Fighter

Isabell awoke from a light sleep with a start. She took a few deep breaths trying to control her heart rate. She didn’t remember the dream she’d woken up from, but she knew it was bad. It scared her. Isabell swallowed the lump in her throat and tried to wipe the sweat from her forehead, only to realize her hands were just a sweaty. She groaned, reaching for a dirty shirt to do the job.

The blonde looked out the screen window of the tent. Daryl had been back. She had guess only by the clothesline that had a few dead animals hanging from it. Isabell also noticed a string of what looked like ears. She bit her lip, remembering the necklace he wore coming back from his most dangerous search for Sophia.

Not seeing Daryl back at camp yet, Isabell laid back down onto her cot. She was worried about everyone in the camp. They weren’t quite sure about what Hershel planned to do; whether he’d let them stay or force their group off of his property. Without the protection and the resources of the farm, they would always be in danger. Even with Rick, Daryl, T-Dog, Shane, and herself looking after the group, they’d always be in the midst of a threat.

Isabell slowly sat up, hearing footsteps head in her direction. She made out Carol through the dark, making her way to their small camp. Isabell rolled onto her side, feigning sleep.

Carol paused at the tent, looking in, seeing Isabell on the cot. Carol turned away, going deeper into camp.

Isabell sat up just a little to watch Carol, wondering what the other woman was doing.

Carol approached the clothesline full of the animals Daryl had collected. She stopped at the necklace of ears, and backed away slowly, disgusted. She was shaking her head at the sight.

Daryl arrived back to camp and approached Carol from behind. “What are you doing?”

Carol turned around quickly, frightened by his sudden presence. “God.” She took a step back away from him. “I’m keepin’ an eye on you and Isabell.”

Daryl scoffed. “Ain’t you a peach.” he spat.

“I’m not gonna let you pull away, or pull Isabell away from these people.” Carol promised. “You both have more than earned your place.”

“If you spend half your time mindin’ your daughter’s business instead of stickin’ yer nose in everybody else’s, she’d still be alive.”

Carol stood in front of him, not moving. “Go ahead.” She said, urging him to continue.

“Go ahead and what?” Daryl questioned harshly. “I mean, just go!” He waved his arms towards the white house. “I don’t want you here.”

Isabell took Daryl’s growing anger as her queue to leave her tent and interfere in the conversation between Daryl and Carol. She hurried over and put a hand on Daryl’s chest to push him away from Carol.

Daryl pushed Isabell’s hand away and put himself back in Carol’s face, pointing at her. “Yer a real piece of work, lady. What, are you gonna make this about my daddy or some crap like that?”

“Daryl, stop.” Isabell ordered, seeing how upset both he and Carol were.

Daryl scoffed. “Man, you know jack. Yer afraid.” He stressed. “Yer afraid ‘cause yer all alone. Ya got no husband, no daughter. You don’t know what to do with yourself.”

“Daryl!” Isabell exclaimed, shocked by his unwarranted comment. She turned to Carol. “Carol, really, you just need to go. You shouldn’t be here.”

Carol didn’t budge, remaining heavily in her spot.

“You ain’t my problem!” Daryl shouted angrily. “Sophia wasn’t mine to look after. All you had ta do was keep an eye on her!”

Carol licked her lips and took a deep breath. “Harley was yours, though.”

Daryl squinted his eyes at Carol, processing what she had said.

“Harley was yours and you lost her, too. That’s what this is really about, isn’t it?”

Daryl lifted his hand as if to hit Carol, but Isabell acted quickly and caught his wrist. Her interfering didn’t stop Carol from flinching.

“Goddammit, Carol! Just leave!” Isabell shouted. “You’re making things worse than they are.”

Daryl took a step back, squaring his shoulders and clenching his jaw.

Isabell took a breath, watching Carol. “Just go. Please.” The blonde begged.

Carol studied Daryl, realizing that Isabell was right. She didn’t need to be there. Carol relented, nodding her head and making her way back to the house and the rest of the camp.

Isabell and Daryl stayed in their same spots for a few moments, breathing deeply and collecting themselves. When her nerves returned to moving at a normal speed, Isabell spoke. “I’m, uh - I’m gonna go check on the others.”

Daryl nodded. “Do whatcha want. I’m hittin’ the sack.” Leaving her her side, Daryl moved into their tent.

