Full Time Job

The following afternoon, Daryl, Rick, Glenn, Zach and Michonne all returned from their supply run, and Vinny and I were helping Hershel today with the crops, and I was happy when I saw Carl opening up the gates and everyone had safely made it back. Vinny loved watering the plants and Hershel always was happy to let him help. He was teaching Vinny an old Southern harvesting tune, whistling and teaching him the words as they worked next to each other, and I couldn’t stop smiling at them.

Eventually, Daryl made his way out to where we were and bent down to kiss my cheek while I was concentrating on transplanting and starting new baby plants, a technique that Hershel had taught me.

“Hey, darlin’” he said quietly down to me and scooped up Vinny who ran towards him when he saw that he had joined us. They started chatting about their day and Hershel stood up to join them, the three joking with one another, and I stood up to join them and showed Vinny my dirty hands from working in the soil and he cringed. The four of us started to walk back up towards the prison. I felt Daryl’s constant gaze on my face and when I looked over at him as we walked, he smirked at me and I just raised an eyebrow at him, giggled a little and continued walking.

“What did you guys find today?” Hershel asked as we walked.

“Found some abandoned cars and got a couple drums of gas and a bunch of batteries, a few quarts of oil… and we cleared out the food and water that was left in the superstore. It was a pretty good day.” Daryl answered and Hershel nodded approvingly. I washed my hands off in the small water pump near our concreted patio, rinsing away the soil and dirt from my hands. I quickly dried them and pulled Vinny from Daryl’s arms as he started to help Rick and Zach sort through the supplies they had gotten on the road.

“Gia, do you think you might be able to run in our block and grab that second stock pot? I’m thinking I have too much squirrel and rabbit here,” Carol asked me from the spot she was standing at in front of the outdoor stone grill we had built.

“Vinny, stay with Carol, alright?” I said down to Vinny before walking back towards the prison. I smiled at Hershel, Rick and Daryl who were congregated, talking around one of the cars in front to the main door that I pulled open and walked towards our cell block. The corridors inside the prison were dark, save the lights that were shining in through the office windows that I was walking passed. I continued through the halls and walked in front of the cell block door, swung it open and made my way inside the stark quiet room. I started for the supply cell that held the pot I was looking for for Carol and froze in my spot when I heard a familiar voice growling out around me.

“Well, helloooo beautiful,” I heard in man’s voice that was thick with an accent of the northern Midwest. Minnesota. I immediately knew it was Josh. I felt my stomach drop to the floor and whirled around to face him, he was standing behind me with a gun pointed directly at me. I was absolutely frozen in silent fear. Josh lowered his weapon and walked up next to me, bringing his face inches from mine.

“Can you hear me in there? I said hello…” Josh said, staring down at me, his eyes looked a little unhinged. I tried to run for the supply cell, where I knew we had guns stashed, but Josh was quicker, yanking me back by pulling my hair that was hanging around my shoulders back to him.

“Now, we can’t already be having this running off problem, or having this problem where you’re always going to be trying to kill me…” he started and shoved me down to sit on a stool in the day room, and my body started shaking and no matter how hard I tried to stop, the tremors continued.

“The truth is… I came here to find you… well, not you specifically… but, we needed women… Now, when we get back to where I come from, I don’t want you to worry, I won’t let any of them have you…” He said and I looked up at him in confusion. He yanked back the long sleeve of the flannel shirt he was wearing, revealing a healed “S” branded into his skin. I immediately remembered the man that grabbed me in the store, how he had the same wound in the same spot.

“The leader of my group, he’s a great man, and he sent me out on a search to find more women, for our colony… our sanctuary…” He started to explain, pacing the institutional prison tiled floor as he spoke. “He’s got more wives than I can count, but don’t worry, when we get there, no one, not even him, will touch you. You’ll be all mine, and I will be rewarded when he finds out how many women live here… We’ll come back. We’ll take all of them…” A chill went down my spine as I started to picture Beth, Maggie, Carol, all of the ladies here that have become my friends and family being taken… the thought was making me nauseous.

“So will my word goeth forth out of my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, without accomplishing what I desire…” he started, quoting the bible and smirked down at me.

“What I desire, is you… sweetheart, and I’m not leaving this prison without you…” he started, and as he continued speaking I saw Beth walking towards the cell block and abruptly stopped, immobilized in her spot, staring at me wide-eyed in the doorway to the day room behind Josh’s back, and the non-verbal communication that passed through our eyes was intense, and I tried hard not to give any expression in my face as I stared past Josh, towards her and she quickly turned on her heel and I immediately felt relief. She did exactly as I hoped, and I knew she was now running towards Daryl, to Rick, Glenn, Hershel… anyone that could save me from this horrendous situation.

