Contagion Chapter Twelve
Mac sat on the porch of the main house looking at Jessica who had been on the steps for awhile, "You know you really need to stop staring off into space," he teased as he nudged her side. "Someone may think you are asleep with your eyes open or something."
Turning to face Mac, Jessica gave him a smile, "And you need to stop being a pain in my butt," she told him as she stuck her tongue out.
"But it's fun," Mac admitted as he smirked. "I like being a pain in everyone's butts."
"Obviously," Jessica deadpanned as she rolled her eyes. "Why don't you go bug Avery?"
Mac laughed at Jessica's question, "Because Avery took off after Daryl somewhere," he said honestly knowing he had watched Avery leave and go into the woods. Lately he kept track on everyone because it seemed everyone had fucked up lives and well watching them was the only way he ever knew what was going on with them anymore.
Jessica raised an eyebrow at Mac's words, "Really?" she asked as she sat there surprised. "Has there been a change in her relationship with Daryl and she hasn't told me?"
"Not that I know of but I doubt she'd tell me," Mac said as he locked eyes with his sister. "No one ever talks to me much anymore just to talk," he said sadly. "It's like you all have your own things going on and forget about me."
Wanting to shake her head no at Mac's words Jessica found she couldn't because she knew they were true. "I'm sorry," she whispered not breaking eye contact with him.
"Don't be," Mac told her as he gave her a smile. "You have Glenn and well it's Avery you always run too when you need to talk. She probably gets it more than I would anyway."
"But I am," Jessica said honestly. "And just because I tend to talk to Avery more doesn't mean I still can't make time for you. We could find something to talk about or do," she nodded as she reached over to pull Mac to her. "I'm sorry you feel so left out Mackenzie."
Smiling as Jessica held him Mac returned the hug and sighed. He hoped she kept her word about making time for him.
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Taylor who was back on top of the RV looked down at Shane as he watched the man walk towards the inside, "What's up?" he asked only to be ignored which made him roll his eyes. Sometimes he just really hated Shane.
Shane who had went inside the RV in search of the guns ignored Taylor. He wasn't in the mood for talking, he had shit he wanted to get done.
Not seeing the gun bag laying on the table where it normally was, Shane looked under the table before deciding to check the whole RV and still he came up empty handed. The guns were not on the RV. Hitting his hands on the counter by the sink he glared. He had a good idea who had done something with the guns and god damn it he almost wanted to kill the old man.
"Son of a bitch," Shane muttered to himself before leaving the RV. "You see where he went?" he asked Taylor as he looked up towards the top of the RV where Taylor sat down in a chair.
"Who?" Taylor asked feeling confused by Shane's question.
Shane just shook his head, "Don't even try to shit me okay."
"What?" Taylor asked becoming more confused.
"Dale," Shane finally blurted out. "Did you see where Dale went?"
Standing from the chair Taylor continued to look down at Shane, "Yeah, he asked me to run and get him some water and said he'd cover me on watch."
"And he was gone when you got back?" Shane asked though it came out more like a statement.
Taylor nodded, "Yeah. Do you think he's okay?"
Shane glared slightly feeling his anger at Dale getting worse, "Oh he's fine."
"Why'd he bail then?" Taylor asked not making sense of that.
"So you wouldn't tell me which way he went," Shane answered knowing Dale like the back of his own hand.
Taylor was still confused at this whole scenario, "I don't get it."
"Nah man, you don't," Shane told Taylor before stomping off to go find that little old pain in his ass.
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Kate who had eventually gotten Zac to leave so she could finish doing the folding in peace sighed as she stood from the cot. Heading towards the entrance of the tent she nearly bumped right into Glenn but luckily she stopped before that could happen.
"Kate," Glenn said as he gave her a smile. "Is Avery here?" he asked knowing he had came here for Avery's advice. He wanted to know how he could get Jessica to realize that she was indeed in love with him and wasn't just using him for sex.
Shaking her head Kate stood there confused, "I thought it was Jessica you were with?" she asked him curiously.
"We're....I...you know?" Glenn asked her as he felt confused. The only ones who should know were Taylor since he had shown up at the barn the night they discovered the walkers and then Avery because he had confessed to her how he felt and he was sure Jessica probably confessed stuff to her as well.
Kate nodded at Glenn's question, "Jessica told Zac," she said not sure if she should tell Glenn that but that thought had came after she opened her mouth.
Smirking at Kate's revelation Glenn blushed some, "She did?" he asked feeling a bit more confident now. If she was telling people besides Avery then maybe she did know or subconsciously knew she liked him. Maybe she wasn't ashamed of what they had.
Nodding again Kate just smiled at Glenn's blushing, "Yeah she did," she confirmed. "Does that surprise you?"
"Sort of," Glenn answered as he ran a hand down his face. "She..she just keeps giving me mixed signals is all but if she's telling people then maybe that means she does love me after all."
