CHAPTER SIX,
dixon
NIGHTMARES WRAPPED ITS fingers around Samantha, painting her biggest fears before she suddenly jolted awake in a cold sweat, a scream threatening to crawl from her throat. She was shaking in her sheets, the tears burning her eyes as she looked around frantically, and catching sight of her brother's sleeping form next to her cot, she felt her heart rate return to normal and she calmed down.
Jean used to tell her that her inner demons are the cause of nightmares. If they couldn't get her in real life, they would deprive the sleep from her until they could leak into reality. Inner demons were like shapeshifters, manifesting into the thing that a person would fear the most. As much as she hated to admit it, she feared a lot of things.
Sighing, Samantha crept out of her cot and slipped on her jacket. It wasn't cold, but it brought her security. The first thing she saw was the campfire had been restored and was now flickering in the night. The second thing she noticed was the silhouette.
As she edged closer she noticed it was Jim, this causing her brows to furrow.
Samantha and Jim have never interacted, him not really being the talkative type. As terrible as it sounded, sometimes she forgotten he even existed in the camp, and she was sure she wasn't the only one. His way of reminding the campers however, was his constant wails at from the nightmares that haunted him. She felt like she could relate to him on that part.
But whatever happened to him, it was so traumatic that it took the light from him eyes even when he was alive.
"Couldn't sleep too?"
His voice made her jump. She was brought back to reality only to realize he wasn't even looking at her when he said that, but somehow he knew she was there.
She rubbed her head and approached him. "No, nightmares," She admitted. "Same thing?"
He was silent for a moment. She looked at him and could see the fire dancing in the shadows of his eyes. "A dream." He finally responded, his voice so quiet Samantha had to lean forward in order to hear him.
"A nightmare?"
"Don't remember, but it was horrible."
A wave of pity washed over the brunette. "I've had dreams like that," She admitted softly. "I couldn't remember, but I couldn't shake of the feeling. It was as if the dread stuck to me like glue," He didn't respond. She couldn't even tell if Jim was listening or not."My grandmother used to tell me our nightmares were our inner demons," She remembered Jean's harsh stories, and they still brought her chills. "All her stories were about monsters, honestly. But they were just stories-"
"Did you believe her?"
Him abruptly cutting her off made her look back at him again.
Jim was so bony, so pale looking, that she could've mistaken him for a corpse if it weren't for the raw emotions in his eyes. She could see hell and torment in his eyes, and for a second she could almost feel what he was going through just by looking in them.
Jim stood up, a far off look on his face. "Monsters and demons always been real," He turned away from her. "'cept now they don't have a disguise no more."
He left Samantha next to the campfire with an unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach.
━━━━━
The mascara felt strange in her fingers as she caressed the ends to her eyelashes.
She was once a person that cared about her appearance, knowing her beauty and wanted it to keep it polished and painted with expensive products. But since the world ended, she didn't give a shit anymore.
Glenn was standing off to the side as Jim, Dale, and Nathan striped and tore apart the cherry challenger, a glum look on his face. When he found Samantha, hope brightened his face.
"You're Shane's sister, the apple to his eye," Glenn hoped, and Samantha rose an eyebrow in amusement. "Can't you please tell them to stop, Sammy?"
Samantha giggled softly, shrugging her shoulders and the Asian looked back at the vehicle in defeat. "Look at them, vultures," Glenn spat. "Yeah, go on, strip it clean!"
Nate smirked. "Damn, Dean, chill out."
"I thought I was gonna get to drive it a few more days." Glenn admitted, a sigh rocking his shoulders.
"Generators need every drop of fuel they can get. Sorry Glenn." Dale apologized.
Nathan leaned over. "We can murder him later." He rose voice to a loud whisper. The older man sent him a fake glare, and sigh rocked Glenn's shoulders.
Samantha patted his shoulder. "We can get you another one." She teased, flicking the back of his hat.
Soon, Rick approached the two and she turned to look at him. "Maybe for Christmas." He added, ruffling the twenty year old's head and she smiled, watching as he walked over to his wife.
A Jeep pulled up and her brother stepped out. "Water's here, y'all. Just make sure to boil before use." He reminded, his eyes going to his baby sister who approached him.
"How'd you sleep, kiddo?" A grin laced his lips, and Samantha rolled her eyes playfully.
