The Dead Shall Rise

Chapter IV

A/N: This is another short one. Don't hate me. I promise they will get longer...sometime...maybe. ENJOY!

My hands automatically went to my sides where I kept my daggers. The first thing that I realized was that Rick took them. The second thing I realized was Daryl chuckling. I spun around on my heel and glared at him. “What’s so funny?”

“Celeste, meet Machonne. She has these two walkers.”

I turned back around and I saw another walker. Both walkers were chained and a black woman was holding the chains along with two rabbits. She looked familiar. Machonne’s eyes widened in shock. She dropped the rabbits and walked swiftly out of the room. A low whistle could be heard behind me. I turned to glare at Daryl…again.

“What?!”

“She’s usually just antisocial but she must really not like you. I wonder why.”

I looked off in the direction she went. “Me too,” I whispered to myself.

The nagging feeling that I knew her wouldn’t go away. After sitting back in the shadows observing, I begin to be able to profile people. I guess old habits die hard. I’d been in college studying criminal justice. From the beginning we’d had certain things drilled into our heads. Profiling and the rights were among them. I noticed that Rick is slightly unstable. The only people I really don’t trust are Axel and Machonne. I can’t get a read on her and he just rubs me the wrong way.

After a while of sitting and doing nothing, Carl walked over to me. He sat down beside me. I looked at him for a moment and then made up my mind. I asked, “Carl? What’s wrong with your dad?”

He looked up at me. “What do you mean?”

“He’s…” I don’t know how to describe to a kid that his father is slightly unstable.

“He’s having problems, isn’t he?”

“How’d you know?”

“I’m really good at reading people. It was kind of my area of study.”

“My mom died not too long ago. She died in child birth.”

“Oh.”

“Mom and Dad had been having problems. I guess losing her before them being able to sort it out pushed him over the edge. I mean, he’d be having a hard time any way, but I think not solving their problems before she died is causing the guilt to eat him up.”

“He told you that?”

“No, I figured it out on my own.”

I looked at the kid, really looked at him. He looked like the kids in the orphanage that I’d visited. That feel about them that they’d seen too much of the world at a too young of age. After a moment of silence he asked, “So it was you area of study?”

“Huh?” I’d forgotten what we’d been talking about for a minute. “Oh, yeah, it was. I was studying criminal justice in college. My area of expertise was the criminal profiling. I guess I can’t help profiling people. I do it without even realizing it. It comes in handy when people want to double cross you. After the outbreak, I ran across a small group. If it wasn’t for my subconscious profiling and my instincts, I would’ve been their leader’s next plaything.”

“I’m sorry. What was your life like before?”

The before meant before the time all of our lives fell apart and were put back together upside down. I don’t even notice that I didn’t answer his question. I’m thrown back in time.

“Why’d you do it Celeste? Why?”

“I didn’t-“

“Of course you did! Look at what you did.”

I knew then that he planned on blaming me for what he’d done. I looked down at the mess on the floor. Tears streamed down my face. What was I going to do? I had to get out of here. He threw me onto the floor, into the pool of sticky mess. I scramble away from it.

“What’s wrong with you? Can you not look at your own mess?”

He undid his belt and I knew what was coming next…

“Celeste? Celeste? Can you hear me?”

I woke up gasping for air and Carl shaking me. The others that had heard him trying to wake me up were running towards us. I sat up and swiped at my now damp hair with a shaky hand. I’d pushed those memories into the farthest corner of my mind and with one innocent question, they’d been brought back to life along with the fear of men. I’d buried that fear with the memories after the outbreak.

Daryl reached me first. He got down in front of me and took my hands. I automatically flinched. I heard a ripping sound and looked up. He had ripped off a piece of his shirt and was dabbing at the blood pooling in my palm. I’d clinched my fists so tight that my nails had cut through the skin. After my hand was wrapped, he looked at my face. He slowly lifted his hand but I still shied away. I gently wiped away the tears that were still streaming down.

He whispered, “What happened, sweetheart?”

I shook my head. No way was I telling this man the horrors of my life before the monsters became flesh eating. He lifted me into his arms and walked towards the cell we were going to share. He laid me on the bottom bunk and swept my hair out of my face. He pulled the blanket up around me. “Rest, sweetheart, because by the look on your face, you need it.”

I nodded and managed to fall asleep.

******READ****ME******

What do you think about this one? I know I've been spelling Glenn's name wrong. I found that out recently and I'm just too lazy to go back and fix it in the other chapters so ignore it and I'll start spelling it right.

What did the man in the flashback do? Who was he? These are questions that will be answered. Maybe.

I really appreciate all of you who have stayed with the story this long. I'm still trying to think of the second big surprise. If you have any ideas, PM me and if I like the idea, I'll use it and dedicate a chapter to you.

Toodles!

XOXO

Werewolfgirl13