Contagion Chapter Six
Standing at the well Jessica raised an eyebrow as she watched the piece of meat being lowered into the well. She wasn't sure whose idea it had been but they were trying to use that to bait the walker up so they could pull it out of the well and hopefully keep the water from being contaminated worse than what it probably already could be.
"He's not going for it," Dale spoke as he stood beside Shane and helped him lower the piece of meat down into the well.
"Maybe because canned ham don't kick and scream when you try to eat it," T-Dog piped up from where he was bent over the well.
Lori nodded, "He's right. There is a reason the dead didn't come back to life and start raiding our cupboards."
"We need live bait," Andrea said knowing that meant they would have to send someone down into the well. It was after she said that she turned to look at Glenn. He was the only one she could think of to do it. The only one who would do it.
Feeling Andrea's eyes on him Glenn turned to look at her realizing that she had meant him. It was an idea he wasn't really fond of but he'd do it. He always did what was expected of him.
Jessica who had stood there in silence looked up towards Andrea and she rolled her eyes when she realized Andrea had meant they would be sending Glenn down there into the well. When Glenn didn't fight back or stand his ground she shook her head and just stood there watching as Shane eventually hooked Glenn up into the rope and got him ready to go down in the well. She hated to admit it but she was scared for Glenn. She was scared about sending him down into the well. Besides her family he was the only true friend she had here.
"Have I mentioned that I really like your new haircut?" Glenn asked nervously as Shane hooked the rope around him. "You have a nice shaped head."
Shane who was finishing the ropes sighed, "Don't worry bout it bud," he said patting Glenn's back. "We are going to get you out of there in one piece."
"Living piece," Glenn stated wanting to make sure Shane knew he didn't want to die. "The living part is important," he said watching as Shane walked off to where they had the other end of the rope tied around and eventually the others in the group grabbed a part of the rope too. "Nice and slow please."
Andrea nodded her head, "We've got ya."
"Oh you people are crazy," Maggie spoke as she crossed her arms. She felt scared for the poor boy going down into the well and she could tell that Jessica too seemed scared though she wasn't voicing her words.
"Do you want to get that out of your well or not?" Shane asked Maggie after she called them crazy.
Not saying anything to Shane, Maggie kept her arms crossed as she heard Dale ask her to give them an eye. Uncrossing her arms she walked closer to the well so she could watch as Glenn went down. It was only when Glenn turned to look at her that she shook her head in disapproval of this.
Once Glenn eventually moved down Maggie bent down over the well to look at him, "Doing okay?"
"Yep. Doing great," Glenn answered as he forced a smile feeling himself being slowly lowered down into the well. "Living the dream," he whispered to himself as he held onto the rope with one hand and his flashlight with the other and he turned to look down at the walker he was slowly being lowered towards. The walker who he was supposed to throw another rope around.
Jessica who stood in between Andrea and Dale as she held the rope heard Maggie say a little lower and she along with everyone else moved the rope some more. She knew as she did so that her hands were shaking and her nerves were shot. She was worrying about Glenn and what could happen. When Maggie told them a little more she made a face but again they kept pulling on the rope.
It wasn't long after that she turned her head when she heard a noise and she made a face seeing that the end they had their rope around had broke off and she felt herself panic then. That meant Glenn was going down faster towards that walker and god...god he could fucking get bit or worse he could become a whole meal to that thing down there.
As things became panic stricken when Shane and T-Dog both ran towards the part that had broke off Jessica watched in horror as the thing fell all the way down and she knew that meant Glenn had to be really close to that walker now. A fact that made her scared, especially when she could hear him screaming down in the well telling them to get him out of there.
Grabbing onto the rope she went along with everyone else to where T-Dog was near the well, holding the part that had broken and they all began to pull together to get Glenn out of the well. She couldn't lose Glenn, she just really couldn't lose him.
After what felt like forever Jessica sighed in relief as Glenn was pulled up and finally landed on the ground. "Are you okay?" she asked him breathlessly as she walked closer and bent down towards where he was.
Glenn who was on all fours as he caught his breath felt Lori rubbing his back and he tried all he could to get over the fact that he had almost died in the well today. When he heard Dale say back to the drawing board he eventually looked up smiling slightly when he saw Jessica bent down in front of him.
"Says you," Glenn finally spoke before taking his eyes off Jessica and looking at Dale. Standing up he handed the man the other rope he had went down with before standing up and walking away.
Jessica who had watched Glenn walk away watched as the rope in Dale's hand started to move and then she walked closer to the well with everyone else seeing that Glenn had successfully got the walker roped up.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Avery who had been silent the whole time she walked with Daryl through the woods looked over at him when they finally came out and came face to face with a house not far from where they stood. It was sort of old looking but it could still pass as a place for shelter especially if a scared little girl came across it.
"You think she is in there?" Avery asked seeing Daryl come to a stop beside her. He seemed to be eying the house with an interest.
Daryl shrugged at Avery's question, "Doesn't hurt to check," he answered as he took his crossbow off from around him, holding it close in case he'd need it. "Stay close to me," he told her harshly as he began to walk towards the house. "The last thing I need is you getting hurt."
Nodding her head Avery went silent again as she followed Daryl towards the house. The closer they got the more he raised his crossbow up til he had it all the way raised once they reached the porch. Seeing him raise his foot she jumped slightly as he kicked the door open. The loud banging taking her off guard though it really shouldn't have done so.
Avery remained silent as she followed Daryl inside and she looked around remaining on alert for Sophia or any walkers they could potentially run across. The farther they went inside the more Avery felt her heartbeat faster and when they headed towards the kitchen she watched as Daryl came to a stop before picking up an empty can that had been thrown in there.
"Has it been recently opened?" Avery asked under her breath just loud enough for him to hear her.
Daryl turned to look at Avery after her question and he just nodded his head before catching sight of an open closet as he laid the can of empty sardines down back into the trash. Raising his crossbow again he began to walk towards the closet which he eventually reached out to open once his was close enough.