Kate couldn't help but laugh, "I'm sure Jessica isn't meaning to give you mixed signals," she spoke once she had composed herself. "Jessica did lose Joe who she loved a lot and then she also lost her rebound guy too. I think she just needs some time to realize how important you are to her and maybe deep down it scares her," she said knowing if she was in Jessica's shoes she'd probably be the same way.
"Just give her some time," Kate finished before brushing past Glenn and heading off to see if she could find where her husband was at.
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Avery who had tracked Daryl chewed her lip hard as she walked closer to the dock that he sat on. When he turned to notice her she froze in her spot watching as he stood up and walked over to her. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "I..I just.." she sighed not sure if the words would come to explain her trying to ask for forgiveness for the situation at the barn. She knew this search for Sophia was something he was passionate about. He had gotten hurt in the process for god's sake.
Daryl shook his head, "Just shut up," he said before nodding his head and looking down briefly. "I want to show you something," he said when he looked back up. Walking away from her he walked a few short steps to where some flowers where and he came to a stop in front of them before turning to look at Avery who was beside him.
"You see it?" he asked her as he raised an eyebrow wondering if she would notice the flowers.
"See what?" Avery asked confused as she looked down at the flowers but when he reached out and pointed to some more Cherokee roses she looked up at him and smiled some.
"We're going to find her," Daryl told Avery knowing they'd find Sophia. At Avery's silence he looked at her seeing her looking at him though she looked away not long after he had turned to her. It was only when she looked back at him then he looked away from her again. "I'm sorry about what happened this morning," he spoke as he finally looked towards her again.
Avery nodded. "You wanted to look for her," she spoke knowing she shouldn't have tried to stop him. "Why though?" she asked not sure why he cared so much about finding this girl.
"Cause I think she's still out there," Daryl nodded as he turned to look back at the flowers. "Truth is what else I got to do?" he asked knowing with Merle gone he really had nothing else to do.
At Daryl's answer Avery frowned slightly feeling like she just wanted to reach out and hug him or kiss him but kissing him would probably be overstepping things or going much too far in trying to win him over and make him see that she wanted him. That she genuinely cared for him.
"We'll find her," she spoke choosing to reassure him. "We will," she nodded as she reached out to touch the flower with her hand.
Smiling at Avery's words Daryl reached out and pulled the flower out before handing it to Avery. "You thought they were pretty the first time you saw them," he said remembering her words from when she had noticed them outside the abandoned farm house. "You should have one."
Avery took the flower from Daryl and she gave him a smile before slowly tucking the flower behind her ear. It was after that, that she chewed her lip. "I...I want to kiss you," she told him as she felt her cheeks get hot. "I'm going to kiss you and I don't want you to flinch because I'm not going to hurt you."
It was after she spoke that Daryl's face became unreadable but he didn't move or even say anything to object to her words. Instead he just stood there with that damn unreadable look on his face still. Taking a deep breath she leaned in and kissed him softly on the lips. It wasn't passionate or a kiss that would ever be in any movie or TV show but it was a kiss and it sent a flutter in her stomach that she hadn't felt before with Shane or Jeremy.
Pulling away she looked at him and saw that his face was still unreadable. She just wanted to know that he had liked the kiss even if he hadn't kissed her back.
Daryl swallowed hard as he looked at Avery after she had kissed him. He was kicking himself for allowing the kiss to happen and he was also kicking himself for not kissing her back but he wasn't good at this romance stuff and this was all new and awkward and he just wanted to go hide in a hole somewhere.
"W..we should go," he croaked out as he felt his cheeks heat up and he turned his back towards her before she could notice. "See if Rick has found any leads yet."
"Right, we should head back," Avery agreed as she watched Daryl turn his back to her and start to walk away. Walking behind him she raised an eyebrow an when Daryl suddenly stopped and she almost ran into him. Moving to where she could see him she kept her eyebrow raised. "Are you okay?"
Chewing his lip so hard that he was sure he left indentations Daryl looked at Avery, "Kiss me again," he spoke his voice so low he wasn't sure she'd hear him.
Avery was sure she felt her mouth drop open some at his words and she knew she was probably a laughable sight but she was surprised by his words. Words that she soon obeyed when she leaned in and kissed him again. This time it was a bit rougher than before and it was when she felt his lips moving with her own that she almost thought this was a dream. She had to be dreaming and at any second the dream would end.
But this wasn't a dream and when they parted the second time she looked at him as she felt more butterflies in her stomach and now her damn heart was racing and all of these emotions felt so new to her even if she had done all this stuff before. "We should go now," she said as she nodded some and smiled at him before turning her back to him and starting off back towards the farm.
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Sitting on the RV still Taylor watched as Maggie walked to the main house. She had obviously gotten more fruit because she was carrying a basket of fruit much like she had done yesterday when she had tried to buy his silence with fruit and jerky. Laying the gun he was holding in his hands down he took stood up and slipped off the hat of Dale's. "Maggie!" he called out hoping that she'd stop this time.
