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𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐕𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍
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CHAPTER TEN: ' So Maybe I'm Not Okay '
| SEASON ONE : EPISODE THREE |
Tell It To The Frogs
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* THIRD PERSON *
━━━━━ THE NEXT MORNING Glenn woke up with Maricileo wrapped up in his arms. Their bodies were sweating with the heat Atlanta had gifted them but it somehow didn't bother him. Instead, he watched her as she slept peacefully and he smiled at the sight.
He wouldn't have ever in a million years thought he'd care so much about another person as he did her and it made him feel like things were finally going to get better.
He leaned down and placed a kiss on her head before getting up to silently get ready and do some chores while he let her sleep some more.
Amy, from her spot, watched with amused-filled eyes as she watched Glenn exit her best friend's tent.
She knew that they were fooling around while the others were oblivious to it because they thought that the both of them were just close friends who liked each other but she knew a lot more than all of them and it made her smile.
Amy quickly turned a blind eye and continued doing her chores.
"You seen Marie? Is she even awake?" Shane asked as he walked up to Glenn making him flinch and turn to look at him.
Glenn shook his head and awkwardly ran a hand through his raven black locks before putting on his signature hat. "No... why?" He questioned quickly and defensibly.
He knew Shane was pushing her too hard with chores and just basically everything else which made him mad. All of them in that camp knew she was dealing with something but some of them didn't seem to care.
They only cared about all of things she knew. Marie knew what plants were edible, and which ones were not, She knew how to purify water, and fish and she knew how to hunt. They all needed her.
Which irritated him even more because they were using her. They didn't actually give a shit about her or maybe he was wrong. Maybe they did give a shit about her... They just didn't show it and their actions didn't indicate any of it.
Shane looked over to the tent and frowned, "She's been sleeping too much and has been skipping training with me."
"She was pretty much up all night crying and didn't fall asleep until the crack of dawn just let her sleep in this time." He admitted although he knew he didn't have to. But he was right.
Shane sighed and nodded in understanding, "She cares about you... not only that but she cares about all of you..." He trailed off before continuing. "She socked me in the face yesterday because I wouldn't let her take my car and go help, you guys."
This surprised Glenn but not at all at the same time. When they first met Marie. She was aggressive and knew how to handle herself against the geeks but after her injury, something changed within her.
She became an emotional person and had breakdowns a lot. They assumed it was because of PTSD.
Or it could've been something else like her being taken in by a group after being on her own for a while.
Now she was surrounded by people she cared for, by people she could lose any day or minute now.
They also assumed it made something in her snap, made her question whether she wanted to live and find out that pain for herself and If she wanted to even experience any of it.
"Do you blame her?" Glenn questioned the older man who just shook his head and chuckled slightly.
"No, I don't. I would've punched me in the face too..." Shane admitted honestly. He knew that he himself was an asshole.
He then stared at Glenn for a few before speaking, "She's broken, Glenn. And it's making it hard on us all... you of all people should know that." Shane admits sadly causing Glenn to shake his head, disagreeing with him.
"She's not broken... she's just going through something."
Shane sighed and placed a hand on Glenn's shoulder, "She needs to get her shit together or she'll bring of all us down with her." He declared harshly.
"She has forgotten how dangerous it is out there and she won't fight. She will get herself killed if we don't push her to get over it."
Glenn backed up a little, his face scrunched up in disbelief.
Shane was trying to get a point across that all of them knew but he cared too much about Marie to let him talk about her like that.
"She won't get herself killed. She will get through it and it has to be her, we can't push her to overcome whatever the hell happened to her, she has to do it by herself and she will!" Glenn harshly said before walking away, glaring at the ground.
Shane cared about Marie but Glenn wondered why he was so fixated on trying to get her to protect herself.
He tried to train her with guns. Tried to get the Dixons to teach her to hunt even more than she knew how to.
Shane even tried to teach her everything she already knew all over again because she didn't want to fight anymore. And Glenn himself knew it was too much.
~
By now Marie was already up and dressed, her eyes landing on Glenn's who somehow managed to get none of his chores done because of Shane himself as she exited her tent.
She watched him with a smile that quickly dropped because she quickly noticed his expression was a combination of anger and irritation so she didn't say a thing.
She just let him walk off to cool down before she would go after him.
