NO TIME TO DIE

NO SAFETY

NO TIME TO CRY CHAPTER 5: NO SAFETY

FANFICTION ON AMC's THE WALKING DEAD : SEASON 1 EPISODE 4

A FEW HOURS LATER

As the sun dips below the horizon, casting its final rays across the sky, fires start to be lit, and conversations become louder as people start making their way around the fire where the fish begins to cook. The air takes on a cooler, more subdued quality, a gentle breeze stirring the leaves and carrying whispers of impending darkness. Birds return to their nests, their soothing song giving way to a calm silence. 

Jaime picks up a piece of fish and savors it's taste while conversations take place around her. "Pass the fish, please." Sophia asks Carol, who passes her the dish.

"Man, o man, that's good." Shane says this before taking a bite. Dale sits with a smile on his face and his mind occupied elsewhere. Morales turns and looks at Dale, notices the watch on his wrist and, with a sigh and a smile on his face, asks, "I've got to ask you. It's been driving me crazy." Dale smiles and asks, "What?" 

Morales chuckles and points the fork at the old man's wrist. "The watch." Dale looks down at his watch and asks, "What's wrong with my watch?"

Morales smiles before saying, "I see you every day, at the same time, winding that thing like a village priest saying mass." Jacquie chuckles and adds, "I've wondered this myself." 

Jaime smiles. Her dad had a collection of watches that he would let her look at. He always liked the idea of being in control of one thing, which he said was his time. 

Dale looks confused and says, "I'm missing the point." Jacquie answers, "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." 

Morales adds, "But there's you every day winding that stupid watch."

Dale quiets down before saying, "Time... it's important to keep track, isn't it? The days at least." He turns to Andrea and continues, "Don't you think, Andrea? Back me up here." 

Andrea chuckles, taking a swig of her beer. Knowing that no one was going to help him, Dale continues with a smile, "I like... I like what, um, a father said to his 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.'"

"You are so weird," Jaime says, making everyone laugh. Dale smiles at the girl before saying, "It's not me. It's Faulkner. William Faulkner. Maybe my bad paraphrasing." Amy stands up and Andrea asks, "Where are you going?" "I have to pee. Jeez, you try to be discreet around here..."The group all chuckles as Amy walks towards the RV.

Jaime stands as well, making Carl look at her, who whispers, "Where are you going?" 

"I need to go get some fresh air." Before Carl can stop her, Jaime walks off, not wanting anyone to realize she left.

Making her way towards the woods, Jaime takes a moment to listen to the soft symphony of crickets chirping. Jaime sits on a stump and glances down at a squirrel feasting on a nut. Jaime puts her hand out, trying to get the furry little creature to come into her hand.

A twig crunching behind her made the teenager concerned. Turning around, she comes face-to-face with a walker. It's twitching arms grab onto her shoulders. For something that should be dead, the walker fights much harder than most humans do, pushing so hard, Jaime loses her footing. Falling onto her back, Jaime raises her arms just in time as the walker lands on top of her.

The walker starts snapping its rotten teeth while shaking his head like a rabid dog. Mustering every ounce of strength she has, Jaime pushes the walker up far enough to get her legs up, and kicks the walker off of her. 

Jaime stands up but is forced back down when the cold, twitching hand grabs onto her hair and begins to pull her back down. Jaime recalls her father doing the same thing to her when he tried to eat her. Jaime manages to wrap her hand around her knife, bringing it out, and stabs the walker straight in the eye. Crawling on top of the walker, Jaime begins stabbing the walker repeatedly, over and over again. 

Her once white shirt, now covered in dirt and blood. Her face, with splattered blood stains and tears falling from her eyes. A pair of arms wrap themselves around her, and she starts to scream and begins to struggle against the strong arms.

"It's okay, it's okay," Daryl's rough voice calls out, stopping the girl from fighting against him. Jaime lets out a sob and falls into Daryl's arms, letting her tears wet his shirt. Her hands shake as she drops the bloodied knife on the ground. 

Daryl starts walking back, allowing the girl to hug him tightly. The two walk back into camp, and Jaime allows herself to look over the carnage. Bodies of walkers, all with bullet wounds in their heads, and bodies of people she spoke to that morning, missing flesh, on their arms, legs, and faces. Some were no longer recognizable. 

Jaime looks towards the RV where Andrea kneeled next to Amy, who went limp in Andrea's arms. Andrea shakes her sister, hoping that she will wake up, while crying out, "AMY!! AMY!!"

They all then turn to Jim, who says, "I remember my dream now. I know why I dug the holes." Daryl walks Jaime over to one of the couches and sits her down carefully and gently, which, in any other situation, would have surprised Jaime. 

Wrapping her arms around her legs, Jaime keeps her eyes on her jeans, not wanting to cry. Why should she cry? She didn't lose anyone, unlike Andrea. She didn't die like most of the campers did.