Chapter Text
|4:00am|
The door the the RV clicks closed as I step back into the main camp with Sarge at my heels. Dale graciously let me store both Doc and my bag inside while I go out scouting this morning. He did give me an odd look however, like there was something wrong with me for wanting to lock up my things. But, personally I think that the old man is too trusting.
I scan the camp with the frown, my eyes landing on the Dixon brothers. I’ve seen how they look at my pack, they know I haven’t opened it yet, haven’t offered to share my things other than a single ice-pack.
Despite their outside appearances I know the two brothers are observing me. They know that I’m hiding something, and I don’t need the older brother to open it and find my not-so-small collection of essential survival gear.
I walk over to the Morales van, leaning against the hood. I’m early, of course I am. Sarge lays at my feet, large head resting on my boots. It’s quiet, even the birds who should be singing at this time of day are as silent as can be.
Now I’m not a superstitious woman, but I’d be lying if I said that it didn’t set my hairs on edge. I reach into my waistband, pulling my gun out and into my grip. Using my free hand to slip into the pocket of my cargo pants, coming back out with a suppressor. I take my time, screwing it into place.
I almost didn’t put it in my Go-bag. Thought it’d be useless in the end of the world, but now I’m thankful. Because those things, the sick or whatever they are, follow noise like dogs follow the scent of treats.
“Your sister called last night?” Morales asked, being the second to arrive at the meeting after me. I turn my head to look at him and give a curt nod.
“Yeah, Glenn tell you?” I ask, remembering how he slowly inched closer to me when we were on watch. Practically desperate to get just a little bit of insight into my private life.
“Of course he did, you know he can’t keep a secret worth a damn,” Morales says as he checked his magazine for ammo. “She doing okay?” He asks after a few seconds of silence, I nod, sliding my now ready gun back into my pants. Instead opting to pull out my knife and tactical sharpening rod, watching as the small embers fly off as I sharpen the blade.
“Yeah, she's in a makeshift military outpost, they’ll be safe for a while, at least for a week until they need to move,” I respond, trying to stop myself from worrying about my little sister.
She’s far. Too far away from me for comfort. If only I had paid more attention to the radios. I could’ve made an excuse to have her visit me in Atlanta when shit hit the fan. But I didn’t, and now my little sister who feels bad about killing spiders is going to have to adapt to a world I wanted to protect her from.
“What will they do with all of the people in the bases if they need to evacuate?” He asks, the question making me stop sharpening my knife.
“I don’t know, this epidemic is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.” I respond letting out a sigh “But they’ll probably either EVAC them or… Put them down.”
“Let’s hope it’s the former then,” He said, watching as Glenn and T-Dog walk towards us with Shane following. Probably to see us off.
“Where’s the little Dixon?” Shane asked looking at us. I just shrug, he had agreed to help last night. Assuming that’s what the grunt meant, which I do.
“Not here.” T-dog replies with a roll of his eyes “Let’s leave before his racist redneck ass shows up.” He continues, clapping Glenn on the shoulder with a grin. The kid just shaking his head and gestures to me to get off the hood of the truck. I oblige, sliding back onto solid ground as Glenn unfolds the map of the city.
“We’ll make this quick, I just want to double-check our route.” He said running his finger along the streets while mumbling to himself. I watch him slightly intrigued, he seems to enjoy planning. I make an eternal note for the next time I go on a run to try to find him a book on war strategy. I think he’d enjoy it, and I think he’ll have a natural talent for it. Morales moves around Glenn and T-dog and makes his way to stand next to me. Our shoulders brushing against each other as he leans in.
“Marines teach you hand signals while you were bust drawing with crayons?” He asks with a smirk on his face. I scoff and roll my eyes.
“Obviously, and we don’t use Crayons to draw, we eat them. Get it right little Army boy.” I reply, a small smirk curling at my lips, “Though I’m not sure if Little Dick can.” I say, testing a new nickname for the man. Letting the letters roll of my tongue satisfyingly. It fits, Big Dick, and Little Dick. It’s a good replacement for learning their names, which I’m not planning on doing.
“I guarantee he did, Big Dick wouldn’t give up a chance to look like the smart and cool big brother.” He says, using the nickname I gave the redneck brothers. My chest warms slightly, it feels nice to meet another Vet outside of court-mandated group-therapy. I look him in the eyes, and from the sparkle of amusement in his gaze, I can guess he feels the same way. “Speaking of Dicks,” He whispered as Daryl saunters over, his crossbow slung over his shoulder. “Wanna make a bet on if he knows or not?” He asks me tauntingly,
“Sure” I reply, “If I win you’ll give me that KitKat I've seen you rationing.” I decide. Morales, nods his head, seemingly happy with the trade.
“If I win then Eliza and Louis get to play with Doc for a day.” He counters. I roll my eyes, I’d do that anyway.
“You’re on,” I tell him, holding out a gloved hand which he shook firmly.
“What the hell are you two talking about over there?” Shane asks, looking between us with amusement in his eyes as Daryl makes it to the group, a scowl etched into his features as he glares at us. My lips fall, flattening out as I scan him, his cut off top and deep brown work pants. I give him a curt nod, approving of his neutral toned clothes.
“Nothing.” I respond bluntly while looking towards Glenn “You got an idea of where to go?” I ask him, the kid nodding, folding up the map and putting it in his duffel bag that he had strapped to his back.
