𝟎.𝟓 𝐀 𝐬𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥.
CHAPTER 5.
It's been a couple of weeks- maybe months since they've found the farm. Small progress has happened within very little time, Hannah managed to save the small, overgrown, garden. Which didn't provide them with much. Both Myles and Echo were trying to find a way they could restart a small amount of power to the home, just for a quick shower.
That morning Echo was the last one up, cold sweat dripped down her forehead. She propped herself up with her elbows, her neck stung from sleeping in a very crooked position. She looked around the living room, no one was present at the moment.
Her eyes adjusted to the bright rays of sunshine that peered through the large window, that was partially boarded up. Echo was disgusted with herself, for not taking a shower within two weeks. She swore her face was covered with a small layer of dirt and blood. Her hair was greasy, and leg hair was driving her insane.
If Myles and her cannot find a way to get the power started back up, then she considered searching for a nearby stream, pond, river, or even a lake would do. The longer she had copper stains on her arms reminded her of the day she fought on the battlegrounds of Atlanta.
Echo regretted aborting the mission only for her safety, she felt selfish and self-centred for not fighting with her last breath to save Atlanta.
But this was what life meant to her, fighting until her last breath. If it meant taring the world down to thin shreds to protect her family, then she would do it, whatever the cost was.
Being the last one up was a surprise to her, she never slept that long in a while. But she still felt exhausted from running in her Nightmare. The Nightmares began during the time she stayed in the abandoned farm home.
For two weeks, the nightmare refused to leave. It stuck to her like a parasite, feeding off her energy without care. Echo jumped onto her feet, combed her hair, and tied up her boots. She strode through the narrow hallway leading to the porch in the front.
Echo's gaze fell upon Hannah, she barely noticed Echo's presence, she continued to sit there quietly. The rocking chair creaked back and forth, Echo cleared her throat, gathering her attention from Hannah. Echo could sense that Hannah was upset about something, but she had no knowledge on what it was.
"Good morning..." Echo greeted Hannah. A small smile curled up from the corner of Hannah's lip, it was almost easy for Echo to miss.
"Morning," Hannah replied. Echo leaned against the pillar on the porch. Echo's gaze traced over Hannah's face, underneath her eyes were dark, indicating she barely had any sleep for the past couple of days. The colour of her face was drained and pale, it strike concerns in Echo.
"Hey, are you doing okay?" Echo questioned in concern. She crossed her arms, studying how Hannah gave her zero eye contact or interest in the topic. The two were silent. A passing breeze brushed against the forest, making the branches sway and rub against each other. Echo felt anxious that Hannah wasn't telling her what was going on.
"Come on, you can tell me. What's going on?" Echo encouraged Hannah.
"I don't know, all I can say is that I got sick this morning..." Hannah whispered in worry to Echo. It was crystal clear that she didn't want Myles to know. Or anyone that was around. But why? Why was she worried about telling anyone around here that she was sick? Echo froze for a moment and grasped onto what it could be.
"I know this is none of my business, but how often has this been happening?" Echo interrogated Hannah.
"Three days." Hannah sighed. Tears welled up in Hannah's eyes, threatening to escape. Echo wasn't sure if both of them were on common ground.
"Let me guess you're pregnant?" Echo joked. That moment Echo regretted what she said. She was careless about how much it scared Hannah to hear that.
"Let's just hope that isn't the case..." Hannah whispered, having very little doubt that she was pregnant. But Echo had her suspicions. Though she had faith that it was just the common flue wrapping its arms around Hannah.
"Hannah, we'll get through this. I'll help you, whatever you need, just say the word." Echo comforted Hannah the best she could.
"I only have one request at the moment," Hannah said firmly as if it was something serious. Echo swallowed thickly, preparing for whatever she was about to request.
"Ya, sure." Echo replied. The aura between the two became silent and sour.
"Never do what you did to that corpse back there in front of my daughter. Please, I cannot have Breanne turning into you-"
Echo felt raw anger rise up from her belly and through her veins, bombs went off inside her head, and a deep pit formed in her gut. Bitter anger crawled up her veins and in seconds Echo was like a firecracker.