"Shane's fault." Her best friend Amy uttered her way making her snap her head to the side to look at her.
"What?" Marie questioned, narrowing her eyes in confusion as she stopped beside her.
"Andrea heard Shane talking about you to him, something about getting you to fight your battles because he thinks you'll get yourself killed... Glenn didn't take it well and told him to fuck off basically..." Amy trailed off making Maricielo frown.
Fight my battles? Her eyes watered. They all thought she was weak and she hated it.
But, She figured they were worried and afraid she was going to try and kill herself if they didn't keep an eye on her or worse, get all of them killed when it came down to protecting her.
But she wouldn't. She herself knew she wouldn't, but in their defense, it wasn't that she hadn't considered it or had thought of committing such an act in the past.
But it was reasonable. She had gone through enough shit to be anything but okay.
After New York fell, after Atlanta fell, after the bombs hit, after her mom and siblings died, she was alone and terrified, so of course, there was a moment when she thought about opting out.
She even thought about it that day she fell off the hill and landed at the bottom, injured with the zombies right on her trail. Her thoughts were to give up and let them have a happy meal.
But the point was she didn't. She fucking didn't, she fought back, protected herself, protected Carl and Sophia.
Not only that but she made her goddamn choice, and it was to survive. She wanted to survive. She wanted to live so she was here now. But, Nobody seemed to understand that.
"I'm not going to fucking get myself killed." She spat and then she rushed off in the direction she saw Glenn going.
Then a scream suddenly ripped through the forest, stirring up the birds and halting her in her place. "MOM!"
Her heart started beating quickly as she whipped around for the source of the scream, and was met with only more crying and yelling. It was Carl and Sophia.
Adrenaline hit her as she grabbed the closet thing nearby, which was Daryl's hunting knife that was left behind by his tent and she immediately took off in the direction of the screams.
"CARL!?" She shouted as other voices did as well.
"CARL!? SOPHIA?!" She shouted again but this time she heard a frantic callback, "MARIE?!" It was Sophia which made her heart pound faster and faster.
She ran and could hear Lori, Shane, Jim, and the others scream for the kids as she ducked under a rope with cans tied along the trees.
"Marie!"
She immediately was crashed into by Sophia and Carl, who wrapped their small frail arms around her body and clung to her tightly. "Marie!" They cried.
"Are you okay?" She nearly cried as she responded, and then she saw it when they both replied with nothing but cries.
The clearing ahead of them, laid the body of a dead deer with its neck ripped open.
And a walker was leaning over it, eating away at its flesh as the other walker seemed to have its full attention on them due to their screaming.
"Move!" She screamed with wide eyes. She was scared, "Behind me the both of you now!" She didn't mean to sound so harsh and didn't mean to yell at them but she couldn't help it as Jacqui rushed to take them away.
Carl and Sophia had disobeyed her and their parents again and now she had to protect them. Again.
She gulped, tears filling her eyes as the dead milky eyes of the walker stared back at her.
Marie knew she had to do it. She had to pull her shit together. And with a harsh intake of air, she talked forward, lifting a leg as the walker inched closer her way. She had decided it was enough.
It growled its bloodied mouth the minute her foot connected with its chest, its frail body getting knocked down onto the dirt ground before she let out a scream of anger, bringing down the hunting knife with both hands, stabbing it in the head.
Blood splattered everywhere, hitting her hands, bare legs, and face as she pulled her knife out and moved to rush forward toward the other walker.
"Marie!" She flinched at the call of her name, stopping in her place as Rick and Shane rushed her way, followed by Glenn, T-dog, Dale, Jim, and Morales. All of them carrying weapons.
Glenn was in front of her before she could comprehend anything else with Daryl's now bloodied hunting knife still clutched in her hand.
He immediately notices the blood on her body along with Shane and the others, "What happened?!" Glenn yelled out, eyes wide.
"Are you okay?! Did it get you? Did you get bit?" She doesn't answer him and ignores the looks everybody is giving her.
"Hijo de puta!." She spat down at the Walker. 'Son of a bitch.'
"It tried getting to Carl and Sophia." She got out, and they stared down at the walker she killed before rushing after her as she quickly made her way toward the other one.