Watching as Daryl opened the closet door Avery raised an eyebrow as she scanned the contents, her eyes quickly falling on the makeshift bed in the closet. A bed big enough for a small child.
Daryl too saw the bed and he just turned to look at Avery before deciding to check the rest of the house and heading outside again. Once they had went outside that was when he decided to call out the young girls name, "Sophia!"
Avery followed Daryl outside and she chewed on her lip when he hollered for Sophia but got no answer. Seeing him walk in one direction she looked ahead as she spotted some flowers blooming and she walked towards them. She had never seen them before.
When Daryl came to where she was after hollering for Sophia one more time she watched as he bent down towards the flower, "I've never seen one of those before," she spoke as she looked down at him. "I just thought they were pretty."
Daryl looked up at Avery as he pulled a flower out of the ground,"It's a Cherokee Rose. The story is that when American soldiers were moving Indians off their land on the Trail of Tears, the Cherokee mothers were grieving and crying so much 'cause they were losing their little ones along the way from exposure and disease and starvation. A lot of them just disappeared. So the elders, they said a prayer; asked for a sign to uplift the mothers' spirits, give them strength and hope. The next day this rose started to grow where the mothers' tears fell."
"And you think it's a sign you'll find Merle?" Avery asked curiously wondering if he was even going to search for his brother again or if he had just given up and realized that Merle was probably a lost cause. They would probably never see him again.
Laughing at that some Daryl stood up after he pulled the flower out of the ground, "Nah," he told her as he shook his head. "I think this one was blooming for Sophia," he said before turning back to the woods so they could head back to the farm. He hadn't meant to let his guard fall with her again but yet he had. Somehow it just seemed easy even when he was pissed at her.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Pulling on the rope that was now tied to the horse Jessica made a face as it got harder and harder to pull the walker the closer that it got to the top of the well. She was near the back so she couldn't see how far it had til it got to the top but she could hear T-Dog saying that it was almost there.
Eventually she made a face in disgust when she saw the top of it come out of the well. It was obvious from how fat and bloated it was that it head been down there for awhile. Making another face as everyone pulled harder once the walker seemingly got stuck at the very top of the well she wanted to gag when she watched as the walker got torn in half. The bottom half of him falling back into the well and for sure contaminating the water and the top half staying on the ground trying to reach out for someone, anyone to bite.
"We have to seal off this well," Dale spoke as he looked down knowing they couldn't use this well now.
"Yeah that might be a good idea," Shane agreed as he rubbed his hair for a bit. His tone had been sarcastic mainly because he figured that didn't need to be stated.
Andrea who had just started to ask what they do about the half of a walker watched as T-Dog attacked it with a pickaxe.
"Good thing we didn't do anything stupid like shoot it," T-Dog said sarcastically as he looked at the rest of the group after he had killed the walker on the ground.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Kate left the main house and she raised an eyebrow seeing Taylor sitting on the porch steps. Going to sit down next to him she sighed, "Have you seen Zac?" she asked him knowing she had looked everywhere for him after Jimmy had mentioned seeing him in the main house though Jimmy had also said that Zac had left not long after he had caught him watching Beth sing.
Taylor who had been watching the situation at the well from where he sat on the porch shook his head at Kate's words, "I last saw him when he was helping me put up the tents. He could be in the tent maybe."
"I hope so," Kate sighed wondering why Zac hadn't even came to find her when he was in the house. She had to hope he wasn't ticked at their talk in the RV that morning. They had been doing so well after their chat in the car last night and she'd hate to go back to page one. "We had finally made up last night after the incident at the CDC."
Taylor gave Kate a smile, "I'm sure things are still fine," he said knowing Kate was worrying. He could read her worry on her face. "You need to stop worrying though or it's going to affect my future niece or nephew."
Laughing Kate put a hand on her stomach, "I can't help but worry. I think worrying comes with this new world," she said knowing it seemed like everyone worried now. "I just don't get Zac sometimes though. I mean he was in the main house earlier but he didn't even come to find me or let me know. I know I was talking to Patricia but I guess I just hoped he would have at least let me know he was there."
"Zac's just on his man rag probably," Taylor teased knowing Zac had a tendency to be moody. "I'm sure it's nothing to do with you."
"If you aren't right my pregnant ass is going to kill you," Kate told Taylor as she stood from the stairs. "And I'll make sure it's slow and painful," she smiled at him before turning to head for the tents to see if her husband was in one of them.
Making it to where the tents were set up Kate checked them all and frowned when she didn't see Zac in any of them. "Where the hell is he?" she asked herself as she ran a hand through her hair not understanding where Zac could have ran off too or even why he had ran off.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Jessica looked over at Glenn as they rode the horses into town. So far since they had left things had been silent between them and that made Jessica sad. She hadn't wanted the silence especially since she thought of Glenn like a friend. "Are we okay?" she asked as she looked back at the main road. They were getting close to the pharmacy.
"Y..yeah we are okay," Glenn nodded as he looked at Jessica briefly. "Why wouldn't we be?"
"Because you haven't talked to me since we left the farm," Jessica shrugged as she chewed on her lip for a second.
Glenn blushed at Jessica's words, "I just don't get why you volunteered yourself to come," he finally said knowing it was a lie. He was silent because he was afraid if he said anything he'd reveal how he felt about her. "You know I do this type of stuff by myself."
Nodding Jessica saw the pharmacy come into sight as they rounded a corner, "I know you do but I wanted to do something. I wanted to help and I've been on a run with you before," she said as she eventually stopped the horse in front of the pharmacy. Getting off she looked at the sign in the pharmacy's window and reality hit her as she read the words Take What You Need and God Bless. This world had fallen into such a terrible shape and it probably never would get better.