Isabell sighed, pushing her hair out of her face before making her way towards the main house. Upon arriving, she knocked on the screen door before pushing it open. Isabell looked around seeing Shane stand up from the small couch in the room to her left. “Shane.” She greeted.

Shane paused, hearing her voice before seeing her. “Iz.” He said. “Thought you and Daryl high tailed it outta here.”

Isabell shook her head. “We won’t leave just ‘cause things look a little ugly right now. Someone’s gotta be sane enough to watch over the people here.”

Shane glared down at Isabell before walking away, shaking his head.

Isabell entered the room, saying a hello to Lori and taking in her beat-up appearance. “Oh, man, you look like shit.”

Lori furrowed her brow. “Thanks?” she said, pushing herself off of the couch.

“I - I’m sorry.” Isabell stuttered. “I have no filter when I’m not getting any sleep.” She confessed, getting a nod in reply. “Can I, uh, can I ask what happened?” She asked, looking in the direction Shane disappeared in, wondering if it was him.

Lori noticed and instantly corrected Isabell. “No. Not Shane. I was stupid. Went out to look for Rick. I got into a car accident.”

“Shit. Are you okay?” Isabell asked.

“Yeah. I’m okay.”

“I’m sorry. Daryl and I should’ve - ”

“You couldn’t have done anything.” Lori admitted. “I’m okay, and nothing feels wrong.” Lori said, with a hand on her stomach. “I think we’re both okay.”

“Both?” Isabell asked, eyeing Lori’s stomach.

Lori smiled. “I know you’re not stupid Isabell. You notice things when they happen around here. You’re very intuitive.”

“I - I just pay attention.” She said quickly, stumbling for words. “And I - I knew you were pregnant. But then Maggie brought back those pills from her run.”

“Couldn’t go through with it.” Lori shrugged.

Isabell nodded, still in shock. “Yeah, I get that.” The girl finally took her eyes off of Lori’s stomach and shook herself out of her confusion. “I - came here to, uh, check on - on Beth.”

Lori nodded. “She’s in there.” She said, pointing to the room they kept Carol in while he was recovering from his gunshot. “She’s with Maggie.”

“Thanks.” Isabell said, going to the door, knocking quietly and opening it. Her eyes first landed on Maggie with a small smile and then onto Beth. Isabell barely believed what was in front of her. A bright eyed young girl had eyes like stone now. Beth lay motionless in the bed. Isabell let out a sad, staggered breath. She bit her lip, looking to Maggie. “Is she okay?” She asked.

Maggie nodded. “We think so. We’re just waiting on my dad to be sure.” She looked down. “He’s still not back.”

“What happened to her?”

“After the barn, she just collapsed.” Maggie was unsure though, shaking her head and shrugging. “It was too much for her, seeing Shawn. Mom grabbed at her. Almost bit her.”

“You know that wasn’t her, right?”

“I know.” Maggie nodded. “I came to that. But Beth… She still believed Daddy would fix her.”

Isabell sighed, nodded, and looked around the room. “Where’s Glenn?”

“He went with Rick. To get my dad.”

Isabell smiled. “Of course he did.”

“What do you mean?” Maggie asked with furrowed brows.

“I mean that the kid loves you, Maggie.”

Maggie shook her head. “He hasn’t said.”

“Maybe not. But I know he does. He might be scared or something. Just ain’t got the balls.” Isabell joked. “Hell, it took me years to tell Daryl I loved him. Even before I knew that I loved him, I loved him. I think he knew it, too. Shit’s crazy like that.”

Maggied turned her attention from Isabell back to Beth. “I hope they come back soon.”

Isabell nodded. “They will.” She promised.

!@#$#@!

After having spent twenty more minutes keeping Maggie company, Isabell made her choice to head back to her own camp. She entered the tent, eyeing Daryl’s cot, trying to see if he was awake.

Daryl turned his head at the sound of her entering. He held a couple fingers up in a silent hello.

Isabell nodded and flopped down on her cot. She let out a long, tired breath. “If Rick and the others aren’t back tomorrow, you need to go help get them back.”

“‘Nd why the hell would I do that?”

Isabell turned her head to Daryl. “Beth is really bad. She’s in shock and they don’t know what to do without Hershel. She needs the old man. And Lori needs Rick. Maggie needs Glenn.”