"Marie! Slow down! Let us handle this!" Rick yelled but quickly shut up as they began to watch it.
"Look!" She pointed at the walker which was digging into the deer's neck and bringing bloody flesh and muscle into its rotted mouth.
Marie gulped, gripped the knife tighter and stood watching in pure anger and disgust as she noticed Daryl's arrow sticking out of the dear as the rest of them encircled the walker with their weapons held high.
It slowly growled and climbed to its feet to face them, they had now grabbed its full attention and it roared a low, guttural sound as it laid its eyes on Rick before charging forward.
"Mierda!" She yelled out and reacted in pure instinct. She lifted the hunting knife and landed a kick to its chest knocking it away from Rick. 'Shit!'
"Woah! Stay back!" Shane yelled, rushing to grab her arm as the walker began to get back up.
She yelped, nearly cutting him as she moved to put it down but he had already pulled her out of the way and behind him.
"Are you crazy!" Marie shouted, pushing him away as Amy rushed to pull her back. "Asshole." She snarled in his way before looking at her best friend.
"I had it." She told Amy who nodded, "He's a dick." Amy responded and they watched as Rick then smacked the walker to the ground with one swing of his shovel and then all hell broke loose which shocked them, including Andrea.
"Great. Our heroes." She spat as the men began beating the walker all over its decaying body with their weapons.
And she watched in complete disappointment. It was as if they didn't know the walkers stop if you got the brain.
She removed herself from Amy's grip and rushed forward, "It's the fucking brain!" She snarled and Finally, with a swing of his axe down Dale chopped off the walker's head.
Marie stilled as it rolled over the ground, and the body collapsed on top of the deer with a sickening squelch.
Without another thought, she looked away and at the group who were already watching her.
"What?!" Marie hissed out. Her mouth was pulled in a tight line and her eyebrows were farrowed in anger.
"You okay?" It's dale's turn to ask her but she doesn't answer him.
Flabbergasted, Marie just stares at all of them and glares. "I want to know what kind of misogynistic shit was that! sexistas! hijo de putas yo tenía esa mierda!" 'Sexist son of a bitches, I had that shit'
They all stared wide-eyed at her, especially Rick because he didn't understand what was happening or what she was saying,
What?" Shane asked but then shook his head when Morales uttered, "You do not want to know." His way.
Marie sighed, and placed her hands on her hips after they all looked around and scanned the area for more walkers.
"We haven't had zombies up here since... well me." She spoke which caused Dale to nod.
"She's right. They never come this far up the mountain." He let it be known.
Jim shrugged, "Well, they're running out of food in the city that's what." He says as they all inhaled sharply at his assumption.
But it wasn't just an assumption. He was right. It was a matter of time before the zombies all began to make their way out of the city.
Marie then pointed at the deer with the hand she held the hunting knife in and cleared her throat, "That's one of Daryl's arrows... he was hunting this deer." Rick looked her way.
"How do you know? Did you see him?" He asked which made her smirk as a twig snapped behind a large tree on the other side of the clearing.
Everyone aimed their weapons into the thick forest as she didn't seem to seem fazed by the sound.
"No. But I bet you that's him right now." Marie replied and stepped forward only slightly to get a closer look while everyone watched and waited in anticipation.
She sighed as she tilted her head to the side, seeing Shane's finger twitching against the trigger as he waited for anything either than Daryl to come into view. But nothing came.
Only, Daryl, and he stepped out from behind the tree only to come face to face with everyone's weapons.
Daryl stopped in his tracks, staring at them all with raised eyebrows as Marie gave them a knowing smile.
"What the hell?" He asked, his voice raspy as he glanced around.
"Oh, Jesus," Shane muttered and lowered shotgun with a scoff, thankful that he hadn't pulled the trigger.
"Son of a bitch," Daryl then exclaimed as he walked his way into the clearing.
He came to stop and stared at the carcass on the ground before glaring down at it as Marie had done long moments before, "That's my deer!"
"Look at it," He hissed, "All gnawed on by this... filthy," He began kicking the walker's dead body, "Disease-bearing," more kicking, "Motherless," Another kick, "Poxy bastard!" One last kick.
She watched with amused eyes as he stared at the deer in disgust.
"Calm down, son," Dale sighed deeply, "That's not helping." He called at the red neck who then spun his way with a hard look on his face.