“I will give you a better life… my group will give you a better life… You have to promise me you won’t fight me on this… Please promise you won’t make this any harder on me…” he started to reason with me as I tuned back into what he was saying. I looked up at him blankly and jumped out of my skin when he started screaming in my face.

“SPEAK WHEN YOU’RE SPOKEN TO!” he yelled and I felt a single tear betray me and evade my eye and travel down my cheek as I returned his gaze. I continued to sit in front of him in silence and he scoffed in annoyance.

“I’m not going anywhere with you…” I spat out, glaring up at him and it looked as though a flame had flickered through his eyes.

“YOU WILL DO WHAT YOU’RE TOLD!” he yelled again, scratching his head with the barrel of the gun he was holding, the fist of his other hand clinching tightly. My eyes were glued to the gun in his hand that he was holding erratically as he looked to grow further unhinged, and my heart was racing because I had no idea what he was going to do and I was absolutely terrified.

“Why do you think it’s alright to treat people the way you do? Why do you think it’s okay to take people from their homes?” I asked after he was quiet for a few minutes, and he looked up at me as he paced the small area in front of me. The only thing I could think about was trying to get him to get a grip back onto his humanity, it was starting to become my only hope to stop this crazy person from shooting me. Josh looked down at me and his eyes seemed to soften a little.

“I’m not going to hurt you, I don’t want to hurt you… I want to save your life…make it better,” he started to explain and I sensed the sadness in his voice as he spoke. I wanted to tell him that the way that my life was now was the best life I could possibly have, considering the state that we all lived in. I wanted to tell him that my life was with Daryl, and will always be with Daryl, whether I was close or far away from him… it’s always going to be Daryl. Josh stepped in front of me and put a hand on my cheek and I tried as hard as I could to not show how sick and scared his close proximity was making me. I didn’t want to set him off.

Before I could think about moving or escaping his grasp, I heard the sound of flesh ripping and the tip of an arrow was protruding through Josh’s shoulder, dripping with blood just a few inches from my face. Josh looked down at the arrow and then back up to me. He groaned in pain and slumped forward, directly on top of me. I tried to wriggle free underneath his body, but his grip was strong around my neck and shoulders as he growled in pain and held my body in front of him, whirling around, and I felt the cold steel of the barrel of his gun pressing against my temple.

“Do not move a fucking step…” Josh spat out behind me, and I locked eyes with Daryl, who held his crossbow up in front of him, Rick, who had his pistol aimed in front of him, and Glenn, who had a long rifle. I stared at Daryl, feeling my eyes widen in fear as Josh cocked the pistol. We all stood there, unmoving, the thick tension was pressing against my lungs and I felt like I couldn’t catch my breath.

“Calm down, sweetheart…” Josh’s voice whispered down behind me, still holding the gun to my head, my body felt faint as I tried harder and harder to expand my lungs with air, but my breaths were shallow and my throat was burning. I stared towards Daryl, who looked so terrified and murderously angry at the exact same time, his knuckles that were squeezing the crossbow in front of him were bone white. I felt Josh’s lips on my cheek before he licked the side of my face, locking eyes with Daryl as he did so. My eyes darted over to Rick’s who was looking tensely ahead of him towards us, his gun still raised and his eyebrows drawn anxiously together. Glenn looked disgusted and a little distraught as he held the black rifle aimed in front of him. I was starting to gasp for air, my chest felt like it was shrinking.

“Josh, put the gun down, you don’t want to hurt her…” Rick started, taking a slight step forward. Josh’s body tensed as he held his arm around my neck, putting me in a sort of headlock, still holding the gun to my head, and the pressure he was putting on my throat was starting to increase, further making it harder for me to get air into my body. I was trying to focus on Daryl’s face but my vision as starting to blur slightly.

“If you come any fucking closer, I will kill her…” Josh spat out and I whimpered a little, the light gasping sound escaping my lips as I tried to simply catch my breath.

“C’mon, let her go, let’s talk about this… you don’t want to hurt her…” Rick repeated.

“He’s already hurting her, Rick, do something… she’s panicking…” Glenn said frantically and Daryl was starting to look just as unhinged as Josh pushed the barrel of the gun harder against my temple. The next few things happened so quickly, yet it felt like it was occurring in surreal slow motion as it happened. I saw Rick’s eyes flash up to the catwalk above our heads, behind us, and back down towards us, and Josh whipped his head behind us and threw me down to the tiled floor in the day room of the cell block. I heard a few gunshots ring out, and my ears were ringing terribly as I ducked my head underneath my arms, feeling blood running from my nose as it had slammed against the floor as Josh pushed me. I heard a full clip being unloaded, round after round in quick succession, and then I was in Daryl’s arms.