"Yeah and you know how well that went," Glenn reminded her as he came to a stop beside her in front of the store window and he too read the sign. "I don't want your family blaming me if something happens to you," he said knowing in actuality he'd probably blame himself if something happened to her.
Jessica just shook her head and turned to walk away from Glenn, walking the short distance to the front door and going inside. "I'll go see what antibiotics are left," she told Glenn once they were both inside and she heard him shutting the door behind him. "What else is on the list?" she asked knowing he had a list of stuff from people at the camp while she had the list of antibiotics they needed.
Reaching for the list in his pocket Glenn handed her one of the list, "Why don't you get started," he said knowing he had to look for whatever it was Lori needed.
"What about you?" Jessica asked seeing his nervousness when he told her to get started.
"I'm..uh..gonna look around and see what's worth grabbing," Glenn lied as he gave her a nervous smile hoping that she fell for it. "Just general stuff," Glenn spoke again as he watched Jessica turn her back and walk away from him again. After she was gone he unfolded the paper Lori had given him and then headed to the aisle she had said he could find what she needed on. The feminine hygiene aisle.
Getting to that aisle he looked to make sure Jessica wasn't near him and he bent down, putting some random things in his bag before grabbing what it was Lori needed and he felt shock when he saw that it was a pregnancy test. As he held the pregnancy test he felt his heart start to hammer in his chest when he heard Jessica's footsteps coming closer to where he was bent down.
"What you got?" Jessica asked Glenn as she came to a stop behind him.
Glenn froze for a second before sticking the pregnancy test in the bag and then searching around for anything he could grab on the floor. "Umm nothing just this, general stuff," he said as he stood up holding a box though he really had no clue what box he had grabbed.
Jessica made a face at the box in Glenn's hand, "Condoms?" she asked as she shook her head. "You got a girlfriend I don't know about?"
"Me? No," Glenn said as he shook his head as well almost feeling embarrassed at the fact that he had grabbed a box of condoms. "No," he said again as he felt his cheeks get hot.
"Then you're a pretty confident guy," Jessica smirked slightly as she watched his reactions.
At her next words Glenn felt his cheeks getting even hotter. Dear god she must have thought he wanted to have sex with her and while he did he figured it was best to just say no. "No.." he stated again. "No..no I wasn't. I would never.."
"Is something wrong with me?" Jessica asked feeling slightly offended.
"No," Glenn said again this time his voice came out sure. "No..no. I would never have sex.." he started to say but stopped himself as he made a face and kicked himself mentally. "I'm lost," he admitted knowing this wasn't a conversation he even wanted to be having.
Jessica just watched Glenn and as he dug an even bigger hole she sighed, "I'll have sex with you," she finally admitted.
"Really?!" Glenn asked as he eyed her. "Why?"
"You're asking questions?" Jessica asked him as she chuckled some.
Glenn shrugged, "I can't help wondering."
"It's not like our options are vast these days," Jessica informed him as she laid the bag full of antibiotics that she had been carrying down on the floor before reaching over to take Glenn's baseball cap off. After doing that she gave him a smile and leaned in to kiss him softly on the lips.
"You're not the only one whose lonely," she told him after pulling away from the kiss and looking at him. It was after she spoke that she took her shirt off and let it drop to the floor though she didn't break eye contact with Glenn, not even as she reached behind and unhooked her bra, also letting it go to the floor.
Hearing Glenn mutter a word before looking away from her body briefly she couldn't help but smirk when he eventually took off his shirt. Once his shirt was off she leaned in and kissed him again. They were actually going to do it. They were going to have sex in a pharmacy. She still wasn't sure it beat Avery having sex with Shane on top of an RV though.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Taylor who had went inside the main house smiled some as he saw Maggie in the kitchen. Going into the kitchen he walked to where she stood beside the stove fixing dinner for her family. "You want help with that?" he asked as he raised an eyebrow.
Maggie jumped slightly as she heard Taylor, "You trying to give me a heart attack?" she asked him as she shook her head. "And no thanks I think I can handle this on my own. Anyway for all I know you may end up burning the house down if you helped me."
"I can cook," Taylor stated knowing that was one thing Natalie had liked about being married to him, the fact that he helped her cook. "My wife used to like it when I helped her."
Maggie looked at Taylor skeptically, "You had a wife?" she asked as she crinkled her nose. She wasn't sure why she was shocked. He just didn't seem like the type who would have been married before.
Nodding at Maggie's question Taylor watched her as she gave him a look before she turned away to continue fixing dinner, "Yeah. I also had four children too. Does my having a wife shock you?"
"Maybe," Maggie admitted as she blushed when she felt his eyes on her still. It was like he was looking into her soul and that was the main reason she didn't want to have eye contact with him again. Every time they did she felt like she was laid bare in front of him. "What happened to your wife and kids?"
"They all died," Taylor revealed as he frowned some. "My wife and three of my kids died the first day. The other died a few days or maybe even a week ago now. Seems I'm slowly losing track of time and days but it was recently. The camp we were staying at was overrun and he was bit. He died and after he died I felt like I had lost everything."
Listening to Taylor's story Maggie frowned some as she thought of the people she knew that had been taken away as well. "I'm sorry," she said as she finally turned to look at him. "That must have been hard."
"It was," Taylor nodded as he gave her a sad smile. "I almost let myself get blown up just so I could join them but my brother's wife talked me out of it and I think I'm kind of glad she did," he said knowing if Kate hadn't talked him out of it then he would have never have seen Maggie who was slowly but surely making him feel better with this crush he had on her.
Maggie smiled some at his last words, "I'm glad you didn't get blown up too," she nodded knowing he had helped her last night when she was coming to terms with Otis's death. Biting her lip she sighed, "You can help me if you want," she said giving in to his earlier request to help her.
At Maggie's words Taylor smiled more this time much more genuine. He was glad she had given in and was going to let him help her. It meant more time he got to spend with her.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Arriving back at the farm Jessica looked over at Glenn who was trying to get her attention and kept smiling and grinning real big at her. "Don't spoil it," she told him as she shook her head.