“We’re going to make a big loop and try to sneak around some old police stations and hospitals. Hopefully, there'll be a lot of dead officers we can loot off of.” He explains, I raise an eyebrow at him. Slightly surprised that he’d risk his safety for a few guns and ammo.
“Be careful, there might be a lot of those fuckers in those areas.” I point out seriously, but on the inside I feel kind of proud of him. “Get back in one piece, both of you.” I say looking between him and T-Dog who both nod their heads in scattered unison.
“Okay, you two can head out, I want you back here by midday, it’s not safe having so many people far from camp.” Shane states before turning to Morales, Daryl, And I. The new addition having snuck his way around to stand on Morales’ right. “You three, no killing until we know what we are dealing with. If we are dealing with anything at all. Scout and come back, we’ll figure out what to do with them when we have more information.” I let out a nonverbal scoff and cross my arms in front of my chest, my large combat knife hanging loosely in my palm.
“Wasn’t planning on it. Though if I were, I would’ve brought Big Dixon,” I explain looking towards Daryl who shifts uncomfortably on his feet. It was easy to tell that unknown people makes him uncomfortable. It’s all over his face. I let out a sigh, “No offense,” I add to him.
“Hm.” He grunts “None takin’,” he responds gruffly, his voice deep and thick with a southern drawl. I fall quiet for a moment, watching him avoid my piercing gaze for a moment, turning back to Shane when I get bored. Shane adjusts his posture, straightening his back and looking over all of us with an authoritative gaze.
“I’ll see you all soon.” He states, “In the meantime I’ll set up a perimeter around camp.” He decides himself before walking away. I watch his back for a moment, the man was incredibly comfortable sending us out into the unknown. Didn't even pretend to offer to come with us. I turn my head, spotting as Glenn and T-Dog disappear down the road in the Church van. Red taillights disappearing around a curve in the road.
“Your brother teach you any military hand signals?” I ask, turning to face Little Dick who looks a bit more comfortable now that there’s less people around.
“Course he did, taught me a lot a other things too.”He replies, a scowl growing on his face as he adjusts the strap of his crossbow. “Now are we’s gonna go or are ya gonna paint ya nails?” I raise an eyebrow but don’t retort. He has a bigger mouth on him then I originally suspected.
Morales nudges me, his eyes informing me that he won. I fought back the urge to roll my eyes. Maybe I should’ve just gone alone.
“Okay, you and Sarge will take point once we get on their trail,” I tell Little Dick while putting the knife back into its holster. “Ready?” I ask.
“Ready,” Morales responds, putting his gun back into his jeans.
“Was ready when I got 'ere” Daryl gruffs out. I ignore his comment and gesture for Morales to lead the way. The three of us plus Sarge disappearing into the woods.
|5:00am|
It only took us about thirty minutes to get on their trail. Morales led us to the location he spotted the intruder at and Sarge immediately picked up a scent. Little Dick, however, had found footprints and knelt by them, observing the dent in the underbrush.
“This one’s a real fat ass mother fucker.” He hisses out as he digs his hands into the dirt and traces the footprint with his fingers. “Big ass feet too, goin' this way.” He says gesturing forward where Sarge was sitting by a tree, clearly waiting for us to follow him.
“What part of being quiet do you not understand man?” Morales whispers quietly, Little Dick just glaring at him in response and turns around, practically stalking through the brush. He raises his hand and gestures it forward dramatically like he was proving a point. Jesus, he is a temperamental man.
I watch him work, acknowledging his usefulness as he moves gracefully through the forest. Despite his loud ramblings a few seconds ago he moves between the trees the same elegance as a buck. It was memorizing in a way, to see a survivalist in his natural habitat. I wonder if I look like that as well when I’m taking down enemies. Do I stalk forward with undue confidence like he does in the solitude of the wilderness? I hope so. I feel a flutter in my chest as he runs a finger down the long body of a tree, rubbing whatever he finds between two of his fingers before gesturing forward again.
I decide in that moment at him and his brother’s personality issues don’t matter. The only thing that does is their willingness to use their skills for the benefit of the group. We can work around the rest, as long as they don’t try to rob us that is.
After a bit of walking he puts his hand up and gestures for us to halt. Morales and I immediately stopping in our tracks until Dixon waves at us to crouch down and come over. I sneak up next to him, Sarge’s ears pressed tightly to his head as he snarled without making a sound in the direction Dixon is looking.
“Ain’t that a bitch.” Daryl whispers in shock. I follow his gaze to find a camp, or rather what was left of one as the scent of decay fills my nose. It seemed to be an parking lot connected to hiking trails. There were a few cars, a Jeep among them and an Airstream. It looks to have been a group similar to ours but clearly far less lucky than us.
They were attacked, that much was clear. Bodies scattered everywhere in the clearing. Some fresh and others appearing to be dead fuckers that had been put down for good. Daryl inches to get closer, hid eyes slightly glazed over in shock. I hold out my hand, pressing it firmly against his broad chest to keep him in place. We need to come back with Shane, he isn’t a detective but he might be able to give us a rough idea of what happened here.
I continue to observe the carnage, there didn’t seem to be any more of the dead fuckers shambling around. But to be safe I’ll have to ask Shane to up the patrols around camp while we figure out what happened here.
