TEN. a heavy heart

Nightfall had approached the group, the majority of them exhausted from Jims' crazed episode that occurred only a few hours ago, nearly upping the Ed fight by a point. The only gleaming sign of hope they had received was when Andrea and Amy had returned from their fishing trip with full hands, enough to feed the group for at least two days. Adeline sat against the ground, her husbands sitting behind her on a wooden log - her body between his legs and back against the rough bark of the wood.

The bottomless pit in her stomach became impossible to fill, the only sounds being the crackling campfire and trays of fish being graciously passed around. Shane laid his plate on the surface of his knee, his left arm resting on her shoulder pressing his forearm against her collarbone as he leaned down to plant a soft kiss to the top of her head. A crimson blush surfaced to her cheeks and danced across the freckles on her face, nose scrunching at the feeling.

The silence was broken by Morales who looked to Dale with a smile, "I've got to ask you, man. It's been driving me crazy." he spoke while gulping down the rest of his food. "That watch." He informed, pointing to the item on the elders' wrist. At his words, the man picked at the cold metal - "What's wrong with my watch?" Dale pondered with curious eyes.

"I see you every day, the same time, winding that thing like a village priest saying mass." Morales put the old man on the spot, the group surrounding the fire listening curiously at his statement. "I've wondered this myself and unless I've misread the signs, the world seems to have come to an end. At least hit a speed bump for a good long while." Jacqui spoke up, sitting her now empty plate to the ground as the campfire cast shadows against her dark skin.

Adeline leaned against her husband in silence, her arms wrapping around his legs as her caramel eyes sparkled against the red flames of the fire. The man who had started the topic nodded, "But there's you, every day, winding that stupid watch." his voice was laced with playfulness. The conversation they all shared made a layer of calamity shimmer upon them - giving them hope for a peaceful night around the campfire without the worry of walkers creeping up in the shadows.

Leaning back into his seat, Dale smiled at the people around him. "Time - it's important to keep track, isn't it? The days at least. Don't you think, Andrea? Back me up here." He spoke, the blonde only chuckling at his request before taking a sip from her beer. "I like what, um, a father said to son when he gave him a watch that had been handed down through generations. He said, I give you the mausoleum of all hope and desire, which will fit your individual needs no better than it did mine or my father's before me; I give it to you not that you may remember time, but that you may forget it for a moment, now and then and not spend all of your breath trying to conquer it." Dale finished his motivational speech, as Adeline nodded slowly at the amount of words he had spoken.

When she was younger, she always wanted to preform in the school plays. But, she failed desperately due to never remembering her lines and she envied every single person that could quote things off of the top of their head. In complete honesty, it amazed her. "How do you even begin to remember that?" Adeline felt a spark of confidence flow through her words, feeling herself slowly grow comfortable with the survivors.

A few laughed at her response, Dale tagging along with a deep chuckle as he nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders. "Comes naturally, I suppose. Growing old gives you a wise mind. Besides, it's Faulkner. William Faulkner," He informed the woman, giving her the name of the poet which caused her to nod understandingly.

Raising the cup to her lips (she and Shane had decided against beer due to never knowing what was creeping around the corner), the liquid completely missed its destination and spilled across her chest, drenching the dark fabric. "Shit," Adeline cursed beneath her breath and slinging the liquid off of her skin. Shane chuckled at his wife as she gripped his knee and slowly rose to her feet with the help of his hands against her waist. "Be right back." She informed the group, avoiding their eyes as she brushed past her husband and to the tents where her clothes resided. The shirt stuck to her skin as she placed her hand against the nylon flap of the tent and entered, scanning her eyes for her signature black bag.

Adeline peeled the shirt off of her skin, scrunching her nose up as she tossed it into the small pile of clothes that Shane contributed to. Curling her fingers around the strap of her bag, she stepped off of her aching ankle to pull one of her husbands long sleeved shirt over her. Poking her head through the hole, she stuck her arms through before untucking the brunette hair that had gotten stuck under the fabric. It was rather large on her, the sleeves crawling over her wrists and laying against the palm of her hands as the length stopped mid-thigh. Adeline tucked the excess material into her jeans, running a hand through the stubborn tangles in her dark hair.

Just as she breathed a breath of peace, the walls of security she felt had been surrounding her crumbled to the ground as screams of fear roared through the midnight sky. Adrenaline was the first feeling to approach her, worry trailing quickly behind as she started to push her self out of the tent and back to her family. Before the smell of fresh air could greet her, a pair of rotted hands stumbled into the tent and gripped onto her shoulders. The shock of the stalker caused Adeline to step on her injured foot to steady herself from falling - but that only caused her ankle to twist which sent her tumbling to the ground with the walker on top of her body.

A cracked scream involuntarily left her lips, the sound of the walkers teeth clacking together causing her to whimper and holding her forearms against its neck. Her strength started to weaken, her arms trembling as she whipped her head around and searched for any kind of weapon. Remembering where she had put her knife, Adeline craned her chin back and looked at the weapon that hung off of the side of the blue crate, the walker continuing to claw at the material of her husbands shirt that she wore. It's growls was the only thing she heard, having no choice but to remove one arm from the walkers chest and give the hungry monster more leverage. Panicked breaths left her lips, chest tightening as she threw her left arm back and curled her fingers around the grate of the crate.