“What does that matter?” Daryl asked.

“Just does, okay?” Isabell stressed. “You need ta go.” She rubbed her hand on her forehead hard, trying to rid herself of a growing headache.

“Izzy.” Daryl called, gaining her attention. “Come over here.”

“Why?”

“Will ya just do it?”

Isabell groaned and rolled off her cot to join Daryl on his. She laid next to him on the small cot, reluctantly. She stayed as much to one side as possible with her arms folded over her chest.

“Dammit, Iz, lighten up. I’ll go.”

“What?”

“I’ll go. If it’ll make you like me again, I’ll go get the dumb sheriff.”

Isabell sighed and relaxed against Daryl. “It’s not just that.” she admitted. “Yeah, they need to come back, but we got bigger problems.”

Daryl face because serious. “Wha’ happened? Was it Shane? Fuckin’ hick. Did he hurt you?”

Isabell shook her head, putting a hand on his chest to calm him. “Lori’s still pregnant.”

Daryl scoffed. “Coulda called that one. Ain’t no way a woman like that woulda been able to go through with it.”

Isabell chewed on her lip, just thinking.

“We’ll figure it out. Don’t let it get to ya.” Daryl promised. “We got people to protect.”

Isabell nodded after receiving a kiss on the top of her head. She laid down quietly for a moment, listening as Daryl breath slowly evened out. She couldn’t stop thinking about Harley. “Hey, D?” Isabell whispered. “You awake?”

“Yeah.” He groaned, obviously half asleep, eyes still closed.

“Do ya think I woulda done it?” she asked.

“What?”

“That night that I told you I was pregnant, I didn’t think you wanted it so I said I was gonna take care of it.” Isabell said.

Daryl had opened his eyes and was staring at Isabell intently.

“Do you think I would’ve ‘handled it’?” Her head turned to meet his eyes.

Daryl pursed his lips. “Things were different back then, Izzy.” Daryl told her. “As much as you wanted kids, you knew you couldn’t do it on yer own. Before Harley, you were only worryin’ about yerself.”

“Daryl…” Isabell begged, wishing he would just answer her question.

“If I hadn’t stopped you, and said I wanted her, you would’ve handled it.” Daryl nodded. “But if we were in this now, even after Harley, I know you’d do exactly what Lori’s done. Even with the risk of it. You know she’s just in doin’ what she’s doin’.”

“I don’t know.” Isabell said. “I - I’m kinda tired.”

Daryl nodded. “Get some sleep.” He said, giving Isabell a tight squeeze after she’d rolled to her side, facing away from him.

!@#$#@!

Isabell fell back to sleep after Daryl left the next morning. Or at least, she tried to sleep. Realizing that the group was going to add a baby into the mix made the blonde think about her own bab. All the things that Isabell remembered about Harley used to make her laugh. She recalled how the little girl would sleep in her room with her whenever Daryl was on a hunting trip. Harley would just on the bed until she woke her mom up and the two would go make breakfast together. They would spend the whole day in pajamas watching movies and eating junk food.

Isabell sighed and rolled over to her side. She wished she had more days like that. She wanted to be with her daughter again. Isabell wanted to hear the soft snores in the night and squeals the next morning.

Hearing footsteps approach the tent, Isabell swallowed the lump in her throat and quickly wiped her eyes of their tears. She turned over, hearing the tent’s zipper. “Daryl?” she questioned. “I thought you were going to get Rick.”

“Didn’t need to. They came back.”

“Is everyone okay?” she asked.

“I think so. I didn’t stick around to check. They’re back. That’s all you wanted.”

“You saw them and bailed?” She sat up, reaching for her boots to put them on.

“I didn’t want to go in the first place. I only agreed ‘cause you were in a mood.”

Isabell scoffed. “You’re impossible.” she grabbed a flannel shirt to put on over her tank top.

“What are you doing?” Daryl asked, blocking her exit from the tent.

“Going to see that they’re alright. You should come.” Isabell insisted. “Look, what Carol said last night was right. We can’t pull ourselves out of the group.”

Daryl stood in front of her, rocking his balance between his feet.

“We are just as much part of this group as everyone else. You can pull away from the group if you want and I will lay my head down out here if it’s what makes you happy, but Ima be a part of this group. Helping with breakfast and laundry and around the farm.”

