The Sharpest Lives

"Fuck!" Gonzales, my semi-good buddy in our troop yelled out. A cannon that was set off hit way to close for him for comfort. Normally we didn't get much action where we were stationed this year, but the Marine Corps are the branch that always end up getting some sooner or later, especially when trying to keep a sea lane open, like now. We were currently down in Germany, where we have headquarters and a vessel at, which obviously someone didn't like.

As for me I was already on the ground, trying to army crawl over to a better spot while at the same time trying to fix my helmet that was sliding down onto my face as I did.

My ears were ringing from the sound of explosions, yelling, ship horns, and even gun shots. And when a bullet whizzed by me, far too close to my head for me to be okay with, I quickly rolled onto my back. My chest was heaving up and down fast, breaths struggling to come out evenly and hands shaking a little from fear. "Ace?!" Gonzales called, but I ignored him. I focused on my breathing. On my fear. I took a moment to sound everything out but my fast heart beat and started to count to 3 as slow as I could, sucking up every ounce of fear as I did.

And when I finished, snapping open my eyes, I was completely focused. This needs to end.

"Ace?! Are you good?!" Gonzales called again, making me realize it probably seemed like I got shot

"Yeah! M'good!" I yelled, only to be cut off by another cannon getting shot off. Things were now on fire everywhere, making things also hard to see. This needs to end, and if someone is not going to do it, I am.

"Where's Ray at?!" Gonzales army crawled over to me, it took him a while, trying to be stealthy and watching for bombs, but he eventually got to it. "He said he had our flank!" Ray is our commanding officer, our boss. The big guy here that without him, things would be screwed. But, right now no one can find him. "You think they got'em?" Gonzales asked, both of us lying flat against the back side of a boulder we got to.

I didn't respond, just started to look around. Our men were doing a good job, we could get past this, but if we don't take out the enemies commanding officer.. we don't have a win. I squinted my eyes, trying to look past all the smoke and commotion, only to spot exactly who I wanted to see.

I sat up, getting back onto my feet and hunching over as I started running. "Ace!" Gonzales called, but I ignored. I can do this. I can end this. There was another boulder at least 20 yards away from me, so if I can get there, I can get ready. So, I turned myself into full focus and went into gear.

When I got there, finishing my treacherous run, I slammed my back against it, huffing like crazy. Fuck, that was a close call. "Ace! ACE!" Gonzales was still calling my name, but I couldn't make out his figure and didn't have time to try. I ignored him. I counted to three. And on the third number, I spun around, setting my gun up on the top of the boulder and looking for the man I wanted to see. He had no idea I was here yet. He was right in my line of sight and nothing else mattered. Everything else was a blur.

All the noises were fog to my ears, even my name being yelled by Gonzales many times. My heart hammering in my chest was clear, though.

I looked through the scope in my gun, cocking it as I did. I lined up the shoot. This was it.

"ACE! NO!" Gonzales yelled, breaking through the fog surrounding my ears, but all too late. I had pulled the trigger. The bullet was whizzing by, only to stick my target right in the throat. I smiled in victory for a moment, but, it was unbeknownst to me that he had a deadman's trigger in his hand. Or that Ray was fighting right near him, trying to signal me to stop because he was getting close to him and saw the bomb... But, it was too late. My face fell, pure horror struck upon it.

My targets fingers slipped from the button on the trigger, and all of the sudden he wasn't my target anymore.. He was Frankie. I screamed, but the next thing I know the air all around me was engulfed in flames. I let out another cry, but this time ducked back down behind the rock for protection. Intense heat was surrounding me and beads of sweat poured down my forehead, my breathing heavy once again. My eyes were slammed shut, but when the heat was lowering I shot them open, looking around. But, I was only to find Gonzales on fire in the middle of the path way between me and the protection of his rock. "NO!" I screamed.

I was now full of fear again and my head was snapping in all different directions, mouth agape. I looked back over to where I saw Frankie, but no one was there anymore, just a wall of flames. And then I heard it. Growls. Hungry groans, making my heart go rigid.