In this whole situation, one thing stands out, one thing that sends my nerves on edge. Bullet holes, these people were put down like dogs. I snap my gaze towards the Air stream, one of the bodies immediately standing out to me. A little boy, one no older than five, a teddy bear still clutched in his hand. The worse part being that, at least from this vantage point, the kid didn’t even look to be sick then he was killed. I look towards the two men, gesturing for us to go back. They stare at me for a moment before complying. The three of us retreating back into the trees far quicker than we came.
|6:00am|
We took the long way around through the trees under Daryl’s guidance who had been hunting in these woods for the past two days. The three of us weaved around in circles for a few hours to make sure we couldn’t be followed.
At some points during our journey I wondered if I should leave. If I should sneak out of camp in the middle of the night when nobody’s looking. It’d be safer on my own, a small group is one thing, but if whoever did this comes after us… I could end up getting killed trying to protect one of the little brats around camp. It was the obvious choice, and I barely know these people. If only I could take the useful people with me and abandon the rest.
When we get back to camp the three of us make a B line directly to Shane who was obviously waiting for us. The man leaning agains the side of the RV and talking to Dale as we approach. We gesture him to head over to my tent which still sits a far way aways from everyone else. The perfect spot for a discrete conversation.
When we get there, Dixon claims my stump and sits down. He pulls out a bolt from his quiver and starts cleaning it while Sarge watches him.
“What happened, y’all look like you’ve seen ghosts.” He says, looking between us. Dixon sticks out a leg and looks up at him with his usual glare.
“Might’ve well ‘ave, Dead, lotta em,” he explains with a grimace. He’s a tough guy and handled the sight well. However, it’s obvious he’s new to seeing bodies, or at least that many in one place. I scan him over, he isn’t going to be sleeping well tonight.
“We found a camp about three klicks from here,” I explain lowering my voice carefully. “It was a blood bath, bodies everywhere, I counted twenty.” Shane let out a long sigh and ran a hand over his face.
“Were you followed?” He asked looking at us, Dixon opens his mouth, probably to say something uncouth again but is interrupted by Morales who is standing with his arms crossed.
“No, Daryl made sure of it, had us walking in circles for over an hour.” He explains, his voice harsh and slightly cold. It’s a bit out of character for him but understandable given the situation.
“We need to go back and find out what happened to them, if we don’t we might regret it.” I offer while running a gloved hand over my ponytail. This is an incredibly shitty situation, this camp is close enough to be a problem, the people that killed them most likely not being that far either.
“We’ll get a group together when Glenn and T-dog get back,” Shane says looking behind him towards Lori and Carl who are watching our conversation from out of earshot.
“We should go,” I say gesturing between Shane and I. “I’d appreciate it if you joined us.” I add towards Dixon, the man letting out a scoff while standing up.
“Nah you’s on your own. I’s done enough.” He huffed before walking away. I watch him leave, making a mental note to get him to curb that attitude of his. I look towards Shane who returns my gaze with an uncertain one.
“You don’t want to go?” I ask curiously, but there was an edge to my tone, a challenge. “We may lose morale if our leader isn’t willing to put his life on the line,” I ad, Morales looking between the two of us before stepping back. Probably sensing the growing tension.
“I’m going to go check on my kids, find me if you need me.” He says before practically running towards his family’s tent.
“Are you threatening me, Volkov?” He asks, using my last name with a dangerous tone. I shake my head and cross my arms.
“No, I’m just telling you how it’ll be if you don’t do some more heavy lifting.” I explain, “You were given a leadership position quickly but you’ll have to be more active if you want to keep it.” I advice. Shane letting out a scoff while running a hand over his short black hair.
“I’m not having this conversation, not now, not with you.” He said, “We’ll wait until the other group gets back, that’s an order.” He said before spinning around and stalking off.
|10:00am|
“Hey, Dale,” I say as I walk up to the RV, planning to grab Doc and my bag from inside. The old man sits in an old lawn chair right outside with an old fishing cap placed firmly on his head.
“Hello Ana, how was the outing this morning?” He asks, gesturing towards the seat next to him. “Come, sit down.” He said. I let out a sigh wondering if I should just ignore him and get my stuff but instead, I sit down and prop my feet up on an empty blue cooler. Dale was a good person, nice, too nice for this new world we were finding ourselves in. It has been a day since the bombs dropped, and the military lost. Not that I can tell anyone that, they all still have a naive hope that things will go back to normal.
“Awful, you should’ve seen it.” I state, shaking my head and grabbing my canteen from my belt, taking a long sip of water. “Actually maybe not,” I added after a few seconds. He lets out a sigh and fiddles with a bent fishing hook.
“I am so grateful to you and Shane, the two of you have done so much for the rest of us. Shane brought us here, and gave us a place to stay but you protect it. I don’t think any of us can repay you.” He said. I bite by tongue pushing the fluttering sensation in my chest away. They don’t need to be grateful, they don’t need to repay us, they just need to be useful. Which seems to be a big ask these days.
“I’m not doing it for you or anyone else in the camp for that matter. I’m doing it for my own survival.” I reply honestly, my eyes meeting his. I half expect him to scoff, shake his head, or even get upset but instead, he smiled.