"If that's you're way of saying I look like shit, you should look in the mirror, deputy."
Shane opened his mouth to retort, but loud screams lit up the camp and snatched any serenity away. Her brother immediately pulled out his gun, and sent his sister a glance. "Stay here." But she already had her gun out, and seeing the determination in the green of her eyes, he sighed. Another scream ripped through the air and the two recognized it as Samantha's godson.
"Carl!" She gasped, her blood pumping as she took off to the source with all the men close behind. Breaking through the trees, the children ran to their mother and Jacqui fell to the ground, exhausted. Samantha continued through the green until the tree line broke, and she stumbled upon a clearing where she saw a walker huddled over a deer, elbow deep and devouring its insides. Her stomachs churned, but before she could make a move, her brother pushed her back and the men lurched forward.
After a brief battle, Dale brought his axe down and decapitated the corpse. It's head rolled over to Nathan's feet, who with a look of disgust, kicked it away.
"Its the first one we've had up here," Dale panted. "They never come up this far up the mountain."
"Well, they're runnin' out of food in the city, that's what." Jim murmured, his response making Nathan spit at the ground.
"Greedy bastards," He rebuked. "If that's the case, he won't be the only one we see."
Samantha's eyes swept over the faces of the campers, noticing that they were all thinking the same thing. If there was one who managed to come up the mountain, who knows how many more might come.
If that was the case, their once safe haven had been officially marked by the dead.
She found herself looking at the carcass of the deer, and she saw arrows protruding from its fur. She felt a sense of familiarity - she knew those arrows.
The silence had been broken by a branch snapping, followed by footsteps shifting through the bushes. Shane stepped in front of his sister with layers of protection and aimed his shotgun, preparing to shoot as the others prepared to fight-
A man stepped out of the trees, but not just any man; Daryl Dixon, who had just come back from his hunting trip. "Oh, Jesus," Dale murmured under his breath, staring at the redneck he glared at survivors.
Then his eyes landed on the deer, and anger contorted his face. "Son o' a bitch!" Daryl growled, his southern accent bleeding through as his voice became raided.
"That's my deer!" He advanced towards the deer. "Look at it, all gnawed up by this filthy, disease bearing, motherless, proxy!" With every insult he kicked the corpse even harder.
Dale sighed. "Calm down, son. That's not helping any." The older man chided. Daryl's eyes flashed to his and got up, angrily getting into his face. "What do you know about it, old man? Why don't ya take that stupid hat and go back to Golden pond!"
He turned away from him, heading back to the deer and pulling out his arrow. ""I've been trackin' this deer for miles, gonna track it to camp, cook us some venison,"
The thought of eating that much meet made her stomach rumble, yet she decided against encouraging the idea once she remembered it had been devoured by a walker not even a minute ago. "What do you think, think we can cut around the chewed part right here?" Daryl motioned his knife to the mauled area on the deer's neck.
"I would not risk that." Shane swallowed, slinging his shotgun over his shoulders.
"That's a damn shame. I got some squirrel, 'bout a dozen or so. That'll do."
At that moment the head reanimated. It let out a low gasp as it did so, trying to reach flesh with its open mouth and grinding teeth.
"Oh god!" Amy gagged, her and Andrea turning away in repulsion.
They had only decapitated it but had not destroyed the brain. Something about the brain kept the things moving around, and Samantha thought since this was common knowledge they wouldn't have been this messy.
Heaving a sigh, she pulled out a concealed dagger from my boot-
"Come on people, what the hell?" Daryl said, slinging his crossbow from his shoulder, aiming to shoot-
Samantha reached it before him, having pushed past her brother and plunging the dagger into the walker's skull. The monster released a final groan before going still. She looked up to meet shocked faces, and ignoring them she yanked my weapon from its skull and gazed around at the survivors almost smugly. "Its gotta be the brain." She instructed.
Daryl released a scoff, eying her. "Don't y'all know nothin'?" He muttered, brushing past her. "Merle! Merle, get ya ugly ass out here!"
Guilt riddled the survivors as his yells continued, realizing that they had to tell Merle's explosive brother the news.
Samantha tagged behind her brother, her brows furrowing worriedly. "Daryl, just slow down a bit. I need to talk to you." Shane's wavering voice made the redneck stopped in his tracks.