I looked into the flames and watched as a body stood up, Ray's body. But, it wasn't human anymore. It barely was a body. All the skin was burned, charred, or melted. His bones and muscles in clear view, teeth chomping as he neared me. He was a biter.

More growls filled the air and my head snapped to my left. Gonzales was now getting up, half of his face on fire. His eye balls melting out of his head as he too now stumbled toward me. Hungry.

********

Ace shot up so fast that it made her dizzy. She was huffing, tears and beads of sweat rolling down her face. She was frantic. She couldn't breathe.

Another nightmare..

So she scurried off the bench in the RV, nearly whacking her body against the table as she tried to get out. She needed fresh air.

When she stumbled out of the RV, still doing her best not to wake anyone, she ran down the steps and put her hands on her knees, breathing deeply. Breathing in the cool night air, trying to relax.
A lot of soldiers after they fight or are off duty have dreams or recurrences like this, post dramatic stress or something. And for Ace it was only heightened. She's always had that dream since it's happened, some nights she might get lucky and not dream at all, or dream about something else, but most nights it haunted her, having the same effect. Now, it just had a little twist in it since it is the zombie apocalypse.

You can never forget the feeling of a bomb going off near you.. Because of you... She can never forget exactly what happened in that moment, exactly how she felt. Her heart beating so fast she thought it was going to explode, the pure fear as the flames ignited over her.. The pure fear of knowing she just got people killed. The intense heat that struck her like knives.. The quiet aftermath, creepy and eerie. And then realizing it was her fault.. that she killed not only her boss, but her friend.. Her fellow Marines.

She was always taught to fight for the Marine next to her. It was about teamwork, loyalty, putting others over yourself... And she didn't do that. She put getting the enemy down over everything, even leaving Gonzales when she was supposed to have his back.. Just like she had left Merle and Frankie, too.

She wished that she had died in that explosion...

Ace stood up, wiping the tears that were smudged on her face away and looking around. She wasn't about to go back in that RV; hot.. full of people. She needed the cool night air, and there is no way she's going to fall back asleep.

She spotted a light glowing from the fire pit, the embers still lightly burning, and a body sitting on a log nearby. She could make out the body, the posture. It was Daryl, and he had a bottle of something dangling loosely in his hand. Fuck it. He's not gona make her run and hide.

Ace started to walk over, making her footsteps loud enough so he could hear and not be startled. She went over to a seat not across from him, but also not next to him, and his head turned over. He could see the paleness on her face, the dark bags under her eyes.. the sweat.

Ace sat down, and silence lingered over them for a while. She was waiting for him to snap at her, call her a 'stupid bitch', or tell her to leave, but instead.. "Can't sleep?" Daryl grumbled, almost slurred, causing Ace to realize he had a bottle of alcohol in his hand. No wonder he wasn't being an ass.. He was drunk. But, where'd he get that? "No," Ace stated. She was hesitating lightly, afraid that Daryl was going to snap at her again, and she didn't have the stability for that right now, but luckily he didn't. He looked back down at the burning embers, letting the silence which was oddly comfortable, remain. It completely did take Ace by surprise, though, when he held out his arm, handing the bottle of alcohol to her. She eyed it and him suspiciously.

"Wha'? Don't tell me ya can't handle ya alcohol, princess," he slurred, almost sarcastically. Ace scoffed and wasn't even thinking as her body moved so she was sitting closer, able to grab it from him. She took a long drink, recognizing the taste of whiskey immediately. The burning sensation was fabulous. Perfect for what she needed, but bringing back all the haunting memories of those late nights she spent with a bottle of booze. Either trying to drink her way to alcohol poisoning, or just fulfilling the rumors of her being an alcoholic. Even if that did all stop when she found out Frankie was born.

Daryl was watching her as she drank, eyebrows raised up. "Here," she handed it back to him after her drink. He eyed her oddly. "If you don't take it now you might never get it back," she mumbled. "Princess," this time she smirked, mocking him. Daryl scoffed, his own smirk teasing his lips, and then snatched it back. He was different when alone, not being watched by the group. Maybe the redneck wasn't all that bad?

