The Dead Studios: Season 9

Chapter 9: The Marked Tree

Caroline sat in the chair at the kitchen as David wiped Jax's face. After he was finished, he went and looked at Caroline's head, looking at the black and purple marks.

"Jeez, how hard did you hit her?" David asked Richard, who was also sitting at the table.

"She looked like a strong woman, had to make sure she was knocked out." Richard smiled, looking at her.

Caroline didn't make eye contact. She couldn't really- her vision was partly blurry and the side of her face looked like shit. "My head hurts." She said. "A lot, it has been since I woke up."

"Are you dizzy at all?" David asked her.

"Kind of- I think I need to go lay down." She said as her head went limp a little.

Jax turned and caught her, holding her shoulders. "Caroline, David is a doctor, you have to tell him if you're feeling okay or not." He said, looking at her non responsive eyes.

"No, I can tell just from looking at her. She must have a serious concussion. Dizziness, headache, not to mention that nasty mark on her face." David said, getting her ice. "She has to rest." He said, helping her out of the chair and bringing her over to the couch.

Jax watched him, making sure there was nothing sketchy about it. David layed her down, giving her the ice.

"Hold the ice on where it hurts." He said.

"Thank you." Caroline said softly, looking at David, then closing her eyes.

David walked back over to the table, sitting down.

"Now Jax, we have to talk." Richard said. It was only David, Richard and Jax sitting at the table. Everyone else was either upstairs,sleeping, or both.

"Talk about what?" Jax asked.

"I'm truly thinking about forgiving your actions. Michael was a good friend of mine, and Malcolm had to have been a good man too. I want to host a funeral for them. Jordan too of course. It's a shame what happened to him." Richard said, trying to be sympathetic.

Jax nodded. "Okay." He said, still worrying about Caroline.

"Okay then, Jax." Richard said, pulling his hand out. "Welcome to the family." He said jokingly, smiling.

Jax looked at his smiling face, then his hand he was holding out. Jax shook it tightly, making eye contact with him. "Thank you for the hospitality." He said, jokingly and smiling as he let go of the hand. He stood up and walked over to the couch where Caroline had fallen asleep.

"So you're the new guy?" A voice behind Jax said. He stood up, being much taller than the man speaking to him.

"Yeah I am, you must be Colton?" Jax asked.

"Yep." He said, holding his hand out. Jax shook it, seeing a young girl stand behind him.

"Sorry if I scared you earlier today." Jax said to her, letting go of Colton's hand.

She cracked a smile then it faded as they walked away into the kitchen. Jax watched them as he kneeled down next to the couch Caroline was laying down on. He grabbed her hand as she slept, holding it tightly.  He looked at her face as her other hand held the bag of ice down on her head. He tried to smile at her, but couldn't. He looked at her bruised face and couldn't get rid of his hatred for Richard. He continued to kneel on the ground as he fell asleep on the side of the couch, holding onto Caroline's hand. 

The next morning, he woke up, seeing a blanket had been placed over him. He looked up at Caroline who was still sleeping. He saw as the bag of ice had fallen off of her head. He stood up and grabbed the bag of ice as he went to go get her a new one.

"Comfy last night?" James said as he was standing in the kitchen making coffee.

Jax looked at him, realizing he had put the blanket on him last night. "As long as she is, I am." He said referring to Caroline.

"She's strong." James said, pouring a cup for himself and Jax, handing it to him.

Jax looked at the cup as he sealed the bag of ice for Caroline. He took the cup. "Thank you." He said, walking back down to the couch. 

He kneeled back down next to the couch, placing the cold bag of ice onto Caroline's face. He took a sip of the coffee, remembering the taste of it. He held the bag on her face as her eyes flickered open. She looked over at him, her face not changing her blank expression. Jax cracked a smile at her, but it faded seeing she didn't give him one back. She turned her head the other way, facing opposite from him, as she closed her eyes again.

"Caroline?" Jax said softly to her.

She didn't respond.

"Caroline, please, what did I do?" He asked.

No response again.

Jax sighed. "Fine, but at least hold this on your face." He said, handing her the bag of ice. She took it and held it on. 

He sighed again as he stood up, walking out of the living room and out the front door, onto the porch. He sipped on his coffee as the sun was still rising into the sky. James walked out onto the front porch with Jax, standing next to him drinking his coffee.

"You okay?" He asked him.

Jax sighed. "Yeah, everything is just moving too fast." He said, looking at him. 

James looked back. "Yeah." He said. "That's how it is now." 

Jax took another sip of his coffee as he looked out into the woods. The cabin was pretty remote, so it wasn't like anyone was going to just walk up to them. There was a small field next to the cabin covered by trees, where Jax had buried Michael, Malcolm, and Jordan's bodies. There were 2 doors to the cabin, the front door leading out to the porch, and the second being the broken one leading to the back of the cabin. He turned to see James had walked back into the cabin. Jax set the cup down on a table as he walked off of the porch. He walked out into the field and approached the graves. He stood in front of them, just for a few seconds. He walked away back to the cabin as he circled around it. Caroline and him had been there for 3 days, but never explored around the outside. He noticed a small garage next to the cabin near the back, as he approached it. He opened the door, seeing as it was just a normal garage. Working tools like shovels, nails, hammers, and things like paint and paint brushes. He noticed something hanging up on the wall. It was a shot gun, perfectly set on 2 nails bolted to the wall. He grabbed it and held it, finding ammo on the small work bench.

"She's a beauty, isn't she?" Richard's voice suddenly appeared behind Jax.

Jax turned holding the shot gun. "Yeah- sorry for intruding. I was just looking around." He said, placing the gun back.

"Oh it's alright, you're part of our group now. Anything that belongs to us, belongs to you." Richard said as he walked past Jax and grabbed 2 hammers. "Now how about you help me set up a fence around the cabin, just to keep the biters away." He said, handing a hammer to Jax.

"Sure." Jax said. "Just give me a minute." He said as Richard walked out.

He watched as he walked out of the garage. He picked up the shotgun and the ammo, bringing it out into the woods, not too far from the cabin, burying it under some leaves and sticks next to a tree. He took out his knife and marked the tree, as he walked back to the garage, taking the hammer and meeting Richard back at the cabin.