful and start washin’ them there clothes” he pointed to a pile by Jacqui. You looked at them and noticed Andreas' face was full of annoyance

“Ed tell you what,” she got up, walking towards him “you don’t like how your laundry is done, you're more than welcome to pitch instead of telling a kid to” She threw some clothes at him “Here”, he caught them and threw them back at her face

Amy got up trying to stop Andrea from blowing her lid “aint my job missy” he took a puff of his smoke.

“What is your job Ed?” at this point, you stopped to watch Andrea fight with Ed “Sittin’ on your ass all day smoking cigarettes?” he flicked his smoke by her feet 

“it sure as hell ain't listening to some uppity smart-mouthed bitch tell ya what” he looked at Carol “Come on, let's go” Carol got up meekly, with an apologetic look on her face. You didn't know her super well but she always looked small and scared

“I don't think she needs to go anywhere with you, Ed” Andrea got in carols way, blocking her from Ed 

“And I say it's none of your business. Come on now. You heard me.” Carol walked up trying to pass Andrea but she tried to convince her to stay, but Carol just didn't listen “Hey, don't think I won't knock you on your ass just 'cause you're some college-educated cooze, All right?” he pointed his stare at carol “Now you come on now or you gonna regret it later.” he gritted through his teeth

“So she can show up with fresh bruises later, Ed” Jacqui stated, your eyes widened from shock “Yeah, we've seen them.” they all started to surround Ed while he laughed, getting angry by the second 

“Stay out of this. Now come on! You know what? This ain't none of y'all's business. You don't want to keep prodding the bull here, okay? Now I am done talking. Come on” he ranted, he grabbed carols arm and started to walk away with her 

You all started to protest, you even grabbed onto her shirt, pulling it lightly “Carol, you don't have-” All of a sudden Ed yelled

“YOU DON'T TELL ME WHAT! I TELL YOU WHAT!” then he struck Carol across the face. All hell broke loose as they started to grab at Ed, trying to get him away from Carol as he tried to get at her. Eventually, you and Amy pull Carol away, and you can hear her sob in Amy's arms

Then all of a sudden Shane came in and started to drag Ed away. Jacqui pulled you behind her, shielding you. Shane threw him on the ground, he started to punch him, standing over him. You could hear Carol yelling for him to stop. Even the others were yelling at him to stop, saying he was going to kill him.

You watched in shock as he pummeled the guy. His face was all red and swollen by the time he was done “You put your hands on your wife, your little girl, or anybody else in this camp one more time, I will not stop next time. Do you hear me? Do you hear me?!” he yelled at him, Ed gave a weak yes. “I’ll Beat you to death Ed, I’ll Beat you to death!” he punched him one last time before he got up

Carol was crying as she ran to her “husband”. Apologizing to him like it was her fault he got beat for hitting her, even though he struck her first starting all this. Shane walked away, and you followed him, not wanting to hear any more of Carol's sobs.

*

It had been about an hour since you saw Shane beat Ed, you'd been hiding in the RV. Shane did come by to apologize, saying you shouldn’t have seen that. You just shrugged, saying he deserved it for hitting her.

Eventually, you left the RV and climbed the ladder to the roof to sit with Dale

“Hey kiddo, I see you got some dry clothes on?” you smiled and sat in one of the deck chairs closest to him, “how are ya, kid? I heard you saw what happened down at the quarry” 

“Im okay, rather not talk about it” You brought a knee up to your chin “I finished the book though!” you looked at Dale with a smile.

“Ohh, and what did you think of it?” he was looking off into the distance, since that rotter came into camp, more people were on high alert.

“It was okay, i kinda predicted that the man would come out of nowhere, helping the crime bosses” you started to explain “Then turn around and help him then disappeared again, never to be seen again,” you said in that ‘spooky’ voice people do

Dale chuckled as he looked around, his eyes stopped in one area. He brought his binoculars up to his eyes, you noticed this and walked up beside him “What is it?” he looked down at you, handing you the binoculars 

“Im not sure, it looks like Jim is diggin’ something” You look through and it is as Dale told you, Jim was hard at work digging something over the cliff overlooking the camp “We should probably check it out” he started walking towards the ladder so you followed him

When you walked up to Jim, he was hacking away at the dirt, it was hot as hell outside, making you think he was crazy, but dale was worried for him.

“Jim? You okay? You keep this up, you're gonna keel over out here. Drink some water at least.” you stepped over to him “I brought you some water.” you offered him but he just kept digging, didn't even look at you or Dale as you spoke.

You turned to Dale not knowing what to do. 

You and Dale began to walk down the path deciding to tell people about it, scared for Jim's safety. You got the camp to see everyone surrounding Amy and Andrea. They went fishing earlier, and from what you could see they caught plenty of it.