With one harsh tug, everything that rested on top of it flattered to the ground. The electric lantern shattered against the floor, leaving her in the pitch black with only the light of the moon providing her safety. Adeline blindly searched the ground as she felt the walker push down on her forearm and grow closer to the skin of her neck. A pained yelp left her throat as her forearm gave out and her fingers made contact with the knife. In one quick motion, she pressed the hilt of the weapon against her collarbone - causing the walkers head to fall into the sharp blade of the knife rather than its teeth sinking into her skin.

Its body fell limp against her own, relieved out of breath pants racking her chest. Blood splattered across her chest and face - taking the once clean presence she had and washing it down the drain. The sounds of gunshots and screams continued from outside as she rolled the body off of her and raised to her feet - but just as she went to grab the cot for support, another walker stumbled through the nylon flap. But before it could reach her and take a bite into her leg, the tents door was pushed open, an arrow whistling through the air - imbedding its sharp end into the stalkers head.

Daryl Dixon stepped into the tent with squinted eyes, trying to make out the dark shadows and hope that what he killed was dead before he shot. Once he spotted Adeline trying to get up, he slung his crossbow over his shoulder and stepped over the dead walkers to get to her. "Come on, woman! We gotta go!" His southern drawl ushered, wrapping his hand around her wrist and pulling her up.

The pain in her ankle had worsened - causing her body to fall into his chest and her hands to wrap around her shoulders to keep herself up. "I can't... I hurt it even more than it already was." Adeline mumbled, holding back the whimpers of pain that wanted to leave her throat. The man next to her sighed deeply before slinging his arm around her waist and hoisting her up - "I gotcha," He grunted, hovering his hand over her hip and leading the woman out into the quietened chaos. Sounds of gunshots had ceased, no more growls of walkers being heard throughout the camp. Bodies, both rotted and fresh, littered the ground as Daryl guided her over them and led her to the RV where the survivors of the attack stood.

"Baby! Adeline!" The voice of her husband echoed through the camp, worry and fear lacing his words.

"Where is she? Did you leave her alone?!" Ricks voice was next, his words guided by anger and frustration.

As the moonlight casted a blue shadow against her bloodied skin, Adeline held tightly onto Daryls side to keep herself up. "Maybe if you'd just look around." She decided to let herself speak, the sound making the two men twist around on their feet.

Shane was the first to react, dropping his weapon that he held to the ground before rushing over to her and pulling her body from Daryls arms. "Oh thank god," He breathed a breath of relief, tightening his hands around her back and holding her closer to his chest. "Is this blood yours? I should've never let you -"

"You can't blame yourself when it's not your fault." Adeline was quick to assure him, unwrapping her arms around his waist and looking up to him. "I'm fine, see? No bites." She whispered, cupping her hand around his cheek, tears glimmering over his eyes that he quickly blinked away and he nodded his head. "No bites." He repeated in a soft tone full of relief before glancing to Daryl and nodding thankfully.

But Adeline didn't even get the chance to see the mans response, a loud cry crashed into the midnight sky alongside a wave of disbelief and shock. Turning her head, she felt her skin run cold and stomach drop - it was almost as if she could feel her heartbeat in her fingertips, as if she could hear it in her ears. Because the sight before her was one she never wanted to experience: loosing a sibling. Bloodied hands cowering over a bite mark, the crimson red staining the pale skin of Amy Harrison. Sobs racked the body of Andrea as the group realized they had, for the first time, lost someone.

Sunlight brushed against the siblings dirtied and tanned skin as they made their way back to camp from their one sided conversation with Morgan on the radio. Adeline walked alongside Rick, her limp worsening over the course of the chaotic night. Together they had informed their friend back home about the overrun city, warning him and his son to tread lightly and always be on guard. The woman had told Morgan about finding her husband alive, remembering how she told him about the loss of Shane while Rick informed him about Lori and Carl. They'd hope to give him hope, any sense of it would help in the world now. But - he didn't answer. Which made the two worry if he had already figured the situation out for himself over the time that they didn't have the radio.

"Hey," Adeline approached Shane, curving her fingers around his shoulders and squeezing lightly. Turning his head, he gave her a smile that failed to reach his eyes before cupping her right hand with his left. Rick followed closely behind his sister, "She still won't move?" He questioned while trailing his eyes over to Andrea.

Grief had struck the blonde hard, her body not moving a single inch away from her sisters dead corpse. Andrea still hovered over Amy like the moment it had happened - dry trails of tears being freshened up every five minutes. "She won't even talk to us." Lori informed, sitting across the unlit campfire as Dale shook his head at Ricks question. "She's been there all night. What do we do?"

"We should let her grieve." Adeline spoke upon the situation with a determined mind, moving around her husband and sitting down next to him on the log. Shane perked his eyebrow, "But we can't just leave Amy like that. We need to deal with it, same as the others." he disagrees, which caused his wife to shrug her shoulders and look away.