“We all are, doesn’t make what you’re doing any less important.” He reasons reaching into his pocket and pulling out a lemon drop “They were my wife’s favorite. Take it.” He says handing it out to me. To be honest, I don’t want it, not at all. But for some reason, I take it from his hand and hold it in my own.
“Thank you,” I mutter staring at the gift, nobody has ever given me a gift before, other than Natasha. It feels odd. “You do a lot too, you brought an RV, your good aim and fishing abilities. We wouldn’t eat nearly as well without your addition to the group.” I reply feeling like I should repay him for the lemon drop that I haven’t opened. I don’t even know if I will, I might just keep it in my pack. For a rainy day.
“Thank you.” He replies back with a chuckle “I could teach you if you’d like?” He offers. I knew how to fish, though I have never actually done it before. Just never got around to it in all my preparations for D-day.
“I would like that,” I reply, the two of us falling into a comfortable silence as we watch over the camp.
|12:30pm|
At some point, Dale went back into the Camper van and pulled out a gun cleaning kit. For some reason taking my gun apart and putting it back together brought me comfort. I used to do it every day during my tours, the boys and I would have races to see who could do it the fastest.
“Time me,” I said to Morales who had moved to sit next to me as I stared at the pieces of my gun. The man smiled and looked at his analog watch. I stretched out my hands, fingers interlaced, and cracked them.
“Three… Two…. One…. Go!” He said, my hands moving quickly at the sound as I challenged myself. Each part was like a puzzle piece and I knew exactly what each one did and where it went. I felt myself smile slightly, one that I haven’t had in a long time as the few good memories from my time abroad filled my mind. I felt the world around me shift and I was back at base, sitting on a bunch of wooden crates with my boys. We were laughing, timing each other as we put our guns together.
“Oh shit Goldilocks I’m going to beat you this time.” The voice of one of my men filled my mind. I don’t remember his face and his voice sounds like mine but the memory is still the same. Goldilocks, the loving nickname they gave me from the color of my hair.
“Good luck with that.” I heard my own voice, my mouth not opening to speak. The memories are just that. Memories.
“Two minutes,” Morales said as I slip in the magazine and pull back the slide before putting it back down on the table. I looked up to see Sophia and Carl watching me with the other kids, their eyes wide and impressed. I look to my left and see that Shane is also watching me from behind the kids and walking forward.
“That was so cool.” Sophia breathed out in awe while Louis had his mouth dropped open in shock.
“Can you teach me?” Carl asks but Sophia practically knocks him over with a shove.
“He means us, can you teach us?” She asked, I shuffle around in my seat a bit uncomfortable. I’m not really any good with kids, Natasha was the exception. I look over to Morales who gives me a shit eating grin.
“You should learn how to shoot first,” I respond bluntly, it was true, being able to actually hit something comes before learning how to tear it apart and put it back together again. Especially in our current situation.
“You can do that too!” Carl said, clearly a bit too excited about the prospect of learning how to shoot a gun.
“I think that’s up to Lori and Carol,” I said uncomfortably looking towards Shane who came up behind the kids and put a hand through Carl’s short brown hair.
“I’ll help you convince her.” Shane said with a grin, the boy looking up with a large smile “Now go play amongst yourselves. I need to borrow Ana for a minute.” The kids skittered away Carl taking the lead, clearly just like his soon-to-be step-daddy.
“Thanks for the save,” I said leaning back in the chair, my tense muscles loosening as I relaxed. Morales and Shane chuckled at my discomfort and I scowled at them.
“You should race me some time, I bet the kids would like to watch,” Shane said while pulling over a stump we chopped to sit on near us. I let out a scoff and rolled my eyes.
“I’d beat you,” I said obviously. Watching as Shane leaned forward with a confident smirk on his face. He’s attractive, I’ll give him that much.
“Wanna bet on it?” He asked, I rolled my eyes and looked at Morales who was watching the conversation in deep interest. I tapped my fingers on the table for a moment.
“If you go to the camp with me then I’ll consider it.” I countered looking over at him. There it was, the anxiety and fear that he had last time. I leaned forward towards him and kept my voice down. “You are capable and a good shot, I bet you are quick on your feet too. You have to go out there and see what’s going on yourself. You can’t protect them, us, without knowing what we’re up against. I know you’re scared, but that just means you’re cautious, it makes you a good leader, better than me.” I could see his indecision in his eyes as he looked towards Dale who was watching our conversation from the door of the RV. This being the first time he witnessed one of our “conversations” and I was hoping he’d take my side.
“She’s right Shane.” He said after a moment “And nobody else other than you can tell us what happened out there. It was your job before all this to know those things.” As I see it, Shane could go one of two ways if he confronts the truth of our current situation. Either it will make him stronger or it will make him rash and uncontrollable until someone puts a bullet between his eyes. Either way, it needs to happen.
“Let’s go then, but you’ll have to keep your promise.” He said his usual relaxed demeanor back in place. I rolled my eyes and held out my hand to him, with his shake and this journey I’ll finally be giving up my role as de facto leader. The end to our little power struggle finally lit up the end of the irritatingly long tunnel.
“Deal, we leave at first light,” I said grabbing his hand into mine and giving him a strong squeeze. Let’s just hope we do better tomorrow.
|2:00pm|
Glenn and T-dog came back late, and just when I was about to get a party together to go after them, they saunter around the ridge as fresh as daisies. Shane and I walked up to them together to meet them, it seemed like their bags were full and they even had semi-autos and military shotguns attached to their backs. Whatever they did it was successful, other than the obvious blood on their face they looked fine.
