chapter 24

VIVIAN SET LIAM DOWN FOR A NAP BEFORE GOING TO HELP DALE AND T-DOG WITH THE WATER.
T-Dog insisted of pushing the wheelbarrow filled with their water containers, despite his injury and Vivian offering to take it.
They walked over to the well that Maggie told them to use and T-Dog set the wheelbarrow down and wiped his forehead, "I'm not weak and I'm not a coward."
Vivian and Dale shared a look, "We never said you were." The brunette replied,
"No, what I said on the highway..." He panted as he grabbed a bottle and placed it under the tap, "I don't know what that was, where it came from. That wasn't me. If it's okay, I'd rather you never told anybody about that stuff I said." T-Dog glanced between them as he began to pump the water,
Dale stood up and looked over at him, "What stuff? I couldn't get a word out of you all day."
T-Dog glanced over at Vivian, who shrugged, "I don't know, man, you kinda just sat there the entire time."
He smiled at them before he continued pumping, "Say, man, you think there's a snowball's chance we'll actually find that little girl?"
Vivian didn't say anything and Dale went first, "For the first time in my life I'm betting on the snowball."
Before she could say anything, Vivian heard a growl coming from the well. She walked over and glanced into the hole before sighing, "Guys... I wouldn't drink that water if I were you."
Both the men paused and turned to her, "What do you mean?"
Vivian turned back to them, "We've got a swimmer."
After the men confirmed the bloated, slimy walker in the well, the trio went back to camp to inform them of their intruder. Shane, Lori, Andrea, Maggie and Glenn followed them back to the well to see it for themselves,
"How long you think it has been down there?" Glenn asked,
"Long enough to grow gills." Andrea commented,
"We can't leave it in there. God knows what it's doing to the water." Lori stated,
"We got to get it out." Shane continued,
"Easy. Put a bullet in its head. I'll get a rope." T-Dog said,
"Whoa whoa, guys." Maggie shook her head, "No."
"Why not?" Glenn asked, "It's a good plan."
"It's a stupid plan. If that thing hasn't contaminated the water yet, blowing its brains out will finish the job." Andrea replied,
"She's right. Can't risk it." Shane said,
"So it has to come out alive?" T-Dog asked,
"So to speak."
"Even if we get that thing out of there, I don't want that water anywhere near me or Liam." Vivian commented, hands on her hips,
"So... how do we get it out?" Glenn asked,
And with that, the brilliant men of the group tied a ham to some fishing string and threw it down with a rope tied in a loop to hopefully lure the walker in like it was a starving dog,
"He's not going for it." Dale commented,
"Maybe 'cause a canned ham don't kick and scream when you try to eat it." T-Dog replied,
"He's right. There's a reason the dead didn't come back to life and start raiding our cupboards." Lori continued,
"We need live bait." Andrea stated before looking over at Glenn and the others followed suit,
"Oh, guys, come on." Vivian groaned,
"Are you volunteering?" Andrea asked the brunette,
Glenn and Vivian exchanged glances, "I have a kid to take care of." Vivian argued,
And with that, Shane tied the rope around Glenn's waist, "Have I mentioned that I really like your new haircut? You have a nice shaped head."
"Don't worry about it, bud. We're gonna get you out of here in one piece." Shane replied,
"Living piece. That living part is important." Glenn corrected, taking a deep breath to calm himself down, "Nice and slow, please." He told the group as they all gripped the rope, ready to lower him down,
"We got you, Glenn." Vivian assured,
Maggie stood behind them, shifting nervously, "Oh, you people are crazy."
Vivian had to agree. This plan didn't seem very full proof, and Glenn would be in serious danger if they were to drop him. She didn't think it was worth risking his life just to get a walker out of the well.
"You want to get it out of your well or not?" Shane snapped at her,
"Give us an eye there, Maggie." Dale suggested and the Greene girl walked over to the well, shaking her head at Glenn as he slid into the hole,
The snarls and growls of the walker got louder, signalling that it spotted Glenn. Maggie instructed them to lower him a little more. Suddenly, the pump broke and Glenn was dropped a significant amount.
Vivian knew it was a bad idea, but she wrapped her wrist around the rope to get a better grip on it. Glenn screamed and Vivian tried to brace her feet on the ground. She cried out in pain as the rope rubbed against her skin,
T-Dog grabbed the well pump, "Hold it!" Shane told Vivian as the others ran to T-Dog to help him. Andrea and Maggie grabbed onto Vivian, helping her out,
Once the rope got loose from the pump, Shane ran over and grabbed the rope near Vivian, "Pull!" He yelled, encouraging them to grab onto the rope,
Once Vivian saw hands gripping at the post above the well and Glenn lifted himself out, she dropped the rope, "Are you okay?" Lori asked as they all checked on him,
He nodded, trying to catch his breath.
"Back to the drawing board." Dale sighed,
"Says you." Glenn choked out with a grin.
He handed the other rope to Dale and felt tension on the other end. Vivian grinned as she glanced into the well, the walker having the rope wrapped around him, "Good job." She told her friend, going to pat his back but winced.
She looked down at her hands and noticed the rope burns that climbed up her wrists, "Damn it."
And with that, T-Dog and Vivian stood by the well, directing the others who were on rope duty. Maggie even brought over a horse to help with the weight.
