E D I T E D
«Jasmin»
"God, it's getting dark. Why aren't they back yet?" I asked worriedly.
"Jasmin, calm down. They probably just got held up somewhere." Dale said. I shook my head.
"They left hours ago, dale. Daryl and them can deal with something quicker than that! And now lori's gone looking for them and who knows where she is! Oh, and now Shane's gonna look I for Lori so that makes six people missing!" I said. Daryl, Rick, and Glenn all went out to find Hershel, who had run off after the incident at the barn. Lori got worried and snuck off to find them, which made Shane leave to find her.
"They're gonna be fine. Have a little hope." He said. I sighed and plopped onto the couch, brushing hair out of my face and silently telling myself to calm down. It was silent for a long time.
"I miss my phone." I said for no reason. "It was a really old flip phone that Merle gave to me." I laughed. "It wasn't much but they wanted me to be able to contact them whenever they weren't home. They worried about me." I smiled. "I'm not sure why," I lied. "But they did."
"You and Daryl seem to have such a close bond. It seems unbreakable." Dale said. I smiled.
"All three of us do. Merle was usually gone doing whatever it was that Merle did, so that usually left me and Daryl together. We were inseparable. I don't know why, though. We can be so different at times. . . But also exactly the same." I said. "Merle can be an asshole, though. Daryl and I are just closer for some reason."
"If it wasn't for the age difference, I woulda guessed you two were twins. I've noticed that much." Dale said. I smiled.
"Do. . ." I stopped smiling. "Do you think we're gonna find Merle? I feels so wrong not looking for him."
"We just can't find the time anymore. We all know he's alive, Jasmin." Dale tried to comfort me.
"We don't even know the time anymore." I chuckled. "Don't you find that weird? All hell breaks loose and people start dying and going missing, you don't even know what day it is. Or even the month. . . You just don't know anymore. Maybe if I had a watch or something, but. . ." I trailed off. "What am I even talking about?" I laughed, shaking my head. Dale laughed, too.
"I've got a pocket watch. Here, you have it." Dale said, taking out a silver pocket watch on a chain. "Still works. I don't have any use for it." He said, putting it in my hands.
"Are you sure? I don't--"
"Seriously, Jasmin. Take the damn watch." He laughed. I smiled and put it in my sweater pocket.
"Thank you." I said. He smiled and nodded, standing up and walking away. I looked at the time. 8:16pm.
I looked out the window and a car pulled up.
"Is that them?!" I asked Patricia, who was walking to the window too.
"I hope so. . . No. It's not. The others took the truck." She sighed. We walked out and saw Shane and Lori. Lori was all bruised and beat up.
"What happened?" I asked.
"Little miss 'I Can Go Looking For Them Myself', here got herself in a car accident." Shane said. Lori rolled her eyes. Carl ran up to Lori and hugged her.
"Did you guys see the others?" I asked.
"Wh--Shane said they were back. . ." Lori said, glaring at Shane.
"Oh. . ." I put my hands on my forehead and walked back into the house. I took a deep breath.
"They'll be back." Carl said. I turned around and nodded.
"Yea. . ." I whispered. "They will. Your dad. Glenn, Hershel, Daryl. They'll all be back soon." I said, telling myself more than him. He nodded.
"Can we go look for them?" He asked.
"Did you see what happened to your mom when she went to look for them? We can't do that, Carl. I'm also not exactly the best driver ever." I told him.
"But you drove to the store for runs by yourself. How is this different?" He asked. I sighed.
"Because it was light out and I knew where I was going. It's dark and I don't know where they are. Trust me, I really want to, but I can't. Sorry." I said. He nodded.
"Okay." He said quietly.
"Okay. Did you eat anything today?" I asked. He nodded. "Are you hungry?" I asked.
"Yea." He nodded. I nodded and walked into the kitchen. I tossed him a granola bar and took one for myself. I decided to grab one more and we walked outside.
"Hey, T!" I shouted. He looked back at me and I tossed him a granola bar.
"Thanks!" He shouted. I smiled.
***
I woke up alone in my tent.
"Still not back?" I asked out loud to myself. I stood up and walked outside, fixing my hair as I walked to the fire where everyone was cooking and eating breakfast.
"Hey, Jasmin." Carol smiled.
"Hey. What's on the menu today?" I asked, sitting against a tree by the fire.
"Eggs and bacon." She smiled.
"Yum." I chuckled. She passed me a plate and I began eating.
"They aren't back yet?" I asked. Lori sighed.
"Nope." She said. I nodded, looking down at my food, suddenly not as hungry.
"Jasmin! Mom said that dad's gonna teach me how to shoot when he gets back!" Carl said, running up to me.
"Woah, cool, buddy!" I laughed, giving him a high-five. He sat down beside me and ate his eggs.
"What, no bacon?" I asked. He made a grossed out face and shook his head.
"Ew no." He said.
"What?! Bacon is amazing!" I said, earning a chuckle from him. I laughed and ate a few bites of my breakfast. I heard tires approach the farm.