When she only looked up at him but continued walking Taylor got off the RV and walked to catch up to her. "Maggie..Maggie," he said as he picked up his pace to a jog until he was right beside her. "Just stop for a second."
"We talked about it. You told Dale, fine," Maggie said as she continued to walk, Taylor keeping a good pace beside her. "I asked you, I told you..I just asked you for one thing."
"I couldn't do it," Taylor spoke as he looked at her hoping she'd understand.
Maggie sighed as she heard Taylor, "My dad is going to kick you guys out now, he told me," she said to him. Her dad had indeed told her he was making the group leave by the end of the week.
"Rick's going to work something out with your dad," Taylor said knowing if anyone could get through to Hershel it would be Rick. "I had to tell them."
"You did not!" Maggie yelled knowing things would have been fine if Taylor hadn't told them.
Taylor reached out and grabbed Maggie's arms, turning her so she was facing him, "No! I did," he said. "I wanted too," he said before taking the basket of fruit from her arms and laying it on the ground. "You see I forgot. Okay I forgot or I stopped thinking about it or maybe I didn't want to think about it," he sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "But then you got attacked in the woods and I realized something. I forgot that they're dangerous. I don't care if they're sick people or dead people, they're dangerous. And then I realized something else, that I don't want you in danger, ever," he nodded as he locked eyes with Maggie. "So I hate to blow your dad's big secret but I'm sick of secrets. Secrets get you killed and I'd rather have you pissed off at me and alive then liking me and dead. So that's why I told," he finished as he walked away from her.
Maggie who had crossed her arms watched Taylor walk away, "Taylor!" she called out watching as he stopped in his tracks and turned to face her. Once he had she walked over to him and gave him a smile before leaning in to kiss him briefly.
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Kate smiled to herself as she sat on the porch of the main house. Taylor and Maggie were on the stairs and Zac was sitting in the grass though Kate wasn't dumb, she kept noticing the little weird glances he was giving Beth. As if Beth held some sort of secret that Zac was afraid would spill. Mac was off near Beth though and he was watching Beth play checkers with Carl and she was sure she could hear Patricia trying to get Mac to play with her next.
Jessica and Glenn were also on the porch as well and Kate couldn't help but laugh at how Glenn kept trying to flirt with Jessica and Jessica was doing her best to turn him down. Her attention from Glenn and Jessica was broken though as she watched Taylor stand up for something and she looked towards Andrea and T-Dog who were walking towards the house.
"Do you know what's going on?"T-Dog asked Taylor as he made it to the house.
"Where is everyone?" Andrea questioned next.
Taylor raised an eyebrow, "You haven't seen Rick?"
"He went off with Hershel," Andrea answered Taylor's question. "We were supposed to leave a couple hours ago."
"Yeah you were," Daryl spoke up harshly as he walked towards the main house with Avery. They had just gotten back not too long ago. "What the hell?"
Avery who walked behind Daryl made a confused face, "Rick told us he was going out."
"Damn it! Isn't anybody taking this seriously?" Daryl asked his voice still harsh. "We got us a damn trail!" he said as he turned to point back at the woods. It was when he turned back that he saw Shane coming towards the group. "Oh here we go," he said as he watched the man getting closer seeing him carrying the bag of guns. "What's all this?"
"You with me man?" Shane asked Daryl once he reached him. When Daryl took the gun he walked closer to other group members. "Time to grow up!" he yelled out before spotting Andrea. "You already got yours?" he asked referring to the woman's gun.
Andrea nodded, "Yeah. Where's Dale?" she asked knowing he wouldn't just give Shane the bag of guns.
"He's on his way," Shane answered as he handed a gun towards Zac.
"Thought we couldn't carry?" Zac asked confused as he took a gun from Shane.
Shane sighed, "Yeah well we can and we have too," he spoke knowing that what they were going to do is something that needed to be done. "Now look it was one thing standing around here picking daisies when we thought this place was supposed to be safe but now that we know it ain't.." he said as he looked towards the barn. When he looked back at the group he turned to Taylor and handed a gun to him. "How about you? You going to protect yours?"
Looking at Maggie, Taylor reluctantly took the gun from Shane.
"That's it," Shane said before looking to Maggie. "How about you? Can you shoot?"
"Can you stop?" Maggie asked knowing Shane was going to just create more drama by doing this. "You do this, you hand out these guns my dad will make you leave tonight."
Carl who had been standing on the porch walked off, "We have to stay Shane."
Coming out of the house Lori took in the sight in front of her, "What is this?" she asked as she eyed Shane.
"We ain't going anywhere okay," Shane nodded as he tried to reassure Carl. "Now look Hershel he is just going to have to understand, okay. He...well he is going to have too," he said as he spoke to the rest of the group before walking to Carl and bending down. "Now we have to find Sophia. Am I right?" he asked before getting a gun out and handing it to Carl. "Now I want you to take this. You take it Carl and you keep your mother safe. You do whatever it takes."