"'Was left over from my brothers stash," Daryl said, looking down at the bottle in his hands. Ace gnawed on her lip, wondering if she should say anything. "Sorry," she mumbled, looking down, guilty, as usual. "'bout your brother.."

"He ain't dead," Daryl stated, almost growled angrily. Ace knew that, but she decided to play like she didn't know, mostly to get the story out of him. And Daryl was semi-drunk enough and semi-comfortable enough to tell. "They handcuffed 'em to a roof down in Atlanta. Said he was puttin' 'em in danger.. probably high," Daryl said. He knew his brother was an asshole, but that didn't mean they had to leave him for dead.

Ace had to look down to hide her smile because Merle was in fact high. "I guess they were about to be overrun by walkers or somethin'.. T-dog went to get 'em, but he dropped the key."

"He couldn't pick it up?" Ace asked, almost sneered, making Daryl chuckle. He had said the same thing.

"Dropped it down the drain."

Ace finally nodded in understanding. They handcuffed Merle to get him to stop being reckless and then dropped the key to get him undone.. then had to leave.. This group wasn't evil or murderers, and from the time she spent with Merle she could very well believe that he could be a troublemaker. But, it still sucked that he was just left like that. He wasn't a bad guy deep down, and no one deserves to get what he did. Daryl could see she was thinking deeply, as usual. "We wen't back for 'em, but he cut his damn hand off, runnin around like a headless chicken."

Daryl was trying to be snotty about it, but Ace could hear the underlying sadness in his voice. She knew what it was like to lose a sibling, but at the same time not know if they're dead.. Or worse. "I can't find my sister, either," she added quietly. She was surprised that Daryl had even spoken a civil word to her, and didn't want to push the conversation, but also felt she should say something. Daryl looked up at her, "don't know where she is.. If she's alive, or if she's one of those things," Ace growled the last part and Daryl understood completely. Ace scoffed again. "Probably dead."

"Wha'?" Daryl snapped. He did not understand how she could just think that, give up on her. Ace couldn't even believe she just said that, hell, she had never even allowed herself to think that.. But, it always was in the back of her head. It doesn't matter though, she would still find Frankie, no matter what.

"She's only four," Ace mumbled softly, feeling her heart ache. Her best friend was out there somewhere, possibly gone through hell and alone. Then Ace also remembered that her birthday was recently..

Daryl now understood and handed her the bottle back, which she graciously took.

Ace brought the bottle up to her lips, but stopped for a moment. Was she having a "bonding" moment with Daryl? The angry redneck who only earlier hated her guts, as did she?

Daryl awkwardly rubbed his hand over his chin, scratching it a little and looking down at the burning embers. "S-" Daryl cut himself off, snapping his mouth shut and scoffing angrily again, this time angry at himself. He knew Ace wasn't that bad, not at all.. He was oddly interested and really wanted to just ask her what the hell was going on in her head because even when she was talking, she wasn't really saying anything. She was always lost in her head, either really shy or really caught up in her thoughts, or both, and she was just quiet. She would mumble things to her self, get struck with another thought while deep in a different one, and toy with her hands sometimes.

She was a lot like Daryl in ways.

Daryl thought when he first saw her she was just gona be another woman around here that bitched to the guys and the rest of the group, but she was different. And the worst part was he felt oddly comfortable around her. But that just confused him to all hell so he was a dick to her, even if he didn't want to be.

And Ace, this was the most comfortable and at ease she felt since she got here. This camp and group was a mess, making her feel odd and not liking it, but Daryl, even if he was a huge asshole that she thought hated her, he was the only one with his head on semi-straight.

#############

"Alright, everybody listen up," Shane spoke up and Ace directed her attention to him. "Those of you with CB's, were gona be on channel 40, but lets keep the chatter down, okay?" Shane had a good leader trait in him, as well, but he wasn't as emotional, which can be a good thing and a bad thing. "Now if y'all have a problem, can't get ahold of anybody, don't have a CB, ya gona hit your horn one time. That'll stop the caravan."