"What do you know about it, old man?" Daryl shouted and advanced towards Dale angrily.
"Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to 'On Golden Pond?" He snarled causing Marie to rush forward and grab the back of his shirt, immediately pulling him away from Dale with strength.
There was a tearing sound as she swerved him around and glared at him. "Don't be a dick." She warned making him lift an eyebrow and shake his head at her.
She was the only person besides his brother that could touch him and get away with it.
"I've been tracking this deer for miles," Daryl moved away from them and began yanking his arrows out of the animal's carcass before wiping the blood left on it on the side of his pants.
"I was gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison." He added.
"What do you think? You think we can cut around this chewed-up part right here?" Daryl then pointed to the ripped and bloody area of the neck before looking back at them.
Marie shook her head. "Nope." She denied.
"I would not risk that," Shane agreed as Daryl sighed heavily.
"That's a damn shame." Daryl uttered still looking down at the deer with longing eyes.
Marie then gulped as she noticed Rick staring at Daryl. They hadn't met. But he knew he was Merle's brother and there was still a problem they had to take care of.
She was on edge, Daryl didn't know about Merle, and now that he was in a bad mood she was hoping to god nobody but her would get to reveal the bad news to him.
"Got us some squirrel." She looked away as Daryl pointed to a rope hanging off his shoulder, where at least ten dead squirrels hung by their necks.
"About a dozen or so. That'll have to do." He said as they all continued staring at him.
Then the walker's head on the ground suddenly began twitching and snarling.
Its bloodied teeth snapped in her direction a mere few inches from her feet and she sighed out loudly, moving over to end it but Daryl grabbed her arm and pulled her away.
"Oh god," Amy said as Andrea quickly dragged her away. "Disgusting."
"Come on, people, what the hell?" Daryl then loaded his crossbow and aimed it directly at the walker's eye socket, sending a spray of blood down the side of its face and across the forest floor.
He lifted and braced his foot against the head and yanked out his arrow. "It's gotta be the brain. Don't y'all know nothin'?"
As he walked out of the clearing with his squirrels in hand, he pointed in Marie's way with the arrow and shook his head, "You definitely know better." He told her before continuing on his way towards the camp as they all followed him nervously.
"Tell it to the men who tried beating it to death." She calls as she hands him back his hunting knife. He grabs it, lifting an eyebrow before looking around for Merle.
"Merle!" He calls but gets nothing in return, he continues walking, "Merle! Get your ugly ass out here! I got us some squirrel! Let's stew 'em up."
Shane motioned for Marie to halt but she didn't as she shook her head at all of them. "Daryl, just slow up a bit." He called but Marie quickly yelled, "I need to talk to you."
Daryl spun to look at her, his eyes narrowed as he saw the tension all of them had especially her. "About what?" He asked as she shifted on her legs.
"About Merle. There was a... There was a problem in Atlanta." She swallowed harshly as Shane came to stop beside her which she didn't even acknowledge as she uttered, "I'm sorry."
Daryl glanced around before looking back at her, "He dead?" He asked which caused her lips to part but Shane being Shane beat her to it. "We're not sure." He denied.
Daryl raised his voice, "He either is or he ain't!" Shane sighed, and before Marie could speak to calm him down she is interrupted by Rick, who steps into the clearing beside his old partner and her.
"There's no easy way to say this, so I'll just say it." He started off.
Daryl glanced over at Rick and narrowed his eyebrows, "Who are you?"
"Rick Grimes." Rick replied to which Daryl nodded his head.
"Rick Grimes." Daryl mocked his tone of voice with a shake of his head, "You got somethin' you wanna tell me?" He asked.
"Your brother was a danger to us all," Rick told him, "So, I handcuffed him to a roof, and hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there." He added.
"Hold on." Daryl said as he turned, "Let me process this." He wiped his sweaty forehead and jerked back towards them.
"You're saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof ... and you left him there?!" He yelled causing Marie to frown. His voice was cracking.
Rick nodded, "Yeah." He admitted. Daryl took a few deep breaths in, tears in his eyes visible as he then threw his rope of squirrels at Rick.
"Daryl!" She yelled out in shock before Shane shoved her out of the way and tackled him.
