ACT TWO ; CHAPTER NINE
✎ . . . church bells
𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐂𝐀𝐌𝐄, 𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐌𝐀𝐃𝐄 the call that the group would go out looking for sophia today. they couldn't leave her out there for too long, she's just a kid. the group each got one of the weapons carl found in one of the cars yesterday. camila took a handgun and some ammo, along with her throwing blades that she had kept in her backpack.
cam glanced over at rick and lori who were arguing over wether or not carl should be able to go with the group or stay with dale and t-dog. "well he has all of you to look after him!" dale told the married couple. "plus, i'm sure camila will help take good care of him. he's in good hands." lori did not like to hear that.
carl turned to camila, giving her a small smile and a thumbs up. she remembered her talk with rick last night and she couldn't help but feel bad. "okay— fine. but stay within our sight the whole time, no exceptions." rick said after a moment of silence. carl cheered and thanked his dad.
the group began moving into the woods, leaving t-dog and dale behind. "camila wait one second!" the girl turned around to see dale walking over to her. "what's wrong?" she questioned. "please, be safe. i'd prefer you came back in one piece." camila smiled at the older man's concern. "always, dale!" dale pulled the girl in for a quick hug before she rushed off to catch up with the rest of the group. "and don't worry about charlotte, i'll make sure nothing will happen to her!" dale yelled after her.
though sometimes camila got annoyed over dale caring so much for her safety, deep down she truly appreciated him. since the beginning dale became almost like a father-figure to her and sort of like a grandfather to charlotte and for that she was greatful.
"shane look!" shane didn't even bother to look at whatever carl was trying to show him. "dad said i could carry it around if i—"
"keep it down! we're out here lookin' for sophia. you need to focus on the task." shane hissed. carl frowned and slowed his pace to walk
by his mother. camila shot shane a glare which he caught out of the corner of his eye. "spit it out."
"i can see that you love that kid. so why are you being a dick? you were fine at the quarry." she pointed out. shane only shrugged, "we're out here lookin' for sophia. besides, i don't know what you're talkin' about."
daryl stopped the group as he saw a tent up ahead, he instructed the others to stay quiet while him, camila, and rick checked the tent. daryl lifted the tent flap ever so slightly to peek inside with rick and camila just meters away from him. after daryl ducked his head out, he nodded to rick, letting him know he could get carol now. rick whispered something into carol's ear that camila couldn't quite understand but she got an idea once carol started calling out, "sophia? sophia baby, it's mommy! we're all here baby."
when nobody came out, camila and rick moved closer to daryl, holding out their weapons. as daryl unzipped the tent, camila diverted her gaze to the former cop. only to catch him already staring. the girl quickly turned back to daryl, following him into the tent. camila immediately brought her arm up to her nose, trying to block the horrid smell from filling her nostrils. "jesus," she coughed out. daryl moved in front of the chair that sat in the middle of the tent with camila close by his side while rick 'guarded' the entrance.
sat before the pair was a man who had seemingly shot himself, the rotting corpse was crawling with maggots and other insects. the smell of it was indescribable, almost worse than a walker.
daryl shook his head, "no sophia."
daryl and camila followed rick out of the tent empty-handed. carol gave daryl a hopeful look, "it ain't her."
"what's in there?" andrea asked curiously. "some guy. did what jenner said." daryl shrugged, "'opted out.' ain't that what he called it?"
suddenly, a church bell ringing loudly startled the group. camila looked around, wondering where the sound was coming from. rick nudged the girl and pointed to his left. the group took off in that direction, praying sophia was there.
the group arrived at the church, specifically in the back graveyard. "that can't be, got no steeple. no bells." shane announced. rick didn't listen and went ahead. "rick," glenn ran over to the side of the church, where there was a small cable box. glenn opened it and pulled the handle inside, making the bells stop ringing. "it's on a timer!" glenn called out.
everyone filed into the church, resting before they would continue their search. camila sat on one of the pews. after a few minutes of quiet, glenn sat down next to her. "hey cam," camila muttered a 'hey' in response. "you've been distant, what's wrong?"
