"Claire," someone cooed in my ear. "Claire, baby wake up."
My eyes fluttered open, squinting as I adjusted to the light on my face. I frowned sitting up and noticing the trunk of the car was opened. I looked to Glenn, seeing him smile at me as I climbed out, resisting the urge to rub my tired eyes. I really needed a shower.
"Why'd we stop?" I asked, my voice groggily from just waking up. I didn't even remember falling asleep.
"Rick's outta gas," he answered.
He grabbed my hand, not caring at the dry blood that caked it. I shivered slightly, the cold winter air hitting me. I didn't have a jacket and this flannel I was in was not warm at all.
"You cold?" Glenn asked.
I shook my head, biting on my tongue to stop my chattering teeth. "Where is everybody else?" I asked confused.
"Over there," Glenn answered, walking over to the group that was in a circle.
"We're all infected," I heard Rick say as me and Glenn made it to them.
I froze. Infected. We're all infected. It was too easy to catch onto what Rick was talking about. That's why Randall turned even though he wasn't bit. I stared wide eyed at Rick, already catching onto what he was saying. There was no escape from this. Either way you become one of them things.
Look at yourself Claire. You tried to act like everything was fine once again after all that happened last night. Now look. Now you learn you're infected anyway. Ha. What a sick world this is.
"What?" Daryl asked confused.
I could feel my walls building up again. I could feel myself shut down again as reality caved in. There was no way out of this.
"At the C.D.C., Jenner told me," Rick explained. "Whatever it is, we all carry it.'
"And you never said anything?" Carol asked angrily. Everyone was on edge now.
"Would it have made a difference?"
"You knew this whole time?" Glenn accused.
"How could I know for sure," Rick defended. "You saw how crazy that moth-"
"This is not your call," Glenn hissed. "Okay, when I found out about the walkers in the barn, I told. For the good of everyone."
"Well I thought it best that people didn't know."
Rick looked to everyone in the group, daring them to say something before he walked off. I shook my head, wrapping my arms around myself as I shivered; from fear and the cold. I looked up with no emotion as Maggie placed her hand on my shoulder softly.
"There's a creek down there where we're staying," Maggie told me. "Go ahead and wash up and I'll bring you some clothes I can find."
I didn't say anything, just walked away from the group. I could see the looks they were giving me, only angering me. They all looked at me like they were afraid I would do something stupid. Maybe they could sense how fast my mood changed. Maybe I was just really scaring them.
I stripped my bloody clothes off of me once I got to the small little creak with a little waterfall. I was thankful that there was a stone wall behind me that covered me while I stood here naked, except for my bra and underwear. I braced myself as I got under the little waterfall, my teeth instantly chattering as my body felt like it was being placed into a ice machine. I tensed up, rubbing my hands over my body as I washed the blood off of me.
"I brought you some soap."
I shrieked, turning around as I tried to cover my freezing self with my hands as Glenn stood there with a container of soap. "Go away!" I yelled in embarrassment.
Glenn just chuckled, still holding out the bottle of soap to me. I snatched it from him, shooing him away with a hand motion. I bit down on my lip to stop my chattering teeth as Glenn only turned around and stayed. Idiot. I quickly washed up with the soap, stepping out of the water and looking down at my blue toes. Trying to wash up in this weather was not a good idea.
"Can you go get Maggie?" I asked him awkwardly, my teeth chattering with every word I spoke.
He only nodded his head before jogging off to the group. I wrapped my wet arms around my soaking wet body, shaking furiously from the cold. It felt good to have that blood off of me, but I'd much rather have to deal with the blood than frostbite. I sighed in relief as Maggie showed up, a couple of small washcloths in her hand.
"We don't have any towels, so these will have to do," She told me, handing me two small washcloths. I gave her a small smile in thanks, quickly getting to work on drying myself off. "I'll leave the clothes I found in the back of the station wagon here."