She landed on the ground and felt rage rise in her as arms immediately pulled her up, "You good?" T-dog asked from somewhere behind her as Glenn held her up.
Nodding her head she steadied herself and lifted her head as Daryl pulled out a his hunting knife and got up.
"Watch the knife!" T-dog warned and Glenn pulled her away from them.
"You dumbasses!" She hissed and ran a hand through her hair in distress as she watched hell unleash for the second time that day. They should've just let her do the talking.
"Hey." Glenn uttered, rubbing her back, "Calm down."
She sighed as Daryl then began swinging his hunting knife at Rick once he was on his feet to which Rick easily dodged each time, and he and Shane worked together to disarm the man who was reacting solely on anger before forcing him to the ground.
"Stop!" She yelled as Shane held him in a tight chokehold.
"Okay! Okay!" Shane tried to calm down the man as Rick pointed her way and shook his head.
"Stay back, let us handle this!" He yelled pointing towards Glenn who moved to grab her again.
She gulped and watched as Daryl struggled in Shane's grip.
"You'd best let me go!" He yelled out to which Shane replied, "Nah, I think it's better if I don't." He grunted as Shane lowered him to the ground.
"Choke holds illegal!" He got out as he continued struggling.
"Yeah, you can file a complaint!" Shane yelled.
Rick crouched down in front of the redneck and sighed, "Come on, Man! We'll keep this up all day!" Shane yelled.
"I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic," Rick then said softly, " Do you think we can manage that?" He asked before adding, "You think we can manage that?" and Shane waited before releasing him.
Marie rushed forward and glared at them as Daryl let her grab at his red face before slapping her hands away with a frown.
"Shit!" She hissed when she noticed he almost was close to passing out and she watched as he pointed at them all in distraught.
He was only acting out of anger because they left his brother behind. He was being reasonable.
"What I did was not a whim." Rick told him as Daryl tried catching his breath, "Your brother does not work and play well with others." He let it be known truthfully but Daryl was still angry and was trying to ignore him.
"It's not Rick's fault," T-Dog spoke up. Everyone turned to look at him with wide eyes, especially her. "I had the key. I dropped it." He revealed sadly but nobody blamed him.
"You couldn't pick it up?" Daryl retorted, still on the ground, panting heavily. T-dog gulped.
"Well, dropped it in a drain." He explained and there was a long silence, as Daryl continued trying to catch his breath before he was able to pull himself up from the ground. Still angry.
"If that's supposed to make me feel better, it don't," He spat before looking at all of them.
"Maybe this will." T-dog added, "Look, I chained the door to the roof, so the geeks couldn't get at him. With a padlock." He ended as Rick tilted his head over at the redneck and said, "It's gotta count for something."
Daryl scoffed at them, "Hell with all y'all! Just tell me where he is," His voice cracked slightly, "So I can go get him."
Lori pursed her lips together and pushed herself up from the side of the RVs door, "He'll show you." She locked eyes with Rick, "Isn't that right?"
Rick nodded, looking around hesitantly as Marie began shaking her head in a pleading way. "I'm going back." Those three words had her sighing as Daryl rushed away.
She crossed her arms over her waist and she turned, beginning to rush away as well.
Yes, she felt bad for Daryl losing his brother and she felt for him. Because if she was in his shoes right now she would have killed Rick and T-dog if it was her brother but she couldn't help but think about everything more reasonably.
Sending their people and their weapons back into an overrun city to save a man who wouldn't give a single crap about their wellbeing wasn't exactly something they needed.
Especially for a man who wouldn't have gone back for any of them had it been him in their places instead of him being chained up to a pipe in the middle of the zombie-infested city.
Glenn rushed after her, following her into her tent. "Are you okay?" His eyes fill with surprise as he notices that she is not crying and that she's holding a straight face when she turns to look at him.
She nods but he just stands there in silence as if he was waiting for her to break. Marie exhaled. "So maybe I'm not okay?..." She trailed off.
"I've lost enough to never need another lesson on heartache again..." She tells him as he frowns down at her. She inhales a shaky breath and hugs him tightly, "Just come back." She says shakily before pulling away.
"I will," Glenn tells her and then leaps forward and kisses her hard, their lips meeting in a hard passionate kiss. It was sealing a promise that is not meant to be broken at all costs.