"i dunno. i guess i'm just scared. after everyone we've lost— i'm scared that i'll lose you too. it's not just that, everyone dies, i know. but imagining you or charlotte as one of them.." glenn's heart broke for the girl. he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her closer. "you won't lose me. ever. i can promise you that. and you know i'll always help you look after charlotte."
the two sat in silence for a few minutes before they decided they should follow the rest of the group outside.
shane walked over to the group with his hands on his hips, "y'all gonna follow the creek bed back. okay? daryl and camila, you guys are in charge. me and rick, we're just gonna hang back, search this area for another hour or so. just to be thorough." shane instructed. "you're splittin' us up? you sure?" daryl voiced his concern.
"yeah, we'll catch up to you." shane replied.
"i want to stay too, i'm her friend!" carl interrupted. lori looked between shane and rick, pondering for a moment before she caved. "alright, but stay right where they can see you. okay? be safe." carl cheered and moved to stand by his dads side. "i'll be going back to the rv, okay? be careful please." glenn pointed a finger at the girl. "always am. don't do anything stupid, alright?" she replied.
"i won't make any promises," glenn said jokingly. camila pulled him in for a hug before
they said their goodbyes. rick attempted to give his gun to lori but she refused, saying that he needed it more. which only resulted in lori getting daryl's gun. andrea huffed in annoyance as dale wouldn't 'allow her' to have her gun. she was definitely jealous.
after everyone said goodbye, the two groups went their separate ways.
camila walked next to daryl as the pair led the group back towards the highway. daryl and cam were never exactly friends but since the cdc, they've warmed up to one another. daryl glanced over at camila multiple times but each time he opened his mouth, no words were able to escape. after the third time camila looked over at him, "whatever you wanna say just spit it out. i don't bite, daryl. unless you want me to of course." the brunette joked, playfully nudging daryl.
daryl chuckled at the girl before his features turned more serious, "andrea said somethin' about you freakin' out in the rv yesterday. said you were gonna let the walker bite ya. why?" camila's heart caught in her throat at the memory.
"it's gonna be okay. i won't leave you again. i'm so sorry."
the brunette shrugged, "i don't know what happened. i guess i just froze up." she lied. daryl knitted his brows together, he knew she was lying but he let it go. clearly she didn't want to talk about it.
camila closed her eyes for a moment as the group continued walking, a wave a tiredness washed over her. it wasn't surprising since she hardly slept at all last night. each time she tried to the scene from the rv replayed in her head. how come she had been so helpless? what if she slipped up like that again?
a few minutes of silence went by before the loud BANG! of a gun pierced the silent air. "the shot sounded near where shane, rick, and carl are." cam immediately pointed out, fear laced in her tone.
"what?!" lori exclaimed in a panic, "no, it must've been somethin' else. rick or shane wouldn't waste one bullet on one walker." daryl reassured the worried mother.
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𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐃 𝐒𝐎 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐂𝐊. andrea was knocked to the ground by a walker and just as it was about to have her as it's next meal, a brunette lady that looked to be in her mid-twenty's came riding on a horse out of nowhere, killing the walker in an instant. "holy shit!" camila exclaimed as the woman almost hit her.
"is there a lori grimes here?!" the woman called out, lori hesitantly stepped forward, "uhm— yes th— that's me." the mother stuttered. "we don't have much time. your boys been shot— my daddy's helping him but your husband needs you." lori wasted no time in hopping onto the horse.
the woman told the group where her family's farm was and instructed the group to go there in the morning. camila was weary on the idea of a total stranger just taking lori to some random farm. the group continued walking towards the highway, going faster now that they know carl is possibly in danger. if he really was shot, the group needed to get there fast.
