Scraping By, Chapter 16: Revelation
Title: Scraping By
Fandom: The Walking Dead
Rating: M
Disclaimer: All rights for The Walking Dead go to Robert Kirkman and AMC. This story takes place strictly in the TV show 'verse.
Chapter 16: Revelation
By morning, Whitney was unsurprised to find herself alone. She had a blanket tucked around her shoulders that had not been there last night.
The smell of coffee and the sudden weight of a dog's head on her arm pierced her sleepy haze. Whitney smiled, took a few pain pills, and slid on her ratty sweatpants. She carefully stood without placing any weight on her injured leg and used the wall and Zeke's back as guides to the den where the scent grew much stronger.
Andrea sat at the hearth adjusting an old percolator. She hissed when the metal burnt her.
"I can't believe you found coffee," Whitney said.
The blonde smirked when she looked over her shoulder. "Hey. T-Dog found it in the freezer. Do you need a hand?" she asked.
Whitney leaned heavily on the sofa and reclaimed her seat from the night before. "I'm alright."
The women chatted idly as they waited for the others to wake and savored the stale, but still hot, coffee.
Daryl silently joined them from outside and handed Andrea a box of Pop-Tarts that he found in the back of his truck. He shared his with Whitney and fed Zeke the other half of a can of corned beef he opened for the mutt the previous morning.
Whitney couldn't take much more of the silence coming from him. While he talked more last night than he had the whole week she'd known him, Whitney didn't want Daryl to think she thought any different of him after the things he'd told her.
"You called me 'Whit' last night," she said.
He looked embarrassed. "Sorry."
"No, it's-I mean, I've always wanted a nickname."
"Nobody's ever called you that before?"
She twisted her lips and shrugged.
Daryl started to address the issue of nicknames when Rick wandered in the room with a stack of documents in hand.
"Whitney, you must have decoded doctor handwriting before, right?" he asked.
She took the folders from him and scanned the first page. "Yeah, I'm fluent in chicken scratch," she paused and frowned. "Huh. Where did you find these?"
Rick sat on the other side of Daryl and took a Pop-Tart from the box. "The second office," he bit into the strawberry frosted confection and smirked. "I haven't had one'a these things in years."
Daryl jiggled his knee and leaned forward. "Who gives a shit about that?" he snapped and turned to face Whitney. "What the hell does it say?"
Whitney sighed impatiently and glared at him.
"What?" Daryl shrugged.
She rolled her eyes. "It says here that 'Wildfire is in effect, stage two evacuations to start July tenth.' Then there's a list of the safety precautions that were in the emergency alert thing they showed on TV."
Andrea frowned. "Wasn't 'Wildfire' the name Dr. Jenner used for the outbreak?" she asked.
Rick nodded and watched Whitney read the second page. Her face almost turned green and she closed the folder. "What's wrong, Whitney?" he asked.
She closed her eyes and shook her head. "We, uh, we need everyone in here. Now."
Wordlessly, Rick stood and left to gather the absent group members.
Daryl, on the other hand, impatiently nudged Whitney in the shoulder and flicked the folder in her lap. "What's goin' on?" he asked.
Andrea kicked her foot out and bumped his shoe to get his attention. When he glared at her, she gave him the same attitude. "Oh, stop. Just be patient and wait for her to explain when the others get here."
He sighed and started to fidget after a minute of sitting still. He was chewing his thumbnail ragged by the time Shane, the slowest returning group member, found a seat next to Rick by the fire.
"So?" Rick gestured for the former nurse to start explaining.
Whitney cleared her throat and opened the folder again. "Apparently, the people who lived in this house were medical personnel for the Army. They were told to leave for Forts Wainwright and Richardson in Alaska on July tenth. I remember it got really crowded out there before I took my flight back to Georgia. The safety precautions we all heard in the first few emergency alerts are listed in here and then…" she paused and looked stricken.
"There are details of the outbreak's more severe effects."
"Like what?" Glenn asked.
"Reanimation after natural death."
The room stilled. Dale leaned forward after the long pause and broke the silence. "How, exactly, did they determine this?" he asked.
Whitney scanned the second page again and started to find an answer to Dale's question when Daryl's voice made her stop.
"Wait, y'all really didn't know that? This is why I been tellin' ya that it's gotta be the brain!" he went to stand but was stopped by Whitney's sudden grip on his thigh.
"Hang on-"
"How could you possibly know that?" Lori asked.
