Fighter

Isabell didn’t want to attend the makeshift funeral service. She hadn’t exactly bonded with the people in the group. In a way, she had gotten close with Carol. Or at least Isabell had sympathized with her. After all she had been through with Daryl’s family, Isabell knew what she had been through. The second she saw Carol beat the crap out of her husband’s dead body, she knew. It was hard to miss. Daryl had told her just after the episode with Carol that while the group was gone, Ed was getting rough with Carol and Shane beat his face in. That would mean the most of the ugliness they saw this morning wasn’t from him being turned. That was disturbing. Isabell didn’t ever remember it getting that bad with Daryl. Then again, Daryl would have hid the really bad things from her so that she wouldn’t freak out.

The group stood in a half circle around the graveyard. Daryl and Isabell stood on the end of the line.

Andrea, the blonde who had lost her sister, was trying to lower her sister into a grave. She didn’t want any help, even though many people, including Isabell, opted to help her out. She didn’t look to Isabell, let alone acknowledge her. Dale managed to be successful after many failed attempts at trying.

No one said anything during the funeral. The group stood around staring at the graves that were dug.

Isabell looked to Daryl, since she was standing uncomfortably. These weren’t her people. Daryl was looking around. He was probably still bitter over his brother being gone.

Isabell sighed. Just as she had, everyone dispersed and began walking back to camp. Isabell and Daryl had hung back since they drove the truck up there. She heard as Rick started to whisper to his wife, Lori, but she didn’t bother trying to strain herself to listen. That was until their son spoke.

“Are we safe now, Dad? Now that we’re together?” he asked.

Isabell stopped dead in her tracks and felt tears begin to sting her eyes. She felt an elbow poke her back and turned around seeing Daryl behind her.

Daryl flicked his head behind him telling her to follow him. He brought her to the bed of his truck and sat her down. Daryl returned to his truck to get his own version of a first aid kit. When he came back, he pulled up Isabell’s shorts and got to work, stitching her wound back up.

Isabell still couldn’t get Carl’s question out of her head. “How are we supposed to let them sit by and let that child live in fear?” she asked out loud.

Daryl looked to her for a second and scoffed away.

“I’m serious, Daryl. Both Sophia and Carl, the Mexicans. They’re scared outta their pants. How’m I supposed to just let that go?”

“Not much we can do, Iz. Those aren’t our kids.” He said, harshly.

Isabell looked at him for a minute, becoming frustrated with him. Did he feel nothing? “No, they aren’t.” she snapped back. “But now that I’m here, and we’re stayin’, I gotta do somethin’.”

Daryl shook his head. He didn’t know what to say.

“We can’t stay here. It’s not safe. Cowboy Rick can tie up as many tin cans around the perimeter as he wants, but it’ll never be safe enough for me to sleep soundly.”

Daryl continued to work on Isabell’s leg without looking up or making a comment.

Isabell shook her head. “Daryl?”

He finally looked up.

“What are we gonna do?”

He scoffed. “I ain’t gon’ do nothin’. All I gotta do, is take care o’ my own. That’s only you.”

“Yeah, it’s only me, but it wasn’t. The world went to hell, that turned worse, and then you stopped fighting.” The second Isabell said it, she regretted it. The look she saw on Daryl’s face was almost as if she had stabbed him. Isabell shook her head and dropped it to her hands. “Dammit.” She said, mainly to herself.

“It’s fine.” Daryl said softly, finishing off the last stitch.

Isabell looked up at him. “It’s not.” She told him.

“It’s true.”

“No, it’s not, Daryl. We tried, okay? We… We just didn’t get there in time.” she said, not even fighting the tears that were rolling down her face. “We were too late. We both fought to get there, but it just wasn’t enough.” She sighed, wiping her eyes free of tears. “I never seem to make it on time.” she admitted, even though she told herself she never would.

Daryl sat down in the bed next to her and they both avoided the other’s gaze. “What do you think? Fort Benning or CDC?” he asked her.

Isabell looked up at him shocked that he would ask her. He’s never really been worried about her opinion on where they were going before. It was always, what he said goes. Daryl had more expertise on how to survive off of this kind of world anyway. “CDC.” Isabell said easily. “No doubt Benning has been overrun. A place like that, secure and heavily armed, people would think to go there first. An easy target for an outbreak. Most of the world doesn’t even know what the CDC is. And, in thinking of all of the weaponizable diseases they got there, it’s probably even more guarded than the base.”

Daryl nodded.

Isabell hoped he agreed with her, but he never said what he thought.

Daryl pushed himself out of the truck and stood in front of her. He reached out a hand and pulled her out. “Let’s get back to camp.”