Ace was leaning against a car behind the group next to Dale, barely listening while she rubbed at her aching back. Shane had eventually given in to Rick's idea and they were headed to the CDC, to Ace's dismay. Fort Benning would be such a better option, but she couldn't do anything about it. She still decided to tag along, there could be a slim chance Frankie was there.

Ace had noticed Shane having a confrontation with Rick's wife, and she figured out her name was Lori, but everything was clicking in her head when she heard their conversation. Shane wanted Lori. He loved her and Carl like his own family, but Rick was here. And that made her feel completely bad for him. He was even being good taking Rick's side. "Any questions?"

Ace looked up lightly and immediately caught Daryl's eye, which he snapped his glance away, back to the ground quick with that scowl on his face. He had gone back to being cold to her again, which confused Ace because last night he didn't seem bad at all. Either that was part of her dream, too, or Daryl just isn't drunk anymore. She ignored it and paid her attention to the family that said they weren't going to come, wanting to go find their other family, which Ace completely understood.

She was shifting her gaze around the camp to see saddened looks on every ones faces, except for Daryl who was looking at the ground, biting his nail and occasionally sneaking glances up at her. His dirty blonde hair was all Ace was able to make out on his head when he looked down, but she did notice the color seemed to almost match his plaid shirt, which he had ripped the sleeves off of.. not that Ace was complaining..

"Box is half full," Shane gave the family a gun and some ammo, which caused Daryl to snort in agitation and take an annoyed step backwards. Jesus, what an ass, these people needed it.

Ace watched as everyone said their goodbyes, feeling bad for Carl and the little girl, Sophia, who cried while saying goodbye to their friends. Dale left her side to go say his goodbye, sadness ridden on his face. Dale was her companion and the only one in this group that seemed to give a rats ass.

Ace heard Carl and Sophia mumble an "i'm hungry" sadly to their moms, but they just turned them away. Ace contemplated for a moment, but then in a swift movement brought her backpack down and dug inside, finding two small candy bars she picked up in the city. She moved over to the kids and when their parents backs were to them, she crouched down. "Our secret," she smiled lightly and Carl and Sophia's smiles stretched to their eyes, through the tears, only making her smile grow. "Okay!" They said in hushed voices, taking the candy bars from her and stuffing them in their pockets.

She really did love kids.

Ace went back over to where Dale was and slid her backpack back on. "I'm afraid their isn't much room in the RV, it would be a tight squeeze, but Shane and Daryl have an open spot in their vehicles," Dale said to her, everyone getting ready to leave. She sighed, of course.

Daryl ignored what Dale said and walked over to his truck. He sure as hell wasn't going to offer the open seat, it wasn't something he'd do. Plus, the second seat in his truck was for Merle, always only for Merle. And Daryl was suspicious of getting too close to this girl.

Ace ignored Daryl and watched Shane who was striding over. She didn't feel very comfortable with the idea of riding with him. "I got an open spot," his voice was kinder than she expected, but she still wasn't feeling good about this. Dale gave a weak smile and patted her shoulder before climbing up in the RV. "Look, I'm sorry about what happened," he ran a hand over his head, waiting for an answer that Ace never gave. "I ain't gona try anything, jus' offering a ride."
Ace eyed him, but eventually gave a curt nod and moved past him to the car she had saw him loading, knowing it was his. He sounded truthful enough and plus, she didn't really have another choice, Daryl's truck not really seeming to be open.
Shane's ride was a smaller jeep that had no top or windows, which was different, but with this heat it seemed kind of nice. So Ace threw her bag in the back and hopped into the passenger seat, waiting for Shane and catching Daryl's eye again when she got settled in. To her surprise, the gaze was held, not hard or angry, just a stare. But, there had to be some underlying meaning when Daryl nodded his head towards Shane and a questioning look in his eye. He had been there when Shane was all over her and now she was going to ride with him? He thought she would go in the RV.. He had already saved her from sitting by him yesterday.. Ace couldn't use words to answer him so she just shrugged, then held the gaze for a moment longer until he gave her a nod and they drove away.
Ace's mind was now in a tizzy. He had seriously just been cold to her, but then out of nowhere they have this "conversation" as if they knew each other.