Daryl went back to chewing his bleeding thumbnail. "Uncle Joe," he said at length. "I came ta get him the hell outta Montrose and he… I told him what happened to my cousin-his daughter-and he just fell over. I think he might'a had a heart attack an' nothin' I did got him breathin' again. The phones were out so I sat there for ten minutes tryin' ta figure out what ta do. He was gone for more'n ten minutes and then he came back. He tried ta bite my hand," Daryl trailed off.
Whitney rubbed his knee.
"So you've known this whole time?" Shane snapped. "This entire time we've known you and you just now share this with us? Jesus Christ, what is wrong with you?"
"Hey! Watch yer mouth, Deputy Dog! It really ain't a thing that comes up in normal conversation-plus, y'all weren't too keen on talkin' to my pathetic ass back at the quarry. So take that attitude and shove it right on up your puckered ass hole next to that pole you got jammed up there," Daryl said with a dismissive wave of his arm in Shane's direction.
Rick closed his eyes and rubbed his aching forehead, already feeling another migraine coming on. "Knock it off, the both of you. Jenner told me about this right when we were runnin' outta the CDC."
Shane gaped at his oldest friend. "You too? What the hell, man?"
Rick laughed humorlessly. "No, Daryl's right. It ain't really somethin' that you bring up in a normal conversation," he said. "How the hell so you suggest workin' in 'regular dead folk start walkin' too' right after 'pass the beans?'"
"Rick-" Lori said.
"You've been itchin' for a fight, brother, and I wanna know why," Rick said. He locked eyes with Shane and Whitney subconsciously leaned closer to Daryl's side as if hiding next to him could stop the confrontation she could see in the lawmen's faces.
"Fuck this," Shane stood and crookedly tugged his cap on his head. He marched out of the house like an angry gorilla and Whitney wondered what it was about Shane that scared her so much. There were moments like these that made her instinctively want to get away from him and then there were the ones where Shane's smile was as doofy and sweet-looking as it probably was before the outbreak. She'd forget how hot-headed he could be when he did that.
Frowning, Rick lurched out of his seat and power walked after his friend.
Carl was the one to break their silence. "Mom, why's Shane so mad?" he asked.
Lori hugged her son to her body and kissed his head. "I dunno, honey."
Chapter 15: Heart to Heart | Chapter 17: Boiling Over
Fandom: The Walking Dead
Rating: M
Disclaimer: All rights for The Walking Dead go to Robert Kirkman and AMC. This story takes place strictly in the TV show 'verse.
Chapter 16: Revelation
By morning, Whitney was unsurprised to find herself alone. She had a blanket tucked around her shoulders that had not been there last night.
The smell of coffee and the sudden weight of a dog's head on her arm pierced her sleepy haze. Whitney smiled, took a few pain pills, and slid on her ratty sweatpants. She carefully stood without placing any weight on her injured leg and used the wall and Zeke's back as guides to the den where the scent grew much stronger.
Andrea sat at the hearth adjusting an old percolator. She hissed when the metal burnt her.
"I can't believe you found coffee," Whitney said.
The blonde smirked when she looked over her shoulder. "Hey. T-Dog found it in the freezer. Do you need a hand?" she asked.
Whitney leaned heavily on the sofa and reclaimed her seat from the night before. "I'm alright."
The women chatted idly as they waited for the others to wake and savored the stale, but still hot, coffee.
Daryl silently joined them from outside and handed Andrea a box of Pop-Tarts that he found in the back of his truck. He shared his with Whitney and fed Zeke the other half of a can of corned beef he opened for the mutt the previous morning.
Whitney couldn't take much more of the silence coming from him. While he talked more last night than he had the whole week she'd known him, Whitney didn't want Daryl to think she thought any different of him after the things he'd told her.
"You called me 'Whit' last night," she said.
He looked embarrassed. "Sorry."
"No, it's-I mean, I've always wanted a nickname."
"Nobody's ever called you that before?"
She twisted her lips and shrugged.
Daryl started to address the issue of nicknames when Rick wandered in the room with a stack of documents in hand.
"Whitney, you must have decoded doctor handwriting before, right?" he asked.
She took the folders from him and scanned the first page. "Yeah, I'm fluent in chicken scratch," she paused and frowned. "Huh. Where did you find these?"
Rick sat on the other side of Daryl and took a Pop-Tart from the box. "The second office," he bit into the strawberry frosted confection and smirked. "I haven't had one'a these things in years."
Daryl jiggled his knee and leaned forward. "Who gives a shit about that?" he snapped and turned to face Whitney. "What the hell does it say?"