Isabell stared at him for a moment. She could see so much even though he gave her so little. Isabell hated to admit it, but without the man in front of her, she’d have absolutely no idea where she would be.

!@#$#@!

20 Years Earlier

“Daryl!” The girl shouted. She couldn’t have been more than fourteen. She was running through the woods that separated her house and his. She looked back and forth in hopes of finding her only friend. They had said earlier at school that they were going to meet.

With the girl’s dad gone now, and her mom drinking herself away, she made use of her time they way that she wanted. Forging all her report cards and permission slips. She did really well in school for not really caring about it. It came naturally to her. She had to help her friend, Daryl, get his grade up, forcing him to study with her before they were allowed to go hunting and camping on the weekends.

When she got to the place she knew was the exact median between the houses, she stopped. Where was he? This is where he normally would be. He always got back before she did. She took a quick trip to the library before walking home.

Then she decided to go to his house. Maybe he had forgotten that they were meeting. She ran towards the house on the other side of the forest. It was as equally run down and beaten up as her own house was.

“Daryl!” she shouted again, hoping he would come out of the house. She was never allowed in. Daryl wouldn’t let her. She didn’t want to knock in case she’d make Daryl mad. She went against everything her gut was telling her anyway, and went up to the screen door that separated her from entering the house. The girl peeked in to see Daryl on the ground, seething in pain. Her eyes widened as she burst through the door. “Daryl!” She whispered, running to her friend’s side. “Jesus. Are you okay?”

“Izzy?” He said, strain in his voice. “What the hell are you doin’ in here?”

“I came because you never showed up. We were supposed to study, remember?”

“Get outta here!” he said, pushing the girl away from him. “You shouldn’t be here! I told you never to come in this house.” he recalled.

“Daryl!” An angry man’s voice boomed through the house. The back screen door squeaked open and closed quickly, slamming into the frame. “Who’s there!?” he shouted.

Isabell looked to her friend. She had no idea what was to come. Iz didn’t know the origin of that voice was the reason her best friend was laying on the ground in pain.

Daryl’s eyes widened as he looked back at Isabell.

“Iz, you gotta get out of here.” Daryl pleaded.

Isabell shook her head. “Not without you.”

Daryl groaned. “Alright. Help me up.”

Isabell nodded, helping him get an arm over her shoulders.

“Daryl!” the man shouted again.

Daryl tried to rush the girl along. He knew exactly what would come to the both of them if they didn’t clear out. He didn’t want it to happen to Isabell. Not his best friend. It was bad enough that it was happening to him.

The two tiptoed through the house, hiding around corners, checking to see if he was coming that way.

“Don’t look back.” Daryl pushed.

Isabell nodded.

When the coast was clear, they burst through the front door and took off towards the woods. Daryl’s arm was still around the girl, so it was difficult for the two to run with much speed. They heard the man shout after them, but they didn’t look back.

When they got closer to Isabell’s house, they slowed. The two sat on a large boulder. Daryl kept his arm around the girl, if anything just to hold her together. Subconsciously, his thumb moved back and forth on her shoulder.

Isabell couldn’t think of anything to say. She would open her mouth to try and speak, but nothing ever came out. After a while, she just sighed and put her head in her hands.

Daryl bit his lip. He had been hoping that she would never find out, but it was bound to come out. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell ya.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“It only just started.”

“It’s cause Merle left, innit?”

Daryl nodded. “It used to be him. He would hold off the ol’ man from gettin’ at me.” Daryl shrugged. “Now that he’s gone…” He paused. “I can take it. It’s fine.”

“Come to mine, okay? You only have to stay tonight, but you can’t go back without healing up a little.”

Daryl nodded.

“I won’t go to the library anymore, either. I don’t care what you say about it. If I hadn’t gone, you wouldn’t have been there and you wouldn’t have gotten beat.” The girl sighed and laid her head on Daryl’s shoulder. “I wasn’t there in time. I should’ve been there.”

!@#$#@!

Everyone had been packed up and ready to go. The verdict was the CDC. Isabell was glad. She never would have chosen Fort Benning, even if she had known that it was safe. Isabell didn’t do well when it came to authority. Especially when she would be trapped in a cage with all of the firearms being waved in her face as they tried to decipher what the scars on her arms were from.

The group had gathered around the cars with Rick and Shane standing in front of them.

“Everybody listen up.” Shane shouted. “Those of you with CBs, we’re gonna be on channel forty. Let’s keep the chatter down, okay? Now, you gotta problem, don’t have a CB, can’t get a signal or anything at all, you’re gonna hit your horn one time. That’ll stop the caravan. Any questions?”

Isabell watched as the Mexican man, Morales, stood forward. “We’re uh…” he stumbled. “We’re not going.” He said boldly.