"I would never put Breanne or any of you in harm's way. There's nothing wrong with becoming someone like me." At that moment Echo couldn't focus on her thoughts as properly. She easily chose to separate herself from Hannah and find something productive that she could do on the farm. All she could hear is Hannah shouting for Echo to come back.
Echo felt a barrier of translucent glass between her and Hannah. There was nothing wrong with someone becoming like Echo. Except there were key moments she kept her morals. Her morals kept her in her place, separating her and murderers in the world.
Echo's heart swelled just thinking about what Hannah said. Maybe she overreacted, but of course, she wouldn't dare to smash up a corpse in front of Breanne. Echo knew it was going to be difficult for Breanne to grow up during the apocalypse. She cringed when admitting that the world wasn't what it was.
Echo was just thankful that it wasn't Global Warming that took out the planet. She was beginning to consider the dead as the final evolution of man. But the thought scared her even more. Echo walked over to the barn that was quite the distance away from the house.
"Myles?" Echo called out. Keeping a fair distance away from the barn in case it was anything other than Myles in there. The barn's paint was a faded red and it was peeling off from the structure. Small holes through the roof of the barn, there was a suspicion that the barn may have been rotting in some area.
"Ya? I'm here." Myles answered. She slowly entered the barn taking in the scent that it smelled like barn animals and hay. Myles stood next to one of the stables with a wrench. While an old, red, Vw Beetle car sat in between Myles and the stable.
"I was wondering when you were going to wake up. But I was taking it into consideration that you were hibernating." Myles added with a chuckle. The corner of Echo's lip raised, and Myles's humour became something that grew on her. And his laugh was always contagious to her.
"Where's Breanne? I didn't see her with Hannah, back at the house." Echo questioned with a small amount of worry cycling through her gut.
"Up here!" Breanne called out from the hayloft. Echo looked up to see she was sitting on the edge of the hayloft.
"Oh...hi, Bree." Echo greeted Breanne awkwardly.
"It's so cool up here! You gotta see what's up here." Breanne urged Echo.
"Tempting, I'll be up there soon." Echo winked at her niece.
"Very charming. What are you going to cast a spell on all of us next?" Myles teased Echo, it reminded her of the days that her Father would take Myles and her for ice cream. And every time he managed to get a spot of ice cream on his nose, she would tease him while he flirted with a girl that was around his age.
Ruining his chance was cruel, but Myles would always throw something even more humorous back at her. Though Echo was glad she never met her mother, she abandoned them one night, when it was finally summer vacation for the two. Her father sent them to their aunt and uncles on their mother's side. Then everything went Havoc when they received news that their father didn't make it to the Hospital after the crash. At that moment, she didn't notice much change in Myles. He had everything he could almost ever desire, a beautiful wife, a beautiful daughter, and the patience to listen to anyone.
Though Echo never knew how that felt, besides childish crushes in high school. Many things she held onto disappeared with a cause. Friends in the army, all gone. She recalled moments with her best friend, he had bloody red hair, was a total badass, and a smartass when it came down to people questioning his abilities.
Sgt. Abraham Ford was his name.
He was reckless and a proud individual, both of them didn't take the crap from men and women who put Echo down. They deduced her from the very beginning. And Abraham was the first soul who stood by her side.
"Hello?" Myles waved a hand in front of her face, snapping her out of her train of thought.
"Ya, sorry..." Echo awkwardly replied.
"Sorry, you kinda zoned out there," Myles smirked, placing his hands on his hips.
Echo's gaze flashed onto the red vehicle.
She licked her lips before she spoke, "What are you working on?" Echo questioned with an inquired voice.
Myles sat on the trunk of the car and smiled, "Previously I was attempting to fire this bad boy up. But since it needs a coolant hose, it won't make it that far. So, that's out of the picture at this point. But I did notice that there could be something in the trunk. But I've searched the whole place, and there isn't a key. So, my guess is that the owner took it with them." Myles sighed with disappointment and frustration.
"Have you tried the trunk release that should be located in the glove box?" Echo suggested.