Whitney sighed impatiently and glared at him.
"What?" Daryl shrugged.
She rolled her eyes. "It says here that 'Wildfire is in effect, stage two evacuations to start July tenth.' Then there's a list of the safety precautions that were in the emergency alert thing they showed on TV."
Andrea frowned. "Wasn't 'Wildfire' the name Dr. Jenner used for the outbreak?" she asked.
Rick nodded and watched Whitney read the second page. Her face almost turned green and she closed the folder. "What's wrong, Whitney?" he asked.
She closed her eyes and shook her head. "We, uh, we need everyone in here. Now."
Wordlessly, Rick stood and left to gather the absent group members.
Daryl, on the other hand, impatiently nudged Whitney in the shoulder and flicked the folder in her lap. "What's goin' on?" he asked.
Andrea kicked her foot out and bumped his shoe to get his attention. When he glared at her, she gave him the same attitude. "Oh, stop. Just be patient and wait for her to explain when the others get here."
He sighed and started to fidget after a minute of sitting still. He was chewing his thumbnail ragged by the time Shane, the slowest returning group member, found a seat next to Rick by the fire.
"So?" Rick gestured for the former nurse to start explaining.
Whitney cleared her throat and opened the folder again. "Apparently, the people who lived in this house were medical personnel for the Army. They were told to leave for Forts Wainwright and Richardson in Alaska on July tenth. I remember it got really crowded out there before I took my flight back to Georgia. The safety precautions we all heard in the first few emergency alerts are listed in here and then…" she paused and looked stricken.
"There are details of the outbreak's more severe effects."
"Like what?" Glenn asked.
"Reanimation after natural death."
The room stilled. Dale leaned forward after the long pause and broke the silence. "How, exactly, did they determine this?" he asked.
Whitney scanned the second page again and started to find an answer to Dale's question when Daryl's voice made her stop.
"Wait, y'all really didn't know that? This is why I been tellin' ya that it's gotta be the brain!" he went to stand but was stopped by Whitney's sudden grip on his thigh.
"Hang on-"
"How could you possibly know that?" Lori asked.
Daryl went back to chewing his bleeding thumbnail. "Uncle Joe," he said at length. "I came ta get him the hell outta Montrose and he… I told him what happened to my cousin-his daughter-and he just fell over. I think he might'a had a heart attack an' nothin' I did got him breathin' again. The phones were out so I sat there for ten minutes tryin' ta figure out what ta do. He was gone for more'n ten minutes and then he came back. He tried ta bite my hand," Daryl trailed off.
Whitney rubbed his knee.
"So you've known this whole time?" Shane snapped. "This entire time we've known you and you just now share this with us? Jesus Christ, what is wrong with you?"
"Hey! Watch yer mouth, Deputy Dog! It really ain't a thing that comes up in normal conversation-plus, y'all weren't too keen on talkin' to my pathetic ass back at the quarry. So take that attitude and shove it right on up your puckered ass hole next to that pole you got jammed up there," Daryl said with a dismissive wave of his arm in Shane's direction.
Rick closed his eyes and rubbed his aching forehead, already feeling another migraine coming on. "Knock it off, the both of you. Jenner told me about this right when we were runnin' outta the CDC."
Shane gaped at his oldest friend. "You too? What the hell, man?"
Rick laughed humorlessly. "No, Daryl's right. It ain't really somethin' that you bring up in a normal conversation," he said. "How the hell so you suggest workin' in 'regular dead folk start walkin' too' right after 'pass the beans?'"
"Rick-" Lori said.
"You've been itchin' for a fight, brother, and I wanna know why," Rick said. He locked eyes with Shane and Whitney subconsciously leaned closer to Daryl's side as if hiding next to him could stop the confrontation she could see in the lawmen's faces.
"Fuck this," Shane stood and crookedly tugged his cap on his head. He marched out of the house like an angry gorilla and Whitney wondered what it was about Shane that scared her so much. There were moments like these that made her instinctively want to get away from him and then there were the ones where Shane's smile was as doofy and sweet-looking as it probably was before the outbreak. She'd forget how hot-headed he could be when he did that.
Frowning, Rick lurched out of his seat and power walked after his friend.
Carl was the one to break their silence. "Mom, why's Shane so mad?" he asked.
Lori hugged her son to her body and kissed his head. "I dunno, honey."
Chapter 15: Heart to Heart | Chapter 17: Boiling Over