Daryl pursed his lips. “That what you want?”

“It’s all we’ve got, D. These people are all that we’ve got left in this fucked up world.”

Daryl nodded, turning out of the tent. “Let’s go then.”

Isabell smiled and jogged to catch up to him. As the two of them approached the house, Daryl pushed the side door open, lifting his arm so Isabell can enter under it.

Andrea was speaking. “Isn’t that the same as leaving him for the walkers?”

Isabell furrowed her brow and leaned over a little to whisper to T-Dog. “Who’s being left for walkers?”

T-Dog shook his head. “Randall. They brought a kid back with them.”

“You’re just gonna let him go?” Shane asked, Isabell’s eyes shooting to him. “He knows where we are.”

“He was blindfolded the whole way here.” Rick informed them. “He’s not a threat.”

“Not a threat?” Shane countered. “How many of them were there? You killed three of their men, you took one of them hostage, but they ain’t gonna come lookin’?”

Isabell stood with a shocked look on her face, hardly believing what she heard.

“They left him for dead.” Rick stressed. “No one is looking.”

“We should still post a guard.” T-Dog suggested.

Hershel stepped up. “He’s out cold right now.” The old man said. “Will be for hours.”

“You know what?” Shane spoke jokingly. “I’m gonna go get him some flowers and candy.” He scoffed, moving towards the door. “Look at this, folks - We back in Fantasyland!”

Hershel stepped after him. “You know we haven’t even dealt with what you did at my barn yet.”

Shane stopped in his tracks, facing Hershel.

“Let me make this perfectly clear, once and for all. This is my farm. Now, I wanted you gone. Rick talked me out of it, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.” Hershel spoke with a confidence in his voice that was almost threatening. “So do us both a favor - keep your mouth shut.”

Shane nodded his head once and looked around the room, ashamed that he got yelled at. He turned, rubbing his hands on the back of his head and left.

Rick approached Hershel, placing a hand on his shoulder. “We’re not gonna do anything about it today. Let’s just cool off.”

Carol moved passed Isabell to get to Daryl.

Daryl was quick though, and pushed out the door forcefully. He exited the house and slammed the screen door behind him.

Isabell was unsure. She wanted to talk to Rick about what happened while they were in town, but she also knew that she should follow Daryl. He was still upset over the spat with Carol the previous night. The blonde sighed, rushing around Carol to follow Daryl. She followed him into the horse stables. Isabell breathed a laughed, trying to ease the tension in the quiet barn. “So, I guess a lot more happened on that trip than gettin’ back Hershel, huh?”

“Guess so.” Daryl said, picking up a brush and walking over to the horse Isabell knew bucked him off.

“We’ll have to get the whole story. I’m sure there’s a good reason that Rick killed people. They must’ve been a threat.” Isabell insisted.

Daryl nodded in response, continuing to brush the horse.

“Do you think there’s a good reason?” she asked.

Daryl looked to her for a brief second. “Of course.”

!@#$#@!

Eight Years Earlier.

Isabell held Harley over her head, making the little girl feel like an airplane with her arms out to her sides as they moved throughout the house.

Harley laughed loudly as Isabell made a quick turn into her own room.

Isabell placed her daughter lightly on the big bed.

“No, Momma, no.” Harley protested, holding her arms out to her mom. “Again.” She cheered.

“Harley, Momma’s tired. Its time for sleeps.”

“No, sleeps.” The little girl stood clumsily to her feet, and was even shakier due to the softness of the mattress. “No ti-ti.”

“Yes, ti-ti.” Isabell laughed, trying to calm Harley. “Listen, tonight, we’ll go to sleep. And who is gonna be home when we wake up?” she asked.

“Daddy!” Harley cheered.

“That’s right, little one. So, we’ve got ta get up early so we can make Daddy breakfast. Which means, bedtime.”

Harley smiled, falling to her hands and knees and crawling to the head of the bed and putting herself under the comforter. “Night time, Momma.” Harley said, patting the bed beside her.

Isabell grinned, getting in the bed and pulling her daughter close. “Kiss.” Isabell said, turning her head to the side, pointing to her cheek.

Harley complied, then copied her mother’s actions. “Kiss, kiss!”

Isabell kissed Harley. “That’s my girl.”