Myles shook his head, "Won't work without a firing up the car with the key, otherwise we are screwed-"
"Try hot-wiring it, Myles." Echo snapped her fingers. Echo smiled like an idiot when Myles's expression changed. His mouth dropped and his eyes widened.
"I honestly didn't think of that," Myles admitted with disappointment that he didn't strategies that sooner. At that moment he felt foolish that he's been a Mechanic for a few years and he never learned that trick. But although the idea was out of the unexpected, there might not be anything there.
Echo took Myles's screwdriver and hurried over to the passenger's side, next to the driver's side. She propped herself onto the white leather seat and opened the glove box. She removed the hassled with the button, being cautious that she wouldn't split a wire.
Myles accompanied her, and stood from a fair distance, observing her actions.
She popped the button out until she reached the wires connecting to the back of the button.
"Myles pop the hood." She ordered. Myles did what she recommended, unsure where she was going with this.
"Uh-huh, then what?" Myles questioned as if what she was saying was entirely pointless. Though Echo knew at this point his doubt would backfire if there was something good in the trunk.
"Do we have any conductor wire and maybe a piece of tape?" Echo questioned Myles, acknowledging that he might have been in here all morning.
"Possibly. One moment." Myles held out his pointer finger, signalling that he'll be a moment. Myles searched the yellow-tool box that sat on the workbench, next to the stables. Myles rummaged through the box and pulled out a wire, he clipped the end with a pair of wire cutters and took the roll of tape.
"Connect it to the-"
"Positive, but if I get electrified it's your fault." Myles finished her sentence and laughed.
"You won't, you're a mechanic, you know this shit." Echo concluded.
"Can you pass me another wire?" Echo added.
Myles gave a brief nod and passed her part of a wire, she hesitantly touched the wire into the back of the button, then tried the second time.
A sudden noise startled the two. It was the sound of the trunk popped open. Myles's eyebrows raised, and his eyelids and jaw relaxed when his mind was finally put to ease.
"Where did you learn that?" Myles questioned with disbelief.
"That doesn't matter, you should check the trunk." Echo avoided the question. Her proud expression turned to one that was sour. Myles acknowledged that wherever she learned it was a touchy topic.
The two returned to the trunk, and Myles grinned like a Madman. The trunk consisted of a crowbar and a single generator.
"Damn, you were serious when you wanted to discover what was in this trunk." Echo nudged Myles in the ribs.
"It pays off, maybe with the leftover gas that I found in here might be able to spare each of us enough power to run the shower. Besides, I cannot take another day being unclean." Myles admitted.
He took the generator and started making a quick pace to the house. Echo prayed that Hannah wouldn't mention what happened earlier that morning. But perhaps they would keep it between each other, to keep the peace. Echo knew it would be the death of her for Myles to figure out that she kept that from him.
Breanne followed her father to the house, departing paths with Echo. She wasn't going to wait for her brother's consent, nor did she want to cause an argument. She took her sniper rifle and walked to the edge of the woods, making sure it was unnoticed.
Echo stood on the borders of the forest, inhaling deeply, considering the outcomes of the dead roaming the woods, or others...
The day that she saw that woman flee from the home, she was convinced that she was still out there. And there were outcomes that she could run into anything, roll her ankle, get outnumbered by the dead.
The woods breathe in easy contrasts of different greens and oranges, laced upon strong wands of brown. Fall was already here, and Mother Nature never picked sides, nor did it hate. But Echo knew Mother nature was ruthless and not kind to many.
She went in a straight line taking note of where she came from. Squirrels chirped within the spruce trees, screaming that the tree was their territory.
Echo didn't want to waste a couple of bullets on those squirrels unless she had to. Her gun was destructive and draw a lot of noise if it didn't have a silencer. The bullet would take a chunk out of the small rodent, without doubt, she wouldn't waste it if that was the only choice.
She kept her guard up, quietly creeping through the brush, watching everything in sight. Searching for a sign of scat, or pushed-down brush. But hoping she wouldn't run into many of the dead or rattlesnakes.
*Snap!*
A sharp, grating, snap was made from the distance. She snapped her head in the direction it was made. She froze within seconds of the sight of the animal.
