CHAPTER FIVE,
helicopter boy
THE WARMTH OF the sun baked against Samantha's face as shadows casted across the roof of the RV. Her fingers were absentmindedly running up and down the tribal like tattoos that scattered up and down her arm like a canvas. She sat next to Dale, who gazed beyond the horizon with binoculars held over his face.
"Careful, we don't wanna ruin those all powerful eyes." She teased him, grinning up at him warmly through the sun's glare.
Dale looked at her and laughed. "Now that's mean," He stated, placing himself at the armchair next to her, his smile nothing but grandfatherly towards her.
"You think you can find Nate with those things?" She inquired. Nathan and Amy were off God knows where, but she was happy that it was her and not someone else. She liked Amy, and she was glad that Nathan had someone else to calm him down when he needed it.
"No, but," His soft eyes twinkled with an all knowing amusement. "I'm sure Amy has it handled." Dale thought it was sweet at how close the two were, and being like a father to the Harrison sisters, he made it obviously that approved of Nathan. "Young love," A sigh of bliss left his lips. "What a miracle to find it in such a world of rot."
Silence took over Samantha as she thought about his words. She had been very young and in love once, but it wasn't as sweet and as gentle as Amy and Nathan's. Hers was like a battlefield, every step a risk of stepping on a trap and being exploded into a million pieces. He didn't help her piece them back together, instead he scattered them.
Dale took notice of her silence, frowning. He saw painful things behind her eyes. "Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive." He continued, and she finally looked back at him.
"Who said that?"
"Dalai Lama." He answered with a proud expression, tipping his fishermen's cap at her.
"Never heard of him."
Dale chortled, switching back to his routine of keeping watch over the camp. She wondered if he ever felt the heavy weight of knowing that he looked away for one second, he can miss a possible threat looming their way. She knew Shane felt the weight.
Samantha glanced at her brother, who was helping Carl tie knots with rope. He had taught her the same thing when she was his age, and she smiled through the guilt that consumed her. She had put him through so much hardships when she as a teenager, and after everything, he still put up with her.
She loved her big, stupid brother with everything she had. He had not only been her sibling, but he took the roles of being a best friend, a mother, and a father. He taught her to use a gun, and encouraged her to take track, he was there for her when she would come home in a drunken rage. They had been through some levels of hell and back, and she wouldn't know how to go on without him.
Dale's understanding voice brought her back.
"You did the right thing, Samantha," He assured. "Shane is trying to be a good leader, but some of his actions are questionable."
Protectiveness washed over her. "He's a good person, he really is." Samantha defended.
His expression became very solemn. "One of the hardest things I had to learn in life was just because someone is a good person, just because you care about them, doesn't mean they won't burn you."
Each and every detail on his face told stories of his experience with his long life. Dale Harvoth was man of philosophy and wisdom, but he was also cursed with observation and knowledge. He saw things that people wouldn't at first.
Dale looked away, his eyebrows furrowed. "Did you hear that?" He asked, standing up and heading to the edge of the RV.
Puzzled, Samantha followed behind him. She didn't hear anything, and because of that she was about to make it up to the old man's age playing tricks on him, - until she finally heard it.
It was the sound of a car alarm.
"What the shit..." Samantha cursed. It wasn't going away, instead it got louder and louder as each second passed on.
Shane immediately was alerted. "Talk to me, Dale!" He shouted, running up to the RV and shielding his eyes from the sun.
"Can't tell yet." He responded, looking through the binoculars.
"Is it them?" Both Amy and Nathan had reappeared. "Are they back?"
"I'll be damned," Dale breathed, handing Samantha the binoculars. "Take a look at this."
Samantha peered into them and noticed a bright, red challenger speeding up the hill, almost reminded her of the Fast and Furious movies. She scoffed, calling whoever it was in it a madman and declaring they could never be the legendary Paul Walker.
"Grand Theft Auto, looks like we gotta arrest them, Officer Walsh." She jested, turning to look down at her brother, who was was far from being amused.
Once the sports car pulled up, the sound of the obnoxious alarm echoing throughout the area, a figure stepped out and she felt relief wash over her once she saw it was only Glenn.
"Holy crap, turn that damn thing off!" Dale yelled.
"I don't know how!"
"Pop the damn hood please," Shane demanded, both him and Jim surrounding the car. "Pop the damn hood, please!"
"My sister, Andrea-"
"-Pop the damn hood!"
Glenn's face had become flushed, overwhelmed with all the attention. At last, the alarm was stopped and Glenn explained that everyone was okay.
"-Merle not so much." Her attention was pulled and she felt her heart drop to her stomach. She canned the crowd of campers, trying to find any hint or etch of concern, but nobody felt the same. It seemed as if Samantha was the only one that cared about his wellbeing.
"You crazy driving this bastard?" Shane said furiously, narrowing his eyes at the Asian. "You tryin' to get walkers from miles?"