I nodded -Maggie setting the clothes down and heading back to the group. Once I was fully dried off, I pulled on the tight jeans, tying my belt that I previously had on with my knife in the sheath still, then the loose fitting tank top and the leather jacket that instantly warmed me up a bit. I tugged my boots on and tied my hair up into a messy bun.
Much better. I smiled halfheartedly as I walked from behind the stone wall that was covering me, seeing that Glenn left his shotgun leaning against it. Stupid boy. I chuckled, picking it up, and walking up to the group; trying my best to hide my limp as my leg felt like it was on fire.
Damned barb wire and swollen ankle.
I made my way back to the group, avoiding Hershel's stare at my leg. "Is your ankle swollen again?" He asked suddenly.
I nodded quickly, wanting to change the subject as several members of the group looked down at my leg. I held Glenn's shotgun out in front of me to grab -mentally cursing myself as I notice the blood from my leg start to sweep through my jeans.
"Where you bit?!" Daryl shouted.
I sighed,shaking my head. "I fell on the barbed fence back at the farm."
"What the hell Claire!"
I stared up angrily at Glenn: his outburst scaring me a bit, everyone else sharing concerned glances. "Don't yell at me," I sneered. "It's just little cuts. I wish you people would stop acting like I'm going to get myself killed!"
"Kid, you're always hurting yourself" Daryl exclaimed.
"Then don't worry about me!"
I turned around, throwing Glenn's shotgun on the ground loudly before stomping away furiously. I was fine. A few little cuts wasn't going to kill me. Hell I'm still alive and I'm still human. They shouldn't worry so much. There is no more kid stuff so getting physically hurt is kinda apart of that package. I don't know why they blow things so much out of proportion.
>>>>>
We all sat around the campfire quietly. It was an awkward silence. I don't know why everyone was on edge with what Rick said. It's just something we have to accept and they need to give him a little credit. He's trying as hard as he can. Being a leader of people who want to survive is hard. Without him, we'd all be dead.
I watched as the wood crackled in the fire, a blanket wrapped around me tightly to stop my chills from the night breeze. No one was saying anything and it was really starting to bug me. I took a sideways glance at Carol who sat besides me on the log, Daryl on the other side of me. I knew Glenn was watching me from across the fire but I didn't care. I don't want to be by him right now.
"We not safe with him," Carol whispered, leaning over me to look besides Daryl who tended to the fire. "Keeping something like that from us. Why do you need him? He's just going to pull you down."
Daryl shook his head, looking back at the fire. "No. Rick's done all right by me."
"You're his henchman," Carol continued, making me roll my tired eyes. "And I'm a burden. You deserve better."
"What do you want?"
"A man of honor," She answered.
"Rick has honor," I spoke up, sick of Carol's complaining. "He's kept us all alive this whole time and you people don't want to give him any credit for that. You try being a damn leader of a group of people who always second guess you and don't trust you." I stood up angrily, ignoring the looks I was given from my outburst. The blanket fell to the ground as I walked over to T-Dog.
"I think we should take our chances," Maggie whispered as I walked past her and Glenn.
"Go ahead, see if you make it out there alone," I spat, staring down at her angrily.
She looked up at me confused, most likely not understanding why I was sticking up for Rick. "Claire we'd be better off out there on our own," She tried to persuade.
I shook my head. "No Maggie, I'd be dead. Hell I wouldn't even be alive right now if it wasn't for Rick and I owe it to the man to have a little faith. You should learn what that means since you believe in that idiot in the sky."
"Claire," Beth gasped.
I rolled my eyes, finally walking away to go help T-Dog keep watch like I was going to at first. How can Maggie have so much faith in God, the person who made this world such hell, but not even trust Rick who has kept us alive for so long. Way to hold onto faith there. I spun around, hearing leaves crunch in the distance.
"What was that?" Beth asked, her eyes wide in fear.
"Could be anything. Could be a raccoon. Could be a possum."
"Walker," Glenn suggested.
Carol stood up, looking around paranoid. "We need to leave, I mean what are we waiting for?"
"We'd all die out there if we left now," I spat.