“Hey Dale” Andrea called to him “When's the last time you oiled those line reels? They are a disgrace.” she joked. But you and Dale still kept your concerned faces

“I, uh, I don't want to alarm anyone,” he started “but we may have a bit of a problem.” he pointed towards the cliff Jim was at.

“He’s been at it for hours, based on how many holes he dug” you pointed out to Shane as he came up to see for himself “We tried to offer him water but he didn't respond or even look at us” you added, Shane just hmmed, “lead the way” he started to walk so you and Dale showed him, some other decided to follow to.

When you got up there you could see that Jim was already starting a new hole.

“Hey, Jim.” he tried to grab his attention “Why don't you hold up, all right? Just give me a second here, please.” Jim looked at Shane with an annoyed look on his face.

“What do you want?” he asked with an aggressive tone, he noticed all the people staring at him with concerned looks, you still had the water in case he wanted some.

“We’re all a little concerned, thats all man” he stopped his shoveling and looked at all of you, “Dale and Y/n say you’ve been up here for hours” Moreles interjects “I tried to offer you water but you just ignored me” you walked up to Jim and offed the water again.

Jim just gave a strange look, like it was normal “So?” Shane countered “So, what ya diggin’?” Jim looked down, trying to find his answer, the air was thick with worry and Shane tried to fix “Are you trying to head to China Jim?” he joked.

“What does it matter? Im not hurting anyone” he went back to digging his hole and Dale stepped up to talk to his friend. 

“Yeah, except maybe yourself. It's a hundred degrees today.” he gestured to the woods “You can't keep this up.” his voice was laced with concern for his friend. But Jim just scoffed and kept up with his digging “Sure I can, Watch me.”

Lori walked up from behind, standing next to Dale with her arms crossed “Jim, they're not gonna say it so I will. You're scaring people. You're scaring my kids and Carol's daughter.” you were taken aback when Lori described you as her kid.

But Jim didn't share your reaction, instead, he got defensive “They got nothing to be scared of. I mean, what the hell, people? I'm out here by myself.” he started to get more and more defensive as he talked “Why don't you all just go and leave me the hell alone?”

He got back to digging once again as Shane exchanged glances with the others. 

“We think that you need to take a break, okay? Why don't you go and get yourself in the shade? Some food maybe.” he put his hands on his hips like he didn't know what to say.

“I'll tell you what… maybe in a little bit I'll come out here and help you myself. Jim, just tell me what it's about. Why don't you just go ahead and give me that shovel?” Jim stopped again, giving Shane an attitude when he talked.

“Or what” he stared at Shane with annoyance.

“There is no or what. I'm asking you. I'm coming to you and I'm asking you, please. I don't want to have to take it from you.” you could tell things between them were getting tense. Jim stood in front of Shane, with the shovel on his shoulder.

“And if I don't, then what? Then you're gonna beat my face in like Ed Peletier, aren't you?” he looked around at all of you “Y'all seen his face, huh? What's left of it.” he yelled “See, now that's what happens when someone crosses you” he leaned into Shane's face. Shane looked like he wanted to yell at Jim

“That was different, Jim.” Shane started to defend himself before you and Amy started defending him 

“You weren't there. Ed was out of control. He was hurting his wife” Amy spoke up first “Yeah, he hit first, Shane was just helpin’ Carol” Jim started yelling at you all

“That is their marriage. That is not his.” he pointed in Caroal's direction, and she looked away in shame “He is not judge and jury. Who voted you king boss, huh?” Shane just shook his head and walked up to Jim, he asked Jim to hand over the shovel but Jim just kept it away, walking away from Shane

Jim pushed Shane away and began to try and hit Shane, but he ducked just in time. You gasped and jumped away, and hid behind Dale. he put an arm in front of you shielding you in case. When Jim missed Shane got up and tackled him to the ground. 

Jim started yelling at him, saying he had no right, as he subdued him to the ground. He pinned his arms behind his back like he was arresting him. Shane tried to calm him down the best he could but nothing worked as Jim continued to freak out.

“Jim. Jim, nobody's gonna hurt you. You hear me? Shh. Jim, nobody is gonna hurt you, okay?” Shane tried and tried but nothing worked. Instead, it sparked Jim's fear more.

“That's a lie. That's the biggest lie there is. I told that to my wife and my two boys. I said it 100 times. It didn't matter.” you could see from behind Dale that jims eyes were getting wet, from tears 

“They came out of nowhere. There were dozens of 'em. Just pulled 'em right out of my hands.” you couldn't help but relate to him, it’s how to ended up here in the first place “You know, the only reason I got away was 'cause the dead were too busy eating my family.” he was so quiet, and sad. You walked away and headed down the path. You felt tears stroll down your cheeks thinking of your momma.

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