"Chill Shane, I think we're okay." Nathan was quick defend him. Dale wasn't far behind from agreement, this causing the cop's face to twist.
"Shane's just looking out for us," Samantha stood next to her brother, before looking over at Glenn. "Think this through next time, dumbass."
"Sorry," Glenn said sheepishly. "Got a cool car though."
"It's nice and all but," She draped an arm around his shoulders. "What would be more nice is if you got my chocolate."
Glenn chuckled, pulling out a chocolate bar from his pocket and Samantha felt her mouth water. From behind the sports car, a truck approached the camp and everyone turned their heads. As soon as the truck parked someone jumped out immediately, her blonde hair in a tangled mess.
"Amy." Andrea begin to sob viciously.
"Andrea!" Her younger sister cried, running into Andrea's arms.
Morales was the next one out, his two children jumping onto him and shouting 'Papi', his wife being the next to embrace him. Samantha cracked a smile, feeling her heart swell with joy and relief. Dale was right. They came back.
"How'd y'all get out of there anyways?" Shane asked, slinging his shotgun over his shoulders.
"New guy - he got us out."
"New guy?" The siblings echoed, confused.
"Yeah, crazy vato just got into town," Morales spoke before jutting his chin out to look at the truck. "Hey helicopter boy, come say hello! This guys a cop like you."
A man shyly came out in a cop's uniform, his appearance making Samantha's heart leap to her throat and her skin blanch. Her knees had become weak, forcing her muscles in her body to stay standing. No, this can't be She thought frantically, questioning her sanity, unable to believe that the man standing before her was real - Yet there he was in the flesh, looking alive as ever.
Rick Grimes.
"H-how..." Was all all she could choke out, looking to her brother and searching for answers, but he was in the same state of mind as her His face had fallen in shock, disbelief was written on every feature of his face, his skin just as white as hers, looking as if he had seen a ghost.
Wasn't Rick technically a ghost though? Wasn't he dead? Was this all just a sick joke played by the world that they now lived in?
"Oh my, god." Rick uttered, staggering back. He raised his hand, staring at the siblings until his eyes finally found Lori and Carl's.
Her godson's eyes lit up, his face contorting into the most overjoyed look she's ever seen. "Dad! Dad!" He screamed, barreling towards him with Lori hot on his heels.
Rick begun to run as well dropping on his knees midway, engulfing the boy in the biggest hug Samantha ever seen. Lori halted once she saw her husband and Rick picked up Carl, tears streaming down his face as the Grimes family went into an emotional, long waited embrace.
They held each other with such raw passion, afraid that if they let go they would lose each other again. Rick's eyes slid to Samantha's and she smiled, her heart soaring as she felt the hotness of tears stinging her eyes.
When she looked up to her brother however, she could definitely make out the happiness too, but there was something else there too, it swirling around in the dark pools of his eyes.
Shane would be lying if he said he wasn't happy about seeing his best friend, alive - but regret was like a punch to his gut, taunting him for the things he's done. When he he finally looked at Lori, a selfish feeling of disappointment tasted bitter in his mouth.
━━━━━
"Disorientated,"
The word left Rick's lips and hung in the air. Samantha was sitting next her brother, listening intently to the cop's story. "I guess that comes closest. Disoriented. Fear. Confusion. All those things, but disorientated comes closest." His grip on his family was tight, still fearing that they might be just a dream and they would fade away.
"Words can be such meaner things," Dale's old voice traveled around the fire, laying a cup at his feet. "Sometimes they fall short."
Rick hugged his son closer. "I felt like I'd been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else. For awhile I thought I was trapped in some coma dream, something I might not wake up from, ever."
Carl lifted his head up to look at his father.
"Mom said you died." His voice made Samantha glanced up at her silent brother, remembering he had been the one to break the news to her and the Grimes family. She wondered - for a moment, if it was possible he had lied.
"She has every right to believe that, Carl," Rick looked down at his son with love in his eyes. "Don't you ever doubt that." Samantha didn't fail to notice the stare that Lori sent to her brother, the interaction eating her up inside.
Samantha let her eyes drifted away and over to another family.
She found the Peletier family, Carol holding onto her daughter, the atmosphere of tension and uneasiness surrounding their campfire. Ed was watching the embers through darkened eyes, leaning so close to the flames that she felt an urge to just push him in, ending Carol and Sophia's suffering once and for all.
Her promise to Shane restrained her however, so Samantha tore her gaze away when she heard her name being called. "What?" She questioned.
"I was saying how grateful I am to you and Shane." Rick repeated, smiling fatherly Samantha, not noticing the way she shifted in her seat - knowing something that he didn't.
The weight on her chest was too, too heavy. "We barely got them out," She began. "The streets were chaotic, you are so lucky you didn't have to go through that." Shane agreed. "It's was horrible."
"Well to both of you - I can't begin to express my gratitude."
The older man sighed. "There goes words falling short again. Paltry things." He complained, but the sudden sound of wood burning and clashing made some shift their attention. Samantha was looking back at the Peletier family, Ed's cruel face still staring into the same fire he had just put more logs into.