Going off the porch Lori pushed Carl away from Shane, stepping between them, "Rick said no guns," she told Shane through gritted teeth. "This is not your call. This is not your decision to make."
Zac who had been looking towards the barn made a face at the sight that was coming out of the woods. There with Hershel leading a walker on some sort of leash like thing was Rick. "Oh shit," he muttered loudly.
Kate who had been watching all of this go down watched as the rest of the group took off running and she stood from where she sat finally and took off as well. Following everyone down to the barn where she could hear Shane asking Rick what the hell he was doing.
Coming to a stop eventually Kate caught her breath. Shane was now confronting Hershel. Asking him if he could see what he was holding onto.
"I see who I am holding onto," Hershel replied as he looked at Shane.
"Man you don't," Shane replied not making sense of how Rick could be okay with this or how Hershel couldn't understand.
Rick who held a tight grip on the prod around the walker he had sighed, "Shane just let us do this and then we can talk," he said trying to hopefully calm his best friend down.
"What you wanna talk about Rick!?" Shane asked as he looked at his friend. "These things ain't sick! They're not people! They're dead!" he said wanting Hershel to understand things. "Ain't got to feel nothing for them cause all they do is they kill! These things right here!" he said before pointing to the two walkers that had been brought in by Hershel and Rick. "They're the things that killed Amy,Zoe,and Ezra! They killed Otis! And they'll kill all of us if we do nothing."
Rick who had listened to Shane just glared some, "Shane stop!"
"Hershel man, let me ask you something, can a living breathing person, can they walk away from this?" Shane asked as he raised his gun and aimed it towards the walker that Hershel had a hold of. "That's three rounds in the chest. Can someone who is alive..can they just take that?! Why is it still coming?!" he asked before firing another round. "That's its heart and it's lungs. Why is it still coming?!" he asked again before shooting once more.
"Shane enough!" Rick yelled again watching as Shane eventually walked towards the walker Hershel had.
"Yeah you're right man, that is enough," Shane replied before raising his gun and shooting the walker in the head finally. Turning away Shane headed back towards the barn. "Enough risking our lives for a little girl whose gone!" Shane yelled as he turned to face the group in time to see Carol flinch as if his words had hit her somehow. "Enough living next to a barn full of things that are trying to kill us! Enough!" he said as he looked at Rick. "Rick it ain't like it was before! Now if ya'll wanna live, if ya'll wanna survive you got to fight for it! I'm talking about fight, right here, right now!" he finished as he finally made it to the barn.
Kate just stood there in shock at everything that was going down. Watching as Shane was working away at breaking the locks on the barn she could hear Rick asking Hershel to take the pole that had the other walker on it but from the sound of things Hershel just wouldn't or couldn't do it.
Turning her head Kate just frowned at the sight of the despondent man. It was apparent he was in some form of shock at what was happening or what he had seen and she felt sorry for him.
Kate again turned her attention back to where Shane was when she heard the locks break and she stood frozen in fear near the back of everyone else as the walkers started to come out of the barn. It was then that everyone with a gun started to move towards the front and fire off rounds, well almost everyone. She saw Taylor ask Maggie for permission and the brunette woman just nodded her head, giving Taylor that silent permission to go and kill the walkers. To do what he had to do.
Not sure exactly how many walkers had came out of the barn Kate felt relieved when the last walker had fallen down and she watched everyone lower their guns. Taking in the sight of carnage in front of the barn she frowned not sure how she felt about all of this or even which side of the fence she was on before this had taken place.
Seeing Dale come walking towards the barn finally Kate watched as he stopped beside her. It was only when he was about to open his mouth to speak to her that the familiar sound of moaning came from the barn again and everyone had again raised their guns to get ready to kill it, kill the last walker.
Watching as the walker got closer Kate felt her mouth drop open at the sight when it did finally come out of the barn and she could see Carol running towards and screaming out Sophia's name. Kate was thankful that Daryl grabbed Carol though before the woman could make it to Sophia and she felt a tear go down her cheek as she watched Carol fall to the ground, Daryl going down with her as he still had a hold on the woman.
Shaking her head as more tears kept coming down her cheeks Kate looked around and she could see everyone in various states of shock and no one had even offered to put Sophia down. Hell even Kate herself was in shock and she wasn't sure if she could do like she had done Ezra. She wasn't sure if she could put Sophia down. At least with Ezra he hadn't came back nor was he staring at her or looking for a meal to eat out of any human he could find. He had just looked asleep.
Finally though Kate watched as Rick walked towards Sophia, getting his gun out along the way and it was only when Sophia had made it halfway to him that Kate saw him fire his gun and she felt herself become weightless as she started to fall over. She was faintly aware though of arms around her and she looked up seeing that Dale had caught her before she fell to the ground. How could everything just fall apart in one single day?
