𝙴𝙿𝙸𝚂𝙾𝙳𝙴 𝚂𝙸𝚇 - 𝚆𝙷𝙰𝚃𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚁
𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙽𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝙼𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐
The camp was left shaken up after the attack of walkers the night before. No-one slept a wink. Everyone was on edge with their guard up. Andrea had spent the entire night sitting by her dead sister's body. Madelyn was still covered in blood from head to toe.
"You did pretty good last night." Shane said.
"I spent two weeks alone in the city before I found Rick." Madelyn said. "You don't survive that long without protecting yourself, killing walkers."
"I think you'll be valuable for us." Shane said. "Although I sensed you were angry last night."
Of course Madelyn was angry. Walkers reminded her of Landon. "They attacked camp. They killed Amy. Of course I was angry." Madelyn said as she watched Glenn and T-Dog burn the walker bodies.
"Will she still not move?" Rick asked as he approached the group, referring to Andrea.
"I tried to talk to her. She wouldn't say a word." Lori said. "She's been there all night. What shall we do?"
"We can't just leave Amy like that. We need to deal with it same as the others." Shane said.
"Just give Andrea some time." Madelyn said. "Amy was her sister. She'll understand."
Rick nodded. "I'll let her know." Everyone watched as Rick approached Andrea, only for her to pull a gun out on him, making him back away. "We'll have to wait."
"Y'all can't be serious. Let that girl hamstring us?" Daryl asked. "The dead girl's a time bomb."
"What do you suggest?" Rick asked.
"Take the shot." Daryl said. "Clean, in the brain from here. Hell, I can hit a turkey between the eyes from this distance."
"No, for god's sake, let her be." Lori said.
Daryl looked at everyone before looking at Madelyn who nodded. He scoffed and left.
"Daryl, wait." Madelyn said, going after him.
"What?" Daryl asked, stopping in his tracks.
"I just...I wanted to say thank you. For last night. That walker...it would have gotten me if it weren't for you." Madelyn said, making Daryl's eyes soften slightly. He looked confused, like he didn't know what to say.
"Whatever." He mumbled, making Madelyn chuckle slightly. Just as Madelyn thought she'd see a smile from him, they heard something.
"A walker got him. A walker bit Jim." Jacqui said, grabbing everybody's attention.
"I'm okay." Jim said.
"Show it to us." Daryl said as Jim grabbed a shovel.
"Jim, put it down!" Shane said as T-Dog quickly grabbed him from behind, making Jim drop the shovel. Daryl went over to him and pulled up Jim's shirt, revealing a walker bite on his ribs.
"I'm okay, I'm okay, I'm okay." Jim mumbled as he panted.
"I say we put a pickaxe in his head and the dead girl's and be done with it." Daryl said once the group came together to figure out what to do.
"Is that what you'd want if it were you?" Shane asked him.
"Yeah, and I'd thank you while you did it." Daryl said like it was the most obvious thing in the world, making Madelyn roll her eyes in amusement.
"I hate to say it, I never thought I would, but maybe Daryl's right." Dale said.
"Jim's not a monster, Dale, or some rabid dog." Rick said. "He's sick. A sick man. We start down that road. Where do we draw the line?"
"The line's pretty clear. Zero tolerance for walkers, or them to be." Daryl said.
"I have to agree with Daryl. There's nothing we can do to treat a walker bite. There's no cure, no medication that'll help him. We'd be cruel not to end his suffering." Madelyn said, earning a nod of approval from Daryl.
"That's where I think you're wrong, Madelyn." Rick said. "I heard the CDC was working on a cure."
"I heard that, too. Heard a lot of things before the world went to hell." Shane said.
"What if the CDC is still up and running?" Rick asked.
"Man, that is a stretch right there." Shane said.
"Why?" Rick asked. "If there's any government left, any structure at all, they'd protect the CDC at all costs, wouldn't they? I think it's our best shot. Shelter, protection-"
"Okay, Rick, you want those things, alright? I do, too, okay?" Shane said. "Now, if they exist, they're at the army base. Fort Benning."
"That a hundred miles in the opposite direction." Lori said.
"That is right. But it's away from the hot zone." Shane said. "If that place is operational, it'll be heavily armed. We'll be safe there."
"The military were on the front lines of this thing. They got overrun. We've all seen that." Rick said. "The CDC is our best choice and Jim's only chance."
"You go looking for aspirin, do what you need to do. Someone needs to have some balls to take care of this damn problem!" Daryl yelled, going to attack Jim with a pickaxe but Rick pulled a gun on him, making him stop.
"We don't kill the living." Rick said.
"That's funny coming from a man who just put a gun to my head." Daryl said.
"We may disagree on some things but not on this. You put it down." Shane said.
"Daryl, maybe this CDC thing will work out. If there's a chance, we gotta take it." Madelyn said.
"Put the pickaxe down, Daryl." Shane said. Daryl sighed and dropped the axe before stomping away.
🧟♀️ 🧟🧟♀️ 🧟
After deciding to go to Fort Benning, everyone got in their vehicles and pretty soon, they were on the road but not for long because the RV had broken down.
"Jim, it's bad. I don't think he can take anymore." Jacqui said.
"I'll talk to him." Madelyn said. She got into the RV where she saw Jim laying with his stomach bandaged. "We'll be back on the road soon, Jim. Just hang on a little longer." She said as she sat by his side. Madelyn felt terrible for Jim. She couldn't begin to imagine how he felt.
"Oh no. My bones...my bones are like glass." Jim said. "Every little bump...god, this ride is killing me. Leave me here. I'm done. Just leave me. I wanna be with my family."
"They're all dead." Madelyn said. "This is the fever talking."
"I know but I know what I'm talking about. Everything is clear to me. In five minutes, it may not be." Jim said. "I know what I'm asking, Madelyn. I want this. Leave me here. That's on me. My decision."
Madelyn sighed and nodded, squeezing his hand before going to inform the others. "That's what he wants."
"And he's lucid?" Carol asked.
"I think he is." Madelyn said.
"Back at the camp when I said Daryl might be right and Rick shut me down, he misunderstood." Dale said. "I would never go along with callously killing a man. I was just gonna suggest that we ask Jim what he wants and I think we have an answer."
"We just leave him here? We just take off?" Shane asked. "Man, I'm not sure I could live with that."
"Well, it's not our call anymore." Rick said. Shane nodded and he and Rick helped get Jim out of the RV where they had him rested against a tree. Jim's fever was only getting worse.
"Jim, you know it doesn't need to be like this." Shane said.
"No, it's good." Jim said. "The breeze feels nice."
"Jim, do you want this?" Rick asked, holding out a handgun.
"No." Jim said. "You'll need it. I'm okay."
Madelyn sighed and went over to Jim, crouching in front of him. "You sacrificed yourself to defend the camp, to defend us...and we'll never forget that. We'll never forget what you did for us. Thank you, Jim." Madelyn said, rubbing Jim's hand, making Jim smile weakly as he sweated. Daryl watched Madelyn and couldn't help but notice she was a good person. She was kind and caring and she was damn good at defending everyone and protecting herself and Daryl liked that.
Everyone else said their goodbyes before getting into their vehicles and driving away. Madelyn sighed to herself. If leaving a man to die like that was hard, she couldn't imagine what was still to come.