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𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒 𝐅𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐃 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐎𝐋'𝐒 𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒, her voice wavering as she spoke. "i won't do it. we can't just leave." carol argued. dale shook his head with a sigh as he leaned against the open rv door, "carol, the group is split. we're scattered and weak." dale tried to reason with the fragile woman. "what if she comes back and we aren't here? it could happen." carol pushed.
andrea nodded in agreement, "if sophia found her way back and we were gone.. that would be awful." daryl nodded slowly. "okay, so we got to plan for this. i say tomorrow mornin' is soon enough to pull up stakes. give us a chance to rig a big sign, leave her some supplies. i'll hold here tonight, stay with the rv." daryl suggested.
dale sighed, "if the rv is staying, i am too." camila nodded, rubbing her hands together, "let's make it a party, i'll stay." carol gave a grateful nod, "thank you three," she said with a sad smile.
andrea and glenn agreed, both of them volunteering to stay behind as well. dale shook his head at glenn. "no, not you, glenn. you're going. take carol's cherokee." glenn scoffed, throwing his hands up in annoyance, "me? why is it always me?"
"you too, camila. you should go with glenn and take charlotte back with you. you have to find this farm, reconnect with out people, and see what's going on. but most important, you have to get t-dog there. this is not an option. that cut has gone from bad to worse. he has a very serious blood infection. get him to that farm. see if they have any antibiotics. because if not, t-dog will die, no joke." dale argued back. camila's eyes traveled over to t-dog who was leaning up against the front of the rv, looking as if he was in a different world. he was definitely pretty out of it.
daryl moved to his motorcycle, grabbing a rag that was hanging off the side of it and opening up a small black bag, pulling out a plastic baggy full of orange pill bottles. "keep your oily tags off my brother's motorcycle." he complained as he threw the rag at dale. "why'd you wait 'till now to say anything? got my brother's stash." daryl dug through the bag, "crystal, x, don't need that. got some kick ass painkillers. oxycycline. not the generic stuff neither. it's first class. merle got the clap on occasion." daryl tossed glenn the painkillers and camila the oxycycline before walking away. camila turned to glenn with raised brows.
"well then, i guess we better get going, pizzaboy."
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𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘 𝐇𝐀𝐃 finally arrived at the farm, the sun had long since set and darkness consumed the land. the second camila turned off the car, glenn and t-dog's doors immediately swung open. glenn helped charlotte out of the car before turned to help t-dog who was having trouble walking.
camila picked charlotte up, placing the toddler on her hip as she followed glenn and t-dog towards the front of the house. camila couldn't help but notice the porch steps which were covered in blood. "so, do we ring the bell?" glenn asked. "i mean it looks like people live here."
"we're past this kind of stuff, aren't we?" t-dog answered, starting up the steps. "having to be considerate."
camila jumped slightly and her, glenn, and t-dog quickly snapped their heads to the right as the sound of a woman's voice startled them. "did you close the gate up the road when you drove in?" it was hard to tell in the dark but camila guessed it was the same woman who had taken lori away from the group earlier. she sat in a white chair with her knees pulled up to her chest. "uh, hi. yes, we closed it. did the latch and everything." glenn said awkwardly. "hello, nice to see you again. we met before, briefly." he tried again.
"look, we came to help. there anything we can do?" t-dog asked before grunting in pain. the woman's eyes flickered down to the makeshift bandage covering t-dog's forearm. "it's not a bite. i cut myself pretty bad though." he quickly explained upon noticing the concerned look on the woman's face. "we'll have it looked at. i'll tell them you're here." she answered shortly, making her way towards the front door. "we have some painkillers and antibiotics. i already gave him some, if carl needs any." glenn held his hand out, holding the two orange pill bottles for the woman to take.
camila kept quiet, still keeping charlotte held closely to her. the woman glanced over at the mother, a small smile tugging at her lips before she pulled open the front door. "come on in, i'll make you guys something to eat." the woman offered.