Mac sat on the porch of the main house looking at Jessica who had been on the steps for awhile, "You know you really need to stop staring off into space," he teased as he nudged her side. "Someone may think you are asleep with your eyes open or something."
Turning to face Mac, Jessica gave him a smile, "And you need to stop being a pain in my butt," she told him as she stuck her tongue out.
"But it's fun," Mac admitted as he smirked. "I like being a pain in everyone's butts."
"Obviously," Jessica deadpanned as she rolled her eyes. "Why don't you go bug Avery?"
Mac laughed at Jessica's question, "Because Avery took off after Daryl somewhere," he said honestly knowing he had watched Avery leave and go into the woods. Lately he kept track on everyone because it seemed everyone had fucked up lives and well watching them was the only way he ever knew what was going on with them anymore.
Jessica raised an eyebrow at Mac's words, "Really?" she asked as she sat there surprised. "Has there been a change in her relationship with Daryl and she hasn't told me?"
"Not that I know of but I doubt she'd tell me," Mac said as he locked eyes with his sister. "No one ever talks to me much anymore just to talk," he said sadly. "It's like you all have your own things going on and forget about me."
Wanting to shake her head no at Mac's words Jessica found she couldn't because she knew they were true. "I'm sorry," she whispered not breaking eye contact with him.
"Don't be," Mac told her as he gave her a smile. "You have Glenn and well it's Avery you always run too when you need to talk. She probably gets it more than I would anyway."
"But I am," Jessica said honestly. "And just because I tend to talk to Avery more doesn't mean I still can't make time for you. We could find something to talk about or do," she nodded as she reached over to pull Mac to her. "I'm sorry you feel so left out Mackenzie."
Smiling as Jessica held him Mac returned the hug and sighed. He hoped she kept her word about making time for him.
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Taylor who was back on top of the RV looked down at Shane as he watched the man walk towards the inside, "What's up?" he asked only to be ignored which made him roll his eyes. Sometimes he just really hated Shane.
Shane who had went inside the RV in search of the guns ignored Taylor. He wasn't in the mood for talking, he had shit he wanted to get done.
Not seeing the gun bag laying on the table where it normally was, Shane looked under the table before deciding to check the whole RV and still he came up empty handed. The guns were not on the RV. Hitting his hands on the counter by the sink he glared. He had a good idea who had done something with the guns and god damn it he almost wanted to kill the old man.
"Son of a bitch," Shane muttered to himself before leaving the RV. "You see where he went?" he asked Taylor as he looked up towards the top of the RV where Taylor sat down in a chair.
"Who?" Taylor asked feeling confused by Shane's question.
Shane just shook his head, "Don't even try to shit me okay."
"What?" Taylor asked becoming more confused.
"Dale," Shane finally blurted out. "Did you see where Dale went?"
Standing from the chair Taylor continued to look down at Shane, "Yeah, he asked me to run and get him some water and said he'd cover me on watch."
"And he was gone when you got back?" Shane asked though it came out more like a statement.
Taylor nodded, "Yeah. Do you think he's okay?"
Shane glared slightly feeling his anger at Dale getting worse, "Oh he's fine."
"Why'd he bail then?" Taylor asked not making sense of that.
"So you wouldn't tell me which way he went," Shane answered knowing Dale like the back of his own hand.
Taylor was still confused at this whole scenario, "I don't get it."
"Nah man, you don't," Shane told Taylor before stomping off to go find that little old pain in his ass.
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Kate who had eventually gotten Zac to leave so she could finish doing the folding in peace sighed as she stood from the cot. Heading towards the entrance of the tent she nearly bumped right into Glenn but luckily she stopped before that could happen.
"Kate," Glenn said as he gave her a smile. "Is Avery here?" he asked knowing he had came here for Avery's advice. He wanted to know how he could get Jessica to realize that she was indeed in love with him and wasn't just using him for sex.
Shaking her head Kate stood there confused, "I thought it was Jessica you were with?" she asked him curiously.
"We're....I...you know?" Glenn asked her as he felt confused. The only ones who should know were Taylor since he had shown up at the barn the night they discovered the walkers and then Avery because he had confessed to her how he felt and he was sure Jessica probably confessed stuff to her as well.
Kate nodded at Glenn's question, "Jessica told Zac," she said not sure if she should tell Glenn that but that thought had came after she opened her mouth.
Smirking at Kate's revelation Glenn blushed some, "She did?" he asked feeling a bit more confident now. If she was telling people besides Avery then maybe she did know or subconsciously knew she liked him. Maybe she wasn't ashamed of what they had.
Nodding again Kate just smiled at Glenn's blushing, "Yeah she did," she confirmed. "Does that surprise you?"
"Sort of," Glenn answered as he ran a hand down his face. "She..she just keeps giving me mixed signals is all but if she's telling people then maybe that means she does love me after all."