"That's them!" Carl said. I quickly stood up as everyone got out of the car. Carl and Lori hugged rick, Maggie hugged Glenn, Hershel walked over to Patricia and told her something.
"Daryl?" I asked.
"Right here, Jas." he said, getting out of the truck. I smiled and ran to him, hugging him.
"Why'd you guys take so long?" I asked, relieved tears in my eyes.
"Who the hell is that?!" T-dog asked, pointing to a man blindfolded inside of the truck.
"That's Randall." Glenn said and walked away.
***
"We couldn't just leave him behind. He would have bled out. If the lived that long." Rick said to all of us sitting in the dining room.
"So what're we gonna do?" Andrea asked. I heard the door close and Daryl walked in.
"Hershel's gonna fix up his leg and we're gonna send him off." Rick replied.
"What? He knows where we are, rick. How many people were out there? You killed three of their men and you took one hostage and you think they aren't gonna look for us?" Shane asked.
"You killed people?" I asked quietly, feeling like I was gonna puke.
"We blindfolded him the whole way. He doesn't know where we are. Man, they left him for dead!" Rick argued.
"Daryl, can we leave. Please?" I whispered.
"You know, I'm gonna go get him some candy and flowers! Wait for his people to come attack!" Shane yelled.
"Killing people doesn't stop your problems. We don't decide that." I said. He looked at me and chuckled, shaking his head. He walked out the door, slamming it behind him.
Everyone walked out of the house.
"Daryl, stop." I said. He stopped walking and turned around. "You guys killed three people?" I asked. He sighed,
"They attacked us, Jas." he said.
"And you just had to kill them so you didn't have to deal with them?" I asked, the sick feeling returning. He shook his head.
"Either that or we died." He said. I looked blankly at the floor. "Jas, please--" He tried to grab me but I backed away, not looking at him.
"Just-- don't." I said quietly, quickly walking past him.
I covered my mouth and quickly made my way over to our campsite. I sat down against the well and felt tears roll down my cheeks.
Splashing from inside the well caught my attention and I paused. I stood up, looking into the well and gasping.
inside was a huge bloated walker, swimming around in our water supply.
***
"Come on, nothing's gonna happen to you." Glenn said as he tied rope around me.
"No, no, no. I'm not going down there to a rope around that walker. No." I said.
"Yea, that's not gonna happen." Daryl said. I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact that he killed a man and kidnapped a kid my age, but I wasn't activley ignoring him at this point.
"Guys, it's alright. We'll be holding onto the rope. And she's as light as a feather, anyways." Rick said.
"So nobody else cares that I'm gonna be lowered into that small well with a walker? Oh, why don't you just call me walkerbait from now on?!" I said sarcastically.
"Oh, one piece of advice. I'd keep your legs up. Don't want that walker bringing you down with him, walkerbait." Glenn said. I slapped his arm as he walked off.
Glenn, Shane, Lori, Andrea, Daryl, dale, t-dog and Maggie are all gonna lower me into this well, so that I can tie a rope around this 'well walker' so that they can bring it up. As much as I protested, I'm being the one lowered because I'm the lightest. The rest of the group is gonna watch just incase anyone needs any help.
"God, this sucks." I mumbled as I sat at the edge of the well.
"Hey, Jas, Be careful, Alright?" Daryl said. I looked at him and sighed before nodding. I hopped down until I was hanging from the edge. They lowered me down the well.
"Tell me again why I was chosen for this!" I shouted.
"You weigh the least out of all of us!" Shane yelled back. I groaned.
I heard the walker moans and I looked down. The 'well walker' was reaching out for me.
"Guys, let me up. . ." I shouted. I threw the rope around it. They began to lift me back up, when the walker grabbed onto my ankle.
"Guys!" I screamed.
"What is it?!" Dale shouted down to me.
"It's got my leg! Bring me back up!" I shouted.
"Hang on, Jas!" Daryl shouted. They struggled to bring me back up. I kicked the walkers hands and it let me go long enough for me to move my legs. I looked up and shouted out for them to hurry up.
I eventually got up and out of the well. I gave t-dog the rope and rolled onto my back, gasping for air.
"Never ask me to do anything ever again." I said, breathing heavily.
"No promises, walkerbait." Glenn huffed, struggling to pull the fat walker up. I rolled over and stood up, helping them pull it up. We saw the walker reach the edge of the well. We all stopped and caught our breath.
We saw the walker tear in half from the rope down.(the rope was mid-stomach).
"No, no, no." We all shouted. The lower half of its body fell down the well. Everyone groaned.
"God, I think I'm gonna puke." I said.
"Go ahead." T-dog breathed.
The walkers insides splashed into the water as more fell from its stomach. Shane stabbed the walker in the head. I turned around and threw up. Lori pated my back and I waved her away.
"God, sorry." I mumbled, standing up straight and wiping my mouth.
"Don't be, walkerbait." Glenn said.
"Okay, shut the hell up." I said, walking up to him. Daryl grabbed my arm, stopping me from doing anything.
"We're gonna need another water source." T-dog sighed, looking at the well.
"Yea," I breathed. "No kidding."