"So it was good," Glenn stated as he smiled at Jessica's words feeling confident that she had liked having sex with him. Maybe her actions proved that she didn't see him as just a friend.
"It was a one time thing," Jessica clarified as she kept looking at him. Seeing his expression change at her words she just shook her head and eventually kept silent as they brought the horses to a stop and it wasn't long after that they were greeted by Patricia who took the bag with medicine from her as Jimmy lead the horses towards one of the barns.
After that Jessica walked to Mac who seemed to be standing there as if he was waiting on her.
"Everything go okay?" Mac asked as he eyed Jessica. He hated to admit but he worried about his older sister. He worried about her more than he worried about everyone else.
Jessica nodded, "Everything went fine," she smiled as she shrugged and put her arm around Mac's shoulder leading him towards one of the tents. "Nothing happened," she said knowing that was a semi lie but she wasn't about to tell Mac that she had sex with Glenn.
As she walked off with Mac, Jessica looked back and raised an eyebrow as she saw Lori coming out of the house and walking towards Glenn like he had something important that she needed or wanted. Shaking her head she turned away from them and sighed. "How are you doing baby bro?"
Mac just gave Jessica a look not buying her saying nothing happened, "I'm doing well Jess. It's you I worry about though."
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Avery came to a stop as she and Daryl arrived back at the farm. Watching him head inside the RV with the flower he had picked she shook her head and walked towards the tents coming to a stop when she saw Jessica and Mac heading towards them too. When they reached her she gave them a smile, "Mind if I borrow Jessica?" Avery asked as she raised an eyebrow.
Mac sighed at Avery's request, "Do you really need her?" he asked before giving Avery a tiny smile. "I kind of wanted to spend time with her."
"I do really need her," Avery nodded as she chewed on her lip. "Now give her up and I promise to send her to you once I am done with her."
Sighing again Mac just rolled his eyes but walked inside of a tent. He knew it was no use arguing with Avery. She'd get her way in the end anyhow.
After Mac had left Jessica gave Avery a look, "Is everything okay?" she asked as she scrunched up her nose.
Avery shook her head and grabbed Jessica's arm pulling her away from the tents and the RV. "I think Daryl hates me now," she said knowing besides him talking to her briefly about the flowers and also telling her to stay close to him not much had been said while they were out looking for Sophia.
"And that's a bad thing?" Jessica asked before smiling some. She knew it was but she was trying to tease her sister and well she wanted to see what Avery would say in response to that.
"It is when I think that I kind of sort of am falling for him," Avery admitted as she gave Jessica a look before shrugging and looking down at the ground. "I'm falling for Daryl and I think him catching me with Shane screwed that up."
Jessica made a face hearing Avery's words. She had known from what Avery had said on the highway that she had been with Shane again but she hadn't known that Daryl had saw them though maybe she should have guessed from Daryl asking her if Avery loved Shane. "Well I'm sure it didn't sit well with him but I don't think it screwed it up," she smiled feeling confident that if it had been screwed up Daryl wouldn't have asked her what he did.
"What makes you so sure of that?" Avery asked as she raised an eyebrow.
As she was about to answer Avery, Jessica watched Daryl come out of the RV and look over at where they stood. "I just am sure," she smiled before turning and heading back to the tent where Mac was.
Watching Jessica walk off Avery made a face before shaking her head. She wasn't sure what made Jessica so sure but she hoped her sister was right.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
That night after it had gotten dark Zac walked towards the tents and came to a stop when he saw Kate sitting in a chair outside of one. He hadn't expected her to be up still. That was one of the reasons he had waited until it was dark to come back.
Hearing footsteps Kate looked up from where she sat and she breathed a sigh of relief as she saw her husband, "I was worried about you," she said as she stood from the chair and pulled Zac into a hug. "Where did you go?"
"I just went for a walk," Zac said as he hugged his wife back and tried to force a smile. "I needed to clear my mind and try to forget things."
"Did the walk help with that?" Kate asked as she pulled away and looked at him. "And how could you be so stupid going off on your own and not telling anyone?"
Zac again forced a smile as he looked at her, "I think the walk did make me forget what I needed too," he lied knowing the walk had just made his thoughts worse. He was almost convinced that maybe his wife didn't love him. Maybe she wanted Taylor and that was why she had kept the kiss a secret from him. "And I was fine on my own," he said as he shrugged. "I can take care of myself and I really don't need to report to someone when I want to take a simple walk."
"You do when there are walkers out there and you have a pregnant wife who worries about you," Kate scolded him as she crossed her arms. "I thought you were dead."
At her words Zac almost wanted to ask her if that would be a bad thing. At least then she could have Taylor. "Well I'm not dead. I would have been fine though if I came across a walker. I can take care of myself Kate," Zac nodded as he leaned in to kiss her cheek and at least try to calm the situation. "Let's go to bed now okay."
Nodding at his words Kate uncrossed her arms before turning and unzipping the tent where Avery and Jessica were sleeping as well. "Just so you know if you ever run off again without telling me I will make you wish you were dead," she laughed as she walked over to the cot that was theirs now.
"I wouldn't expect less," Zac said as he followed her into the tent. As she headed to the cot he zipped the tent back up and then stripped down to his boxers. Going to the cot finally he slipped in beside his wife. "I'm sorry I scared you," he apologized as he kissed her forehead and pulled the blanket over them. He was sorry for that but he knew he was still hurt over her lie. It was one simple lie but it was eating away at him.
"I forgive you," Kate smiled before snuggling to Zac and closing her eyes.
Smiling at Kate's words Zac held her as she drifted off and he stayed awake for a bit longer. He knew he was probably crazy but he wondered if she wished she were in Taylor's arms instead of his. Maybe she had always wanted Taylor and had just settled for him. After all she had dated Isaac first and girl's only dated Isaac when they couldn't have Taylor.