Its antlers grew upon the deer from the distance, saluting the trees above him. The deer glanced at her in such a gentle gaze, with soulful eyes, vulnerable by itself, but its rack was strong enough to chase her off. Echo stood still until the deer went back to feasting on the remaining shrubs before hibernation.
Echo slowly crouched down and aligned the cross-hair with the deer's torso. Her heart held a steady rhythm. Her finger hovered over the trigger. She exhaled, pulling the trigger. A loud blast came from the chamber, the bullet went clean into the deer's torso. But at the same time, when she sprang up from hiding beneath the thick brush. Two men approached the deer from the distance. The first man had dark hair, a short cut almost had a curl to it, and a small amount of a beard. He wore a beige dress shirt along with a white t-shirt underneath.
The other man had dark-coloured hair that was messy. The second man had barely anything for a beard. He gripped his crossbow and listened to the man that looked like a County Sheriff.
"Hold it, someone's there." the Sherrif made the other man aware.
"Back up!" Echo ordered. Threatening the two by pointing her pistol at the two. The one with the crossbow held an unreadable expression.
His jaw locked, "The hell I will." He pointed his crossbow at her head.
"What are you going to shoot me?" Echo questioned the man with the crossbow.
"Daryl." the Sheriff reached for his crossbow and lowered it.
Echo lowered her weapon, considering that this was only going to be a simple discussion. She kept information about her family discrete, considering that she just met these men. They were strangers and could pull anything if she told her where she was hiding out at.
"We have a group. Around four miles away from here, old and young. They need this as much as you do." the Sheriff replied to Echo.
A part of her was telling herself that her family needed this more, but yet again, how many children were in his group? At this point she was silent, debating if she should end the two right now.
"How long have you been out here for?" the Sheriff interrogated her.
"Two weeks, maybe I lost track of the time." Echo replied with a guilty sigh.
"It's been two months." the sheriff corrects her. She hasn't realized that it's been this long, it felt like a couple of weeks to her.
"How many people have you killed? Disincluding the dead." the sheriff began to ask pretty touchy questions that she didn't appreciate.
"Sixty-seven. It was a part of my job." Echo discretely admitted.
"You some kind of solider?" Daryl joined the conversation, making it aware that he was with the sheriff on learning more about who she was.
"Something like that." Echo replied, simply.
"I'm Echo." She introduced herself awkwardly, extending a hand to the dark-haired man.
With a half-firm grip, he shook her hand, "I'm Rick, Rick Grimes. And this is Daryl." Rick introduced himself and behalf of his friend.
"Nice to meet you, Rick. After whatever we decide, I never want to see you two here again." Echo said with defence.
Rick nodded a couple of times, "Perfectly fine. We'll be able to work with that." Rick agrees, taking out his blade.
"We ain't promising anythin'. Can't promise people that, anyhow." the man who Echo assumed was Daryl commented. She had to admit he was strong for this world, and the world needed more people like him. And speaking to her like that usually would end in a fight. Her eyes went straight to the deer.
But Echo was already too exhausted to fight two men at once for this deer, with weapons. Echo froze when something whipped past her ear. A splat sound was made, Echo whipped her head over her shoulder and watched as the corpse collapsed. She must have been off guard and deep in her thoughts when Daryl shot that past her head. She held her breath when Daryl walked past her and ripped the arrow from the dead's skull. She had to admit Daryl was incredibly intimidating. And the quietest turned out always to be the most dangerous.
"We'll split it. And we'll never have to see each other again. Deal?" Rick offered out a hand.
She looked and his hand and chewed her lip, debating whether this was a good idea or not. She took a gamble and shook his hand firmly.
She perceived this wouldn't be the last time they would see each other. Nor the last time they would speak to one another.
A/note: Thank you all for the support, reads and votes! I do hope you're enjoying this story so far. I was very excited to start more of her story, and her first meeting with Daryl and Rick. This diffidently won't be the first nor the last time they see each other. And I wanted to write something extremely different than many Daryl Dixon Fanfics, I wanted to make a small past of friendship with Abraham. Hope you enjoyed chapter five of Renegade! Things are going to get a lot more intense soon. So, stay tuned. Feel free to comment, and votes are always appreciated.
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