"About what?"
"About Merle. There was a problem in Atlanta."
His silence made Samantha feel uncomfortable, not fond of the idea of her brother being the one to confront the situation. She knew her brother could fight, but Daryl was driven by his emotions and it strategy, and knowing him for just a short amount of time she's come to realize that he carried a lot of anger.
"He dead?"
With one hand on his hip and the other running through his dark roots, he sighed. "We don't know."
"He either is or he ain't!" Daryl snarled, and Samantha stepped forward with her hand on her gun, completely ready to defend her brother but she was pushed back by Rick, who decided it was time to step forward. "No easy way to say this, so I'll say it."
The hunter's attention snapped to him. "Who the hell are you?"
"Rick Grimes."
"Rick Grimes," Daryl mocked, his glare sharper than a dagger. "You got somethin' you wanna tell me?"
Both Nathan and Glenn leaned against the Jeep next to Samantha, and she sent them a glance before turning back to the situation.
"Your brother was a danger to all of us, so I handcuffed him to a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there."
Tension rose in the air, clinging to all the campers and making Samantha's heart pound in her chest. She didn't like where this was going, not one bit.
Daryl turned away. "Hold on," He was wiping at his eyes. "Lemme process this - you sayin' you handcuffed ma brother to a roof, and you left him there!?"
"...Yeah."
His response triggered nothing but the trigger of chaotic rage in Daryl. He swung the squirrels and Rick ducked, charging towards the cop in undeniable rage but Shane was quicker, dashing forward and shoving the man to the ground.
The silver blade reflected off of Samantha's eyes, and she took a step forward but Nathan grabbed her shoulder and pushed her back. Glenn was in agreement. "That's not a good idea."
"Watch the knife!"
Samantha was glaring at her best friend. "Aren't you to help them?" She asked.
"Just watchin' the fireworks, princess." Shrugging his shoulders carelessly, he looked back at the fight.
"You best let me go!"
Samantha turned back to see Daryl being restrained by her brother's headlock, huffing and spewing curses.
"Nah, I think its better if I don't."
"Choke holds illegal." Daryl grunted almost breathlessly.
"Yeah, you can file a complaint later," Shane taunted, his headlock becoming tighter as the emotional man struggled more. "C'mon man, we'll keep this up all day!"
Rick knelt down to Daryl's level. "I'd like to have a calm discussion on this matter, think we can manage that?" The former cop ordered. "Think we can manage that?"
Samantha saw a sudden flash of vulnerability layered with anguish on Daryl's face, and she was sure she hadn't seen this much emotion on him about anyone else - ever.
She thought of her brother, reminding herself that if she was in the same situation as Daryl, she would most certainly be reacting the same way. That was his blood - his family, and it had been left on a roof surrounded by danger.
"Let him breathe," Samantha found her voice to be soft and considering. "It's his brother."
The two former cops looked at the twenty year old, before they finally glanced at one another and had a silent agreement stir in their eyes. Once released, Daryl stole a glance at Samantha, not knowing how to feel.
"What I did was not on a whim," Rick explained, his tone more accepting. "Your brother does not not work well or play well with others."
"Its not Rick's fault," T-Dog stepped up. "I had the key. I dropped it."
Daryl looked at the dark man with dubious eyes. "You couldn't pick it up?" He retorted, his hands digging into the sandy ground.
"I dropped it in a drain."
Daryl let out an exasperated sigh, and after a small struggle he got up from the ground, his face torn between emotions. "If its supposed to make me feel better, it don't." He snapped.
"Maybe this will," T-Dog continued. "I chained the door so the geeks wouldn't get in."
"Its something." Rick said.
"To hell with all y'all!" Daryl rebuked, his voice subtly cracking and clearly torn between emotions. "Just tell me where he is, so I can go get 'em."
"He'll show you," Lori cut into the conversation, blocking her face from the sun as she stared at Rick. "Isn't that right?"
Rick nodded. "I'm going back." He announced, glancing around the camp.
Samantha caught the wetness that filled Daryl's eyes, and with his heated glare tearing away from the ground, he found that she was watching him. Then to her surprise, he nodded in what could be identified as gratefulness.
(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟnote
SO THEY FINALLY HAD *A* MOMENT
words ; 2589
edited ; ✔️