Isabell shook her head. With just the four of them, two of them kids, there was no way that they’ll make it.

“We have family in Birmingham.” His wife said. “We want to be with our people.”

Assuming they’re there. Isabell thought.

“You go on your own, you won’t have anyone to watch your back.” Shane warned.

Morales nodded. “We’ll take the chance. I got to do what’s best for my family.”

“You sure?” Rick questioned.

“We talked about it.” Morales said, putting an arm around his wife’s shoulders. “We’re sure.”

“Alright.” Rick looked over to Shane and called out his name.

Shane dug into the group’s bag of weaponry.

Isabell sighed.

Daryl was just as upset as she was, but Isabell understood that the family needed it.

Shane handed Morales a gun and a box of ammo. “The box is half full.” Shane said.

Morales’ wife nodded. “Thank you all. For everything.” Everybody then proceeded to say their goodbyes and hopes of good luck.

Daryl and Isabell stood outside the group.

Isabell put a hand on his lower arm to calm him from his anger high.

Daryl just looked to her and nodded, telling her that he was okay, so she took her hand off.

Isabell heard Shane whisper something to Rick about the odds of survival and she rolled her eyes.

“Come on.” Shane told everybody. “Let’s move out.”

Isabell moved towards the truck with Daryl; his brother’s motorcycle in the back. Isabell had hoped that if she asked Daryl to ride the bike he would say yeah, go ahead, but she knew that answer would be no. He would use her stitches as an excuse since he didn’t like her riding on her own. He must have thought that she was incompetent. Little did Daryl know, Isabell had found an old bike while she was on her own and was using that for transportation.

Much to her dismay, Isabell climbed into the truck’s cab. She wanted to ride in the wind and completely have time to herself. Instead, she had to sit in the awkward silence that was Daryl Dixon. He was always comfortable when he was just sitting, being. Isabell wanted to do something, to talk about something. She had a problem sitting around.

The caravan had taken off. It had been a couple hours and Isabell was starting to get antsy. She looked to Daryl, seeing him concentrating on nothing but what was in front of him, with his elbow on the window as a prop for his head. Isabell bit her lip and turned back to the front. “Daryl?” She asked.

He humphed in response.

Isabell rolled her eyes, but continued to ask her question anyway. “Do you ever think that we’ll find a place to stay? Like a place to settle down. Somewhere well-guarded and stocked.”

“What? You want that apple pie, picket fence crap?”

Isabell shook her head. “Do I look like the type of girl who wants that?” she asked him, sending a sarcastic glare his way. “I’m just saying someplace where we don’t have to keep running. Where we can start some sort of a society.” Isabell could tell that he took a moment to think about the question after she had clarified it to him. She was glad that he was at least thinking about it. Maybe she didn’t want the apple pie and the picket fence, but she would like to have some of her old life back, even if it wasn’t all of it.

Daryl didn’t ever answer though, since the caravan had to make a stop. The RV broke down, not that it was surprise.

Isabell had watched the old man try and fix that thing up. She noticed that he used more duct tape than actual car part. There was no way that it would hold. Isabell made her way back to the truck and leaned on the passenger side door. She saw her bow in the bed and debated on going hunting or not. Her answer was decided when Daryl came over to her and told her what was going on.

“They’re leaving the string bean.”

“Good.” Isabell admitted. “Is that what he wants, though? To be left here?”

Daryl nodded.

Isabell copied his actions and went with him to have some sort of goodbye with Jim, not that she knew him much.

After that, the caravan continued on. Daryl and Isabell were back in the truck, neither of them saying anything. He still had yet to answer her question. Isabell had hoped that he thought they’d find something eventually. She wanted to believe that they still had a chance at somewhat of a normal life.

Isabell’s eyes grew tired. She tried to stay away, figuring it was just the weakness from lack of food, but she couldn’t fight it. Isabell moved to lay her head down on the middle seat, but Daryl stopped her and pulled her closer to him so she could use his leg as a pillow. Isabell smiled at him.
Daryl’s face remained as poker-like as ever.

Isabell sighed as he put his right hand on her shoulder and drove with his left.

“We’ll find somethin’.” He said.

Isabell didn’t move to look at him, but she knew he knew that she heard him. Nothing else could have been said. Isabell closed her eyes and drifted into a sleep.

!@#$#@!

Not knowing how long she had slept for, Isabell was awoken by Daryl shaking her shoulder. She lifted her head to see that it was almost dark. In front of them, was a rounded building that she recognized as the CDC. Isabell sighed in relief. That is, until she noticed the lack of living bodies in the area.

“Shit.” She whispered, seeing the destruction.