Kate couldn't help but laugh, "I'm sure Jessica isn't meaning to give you mixed signals," she spoke once she had composed herself. "Jessica did lose Joe who she loved a lot and then she also lost her rebound guy too. I think she just needs some time to realize how important you are to her and maybe deep down it scares her," she said knowing if she was in Jessica's shoes she'd probably be the same way.
"Just give her some time," Kate finished before brushing past Glenn and heading off to see if she could find where her husband was at.
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Avery who had tracked Daryl chewed her lip hard as she walked closer to the dock that he sat on. When he turned to notice her she froze in her spot watching as he stood up and walked over to her. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "I..I just.." she sighed not sure if the words would come to explain her trying to ask for forgiveness for the situation at the barn. She knew this search for Sophia was something he was passionate about. He had gotten hurt in the process for god's sake.
Daryl shook his head, "Just shut up," he said before nodding his head and looking down briefly. "I want to show you something," he said when he looked back up. Walking away from her he walked a few short steps to where some flowers where and he came to a stop in front of them before turning to look at Avery who was beside him.
"You see it?" he asked her as he raised an eyebrow wondering if she would notice the flowers.
"See what?" Avery asked confused as she looked down at the flowers but when he reached out and pointed to some more Cherokee roses she looked up at him and smiled some.
"We're going to find her," Daryl told Avery knowing they'd find Sophia. At Avery's silence he looked at her seeing her looking at him though she looked away not long after he had turned to her. It was only when she looked back at him then he looked away from her again. "I'm sorry about what happened this morning," he spoke as he finally looked towards her again.
Avery nodded. "You wanted to look for her," she spoke knowing she shouldn't have tried to stop him. "Why though?" she asked not sure why he cared so much about finding this girl.
"Cause I think she's still out there," Daryl nodded as he turned to look back at the flowers. "Truth is what else I got to do?" he asked knowing with Merle gone he really had nothing else to do.
At Daryl's answer Avery frowned slightly feeling like she just wanted to reach out and hug him or kiss him but kissing him would probably be overstepping things or going much too far in trying to win him over and make him see that she wanted him. That she genuinely cared for him.
"We'll find her," she spoke choosing to reassure him. "We will," she nodded as she reached out to touch the flower with her hand.
Smiling at Avery's words Daryl reached out and pulled the flower out before handing it to Avery. "You thought they were pretty the first time you saw them," he said remembering her words from when she had noticed them outside the abandoned farm house. "You should have one."
Avery took the flower from Daryl and she gave him a smile before slowly tucking the flower behind her ear. It was after that, that she chewed her lip. "I...I want to kiss you," she told him as she felt her cheeks get hot. "I'm going to kiss you and I don't want you to flinch because I'm not going to hurt you."
It was after she spoke that Daryl's face became unreadable but he didn't move or even say anything to object to her words. Instead he just stood there with that damn unreadable look on his face still. Taking a deep breath she leaned in and kissed him softly on the lips. It wasn't passionate or a kiss that would ever be in any movie or TV show but it was a kiss and it sent a flutter in her stomach that she hadn't felt before with Shane or Jeremy.
Pulling away she looked at him and saw that his face was still unreadable. She just wanted to know that he had liked the kiss even if he hadn't kissed her back.
Daryl swallowed hard as he looked at Avery after she had kissed him. He was kicking himself for allowing the kiss to happen and he was also kicking himself for not kissing her back but he wasn't good at this romance stuff and this was all new and awkward and he just wanted to go hide in a hole somewhere.
"W..we should go," he croaked out as he felt his cheeks heat up and he turned his back towards her before she could notice. "See if Rick has found any leads yet."
"Right, we should head back," Avery agreed as she watched Daryl turn his back to her and start to walk away. Walking behind him she raised an eyebrow an when Daryl suddenly stopped and she almost ran into him. Moving to where she could see him she kept her eyebrow raised. "Are you okay?"
Chewing his lip so hard that he was sure he left indentations Daryl looked at Avery, "Kiss me again," he spoke his voice so low he wasn't sure she'd hear him.
Avery was sure she felt her mouth drop open some at his words and she knew she was probably a laughable sight but she was surprised by his words. Words that she soon obeyed when she leaned in and kissed him again. This time it was a bit rougher than before and it was when she felt his lips moving with her own that she almost thought this was a dream. She had to be dreaming and at any second the dream would end.
But this wasn't a dream and when they parted the second time she looked at him as she felt more butterflies in her stomach and now her damn heart was racing and all of these emotions felt so new to her even if she had done all this stuff before. "We should go now," she said as she nodded some and smiled at him before turning her back to him and starting off back towards the farm.
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Sitting on the RV still Taylor watched as Maggie walked to the main house. She had obviously gotten more fruit because she was carrying a basket of fruit much like she had done yesterday when she had tried to buy his silence with fruit and jerky. Laying the gun he was holding in his hands down he took stood up and slipped off the hat of Dale's. "Maggie!" he called out hoping that she'd stop this time.