"Which way?" Glenn asked, wondering where the sound came from. I took a step back towards T-Dog as Glenn took a few steps towards me. He stopped short as I sent an annoyed glare his way.
Maggie pointed towards a section of the woods, every one else standing up too. "It came from over there."
"Back from where we came?"
"Yeah," Maggie confirmed.
I looked towards Rick, waiting for his call. "Last thing we need is for everyone to be running off into the dark," He whispered sharply, high on alert. "We don't have the vehicles. No one's traveling on foot."
I jumped slightly, my head snapping back in the direction of a twig snapping. The same spot the last sound came from. Could it be a walker? My left hand fell down to my hip, the bandage around it and my wrist making it hard for me to grip the handle properly.
"Don't panic," Hershel tried to comfort the group.
"I'm not--" Maggie began. "I'm not sitting here waiting for another herd to blow through. We need to move, now." Maggie looked around frantically, her shotgun raised just in case.
I rolled my eyes, my gaze flickering to the fire that burned in the middle of our group. Everyone was afraid, I don't see why Maggie is just acting like she is. "Like I said, we leave this spot and we're as good as dead."
"No one is going anywhere," Rick whispered harshly, staring Maggie down. It became quiet amongst us, no one saying a word as some of them looked at Rick like he was crazy.
"Do something," Carol snapped.
Rick shook his head. "I am doing something! I'm keeping this group together, alive." Rick waved his gun around carelessly, hurt evident in his gruff voice. They all depend on him, but when times are tough, they only blame him. How is that fair at all? "I've been doing that all along, no matter what. I didn't ask for this! I killed my best friend for you people for Christ's sake!"
My eyes widened a bit in surprise, my breathing hitching for a second before going back to normal. I had my doubts that Shane got bit or something, but I honestly didn't want to believe Rick could kill him. That would only mean Shane left him no other choice. My gaze flickered to each face huddled around the slow burning fire, my stomach churning.
They all looked at Rick like he was insane. Like they were scared of him. Lori was pissing me off the most as Carl cowered in her arms. That's her husband and she isn't even sticking up for him. Sure Rick killing Shane is shocking, but anyone should know there was obviously a reason behind it.
"You saw what he was like. How he pushed me, how he compromised us," Rick continued, looking to different people's faces. "How he threatened us. He staged the whole Randall thing." A pain shot through my chest at the mention of Randall's name, my eyes falling down to my hands that were no longer coated in his blood. "Led me out to put a bullet in my back. He gave me no choice."
I looked towards Lori again, fighting the urge to yell at her as she avoided all eye contact with Rick. "He was my friend, but he came after me." I bit down on my tongue as Carl buried his face in his mother's shirt and started crying. I don't understand how they don't see Rick was protecting them the most out of all of us. "My hands are clean."
"Shh shh shh shh," Lori soothed towards Carl, rubbing his back.
I felt bad for Rick as everyone seemed to avoid looking at him and if they did, they had the most judgmental sneers on their faces. I just kept my mouth shut, and looked at Rick with the best poker face I could muster up. I wasn't scared of him. I trusted him. I know he has a reason. I needed to keep a poker face so the rest of the group couldn't see how angry I was at them.
Rick looked to me sadly, my eyes the only ones catching his that didn't look away. "Maybe you people are better off without me," He told us, hurt by everyone's reactions. Most likely Carl and Lori's the most. "Go ahead. I say there's a place for us, but maybe-- maybe it's just another pipe dream. Maybe-- maybe I'm fooling myself again."
"Rick," I spoke warningly.
He shook his head, his words becoming angrier with each syllable. "Why don't you-- why don't you go and find out yourself?" He spat angrily, pointing his gun to the direction of the dark woods. "Send me a postcard. Go on, there's the door." I took a step towards Rick, earning a frantic head shake from Glenn. "You can do better? Let's see how far you get. No takers? Fine." He took a threatening step towards the others. "But get one thing straight-- you're staying."
It became quiet as Rick looked around for anyone who would try to challenge him. "This isn't a democracy anymore," He warned before stalking off.