“I was about to go after you,” I said with Doc and Sarge at my heels the two dogs flanking me on either side as I crossed my arms.
“Why the hell were you gone so long?” Shane asked, his voice demanding an explanation as Dale walked over to help take inventory, Miranda following close behind to help. Glenn took the duffle bag off of himself and put it on the hood of the Morales’ car with T-Dog following suit.
“We met someone.” Glenn choked out as Miranda unloaded the bags, ammo, and guns that were practically spilling out of the bag with other small essentials mixed in. Dale gave the boy a pat on the back in comfort.
“Tell us what happened.” He said leading him over to the RV where Shane and I followed closely behind, T-Dog, still silent while helping Miranda organize our finds.
“There was a family, a dad and his daughter,” Glenn responded, sitting down and fidgeting with his hands. “I thought they were sick, the sick. But they weren’t.” He said quickly clearly not thinking right. I kneeled down in front of him and forced him to make eye contact with me.
“You aren’t making any sense.” I said “Where did you meet them?’ I asked. Deciding that if he answered concise questions then it may help keep his mind from jumping around.
“At the police station.” He said, “They were looking for supplies, they got attacked and we got help but the girl got bit.” Tears welled up in his eyes but I just kept a level gaze with him. “She died in my arms, she wasn’t breathing, no pulse, no nothing.” He continued “But she came back as one of those things and ate her dad, I had to kill both of them. I don’t know what they are exactly but they aren’t sick, they’re dead.”
The realization hit me like a truck, the stench of decay and the way they could live without most of their body. It made sense, a lot of sense, and will make it easier for the uninitiated to kill them again from now on. But Glenn was traumatized and he wasn’t going to be too helpful for a while.
“You did good kid.” I said, "How about you borrow Doc for the rest of the day, I’m sure she could use the attention.” He sniffled and looked at me with red-rimmed eyes
“Really?” He asked and I nodded with a smile.
“really.” I gestured to Doc and she put her head on his lap, Glenn running his blood-covered fingers over her golden fur with a sad smile.
“Thank you.” He said quietly as I stood up but I just stared at him for a second before I pat him on the head over his baseball hat.
“You got us invaluable information, we should all be thanking you.” Shane said, “Get some rest.” He said, the kid nodding his head but not moving from his spot in the camping chair as we went back over to Miranda, Dale deciding to stay with Glenn.
“He did it so I didn’t have to.” T-dog said to Miranda as we approached tears in her eyes. I understand why he told her, he needed to say it out loud to someone. To make it real, to prove to himself that it happened.
“How do the supplies look?” Shane asked avoiding their chosen topic of conversation. Miranda stood back and we looked at what she organized. There were a good amount of bullets but most of which were .22 birdshot which against a human unless at point-blank range was pretty fucking useless. Shane and I looked at each other and back down at the table. I spotted a box of 9mm which my gun takes, and grabbed it. It’s full. I look back over to Shane whose gun uses the same ammo.
“We should split it,” I said opening it to double-check that it was full. But Shane wasn’t listening but instead rifling through the guns, checking if they were loaded. Most were, must’ve been looted off bodies. He spotted a small pink pocket revolver, I picked it up and turned it over spotting the specks of blood on the custom grip. It looked like a Wrangler 22 LR, a quality weapon and easy to handle. Perfect for first-time firearm owners and small enough to fit into a child’s hand.
“That was the girl’s,” T-dog said as I inspected the colorful and glittery stickers placed on the side. I felt something bubble in me when I heard that but I pushed it down. We are at war, there is no time for feelings, this isn’t the first time I’ve heard of a child’s death or held their things.
“We can use it to teach the kids,” I said to Shane as I checked the cylinder. It was loaded and clearly hadn’t been fired yet. I cleared the gun and unloaded it “We have a shit ton of ammo for it too.” I said looking at the small army of .22 boxes.
“That we do.” He said opening the box as I reloaded the cylinder before putting it back on the hood. “But Lori isn’t going to let Carl learn how to shoot.” He continued.
“We have three more kids in the camp, someone’s gotta let their kids shoot,” I said looking at Miranda who let out a sigh.
“I’d be fine with it, but I need to talk to Lori, Carol, and my husband.” She said “United front and all that.” I nodded in understanding and went to the other guns, checking their clips and magazines for ammo and turning on the safeties.
“Do we tell the camp?” I asked as I piled the guns together, we’d need to clean them and make sure they work, will probably have to ask Little Dick to take us somewhere a good distance away to fire them. I looked up at Shane who stared at our haul, it was clear he didn’t know what to do.
“No. We won’t, not yet.” He said grabbing a bag and throwing the guns inside to carry over to Dale’s RV for storage. I bit my tongue, I don’t agree, everyone should know everything but I gave up leading the group. The missions are where my abilities lie, other than that it’s not my call. I gave a curt nod and carried the other bag, T-Dog following close behind. He was quiet today not that I can blame him as we walk up to Dale and Glenn who are drinking water and talking about something quietly. The kid’s tears have dried up since a few minutes ago.