“It’s over baby, breathe,” Daryl said down to me, pulling me onto his lap as he sat down on one of the stools that surrounded a table in the day room. Everything else was still blurry and fading in the background as I was still feeling so faint as I struggled to catch my breath. Rick had leaned forward in front of us and held a bit of cloth to my nose, his other hand on my back. I held the cloth to my nose, replacing Rick’s hand with mine.

“In through your nose, Gianna…” Rick instructed and I held my breath for a few seconds, trying to pull air in through my nose, but I felt my head starting to spin and I completely lost consciousness, the room going black, no matter how hard I tried to stay alert, or how hard I tried to breathe… everything was black.

When I awoke, I was laying on one of the infirmary beds in Cell Block A, Dr. S and Hershel were hovering over me, Carol kneeling in front of Daryl, Carol holding my hand tightly. Pain was ringing through my head and I looked over at Dr. S who was speaking to me.

“Are you alright, Gia?” he started and I quickly sat up in bed, regretting it immediately as the room around me started to spin. “Easy,” Dr. S said gently, and pushed my shoulders back down to the bed.

“Where is Vinny?” I asked quietly as Dr. S was checking my blood pressure, the cuff was tightening around my bicep as he squeezed the air bulb and listened to my heart rate through a stethoscope.

“He’s fine, dear, he’s eating dinner with Beth, Glenn, Maggie, Rick and Carl…” Carol started and she squeezed my hand. I looked over at the two of them and sat up again, this time a little slower. Hershel held an arm around my bicep after Dr. S had loosened the cuff.

“Pressure’s good…” he muttered and I moved my legs off the bed and sat up properly.

“I feel fine,” I started, and Hershel gently released my arm. “I want to go outside, if that’s okay…” I finished and stood up from the bed, my head still ached but I felt alright for the most part. My nose and cheek bones felt sore from when I hit the floor, but I was fine. I saw Daryl walk around the bed and stand next to me, placing a hand around my waist.

“Maybe we should get you to bed so you can rest?” Daryl suggested and I shook my head.

“I really just want to go outside, I want to see Vinny…” I answered.

“Alright…” he shrugged and he nodded towards Hershel and Dr. S who returned his subtle nod as we walked passed them with Carol after I had thanked them. Carol, Daryl and I walked quietly down the hallway together and I noticed both of them glancing towards each other every few seconds or so as we walked.

“Is there something that either one of you are wanting to say but aren’t saying?” I said sarcastically, looking at both of them as we walked, Carol was on my left side, she had her eyebrows raised, and up at Daryl who was close on my right side, his arm still wrapped around my back and his hand cradled around my hip, presumably to provide support that I honestly didn’t need. I was fine, better than fine. I didn’t really feel anything, I just wanted to eat dinner and hold my nephew, like normal. I was starting to grow a little annoyed at how the two of them were acting, like I was fragile, but I was fine.

“Do you want to talk about what happened earlier?” Carol answered lightly and I shook my head, feeling my cheek bones ache as I frowned slightly.

“Not really, I know what happened, I know Daryl knows what happened, Carol, I’m pretty sure you know what happened too, so… if we all know what happened, what else is there to talk about?” I answered, feeling a little exasperated. Daryl raised an eyebrow towards Carol that I caught from the corner of my eye as we reached the door to the prison yard and I stepped out from Daryl’s grip around me and yanked the door open and stepped outside, feeling them walking out behind me. I smiled towards Vinny who ran towards me when he saw me and I knelt down and hugged him, his little body crashed into mine when he reached me.

“What happened to your eye Zia?” Vinny asked, and I winced as he gently touched my face near my nose on my cheek beneath my eye. I instinctually held my hand up to my face and shrugged, not knowing it was bruised.

“She’s going to be fine,” Carol answered, and I pulled Vinny up to my hip and continued walking, Daryl hovering close by, worried that I was going to fall or stumble, I guess... I looked over at him.

“I’m fine, Daryl, I promise…” I said, chuckling a little and sat down at the picnic table around everyone, doing everything I could to ignore their obnoxious looks of concern, the same way Carol and Daryl were looking at me on the way out here.

“I’m fine guys… seriously… please stop looking at me that way,” I said, chuckling nervously again. We all looked at each other for a few seconds and then conversation began to continue around the table and Daryl slid into the picnic table seat next to me, Vinny sitting on my lap. Rick and Hershel started to talk about re-enforcing the fence on the east wall, and although Daryl would add his input every once and again, I felt his gaze that was watching me closely as I talked with Beth and Maggie, like we all normally did at dinner.