She was interested in this Daryl character.

Shane reached down and grabbed his cap that had the police force symbol on it and put it on, blocking the sunlight from his eyes. They hand't spoken a word yet, but Ace doesn't think anyone has. Everyone is thinking about what lies ahead. If the CDC will be okay. If they'll be okay..

*

After a little while a driving and actual conversation with Shane, they stopped unfortunately because of the RV breaking down. Shane actually wasn't all that bad when you got past his outer demeanor.. He was a good guy before all this started, Ace could tell, but after getting his "heart broken" and dealing with biters, people can change. But, she still believed he had some good in side of him.

Shane had spotted a store down the road, so him and T-dog drove up to get supplies. Ace sat sideways on the passenger seat in his car, them taking one of the other vehicles, and with her door open, feet dangling out. She was cleaning out her gun when Carl and Sophia came up to her. "Ace?" Sophia questioned innocently, making Ace look up at them.

"Do you wana play Go Fish with us? Our momma's wont."

Ace smiled and noticed the deck of cards in Sophia's hand. There was many other things they could be doing, or even trying to work on their survival skills, but.. Who could say no? Ace quickly put her gun away and slid out of the seat. Carl and Sophia had sat cross legged on the ground next to each other, already starting to sort out the cards, so Ace took a seat as well, completely their small circle. "Do you know how to play?" Sophia asked, gripping onto a doll with one hand.

"Yeah.. I think so.. But, I might need help remembering," Ace did know how to play, but seeing the joy on Carl and Sophia's face when they started explaining to her was worth so much more.

They were playing in silent concentration for a while, besides the questions you had to ask during the game, the current 'go fish', and the kids giggles, but eventually Carl spoke up. "Ya know, my mom says you shouldn't be with us."

He looked up at her quickly and Ace didn't know what to say. "Mine too," Sophia chirped in.

"She also doesn't think your eyes are cool, but I think she's wrong," Carl said, taking his turn. Ace was frozen momentarily, except for her eyes that were going back and forth between Carl and Sophia. "Yeah, I like you. And your eyes," Sophia added sweetly, this making Ace smile. She was happy the kids took a liking to her, because she had taken a liking to them. She knew the rest of the group was a pain in the butt, but that was okay. She would find Frankie soon and be on her way. That made her frown, but she quickly wiped it gone. "I like you guys, too."

They finished their games of Go Fish, which Ace lost each time, and they were in the middle of teaching her a new game when Lori came by. "Here you are.. Carl I told you to stay by my side, it's dangerous out here," she said this while looking over to Ace. "We were just playing a game, mom," Carl said. Lori turned to Ace and said a light thank you, which Ace nodded at, but knew she wasn't very glad with them playing. "Now come on you two, the RV is fixed, were leaving soon."

Sophia and Carl sighed, grabbing all their cards and standing up, saying a quick goodbye to Ace before following Lori away. Ace managed to catch a "you shouldn't be hanging out with her" "We don't know her, she could be dangerous."

Ace rolled her eyes and stood up, quickly brushing off her pants and then heading around the side of the car to see what was going on. She saw that Shane and T-dog were back, but they were with Rick, helping him carry Jim out of the RV and to a tree. She also got Daryl's eyes, it looking as if he was looking for her before he turned away and followed everybody.

Jim was being dragged into the forest and leaned against a stump, but Ace stayed behind, not having a part in this. Jim knew what was happening to him and he said that he wanted to be with his family, who had all turned. It shook Ace up, how someone would just want to be tied down to die and turn into one of those things. No one deserved to go through that pain.

After everyone saying their final goodbyes, they were back and getting loaded into their cars again with out a word. Hoping that the CDC would be a good find. They all needed it.