In the Sound

“Get him inside! Nora-,” Herschel’s tone was gruff. He rolled his sleeves up behind his elbows and briefly examined Kit. Patricia was following his tail.

My head was wheeling around in thousands of circles. I was so dizzy. I could hardly see. I didn’t know when Herschel had gotten here. Or Patricia. But they were here, and they were scooping Kit up into their withered arms.

Kit’s head lulled over, bobbing as they carried him up the porch. I wiggled my fingers, feeling the wetness of Kit’s blood smeared between them. My breathing was so ragged that I thought my lungs would just give out.

“Nora!” Herschel’s stern voice rang over and over in my ears. “He’s going to be just fine. Leave it to us. Rick, you watch her for now. She can be feisty if you don’t calm her.”

I whirled, head spinning. Seeing fields and fields and fields of grass. Until I focused. Focused on a dark figure around the side of the house. Large. Watching me. Threatening. Crossbow aimed towards his own feet.

“You.”

“Nora.” Rick warned. The kind of warning voice he would use when he was calming down a psycho criminal. I ignored him, tightening my fists into little balls.

I stared at the man with the crossbow intently. His own eyes fixed back on me.

His hair was scruffy, and had clearly not been brushed for months. I could probably have said the same for his face. Patches of dirt and dust clouded parts of his sallow cheeks here and there. A distinct cut marked his temple, skin still freshly cut. Filthy, baggy clothes, clinging to him. The opposite of Rick.

The man slung his crossbow over his shoulder, still carefully watching me. As he did, he seemed to shift on his feet a little, as though the movement had caused him pain. I took my first stride towards him, feeling the anger choking my own throat.

He didn’t know the meaning of pain.

As I strode towards him, the man seemed to take a small step back, uncertain of what to do. But I didn’t take my sights off him. My brows were knotted in a bloodthirsty glare. I could feel Rick tailing my growing steps.

“Nora? Nora! Calm down. We can figure out a calm way to talk about this. Nobody has to get hurt,” he cooed.

But Rick couldn’t stop me. I didn’t have time for his cooing. I didn’t have time for rational thinking. Nobody could stop me. He was dead.

Before I reached the man, Rick had skipped ahead of me. I brought my hands up, ready to claw out his eyes. So close. Only a metre away. He was hurt, that was an advantage. I pulled back my arm, ready to thrust all my hatred into this hit.

But instead, I felt a hand pulling at my stomach. Rick wedged himself neatly between us. He pushed on my stomach with his forearm, bulbs eyeing me cautiously. When I was a safe distance away and he was evenly between us, Rick put out one palm in a stopping gesture. His fingers were laced with stress.

“Hell’s wrong with ya?” The man behind him growled. I felt the heat burning up my entire body. “Saved ya ass back there. Was growlin’ somethin’ fierce at ya.” He was throwing his hands around, making wild and violent gestures that were muffled by Rick’s blocking.

I groaned in a frustrated ache. My throat scratchy and dry. “’s wrong with me? You just shot my dog, and you wanna ask what’s wrong with me?”

“Daryl, ya should be in your tent resting,” Rick cooed again, as calmly as he could. But nobody was listening to him.

Daryl peeked over Rick’s shoulder, pointing his finger at me. His face scrunched up in a crude way. “Listen to me Shaggy, aint my fault Scooby’s a sped.”

I closed the distance between us, meeting chest to chest with Rick.

“Fuck you! You stupid, hick bastard! I’ll kill you!”

I threw my arms over his shoulders just as Daryl did. Banging around wildly as Rick gave me another push in warning. His lips lined in a tight line.

Daryl had backed a few steps away so my fingers couldn’t reach him. But his arms were still waving around as he growled.

“Jus’ try it! I aint afraid’a stompin’ some dumbass bitch.”

I felt my eyes lull over with red. I couldn’t even think straight. My mind was on fire. My knuckles were aching for contact. I lunged again, ready for Rick to stand up straight and block me. His arms out like a bird trying to fly.

So I did what I had to. I ducked underneath his arm and thrust everything I could muster into Daryl’s face.