When she only looked up at him but continued walking Taylor got off the RV and walked to catch up to her. "Maggie..Maggie," he said as he picked up his pace to a jog until he was right beside her. "Just stop for a second."
"We talked about it. You told Dale, fine," Maggie said as she continued to walk, Taylor keeping a good pace beside her. "I asked you, I told you..I just asked you for one thing."
"I couldn't do it," Taylor spoke as he looked at her hoping she'd understand.
Maggie sighed as she heard Taylor, "My dad is going to kick you guys out now, he told me," she said to him. Her dad had indeed told her he was making the group leave by the end of the week.
"Rick's going to work something out with your dad," Taylor said knowing if anyone could get through to Hershel it would be Rick. "I had to tell them."
"You did not!" Maggie yelled knowing things would have been fine if Taylor hadn't told them.
Taylor reached out and grabbed Maggie's arms, turning her so she was facing him, "No! I did," he said. "I wanted too," he said before taking the basket of fruit from her arms and laying it on the ground. "You see I forgot. Okay I forgot or I stopped thinking about it or maybe I didn't want to think about it," he sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "But then you got attacked in the woods and I realized something. I forgot that they're dangerous. I don't care if they're sick people or dead people, they're dangerous. And then I realized something else, that I don't want you in danger, ever," he nodded as he locked eyes with Maggie. "So I hate to blow your dad's big secret but I'm sick of secrets. Secrets get you killed and I'd rather have you pissed off at me and alive then liking me and dead. So that's why I told," he finished as he walked away from her.
Maggie who had crossed her arms watched Taylor walk away, "Taylor!" she called out watching as he stopped in his tracks and turned to face her. Once he had she walked over to him and gave him a smile before leaning in to kiss him briefly.
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Kate smiled to herself as she sat on the porch of the main house. Taylor and Maggie were on the stairs and Zac was sitting in the grass though Kate wasn't dumb, she kept noticing the little weird glances he was giving Beth. As if Beth held some sort of secret that Zac was afraid would spill. Mac was off near Beth though and he was watching Beth play checkers with Carl and she was sure she could hear Patricia trying to get Mac to play with her next.
Jessica and Glenn were also on the porch as well and Kate couldn't help but laugh at how Glenn kept trying to flirt with Jessica and Jessica was doing her best to turn him down. Her attention from Glenn and Jessica was broken though as she watched Taylor stand up for something and she looked towards Andrea and T-Dog who were walking towards the house.
"Do you know what's going on?"T-Dog asked Taylor as he made it to the house.
"Where is everyone?" Andrea questioned next.
Taylor raised an eyebrow, "You haven't seen Rick?"
"He went off with Hershel," Andrea answered Taylor's question. "We were supposed to leave a couple hours ago."
"Yeah you were," Daryl spoke up harshly as he walked towards the main house with Avery. They had just gotten back not too long ago. "What the hell?"
Avery who walked behind Daryl made a confused face, "Rick told us he was going out."
"Damn it! Isn't anybody taking this seriously?" Daryl asked his voice still harsh. "We got us a damn trail!" he said as he turned to point back at the woods. It was when he turned back that he saw Shane coming towards the group. "Oh here we go," he said as he watched the man getting closer seeing him carrying the bag of guns. "What's all this?"
"You with me man?" Shane asked Daryl once he reached him. When Daryl took the gun he walked closer to other group members. "Time to grow up!" he yelled out before spotting Andrea. "You already got yours?" he asked referring to the woman's gun.
Andrea nodded, "Yeah. Where's Dale?" she asked knowing he wouldn't just give Shane the bag of guns.
"He's on his way," Shane answered as he handed a gun towards Zac.
"Thought we couldn't carry?" Zac asked confused as he took a gun from Shane.
Shane sighed, "Yeah well we can and we have too," he spoke knowing that what they were going to do is something that needed to be done. "Now look it was one thing standing around here picking daisies when we thought this place was supposed to be safe but now that we know it ain't.." he said as he looked towards the barn. When he looked back at the group he turned to Taylor and handed a gun to him. "How about you? You going to protect yours?"
Looking at Maggie, Taylor reluctantly took the gun from Shane.
"That's it," Shane said before looking to Maggie. "How about you? Can you shoot?"
"Can you stop?" Maggie asked knowing Shane was going to just create more drama by doing this. "You do this, you hand out these guns my dad will make you leave tonight."
Carl who had been standing on the porch walked off, "We have to stay Shane."
Coming out of the house Lori took in the sight in front of her, "What is this?" she asked as she eyed Shane.
"We ain't going anywhere okay," Shane nodded as he tried to reassure Carl. "Now look Hershel he is just going to have to understand, okay. He...well he is going to have too," he said as he spoke to the rest of the group before walking to Carl and bending down. "Now we have to find Sophia. Am I right?" he asked before getting a gun out and handing it to Carl. "Now I want you to take this. You take it Carl and you keep your mother safe. You do whatever it takes."