Everyone gathered outside of the vehicles, weapons in hand.

Isabell grabbed her bow and readied it, without drawing an arrow back.

Shane played leader. “Alright, everybody. Just keep moving, and stay quiet. Stay at the ready and together.”

Daryl had out his crossbow.

Isabell looked to him and he flicked his head telling her to come closer.

“You stick to me, ya hear?” he said.

Isabell nodded. As they moved towards the building, they had to maneuver around the bodies. Isabell’s head remained clear as she stepped around and over them, trying to be the least bit respectful.

The other women in the group were less than brave. Carol, pushing little Sophia along, almost started to cry, seeing the area the way it was.

Once the group reached the building, Daryl stayed behind the group to catch any stragglers as a precaution.

Isabell moved up to the front with Rick and Shane. Shane pounded on the door.

“There’s nobody here.” T-Dog pointed out.

“These barriers wouldn’t be down if there weren’t people inside.” Isabell pointed out.

“Walkers!” Daryl’s voice shouted.

Carol and Lori pushed their children towards the front and away from the oncoming walkers.

Daryl shot a could walkers down before passing blame towards Rick. “You led us into a graveyard!”

Shane shook his head. “He made a call.” He said angrily, defending his friend.

Isabell was confused why he defended Rick because Shane didn’t want to come here in the first place.

“It was the wrong damn call!” Daryl shouted.

“Shut up!” Shane ordered Daryl. “Do you hear me? Shut up!” Shane turned to his best friend. “Rick, this is a dead end.”

Isabell turned to look at the building, wrapping her bow around her body, trying to see if she could notice anything suspicious, or anything that would hint that there was someone in there.

“Do you hear me, Rick? There is no blame.” Shane said. “Fort Benning is still an option.”

“Oh what?” Andrea questioned. “We have no food, hardly any fuel left. Fort Benning is a hundred miles away.”

“A hundred twenty five.” Glenn corrected. “I checked the map.”

“Forget Fort Benning.” Lori suggested. “We need answers now.”

“We’ll think of something.” Rick insisted.

“C’mon, let’s go. Let’s get out of here.” Shane begged, before turning back to the others and fending off walkers.

Isabell looked back to the building and just as she had, she noticed a camera move. She pointed it out to Rick. “There! Did you see that?” she asked.

Rick nodded. “The camera! It moved!”

“You imagined it.” Shane insisted.

“Well, we much both be doin’ the same ‘shrooms, ‘cause I saw it, too.” Isabell snapped.

Shane shrugged her off, putting himself between her and Rick. “Rick, it is dead, man. It’s an automated device. It’s gears, okay? They’re just winding down. Now, come on.”

“Shane, will you listen to me?” Isabell ordered, pulling on his shoulder, making him face her.
The deputy pushed her away from him.

Isabell punched his back a couple times with the side of her fist. She was glad that Daryl didn’t see that, or Shane would be lying on the ground, dead. “Stupid hick! This is the CDC. It’s locked up. That sorta high tech shit doesn’t just move on its own! If they want to see something, they see it!”

Shane just continued to ignore Isabell as she sighed away, frustrated. “Man, just listen to me. Look around this place. It’s dead, okay? It’s dead. You need to let it go, Rick.”

“Rick, don’t you dare listen to him!” Isabell pushed. “How could both have imagined the same thing? You know what you saw, Rick!”

Rick wasn’t having any of it. He was letting Shane talk him out of what he saw.

There was something about Shane that Isabell didn’t like.

“Rick, there’s nobody here!” Lori shouted.

Isabell sent a glare her way.

Shane tried to pull Rick away, with the help of Lori. “Everybody get back to their cars now!” Shane demanded.

Daryl was still busy fending off the walkers, so Isabell moved her way to bang on the protective shutters.

“Let us in, you son of a bitch!” Isabell shouted towards the camera. “There are children out here! We have no food, hardly any gas!” She banged again. “If you don’t let us in, it’s just like you bit us yourself.”

Carol’s hand suddenly tightened around Isabell’s arm. She tried to pull her back to the vehicles.

“No, Carol! Someone is in there! I know it! We need to get Sophia safe! He’s gonna kill her!” Isabell banged on the shutter with both fists.

“You’re not gonna be any help if we don’t get out of here.” Carol said, calmly. “There’s no one there.”

Isabell didn’t want to believe it. When she looked down to see the look on Sophia’s face, it all just melted. The little girl was so afraid. Staying here wasn’t helping her. Isabell sighed and grabbed both of their hands and tugged them along, moving back towards the cars.

Just as Isabell took her fifth step, a loud bang came from behind them and she turned to see the shutter rising and a bright light pouring out of it.