With a curt nod, Rick placed his hands on his hips and moved towards the mourning woman - "I'll tell her how it is." he stated. Adeline watched from afar with careful eyes, her chin resting against the dirtied bandage on her hand. At the sight of a gun being pulled on her brother, her stomach dropped with fear as her legs involuntarily twitched to stand up and intervene.

"Wait," Shane curled his fingers around her wrist and held her back, the two of them standing on their feet with Lori and Dale following lead. They watched as Rick slowly backed away, his eyes trained on the grieving woman who lowered the gun when he was far enough away.

The harsh beating of Adelines' heart slowed once her brother reached them - Daryl nearing the group with a pickax against his shoulder. "Y'all can't be serious," He started, noticing the large shotgun held in Shanes hand. "Let that girl hamstring us? The dead one's a time bomb."

"I think Andrea knows how to take care of herself." Adeline assured the group after witnessing the blonde pull a gun on her brother. Rick sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "What do you suggest we do?" He inquired, digging further into Daryls words.

The southern man took a step closer to Rick - "Take the shot. Clean, in the brain from here. Hell, I can hit a turkey between the eyes from this distance." Daryl boasted, Adeline just now noticing the blood and brains coating the sharp metal of his weapon on his shoulder. Sweat laced his skin - his short hair sticking to the side of his face.

"No." Lori was quick to shut his plan down, Adeline on her side of the argument. "For god sakes, let her be." She finished, sitting back down onto the log with tired eyes. Shane and Rick looked at their wives, knowing they all four didn't have the time or energy to argue about - so they reluctantly let the women win the argument and turned down Daryls big plan.

At this, the man scoffed before walking away with his fingers curled around the wooden handle of the pickax. "I'll go help with the bodies," Adeline informed, brushing past her brother and husband before walking towards Glenn who stood by a roaring fire that included dead walkers within the flames. "Need an extra hand?" She offered, staying off of her ankle.

"Yeah, actually. That'd be..." He trailed off with his words, noticing the body that Daryl and Morales had just began to drag over towards the fire. The only difference of the one they carried was that it's body was fresh, it was someone from camp that Adeline had failed to ever notice. "Wait. What are you guys doing? This is for the geeks, our people go over there." Glenn reminded, standing behind the men to stop them.

"What's the difference? They're all infected." Daryl grunted while moving away from the boy and closer to the fire. Adeline was quick to stop him, "How about you just listen to him? It's not going to hurt anybody." she spoke up in attempts to diffuse the growing tension.

Glenn moved to stand next to her, "Our people go in that row over there." he strained his voice - tears welling in his eyes that he was quick to blink away. "We don't burn them! We bury them. Understand? Our people go in that row over there." He repeated in a strong tone.

Assuringly, Adeline patted the younger boys back and looked to the two men - "Please, just listen." she pleaded, wiping away at the sweat beads on her skin. Reluctantly, Morales and Daryl picked the body up once again and dragged it towards the white and blue pickup truck that was being used to load the fresh bodies.

"You reap what you sow." Daryl taunted, causing Morales to scoff and curse at him to shut up.

After a few minutes had passed, T-Dog took Adelines place in helping burn the bodies due to the aching pain of her ankle. She stood underneath the protective hood of the RV, the shade providing her a small feeling of relaxation. Crossing her arms over her chest, the padded sounds of footsteps atop the gravel caused her head to turn and land on a pale Jim. "Adeline, right?" The man questioned, fixing his dark sweat stained flannel against his arms.

"That's me, and you're Jim." She informed her knowledge of his existence, remembering when Shane told her the story of the man and Dale help fixing his Jeep. "What's up?"

Jim shifted on his feet, "I um... you're a- were, you were a doctor, right? Before all this happened?" he pondered with curious and hopeful eyes. Saying no words to answer him, Adeline only nodded in confirmation. "Can you look at this cut on me? I just... I don't know."

"Yeah, of course. Let me go get some bandages and stuff to clean it up." She started, attempting to move away only for the man to grab her wrist and hold her in place. Adeline furrowed her eyebrows up at him and jerked her hand out of his grasp - "I'm sorry.. I.. can you just look at it? Please?" Jim pleaded, his hand trembling as he released his hold on his flannel and raised his beige shirt up to allow the wound come to view. But this only caused the womans blood to run cold, feet stepping back at the sight.

A clean bite rested atop his ribcage, her caramel eyes widening. "Jim, that's not a cut. That's a bite. You've been bit?" She questioned, slowly backing away from him as if he would turn at any second.

"It's not a bite. I didn't feel it happen. There's no.. it can't be a bite. Tell me that it's not a bite." Jim begged her, stepping closer to the woman - eventually making her back press into a table resting along the RV. "Tell me. Tell me that I'll be fine."

Adeline felt her hands tremble against the wooden table, her chest rising with panicked breaths as she looked around for help. "Shane!" Fear had taken over - not allowing the woman to think through her options, screaming for her husbands name. His reaction was an immediate one, the dead walker he was helping Daryl drag into the fire falling to the ground as his eyes landed upon Jim backing his wife into a table.

"JIM'S BIT!"