“Dale, can you clean these and check for damage?” I asked as Shane went into the RV to put the ammo bag inside the room. Dale unzipped the bag and nodded to himself before looking up at me.
“Was going to go fishing today but I guess I can make an exception.” He said as he stood up, his knees cracking loudly as he walked inside.
“You two get some rest but I don’t want you alone for a while you’ve both witnessed something traumatic. Take the time to heal.” I said patting T-Dog on the shoulder who bowed his head, I looked down at his hands to see the blood covering them. “You two go down to the Quarry and get washed up but use a bucket and a rag we don’t want to contaminate the water.”
“Okay.” T-dog said as Glenn got up, Doc gave me a look before following after the two, her four paws sprinting after them. I look around the camp for a minute and spot the Dixon brothers eyeing us and our bags carefully. Little Dick is a lot more subtle about it but Big Dick looks like a kid in a candy shop and I need to nip it in the bud.
“You’re a good right-hand,” Shane said clapping me on the shoulder. I nodded my head still staring at the Dixon brothers. Daryl’s blue eyes meet mine and we hold contact for a while.
“I’m just doing what I have to,” I said honestly pursing my lips and turning my head. I continue to scan the camp to see Andrea and Amy talking to Carol while carrying clothes to the quarry. “We need to teach everyone how to shoot, Andrea, Amy, Carol.”
“They can use a knife, they don’t have to use a gun, the dead aren’t too hard to kill.” He said. I flickered my gaze towards his and stared him down with a serious expression.
“The living are more dangerous than the dead and they are going to sniff out our vulnerabilities and attack us,” I said discreetly gesturing to the Dixon brothers. Shane let off a scoff and crossed his arms.
“I’m not worried about them.” He said, “There’s only two of them.” He continued confidently, the type of confidence that will get us killed. I hope our trip tonight to the destroyed camp tomorrow morning will get rid of that quick.
“You should be,” I said, my tone chilling as I gestured towards Lori who was trying to call him over to her with a smile on her face. “Go, be with your family. Sarge and I are going to patrol the area.” I finished. Shane nodding.
“Alright.” He said walking away. I need to deal with the Dixon brothers, nobody else seems to realize what they're trying to do, their hungry eyes like vultures ready to pick at the dead. So, I stride over to them with confident steps while Sarge follows close behind. Daryl probably knew I was coming by our stare down and Merle was already standing to greet me.
“What’s up sugar tits?” Merle asked with what I assumed was his attempt at a charismatic smile but it just came off as irritating.
“We need to talk,” I said, my voice low and with a slightly threatening tone. Daryl shifted uncomfortably and focused on cleaning his crossbow. Clearly quiet when his brother is around to talk for him. Two men controlled by one mind, they were co-dependent as hell. “Why are you here?” I asked getting straight to the point. The distrust in my voice was evident.
“Whatever do ya mean? We are here to get in on the group protection jus like everybody else.” He said with a shit-eating grin. I rolled my eyes and leaned back on my left leg, this was going to take awhile.
“Don’t play stupid Big Dick, I have two eyes and I know you and Little Dick over here could solo this shit on your own,” I said looking between them. “Actually I think you two would be better off on your own, can hunt, track, survival skills…” I continued the words falling off my tongue smoothly as I kept my face cool.
“If I didn’t know any better I’d think you were flirtin’ with me Goldilocks.” He said, the nickname stinging like swords into the heart. It made me want to cut his tongue out for using it, but I kept the desire locked down. Violence would do us no good here.
“I didn’t come here to question you, I came here to tell you. If you want to leave I’ll get you gear but if you even think about stealing, Sarge here will track you down and I will shoot you both in between the eyes.” Merle’s gaze immediately snapped cold, like the flicking of the light switch at the mention of his brother getting killed.
“You wouldn’t.” He said but I know he knew I would, we’re soldiers, we know what happens out on the field, the things we have to do. What we’ve done.
“Try not to find out,” I said looking down at Daryl who glared up at me with rage in his eyes. “Little Dick,” I said goodbye as I took off and back to the main camp. They’re both useful, but I’d prefer not to have two ticking time bombs in camp so I hope that this will simmer them down instead of waiting for them to snatch our shit and bolt.
|4:30pm|
I was taking inventory of my supplies without taking them out of the bag when Shane stomped up to me. Sarge who sensed the hostility falling off him in waves started snarling, his lips curled up and showing off his sharpened canines.
“What do you need Shane?” I asked as I wrote on a small notepad. Nothing was missing which was good, thought that they would try taking a few things at a time but it seems like they’re planning on a big heist all at once instead.
“Merle told me you threatened him and Daryl, said, and correct me if I’m wrong ‘I will shoot you both in between the eyes?’” He asked crossing his arms, his Glock packed tightly into his belt. I scoffed and zipped up my bag and crossed my legs under me.
“Yeah, I did,” I said my eyes not bothering to look up, deciding not to share the whole story, too much work.
“Care to explain?” He asked, tapping his foot like an impatient dad who caught his kid sneaking out.
“They’re planning on stealing from us,” I said like it was obvious as I pulled out a granola bar from under my blanket and opened it.
“And just how do you know that?” He asked. I look up finally and take a bite of my food. This man isn’t stupid, or maybe he is, I don’t know, but what I do know is that he’s here to play the leader. To reprimand me. Whatever, not my problem.