Standing at the well Jessica raised an eyebrow as she watched the piece of meat being lowered into the well. She wasn't sure whose idea it had been but they were trying to use that to bait the walker up so they could pull it out of the well and hopefully keep the water from being contaminated worse than what it probably already could be.
"He's not going for it," Dale spoke as he stood beside Shane and helped him lower the piece of meat down into the well.
"Maybe because canned ham don't kick and scream when you try to eat it," T-Dog piped up from where he was bent over the well.
Lori nodded, "He's right. There is a reason the dead didn't come back to life and start raiding our cupboards."
"We need live bait," Andrea said knowing that meant they would have to send someone down into the well. It was after she said that she turned to look at Glenn. He was the only one she could think of to do it. The only one who would do it.
Feeling Andrea's eyes on him Glenn turned to look at her realizing that she had meant him. It was an idea he wasn't really fond of but he'd do it. He always did what was expected of him.
Jessica who had stood there in silence looked up towards Andrea and she rolled her eyes when she realized Andrea had meant they would be sending Glenn down there into the well. When Glenn didn't fight back or stand his ground she shook her head and just stood there watching as Shane eventually hooked Glenn up into the rope and got him ready to go down in the well. She hated to admit it but she was scared for Glenn. She was scared about sending him down into the well. Besides her family he was the only true friend she had here.
"Have I mentioned that I really like your new haircut?" Glenn asked nervously as Shane hooked the rope around him. "You have a nice shaped head."
Shane who was finishing the ropes sighed, "Don't worry bout it bud," he said patting Glenn's back. "We are going to get you out of there in one piece."
"Living piece," Glenn stated wanting to make sure Shane knew he didn't want to die. "The living part is important," he said watching as Shane walked off to where they had the other end of the rope tied around and eventually the others in the group grabbed a part of the rope too. "Nice and slow please."
Andrea nodded her head, "We've got ya."
"Oh you people are crazy," Maggie spoke as she crossed her arms. She felt scared for the poor boy going down into the well and she could tell that Jessica too seemed scared though she wasn't voicing her words.
"Do you want to get that out of your well or not?" Shane asked Maggie after she called them crazy.
Not saying anything to Shane, Maggie kept her arms crossed as she heard Dale ask her to give them an eye. Uncrossing her arms she walked closer to the well so she could watch as Glenn went down. It was only when Glenn turned to look at her that she shook her head in disapproval of this.
Once Glenn eventually moved down Maggie bent down over the well to look at him, "Doing okay?"
"Yep. Doing great," Glenn answered as he forced a smile feeling himself being slowly lowered down into the well. "Living the dream," he whispered to himself as he held onto the rope with one hand and his flashlight with the other and he turned to look down at the walker he was slowly being lowered towards. The walker who he was supposed to throw another rope around.
Jessica who stood in between Andrea and Dale as she held the rope heard Maggie say a little lower and she along with everyone else moved the rope some more. She knew as she did so that her hands were shaking and her nerves were shot. She was worrying about Glenn and what could happen. When Maggie told them a little more she made a face but again they kept pulling on the rope.
It wasn't long after that she turned her head when she heard a noise and she made a face seeing that the end they had their rope around had broke off and she felt herself panic then. That meant Glenn was going down faster towards that walker and god...god he could fucking get bit or worse he could become a whole meal to that thing down there.
As things became panic stricken when Shane and T-Dog both ran towards the part that had broke off Jessica watched in horror as the thing fell all the way down and she knew that meant Glenn had to be really close to that walker now. A fact that made her scared, especially when she could hear him screaming down in the well telling them to get him out of there.
Grabbing onto the rope she went along with everyone else to where T-Dog was near the well, holding the part that had broken and they all began to pull together to get Glenn out of the well. She couldn't lose Glenn, she just really couldn't lose him.
After what felt like forever Jessica sighed in relief as Glenn was pulled up and finally landed on the ground. "Are you okay?" she asked him breathlessly as she walked closer and bent down towards where he was.
Glenn who was on all fours as he caught his breath felt Lori rubbing his back and he tried all he could to get over the fact that he had almost died in the well today. When he heard Dale say back to the drawing board he eventually looked up smiling slightly when he saw Jessica bent down in front of him.
"Says you," Glenn finally spoke before taking his eyes off Jessica and looking at Dale. Standing up he handed the man the other rope he had went down with before standing up and walking away.
Jessica who had watched Glenn walk away watched as the rope in Dale's hand started to move and then she walked closer to the well with everyone else seeing that Glenn had successfully got the walker roped up.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Avery who had been silent the whole time she walked with Daryl through the woods looked over at him when they finally came out and came face to face with a house not far from where they stood. It was sort of old looking but it could still pass as a place for shelter especially if a scared little girl came across it.
"You think she is in there?" Avery asked seeing Daryl come to a stop beside her. He seemed to be eying the house with an interest.
Daryl shrugged at Avery's question, "Doesn't hurt to check," he answered as he took his crossbow off from around him, holding it close in case he'd need it. "Stay close to me," he told her harshly as he began to walk towards the house. "The last thing I need is you getting hurt."
Nodding her head Avery went silent again as she followed Daryl towards the house. The closer they got the more he raised his crossbow up til he had it all the way raised once they reached the porch. Seeing him raise his foot she jumped slightly as he kicked the door open. The loud banging taking her off guard though it really shouldn't have done so.
Avery remained silent as she followed Daryl inside and she looked around remaining on alert for Sophia or any walkers they could potentially run across. The farther they went inside the more Avery felt her heartbeat faster and when they headed towards the kitchen she watched as Daryl came to a stop before picking up an empty can that had been thrown in there.
"Has it been recently opened?" Avery asked under her breath just loud enough for him to hear her.
Daryl turned to look at Avery after her question and he just nodded his head before catching sight of an open closet as he laid the can of empty sardines down back into the trash. Raising his crossbow again he began to walk towards the closet which he eventually reached out to open once his was close enough.