"Come on, guys, pull!" T-Dog encouraged,
"Almost there!" Vivian called out, watching as the large walker began to levitate towards the opening of the well,
Once it hit the lid of the well, the walker reached for T-Dog and Vivian. She stared at it in disgust as its' back got caught on the cement, "Keep it coming. Come on, pull! Just a little more!"
"It's stuck, guys!" Vivian informed them, reaching for it's legs to help swing it over,
T-Dog pulled her back as the walker was ripped in half. Its' bottom half along with some loose guts plopped back into the water below while the upper half was still trying to get a meal out of T-Dog and Vivian.
Her eyes moved from the walker's bulging face, down to its' ribs that were poking out and its' spine, her stomach churned. She removed her arm from T-Dog's, walking a few feet away to puke up all the contents in her stomach. Maggie walked over, holding her hair back.
"We should seal off this well." Dale commented,
"Yeah, might be a good idea." Shane replied,
"So what do we do about-" Andrea's question got interrupted by T-Dog, who swung the metal from the well pump down onto the walker's head,
"Good thing we didn't do anything stupid like shoot it." He stated, dropping the metal before walking away,
Once everything had calmed down, Maggie brought Vivian back to the farm house to clean and wrap her hands and forearms.
When she was finished, she left with Glenn to go on the supply run. Vivian went back out to their camp under the trees, grabbing Liam from his nap. He sat on the ground, playing with his toys as she finished setting up their tent and placing their things inside.
"Hey," Vivian glanced up at Rick as he made his way over to her, "What happened?" He asked, motioning to the bandages around her wrists.
"Lost a fight with a rope." Vivian gave him a small smile, "No big deal."
He crouched down next to her, "You sure?"
Vivian nodded and they both turned towards the house when Lori called out his name, "He was awake earlier when you were gone. He asked for you."
Rick glanced back at Vivian and she encouraged him, "Go. I'm fine, really."
He gave her a quick nod before walking towards his wife. Vivian watched him go for a moment before turning back to Liam, "Whatcha got there, buddy?!" She smiled, grabbing a toy and waving it around,
Hours later, Marcie showed back up. She sat down across from Vivian by the fire, sweat dripping down her forehead, "No luck?" Vivian asked, placing Liam in her lap as she tried to feed him,
Marcie shook her head, "Nothing. It's like she just disappeared into thin air. There's no trace of her."
"Maybe Daryl found something."
"Hopefully." She grumbled,
It started to get dark and Marcie offered to take watch for Dale while everyone went to bed. She sat on top of the RV, flipping her butterfly knife in her hand.
She heard footsteps and glanced down to see Daryl walking into the camp, twirling something in his hand,
"Any luck?" Marcie asked and he looked up at her,
"Nah." He set down his crossbow and moved to climb the ladder of the RV. He sat down in the folding chair next to her, holding out a small white flower,
Marcie stared at it for a moment before taking it from his fingers, "For me?"
Daryl grunted, leaning back in his chair, "It's a Cherokee Rose. The story is that when American soldiers were movin' Indians off their land on the Trail of Tears, the Cherokee mothers were grievin' and cryin' so much 'cause they were losin' their little ones along the way from exposure an' disease an' starvation." Marcie watched him as she sniffed the flower, inhaling the scent, "A lot of them just disappeared. So the elders, they said a prayer; asked for a sign to uplift the mothers' spirits, give them strength and hope. Next day, this rose started to grow right where the mothers' tears fell."
She gave him a soft smile, "Thank you for telling me that story. Did you give one to Carol?"
The redneck nodded, "'M sorry. I ain't mad at ya. Yer bein' realistic in a world where we need that."
Marcie's soft smile turned into a grin, "Is Daryl Dixon apologising to me?"
"Shuttup." He muttered, nudging her slightly,
She put the flower above her ear, letting the petals tickle her skin, "You don't have to apologise, Daryl. It's nice that someone believes in Sophia as much as you do."
The duo fell silent, staring upon the dark landscape in front of them. Daryl nibbled at his thumb, glancing over at the flower in her hair everyone in a while,
"I can take watch for ya." He stated,
Marcie shook her head, "It's fine. I don't mind."
Daryl continued to stare at her for a moment before Marcie buckled, "I don't have a tent." She grumbled,
"Ya didn't take one from the quarry?" He asked,
She sat up and turned to him, "Okay one, those belonged to all those people who died, and two, a lot of them were covered in blood or ripped. I wasn't concerned with taking a tent at the time." Marcie reasoned, "I don't mind sleeping outside. Besides, I took a blanket from the CDC so I'm fine."
The two fell silent again as he continued biting his nails she twirled her butterfly knife. Daryl cleared his throat, "You can share mine."
Her head shot over to look at him, "Huh?"
Daryl shrugged, wiping his hand on his pants while staring at his shoes, "Merle ain't here no more, I got room. As long as you don't snore like 'im."
Marcella smiled at him, "I don't snore."
He nudged her shoe with his, "Go. I'll take over."
"You sure? You just got back, you need your rest, too." Marcie insisted, "I can stay here, Daryl, Glenn is supposed to take over in a few hours."
"Then I'll sit here till Glenn comes." Daryl stated, "Go. We gotta search again tomorrow."
Marcie stood, "But-"
"Go."
She nodded and moved towards the ladder, "Daryl? Thanks."
He grunted and she grinned at him before going down the ladder and to his tent.
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