Afterwards, I helped to clean the dishes and joined everyone in the day room of our cell block, and when I walked into the room, my eyes rested on the spot where Josh had fallen after Daryl had shot him. I quickly looked away and sat down in between Glenn and Carl at the table and they dealt me into Uno while Vinny snuggled into Beth’s lap and listened to her sing.

When it was time for bed, I went upstairs earlier than Daryl normally does to change Vinny and put him in his pajamas, and changed into my own. I laid down next to Vinny, snuggling him close, and easily pushed the events from today in my mind. I wasn’t sure why it had been so easy for me to do, but I felt an overwhelming calmness as I laid in the center of the mattresses, Vinny resting his head on my arm next to me.

I was back on Hershel’s farm, sitting outside of the Dale’s RV with Carol, watching Vinny and Carl play in the open clearing in front of us, and my stomach flipped nervously when I saw Daryl approaching us, his hair much much shorter, his build a little more stockier than it was now, and he didn’t love me like he did today, but we both had small crushes on each other and I smiled at him as he approached, handing me a wild daisy and kissed my forehead.

The happy memory quickly faded and I was running, running, running, through the dark, maze-like corridors of the prison, having no idea where I was running to, but I knew I was running away from a dark hooded figure that was chasing close behind me, gliding sinisterly, and my stomach was in knots as my heart raced. The figure chased me to the small prison chapel, its wooden doors seemed like a sanctuary as I slammed them closed behind me.

I turned around and the apprehension immediately took over again as I stared Josh down as he towered over at me, grinning a smile that looked almost demonic. My focus shifted to the large, rusted machete that we used out in the garden that he held in his hand. He didn’t say a word, but shoved the rusted blade through my middle, stabbing me directly into the wooden church door. I looked down at the blade protruding from my abdomen, saw the red blood oozing from my shirt and body, yet felt no pain like I should be feeling.

I watched Josh as he lifted from the ground a large paper bag, still wearing the evil smirk on his face. He calmly opened the bag and pulled out my nephew’s decapitated head, it was gray and decaying and I immediately started screaming.

“Gia, wake up!!” Daryl’s quiet voice said frantically down to me, and I sat up in bed, immediately relieved but suddenly sick and quickly climbed from the mattresses to the bathroom down the hall, and vomited all of the contents from my stomach into one of the toilets in the prison bathroom. I heard Daryl tell Vinny to stay in bed, and his footsteps quickly behind me, calling out for an explanation. I was mortified, feeling Daryl’s hand on my back as I vomited and quickly flushed it away.

I was having a hard time catching my breath again, the horrific nightmare replaying over and over in my head and Daryl sat down on the tile floor next to me and pulled me tightly to him.

“You’re panicking again, baby, it’s okay…” he said gently as Rick, Carol, Glenn and Maggie, who was holding Vinny who looked terrified, but wasn’t crying rushed into the bathroom. Everyone was wearing their pajamas, looking at us both confused and concerned, holding different pistols at the ready, to which they immediately lowered after seeing that there was no real threats. I looked up into Daryl’s eyes, feeling more anxious and terrible that I had woken up and frightened everyone that we lived with.

“C’mon, G, in through your nose…” Daryl said, and my throat burned as I sucked air in through my nostrils. “She’s fine guys, it’s okay…” Daryl said to everyone at the door.

“I’ll take Vinny downstairs, we can talk in the morning,” Carol said gently, and Daryl nodded and they filed out of the small room. I started to calm a little, my breaths started to come easier and Daryl and I sat quietly for a few minutes.

“Did you have a bad dream?” Daryl asked quietly after a while and I felt tears running down my cheeks.

“I was running through the prison and Josh stabbed me to the door and he showed me Vinny’s head that was in a paper bag…” I started gushing out words and he wrapped his arm around my shoulders again, hugging me to him, quietly shushing me.

“It’s alright, ‘m right here, and nothing like that is ever going to happen to you…” he said quickly. “…please don’t cry, Gia, I can’t handle it when you cry…”

I started to take deeper breaths and sat with him for a while, and I guess I fell asleep, as I awoke to him lifting me from the floor and carrying me bridal style towards our beds again. He gingerly laid me back down onto the mattress and climbed in next to me, pulling my body towards him and I rested my head on his naked chest. He was running his fingertips up and down the small of my back, the cell block back to silence again, and I dozed back off to sleep, hoping like hell this would never happen again.