Watching as Daryl opened the closet door Avery raised an eyebrow as she scanned the contents, her eyes quickly falling on the makeshift bed in the closet. A bed big enough for a small child.
Daryl too saw the bed and he just turned to look at Avery before deciding to check the rest of the house and heading outside again. Once they had went outside that was when he decided to call out the young girls name, "Sophia!"
Avery followed Daryl outside and she chewed on her lip when he hollered for Sophia but got no answer. Seeing him walk in one direction she looked ahead as she spotted some flowers blooming and she walked towards them. She had never seen them before.
When Daryl came to where she was after hollering for Sophia one more time she watched as he bent down towards the flower, "I've never seen one of those before," she spoke as she looked down at him. "I just thought they were pretty."
Daryl looked up at Avery as he pulled a flower out of the ground,"It's a Cherokee Rose. The story is that when American soldiers were moving Indians off their land on the Trail of Tears, the Cherokee mothers were grieving and crying so much 'cause they were losing their little ones along the way from exposure and disease and starvation. A lot of them just disappeared. So the elders, they said a prayer; asked for a sign to uplift the mothers' spirits, give them strength and hope. The next day this rose started to grow where the mothers' tears fell."
"And you think it's a sign you'll find Merle?" Avery asked curiously wondering if he was even going to search for his brother again or if he had just given up and realized that Merle was probably a lost cause. They would probably never see him again.
Laughing at that some Daryl stood up after he pulled the flower out of the ground, "Nah," he told her as he shook his head. "I think this one was blooming for Sophia," he said before turning back to the woods so they could head back to the farm. He hadn't meant to let his guard fall with her again but yet he had. Somehow it just seemed easy even when he was pissed at her.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Pulling on the rope that was now tied to the horse Jessica made a face as it got harder and harder to pull the walker the closer that it got to the top of the well. She was near the back so she couldn't see how far it had til it got to the top but she could hear T-Dog saying that it was almost there.
Eventually she made a face in disgust when she saw the top of it come out of the well. It was obvious from how fat and bloated it was that it head been down there for awhile. Making another face as everyone pulled harder once the walker seemingly got stuck at the very top of the well she wanted to gag when she watched as the walker got torn in half. The bottom half of him falling back into the well and for sure contaminating the water and the top half staying on the ground trying to reach out for someone, anyone to bite.
"We have to seal off this well," Dale spoke as he looked down knowing they couldn't use this well now.
"Yeah that might be a good idea," Shane agreed as he rubbed his hair for a bit. His tone had been sarcastic mainly because he figured that didn't need to be stated.
Andrea who had just started to ask what they do about the half of a walker watched as T-Dog attacked it with a pickaxe.
"Good thing we didn't do anything stupid like shoot it," T-Dog said sarcastically as he looked at the rest of the group after he had killed the walker on the ground.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Kate left the main house and she raised an eyebrow seeing Taylor sitting on the porch steps. Going to sit down next to him she sighed, "Have you seen Zac?" she asked him knowing she had looked everywhere for him after Jimmy had mentioned seeing him in the main house though Jimmy had also said that Zac had left not long after he had caught him watching Beth sing.
Taylor who had been watching the situation at the well from where he sat on the porch shook his head at Kate's words, "I last saw him when he was helping me put up the tents. He could be in the tent maybe."
"I hope so," Kate sighed wondering why Zac hadn't even came to find her when he was in the house. She had to hope he wasn't ticked at their talk in the RV that morning. They had been doing so well after their chat in the car last night and she'd hate to go back to page one. "We had finally made up last night after the incident at the CDC."
Taylor gave Kate a smile, "I'm sure things are still fine," he said knowing Kate was worrying. He could read her worry on her face. "You need to stop worrying though or it's going to affect my future niece or nephew."
Laughing Kate put a hand on her stomach, "I can't help but worry. I think worrying comes with this new world," she said knowing it seemed like everyone worried now. "I just don't get Zac sometimes though. I mean he was in the main house earlier but he didn't even come to find me or let me know. I know I was talking to Patricia but I guess I just hoped he would have at least let me know he was there."
"Zac's just on his man rag probably," Taylor teased knowing Zac had a tendency to be moody. "I'm sure it's nothing to do with you."
"If you aren't right my pregnant ass is going to kill you," Kate told Taylor as she stood from the stairs. "And I'll make sure it's slow and painful," she smiled at him before turning to head for the tents to see if her husband was in one of them.
Making it to where the tents were set up Kate checked them all and frowned when she didn't see Zac in any of them. "Where the hell is he?" she asked herself as she ran a hand through her hair not understanding where Zac could have ran off too or even why he had ran off.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Jessica looked over at Glenn as they rode the horses into town. So far since they had left things had been silent between them and that made Jessica sad. She hadn't wanted the silence especially since she thought of Glenn like a friend. "Are we okay?" she asked as she looked back at the main road. They were getting close to the pharmacy.
"Y..yeah we are okay," Glenn nodded as he looked at Jessica briefly. "Why wouldn't we be?"
"Because you haven't talked to me since we left the farm," Jessica shrugged as she chewed on her lip for a second.
Glenn blushed at Jessica's words, "I just don't get why you volunteered yourself to come," he finally said knowing it was a lie. He was silent because he was afraid if he said anything he'd reveal how he felt about her. "You know I do this type of stuff by myself."
Nodding Jessica saw the pharmacy come into sight as they rounded a corner, "I know you do but I wanted to do something. I wanted to help and I've been on a run with you before," she said as she eventually stopped the horse in front of the pharmacy. Getting off she looked at the sign in the pharmacy's window and reality hit her as she read the words Take What You Need and God Bless. This world had fallen into such a terrible shape and it probably never would get better.
"Yeah and you know how well that went," Glenn reminded her as he came to a stop beside her in front of the store window and he too read the sign. "I don't want your family blaming me if something happens to you," he said knowing in actuality he'd probably blame himself if something happened to her.