Going off the porch Lori pushed Carl away from Shane, stepping between them, "Rick said no guns," she told Shane through gritted teeth. "This is not your call. This is not your decision to make."
Zac who had been looking towards the barn made a face at the sight that was coming out of the woods. There with Hershel leading a walker on some sort of leash like thing was Rick. "Oh shit," he muttered loudly.
Kate who had been watching all of this go down watched as the rest of the group took off running and she stood from where she sat finally and took off as well. Following everyone down to the barn where she could hear Shane asking Rick what the hell he was doing.
Coming to a stop eventually Kate caught her breath. Shane was now confronting Hershel. Asking him if he could see what he was holding onto.
"I see who I am holding onto," Hershel replied as he looked at Shane.
"Man you don't," Shane replied not making sense of how Rick could be okay with this or how Hershel couldn't understand.
Rick who held a tight grip on the prod around the walker he had sighed, "Shane just let us do this and then we can talk," he said trying to hopefully calm his best friend down.
"What you wanna talk about Rick!?" Shane asked as he looked at his friend. "These things ain't sick! They're not people! They're dead!" he said wanting Hershel to understand things. "Ain't got to feel nothing for them cause all they do is they kill! These things right here!" he said before pointing to the two walkers that had been brought in by Hershel and Rick. "They're the things that killed Amy,Zoe,and Ezra! They killed Otis! And they'll kill all of us if we do nothing."
Rick who had listened to Shane just glared some, "Shane stop!"
"Hershel man, let me ask you something, can a living breathing person, can they walk away from this?" Shane asked as he raised his gun and aimed it towards the walker that Hershel had a hold of. "That's three rounds in the chest. Can someone who is alive..can they just take that?! Why is it still coming?!" he asked before firing another round. "That's its heart and it's lungs. Why is it still coming?!" he asked again before shooting once more.
"Shane enough!" Rick yelled again watching as Shane eventually walked towards the walker Hershel had.
"Yeah you're right man, that is enough," Shane replied before raising his gun and shooting the walker in the head finally. Turning away Shane headed back towards the barn. "Enough risking our lives for a little girl whose gone!" Shane yelled as he turned to face the group in time to see Carol flinch as if his words had hit her somehow. "Enough living next to a barn full of things that are trying to kill us! Enough!" he said as he looked at Rick. "Rick it ain't like it was before! Now if ya'll wanna live, if ya'll wanna survive you got to fight for it! I'm talking about fight, right here, right now!" he finished as he finally made it to the barn.
Kate just stood there in shock at everything that was going down. Watching as Shane was working away at breaking the locks on the barn she could hear Rick asking Hershel to take the pole that had the other walker on it but from the sound of things Hershel just wouldn't or couldn't do it.
Turning her head Kate just frowned at the sight of the despondent man. It was apparent he was in some form of shock at what was happening or what he had seen and she felt sorry for him.
Kate again turned her attention back to where Shane was when she heard the locks break and she stood frozen in fear near the back of everyone else as the walkers started to come out of the barn. It was then that everyone with a gun started to move towards the front and fire off rounds, well almost everyone. She saw Taylor ask Maggie for permission and the brunette woman just nodded her head, giving Taylor that silent permission to go and kill the walkers. To do what he had to do.
Not sure exactly how many walkers had came out of the barn Kate felt relieved when the last walker had fallen down and she watched everyone lower their guns. Taking in the sight of carnage in front of the barn she frowned not sure how she felt about all of this or even which side of the fence she was on before this had taken place.
Seeing Dale come walking towards the barn finally Kate watched as he stopped beside her. It was only when he was about to open his mouth to speak to her that the familiar sound of moaning came from the barn again and everyone had again raised their guns to get ready to kill it, kill the last walker.
Watching as the walker got closer Kate felt her mouth drop open at the sight when it did finally come out of the barn and she could see Carol running towards and screaming out Sophia's name. Kate was thankful that Daryl grabbed Carol though before the woman could make it to Sophia and she felt a tear go down her cheek as she watched Carol fall to the ground, Daryl going down with her as he still had a hold on the woman.
Shaking her head as more tears kept coming down her cheeks Kate looked around and she could see everyone in various states of shock and no one had even offered to put Sophia down. Hell even Kate herself was in shock and she wasn't sure if she could do like she had done Ezra. She wasn't sure if she could put Sophia down. At least with Ezra he hadn't came back nor was he staring at her or looking for a meal to eat out of any human he could find. He had just looked asleep.
Finally though Kate watched as Rick walked towards Sophia, getting his gun out along the way and it was only when Sophia had made it halfway to him that Kate saw him fire his gun and she felt herself become weightless as she started to fall over. She was faintly aware though of arms around her and she looked up seeing that Dale had caught her before she fell to the ground. How could everything just fall apart in one single day?