“They look at our guns, my pack, like vultures,” I replied after I swallowed, leaning back on one hand. “And it wasn’t a threat, it was a promise.” I finished taking another bite. Shane just ran a hand over his face.
“You did all of that, made your promise all because of a hunch?” He asked clearly irritated. Like I was acting crazy. Not having any interest in the dick-measuring contest he wants to start with me I just sigh.
“What do you want me to do then?” I asked, “Apologize?” He looked down at me and then sat on the stump outside my tent.
“No, just stay away from them.” He said, “Merle is just looking for an excuse to get you kicked out of the camp. If we need them for a run, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.” Nod pulling my dagger out of my boot and twirling it in my hands.
“Easy.” I said with a smile “They never leave their corner of camp anyway.” I said standing up. “I’m going to see if Amy and the kids have strung together any more alarms,” I concluded walking away. My feet crunched against the loose dirt as I moved forward. Maybe I shouldn’t have antagonized the Dicks.
|6:20pm|
This time I am tying them closer to the main cluster of vehicles watching as Ed starts up a fire near his tent for Sophia and Carol. I really don’t like fires, they expose our location too easily, but I don’t move to stop them instead finishing up a knot on the tree as Sarge sits at my feet. It’d be better to do this when the sun isn’t setting but I need to keep my hands busy.
“Do you need help?” Amy asked walking up from behind me. I looked over my shoulder as she gestured to the pile of cans strung together with fishing string.
“Yeah,” I said as she reached over picking up one and tying it to my tree to continue the line to the next. We won’t be completely protected but something is better than nothing. The quarry could become our graves at any point and I would like to prevent it as best as I can.
“You know the kids talk about you a lot.” She said as she finished a knot, the two of us moving along the tree line. “It’s only been two days but they are obsessed with you.” I let out a scoff.
“I don’t like children,” I say honestly, always honest as we continue working. “Other than my sister that is, she was a cute kid,” I added after a moment, my chest clenching as her untamable thick almost blonde hair and emerald green eyes flashed into my vision with her dimpled smile.
“What’s she doing, I hear you’ve been talking to her on a Sat Phone?” She asked. Just trying to make conversation. I don’t blame her, we haven’t talked much and I bet not being able to protect yourself in this new environment would make someone antsy.
“She’s in a military outpost in LA, trying to keep her head on her shoulders and waiting for a chance to slip them,” I said, though to be honest I don’t know if she’ll leave, she’s too trusting of others, to willing to help and be helped. It worries me.
“What's she like?” Amy asked another question. I tried to force the irritation down and started tying a new fishing line to a tree.
“Smart, I never even went to college but she was getting her masters at UCLA when everything happened.” I said with a smile “You’re about her age.” I continued after a moment. Amy smiled and finished tying her section before moving on.
“I bet she knows how to shoot and protect herself with a big sister like you.” She said with a sad smile “I wish I knew how to.” She continued after a moment. I stopped what I was doing and turned to her.
“I could teach you some self defense techniques if you want.” I said, “After we finish this.” I say motioning to the final strand of cans that we have left, almost all the quarry other than the Dick’s area covered.
“I’d like that.” She said helping me finish up quickly.
|7:00pm|
We ended up gathering a bit of a crowd. It was to be expected, I’m sure people wanted to see what I was teaching. I grabbed Dale’s cooler and put out a selection of different knives each ranging in size.
“If you’re in a situation where you have to protect yourself your first instinct should be to run or hide but if you can't I would use this,” I said pointing up a hunting knife that Jim let me borrow for my showcase. “It’s sharp, has a serrated edge on this side that’s good for sawing, and has a nice curve.” I explained before holding it in my hand “This is your standard grip, the knife edge is pointing up with your fist.” I said before flipping it with ease “This is a reverse grip with the edge out, it’s better for slashing a combatant in hand-to-hand combat hold it like this.” I said, “Now for a sick person you want to aim for these areas, temple, eye, under the jaw, or the base of the neck.” I continue using my finger to mark the spots. “If it’s not a sick person then you want to hit areas that hurt the most, hand, kidney, back of the knee.” I tried to go around mentioning the Walking Dead using the name ‘sick’ in their place.
“Like this?” She asked holding her knife out I walked forward and adjusted the grip.
“That’s going to get knocked out of your hand, tighten it like you're trying to choke out a shitty ex,” I said in my usual monotone voice. The girl laughed and adjusted her hold. “Better.” I walked over to a tree grabbed a duller machete using it to hack a rough human shape into a tree. “This is Steve, Steve is a dick, and Steve needs to die,” I said while carving in a set of angry eyes and a frown. It looked like a children’s drawing but it was better than nothing.
“Do you want me to hit it?” She asked inching forward as I stepped back. “Isn’t it going to hurt the blade?”
“Don’t use full force.” I looked over to Jim who practically had sweat dripping down his brow. It was obvious the knife was expensive. “I’ll give you one of my spares if she breaks it,” I said which made him relax. The dude was wound up as hell. He’s useful because he’s a mechanic but he’s scared of his own shadow.
I watched her aim for the areas I mentioned on Steve. To be honest, no matter if she trains or not she's still in the useless category in my book but maybe she’ll upgrade a notch from liability where she and her sister sat currently. She was a pretty quick learner, I leaned back on my foot and crossed my arms over my chest.