Jessica just shook her head and turned to walk away from Glenn, walking the short distance to the front door and going inside. "I'll go see what antibiotics are left," she told Glenn once they were both inside and she heard him shutting the door behind him. "What else is on the list?" she asked knowing he had a list of stuff from people at the camp while she had the list of antibiotics they needed.
Reaching for the list in his pocket Glenn handed her one of the list, "Why don't you get started," he said knowing he had to look for whatever it was Lori needed.
"What about you?" Jessica asked seeing his nervousness when he told her to get started.
"I'm..uh..gonna look around and see what's worth grabbing," Glenn lied as he gave her a nervous smile hoping that she fell for it. "Just general stuff," Glenn spoke again as he watched Jessica turn her back and walk away from him again. After she was gone he unfolded the paper Lori had given him and then headed to the aisle she had said he could find what she needed on. The feminine hygiene aisle.
Getting to that aisle he looked to make sure Jessica wasn't near him and he bent down, putting some random things in his bag before grabbing what it was Lori needed and he felt shock when he saw that it was a pregnancy test. As he held the pregnancy test he felt his heart start to hammer in his chest when he heard Jessica's footsteps coming closer to where he was bent down.
"What you got?" Jessica asked Glenn as she came to a stop behind him.
Glenn froze for a second before sticking the pregnancy test in the bag and then searching around for anything he could grab on the floor. "Umm nothing just this, general stuff," he said as he stood up holding a box though he really had no clue what box he had grabbed.
Jessica made a face at the box in Glenn's hand, "Condoms?" she asked as she shook her head. "You got a girlfriend I don't know about?"
"Me? No," Glenn said as he shook his head as well almost feeling embarrassed at the fact that he had grabbed a box of condoms. "No," he said again as he felt his cheeks get hot.
"Then you're a pretty confident guy," Jessica smirked slightly as she watched his reactions.
At her next words Glenn felt his cheeks getting even hotter. Dear god she must have thought he wanted to have sex with her and while he did he figured it was best to just say no. "No.." he stated again. "No..no I wasn't. I would never.."
"Is something wrong with me?" Jessica asked feeling slightly offended.
"No," Glenn said again this time his voice came out sure. "No..no. I would never have sex.." he started to say but stopped himself as he made a face and kicked himself mentally. "I'm lost," he admitted knowing this wasn't a conversation he even wanted to be having.
Jessica just watched Glenn and as he dug an even bigger hole she sighed, "I'll have sex with you," she finally admitted.
"Really?!" Glenn asked as he eyed her. "Why?"
"You're asking questions?" Jessica asked him as she chuckled some.
Glenn shrugged, "I can't help wondering."
"It's not like our options are vast these days," Jessica informed him as she laid the bag full of antibiotics that she had been carrying down on the floor before reaching over to take Glenn's baseball cap off. After doing that she gave him a smile and leaned in to kiss him softly on the lips.
"You're not the only one whose lonely," she told him after pulling away from the kiss and looking at him. It was after she spoke that she took her shirt off and let it drop to the floor though she didn't break eye contact with Glenn, not even as she reached behind and unhooked her bra, also letting it go to the floor.
Hearing Glenn mutter a word before looking away from her body briefly she couldn't help but smirk when he eventually took off his shirt. Once his shirt was off she leaned in and kissed him again. They were actually going to do it. They were going to have sex in a pharmacy. She still wasn't sure it beat Avery having sex with Shane on top of an RV though.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Taylor who had went inside the main house smiled some as he saw Maggie in the kitchen. Going into the kitchen he walked to where she stood beside the stove fixing dinner for her family. "You want help with that?" he asked as he raised an eyebrow.
Maggie jumped slightly as she heard Taylor, "You trying to give me a heart attack?" she asked him as she shook her head. "And no thanks I think I can handle this on my own. Anyway for all I know you may end up burning the house down if you helped me."
"I can cook," Taylor stated knowing that was one thing Natalie had liked about being married to him, the fact that he helped her cook. "My wife used to like it when I helped her."
Maggie looked at Taylor skeptically, "You had a wife?" she asked as she crinkled her nose. She wasn't sure why she was shocked. He just didn't seem like the type who would have been married before.
Nodding at Maggie's question Taylor watched her as she gave him a look before she turned away to continue fixing dinner, "Yeah. I also had four children too. Does my having a wife shock you?"
"Maybe," Maggie admitted as she blushed when she felt his eyes on her still. It was like he was looking into her soul and that was the main reason she didn't want to have eye contact with him again. Every time they did she felt like she was laid bare in front of him. "What happened to your wife and kids?"
"They all died," Taylor revealed as he frowned some. "My wife and three of my kids died the first day. The other died a few days or maybe even a week ago now. Seems I'm slowly losing track of time and days but it was recently. The camp we were staying at was overrun and he was bit. He died and after he died I felt like I had lost everything."
Listening to Taylor's story Maggie frowned some as she thought of the people she knew that had been taken away as well. "I'm sorry," she said as she finally turned to look at him. "That must have been hard."
"It was," Taylor nodded as he gave her a sad smile. "I almost let myself get blown up just so I could join them but my brother's wife talked me out of it and I think I'm kind of glad she did," he said knowing if Kate hadn't talked him out of it then he would have never have seen Maggie who was slowly but surely making him feel better with this crush he had on her.
Maggie smiled some at his last words, "I'm glad you didn't get blown up too," she nodded knowing he had helped her last night when she was coming to terms with Otis's death. Biting her lip she sighed, "You can help me if you want," she said giving in to his earlier request to help her.
At Maggie's words Taylor smiled more this time much more genuine. He was glad she had given in and was going to let him help her. It meant more time he got to spend with her.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Arriving back at the farm Jessica looked over at Glenn who was trying to get her attention and kept smiling and grinning real big at her. "Don't spoil it," she told him as she shook her head.
