(1) Vita Brevis (D. Dixon)

Chapter Thirteen

Catelyn pulls a face as she stares down at the river water. It is not as clean and clear as she had hoped. But she needs to clean herself up, because she knows she stinks. She can feel it on her skin. Layers of muck and sweat and she needs to get it off. She folds the towel over a log to protect it from the dirty ground. She glances around, listening and looking to see if anyone is around her. She doesn't want to be watched or heard. She just wants to bath in peace. Alone, she pushes her shorts down her legs, setting them next to the towel. Her shirt is added next. She lets out a breath and wrinkles her nose before she steps into the water. It's cold but manageable. She just needs to scrub herself clean as quick as she can, for more than one reason. Being here makes her vulnerable. Walkers can be sneaky and silent when they need to be. Despite their groaning and wheezing and stumbling steps. She wades in deeper to the river. She takes a breath, closes her eyes and dunks herself beneath the water. Submerging herself. It's so quiet under here. Just the warped sound of the water moving. She could stay down here forever, if she didn't need to breath. But she does. She pushes her feet to the riverbed and pushes herself back up to the surface. She breaches the water and takes a breath, reaching up to brush her hair back from her face. She sighs a little and shakes her head. It's done nothing to help her mood. To be honest, she didn't think it would. Nothing helps.

.....

Once clean, or as clean as she can get, Catelyn pulls her second set of clothing from her pack. She only has one change of clothing and she kind of designated them summer and winter. But she is going to have to put on her 'winter' clothing till she can wash her other clothing. Putting them on after cleaning herself seems counterproductive. She might have to try and find something else. Maybe there is a town close enough nearby that she can head to, see if they have a clothing store. She won't be able to carry much. She lets out a breath and pulls the shirt over her shoulders, doing up the buttons on the front. She's suddenly feeling very tired. Like with all the dirt and sweat all of her energy has been washed from her. She reaches up and flips her hair out the back of her shirt with a slow, tired sigh.

.....

Back at the farm, Marie holds out her hand towards her daughter and nods to the buckets she's working over. She's one step-ahead of Catelyn. She already has a bucket of laundry going. Catelyn hands over her pack to her. Marie takes the clothing from it and dumps it straight into the water in front of her before she turns to look at her daughter. She reaches up and curls her hand around Catelyn's cheek. Without the layers of dirt and sweat, Catelyn looks her age. Younger. Fresher. She sees her daughter. She brushes her thumb over Catelyn's cheek and gives her a warm smile.

"Do you want to help me?" Marie asks, Catelyn glances down at the buckets and then lets out a long breath. She nods a little and sits next to the second bucket. She has nothing else to do and this will keep her busy.

.....

Sometime later, Catelyn has fallen asleep against her mother. So exhausted that she couldn't even last out the rest of the day. She's been so tired for so long that her body has just had enough. Forcing her to rest before she falls down. There would only ever be so far that she could push herself before it happened. Better now than when they need her. Daryl leaves one of the tents and glances over at Marie and Catelyn close by. Marie is still attempting to do laundry whilst her daughter is slumped against her side. It limits her range of movements, and slows her down. Catelyn seems pretty uncomfortable with the way she is sleeping. And it can't do them any good to have their actual medical professional be that exhausted. Even if she is grumpy all of the time. She's clearly skilled. He sighs and then heads towards the two of them. Marie glances up at him.

"You want me to carry her to a tent?" Daryl asks as he slides his crossbow onto his back to free his arms. He then moves to pick up Catelyn.

"No" Marie stops him. "If you touch her, she'll..." Marie stops and closes her eyes. Touching Catelyn whilst she is asleep is a bad idea. She can get rather violent when shocked like that. A defensive mechanism. "Thank you, but it will be best to just leave her be. I'll be fine" He nods a little and glances at Catelyn as he walks away. Heading out to look for Sophia again.