“She’s going to destroy the tree,” Andrea said, and she was right, the girl was wailing on the makeshift dummy I made.
“At least she’s trying,” I said, I didn’t mean it as a jab at her but Andrea spun around and stalked off like it was. Maybe I should choose my words more carefully. It seems to be getting me into trouble with people lately. First the Dixons and now Andrea.
Amy needed this, to let off some steam but we needed to conserve energy in case we got attacked so I stepped forward. “Not bad,” I said looking at the slashes in the bark. Maybe she won’t die as quickly as I thought. “Knife,” I said holding out my hand, she put the dagger into my palm and I checked the blade. She followed directions, it was a bit dull but nothing a quick sharpening couldn't fix. I flip it so that the blade rests between my thumb and forefinger and hand it back out to Jim who grabbed it by the handle. “I’ll make a soldier out of you yet Amy,” I said honestly as I turned my head back to her. She gave a large smile but I ignored it and turned back to Jim “I’ll sharpen it after dinner.” I said the man nodded his head and I looked out at the fires that were both going at full brightness as the autumn chill started to roll in with nighttime. Now all I have to do is eat dinner, wait for my sister to call, and prepare for morning. Easy.
|7:30pm|
We sat around the fire and this was the closest I’ve been to talking to either of the Dicks since I threatened them. I was eating fish and rice that Carol made and I have to admit that it was pretty damn good. The woman knows how to cook, I looked over to her and her family who had made their own fire, and gave a friendly nod which she returned with a small smile Despite our situation it was actually pretty nice. It’s been a long time since I’ve sat around a campfire with a group of people. I can’t even remember the last time I did it.
“Little brother tell ‘em about the Chupacabra,” Merle said while placing a heaving hand on the younger’s shoulder. He held a grimace on his face as he glared at the older one, his hair cropped short to his head and his red and yellow flannel with ripped-off sleeves glowing under the firelight.
“Cupacabra? What’s that?” Carl asked from in between Shane and Lori. To be honest they look like a little family. If someone told me that Carl was Shane’s I’d believe them. I picked at my food and took another bite and Lori looked down and placed a loving hand on his short hair.
“It’s an old folk tale.” She said, “Like an animal vampire.” She added after a moment of trying to think of a good description of the creature.
“Are they real?” He asked and Lori opened her mouth, probably to say no when Daryl interrupted eating a piece of what looked like squirrel meat off the end of his buck knife.
“Yeah, they are.” He ruffed out glaring at his brother again when he laughed like it was the funniest shit ever. “I know what I saw!” He said, sounding tired of trying to convince his brother of the creature’s existence.
“Why don’t you tell us the story Daryl.” Dale offered as he put his bowl on the ground next to him with a warm smile. The man scowled for a second but then looked down at the fire.
“I's was young” he started dramatically in a way I didn’t think he could be. I leaned back in my chair and crossed my legs as I set my now-empty bowl on the ground. This was going to be good. “I wen’ out huntin’ for some squirrel when I’s heard somethin’ in the bush.” He continued leaning forward, his eyes gazing at all of us as though he was begging for us to believe him. “I thought it ‘as a squirrel so I's got closer, it was feastin’ on somethin' and looked up at me wit these big red, blood suckin’ eyes.” He explained pointed directly at his eyes and then towards the rest of us. I couldn’t help the small humorous smile that grew on the corners of my lips. Little Dick paused for a moment when he saw my humored expression before turning back to the group.
“What did you do?” Carl asked, increasingly interested in the story. Listening with wide eyes as Louis and Eliza stared with open mouths at the story this man was spewing. Morales and Miranda just watched with dumbfounded expressions, their family was Latino where the chupacabra comes from.
“I ran away,” He said clearly getting into the story as he pointed his knife in our direction. “I ran as fas’ as my feet would take me.” The group fell silent for a moment as Merle’s laughter filled the group. I could see even under the firelight how the younger man blushed in embarrassment.
“I believe you,” I said as I leaned forward again and poked a stick into the fire.
“Ana, you can’t be serious,” Glenn said looking between me and the Dixon and I shrugged my shoulders and stuck the now-on-fire stick into the dirt as I looked up.
“Stories all come from somewhere.” I reasoned looking between the brothers. “I believe that you believe what you saw.” I corrected sitting back. “I had a man in my company that got lost in the desert. We found him two weeks later somehow alive and he swore he was saved by a Djinn.” I explained, “To this day whenever you asked him what happened, he would rant and rave about a red floating man who led him to safety.”
“What's a Djinn?” Louis asked, looking at me with big eyes and I shook my head.
“Have you ever watched Aladdin?” He nodded his head “The genie is like a Djinn but nicer. Djinn is not as kind.” I said trying to speak using more child-appropriate words. “Though I think the heatstroke he had might’ve played a role in it,” I added after a few seconds under my breath. Getting a chorus of laughter in response. My eyes flickered to Daryl’s again, who had a relieved look on his face. You’re welcome I wanted to say for pulling the attention off of him. It’s obvious it makes him uncomfortable and though I don’t like him that much I thought I’d do some charity work.
The people went around telling different stories as I stood up without a word and walked away Sarge followed close behind, Doc seemingly liking the others more than me at this point decided to stay curled up next to Glenn. I would’ve liked to stay longer but I have a phone call to wait for.