Shane looked over Samantha's head. "Hey, Ed, you want to rethink that log?" He was eying him with a sense of buried repulsion but the toxic man only scoffed in his lounge chair, disregarding her brother's voice. "It's cold, man."
"The cold don't change the rules, does it?" Shane was quick to quip. "Keep our fires low, just embers so we can't be seen from a distance, right?" Ed was known to selfishly go against the simple rules that her brother had set up. He was always corrected, and he barely listened.
"It said it's cold. You should mind ya own damn business for once."
Shane stood up from next to his baby sister, and remembering the little twig of patience he carried when it came to his temper, Samantha reached for him, pleading with her brother to sit down, but Shane had been provoked for far too long.
"You really wanna have this conversation now?" Shane's voice was dangerously low, but the camp had become so quiet that Samantha could hear every word.
"Go on, pull the thing out. Go on!" She heard Ed's mean voice cut through the air. Carol sprung into action, and Shane came back, clenching down onto his jaw. Samantha rested her head on her older brother's shoulder, so sure she could hear the anger pounding in his chest.
"Have you given into any thought about Daryl Dixon?"
Samantha swallowed thickly, remembering that she had been told what had happened on the roof, and she wasn't even surprised. Merle was a damn fool when it came to his mouth, but she did feel sadness that it had to go to the point for him to be left to rot.
"I'll tell him. I dropped the key." T-Dog offered, gazing around the campers, but Rick was the one that spoke up next, "I cuffed him."
"Guys, it's not a competition," Glenn let his words fall into the ears of everyone, sitting next to Nate. "I don't mean to bring race into this, but it might sound better coming from the white guy." Samantha gave her a friend a look, but yet she knew he was right. Nobody knew Daryl personally, nor did he give them the chance to. He was Merle's shadow, always sticking to him and no one else, but considering that he was a Dixon and Merle was an openly racist, they all just had to assume he was just like his brother.
"We can always lie." Amy proposed, but Nathan snorted at the idea, looking over at the pretty blonde. "Yeah, cause that's logical."
"Or tell the truth," Andrea reasoned. "Merle was out of control. Something had to be done or he'd gotten us killed. Your husband did what was nessscary, and if Merle got left behind its nobody's fault but his."
"We left your brother behind in a walker infested city, whoopsies," Samantha was quick to chime in sarcastically, all eyes turning to look at her. "What a rational thing to say, especially to a redneck."
"Well, what do you suggest we do?" Jacqui asked.
"I'm not suggesting anything," She said, shrugging her shoulders and rubbing her head. "It doesn't matter who tells him, the outcome is still gonna be the same. That's his brother - his family. Whatever storm that is going to bring I'm not gonna be apart of it."
"We're all in this together." Andrea stated, hint of disapproval in her words.
Shane's jaw clenched at hearing this, his dark eyes glued to the blonde. "She wasn't a part of it, leave her out of that."
Almost everyone knew that Shane loved his baby sister more than anyone, and knowing what happens when she is put into harms way, nobody wants to come in between that storm again, so Andrea immediately ducked her head, and Dale was quick to change the subject.
"She's right," Dale said. "I don't see a rational discussion coming from any of this either. Word to the wise, we're gonna have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt."
"I was scared and I ran," T-Dog confessed. "I'm not ashamed of it."
"We all ran, what's your point?"
"Before we ran, I stopped long enough to chain that door. The staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at any tine. Its not enough to break through it - not that chain, not that padlock,"
Samantha felt her eyes become wide, hope surging through her. "So does that mean-"
"Yeah, it does. Dixon's alive. He's still up there, handcuffed on the roof. That's on us."
Silence fell over the camp like a blanket, and although Samantha didn't want to get involved, she wanted to get Merle back. Merle didn't deserve that, they didn't know him like she did, see him like she did. It wasn't fair to him nor was it fair to Daryl, because she had a brother and she could understand how it could feel. As the night continued, Samantha tucked herself into her cot and watched as Shane sat at his, setting his police cap on the mini end table he created.
"You going on watch tonight?"
He glanced at her and back at the police cap. "You going to sleep tonight?" He quickly retorted, and Samantha rolled her eyes, turning on her back.
Shane knew of the existence of her nightmares, and he felt so terrible because he couldn't protect her from them. He blamed them on Jean, who taught her lessons by striking terror into her heart as a child. He remembered those times when he would find her hiding in the closet, with teary eyes and fear gripping her heart. Sleep was never the same for her after that.
Shane got up from his cot and made his way to the flap of the tent, but something stopped him and he looked back at his baby sister. Shane wasn't stupid, he knew, and it felt worse that she knew because he could feel her disappointment in him, and that was the last thing he wanted.
He opened his mouth to speak, but Samantha was quick on her elbows, her face hard.
"Don't."
words ; 3105
edited ; ✔️