"So it was good," Glenn stated as he smiled at Jessica's words feeling confident that she had liked having sex with him. Maybe her actions proved that she didn't see him as just a friend.
"It was a one time thing," Jessica clarified as she kept looking at him. Seeing his expression change at her words she just shook her head and eventually kept silent as they brought the horses to a stop and it wasn't long after that they were greeted by Patricia who took the bag with medicine from her as Jimmy lead the horses towards one of the barns.
After that Jessica walked to Mac who seemed to be standing there as if he was waiting on her.
"Everything go okay?" Mac asked as he eyed Jessica. He hated to admit but he worried about his older sister. He worried about her more than he worried about everyone else.
Jessica nodded, "Everything went fine," she smiled as she shrugged and put her arm around Mac's shoulder leading him towards one of the tents. "Nothing happened," she said knowing that was a semi lie but she wasn't about to tell Mac that she had sex with Glenn.
As she walked off with Mac, Jessica looked back and raised an eyebrow as she saw Lori coming out of the house and walking towards Glenn like he had something important that she needed or wanted. Shaking her head she turned away from them and sighed. "How are you doing baby bro?"
Mac just gave Jessica a look not buying her saying nothing happened, "I'm doing well Jess. It's you I worry about though."
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Avery came to a stop as she and Daryl arrived back at the farm. Watching him head inside the RV with the flower he had picked she shook her head and walked towards the tents coming to a stop when she saw Jessica and Mac heading towards them too. When they reached her she gave them a smile, "Mind if I borrow Jessica?" Avery asked as she raised an eyebrow.
Mac sighed at Avery's request, "Do you really need her?" he asked before giving Avery a tiny smile. "I kind of wanted to spend time with her."
"I do really need her," Avery nodded as she chewed on her lip. "Now give her up and I promise to send her to you once I am done with her."
Sighing again Mac just rolled his eyes but walked inside of a tent. He knew it was no use arguing with Avery. She'd get her way in the end anyhow.
After Mac had left Jessica gave Avery a look, "Is everything okay?" she asked as she scrunched up her nose.
Avery shook her head and grabbed Jessica's arm pulling her away from the tents and the RV. "I think Daryl hates me now," she said knowing besides him talking to her briefly about the flowers and also telling her to stay close to him not much had been said while they were out looking for Sophia.
"And that's a bad thing?" Jessica asked before smiling some. She knew it was but she was trying to tease her sister and well she wanted to see what Avery would say in response to that.
"It is when I think that I kind of sort of am falling for him," Avery admitted as she gave Jessica a look before shrugging and looking down at the ground. "I'm falling for Daryl and I think him catching me with Shane screwed that up."
Jessica made a face hearing Avery's words. She had known from what Avery had said on the highway that she had been with Shane again but she hadn't known that Daryl had saw them though maybe she should have guessed from Daryl asking her if Avery loved Shane. "Well I'm sure it didn't sit well with him but I don't think it screwed it up," she smiled feeling confident that if it had been screwed up Daryl wouldn't have asked her what he did.
"What makes you so sure of that?" Avery asked as she raised an eyebrow.
As she was about to answer Avery, Jessica watched Daryl come out of the RV and look over at where they stood. "I just am sure," she smiled before turning and heading back to the tent where Mac was.
Watching Jessica walk off Avery made a face before shaking her head. She wasn't sure what made Jessica so sure but she hoped her sister was right.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
That night after it had gotten dark Zac walked towards the tents and came to a stop when he saw Kate sitting in a chair outside of one. He hadn't expected her to be up still. That was one of the reasons he had waited until it was dark to come back.
Hearing footsteps Kate looked up from where she sat and she breathed a sigh of relief as she saw her husband, "I was worried about you," she said as she stood from the chair and pulled Zac into a hug. "Where did you go?"
"I just went for a walk," Zac said as he hugged his wife back and tried to force a smile. "I needed to clear my mind and try to forget things."
"Did the walk help with that?" Kate asked as she pulled away and looked at him. "And how could you be so stupid going off on your own and not telling anyone?"
Zac again forced a smile as he looked at her, "I think the walk did make me forget what I needed too," he lied knowing the walk had just made his thoughts worse. He was almost convinced that maybe his wife didn't love him. Maybe she wanted Taylor and that was why she had kept the kiss a secret from him. "And I was fine on my own," he said as he shrugged. "I can take care of myself and I really don't need to report to someone when I want to take a simple walk."
"You do when there are walkers out there and you have a pregnant wife who worries about you," Kate scolded him as she crossed her arms. "I thought you were dead."
At her words Zac almost wanted to ask her if that would be a bad thing. At least then she could have Taylor. "Well I'm not dead. I would have been fine though if I came across a walker. I can take care of myself Kate," Zac nodded as he leaned in to kiss her cheek and at least try to calm the situation. "Let's go to bed now okay."
Nodding at his words Kate uncrossed her arms before turning and unzipping the tent where Avery and Jessica were sleeping as well. "Just so you know if you ever run off again without telling me I will make you wish you were dead," she laughed as she walked over to the cot that was theirs now.
"I wouldn't expect less," Zac said as he followed her into the tent. As she headed to the cot he zipped the tent back up and then stripped down to his boxers. Going to the cot finally he slipped in beside his wife. "I'm sorry I scared you," he apologized as he kissed her forehead and pulled the blanket over them. He was sorry for that but he knew he was still hurt over her lie. It was one simple lie but it was eating away at him.
"I forgive you," Kate smiled before snuggling to Zac and closing her eyes.
Smiling at Kate's words Zac held her as she drifted off and he stayed awake for a bit longer. He knew he was probably crazy but he wondered if she wished she were in Taylor's arms instead of his. Maybe she had always wanted Taylor and had just settled for him. After all she had dated Isaac first and girl's only dated Isaac when they couldn't have Taylor.