⌜ chapter six ⌟

"Disoriented." Rick says as they all sit around one of the campfires. He's got Lori and Carl in his arms. "I guess that comes closest. Disoriented. Fear, confusion — all those things, but... Disoriented comes closest."

"Words can be meager things." Dale says, and they look at him. "Sometimes they fall short."

"I felt like I'd been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else. For awhile I thought I was trapped in some coma dream, something I might not wake up from ever. I don't know what I would'a done without them." He looks at MJ and Jack. "She kept me going, mostly she kept me calm."

MJ winks at him and makes a clicking noise with her mouth. "That's me." The blonde forces a smile. "Cool in a crisis." She says, and Jack looks at her. "Voice of reason."

"Not with Dean." Jack says, and she looks down at him.

"Yeah, well, sometimes siblings fight."

"Mom said you died." Carl says as he looks up at his dad. Lori sighs and brushes his hair out of his face.

"She had every reason to believe that." Rick tells him. "Don't you ever doubt it."

MJ takes a deep breath and looks up. She sees the brief look exchanged between Lori and Shane — Rick's best friend and his partner when they were on the police force together.

"How did you know how to take care of him?" Carl asks as he looks at MJ. She turns her attention to him. "Are you a doctor?"

"Not even close." She chuckles. "I grew up with two brothers, and they liked to find trouble. Our dad too. I always helped them when they were hurt, it was like my job. And then I met a man who became a doctor... He was a really good friend of mine. He taught me what he could. Said I was a natural." A sad smile crosses her face as she looks away from him and his parents.

"When things started to get really bad, they told me at the hospital that...they were gonna medevac you and the other patients to Atlanta, and it never happened." Lori tells her husband.

"Well, I'm not surprised after Atlanta fell." He says, and she nods.

"Yeah."

"And from the look of that hospital, it got overrun." He adds.

"And looks don't deceive." Shane interjects. "I barely got them out, you know?"

"I can't tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane." Rick says. "I can't begin to express it."

"There go those words falling short again." Dale says. "Paltry things."

"Do you know if there was a doctor there named Matthew Parker?" Jack asks as he looks over at Shane, gaining everyone's attention.

"Jack." MJ warns.

"He has brown, curly hair and blue eyes. He, uh... He's white and really tall."

"Shut up, Jack."

"I'm trying to help."

"I don't want help." She stands up and walks away from them.

"No, kid. I don't know if Dr. Parker was there." Shane tells him.

"Did you know him?" Jess asks, eyebrows furrowed, and he nods.

"He was a consulting doctor on Rick's condition." He says. "Nice guy. She knew him?" He motions to MJ, who's standing by the RV clutching her knife and looking at the ground, trying not to cry.

"Y-Yeah, uh... You could say that."

Shane then goes to deal with one of the other guys from the camp who's letting his fire get too big. Rick gets up and walks over to MJ, she closes her eyes and turns away from him. He rests his hand on her arm, and she shrugs away from him.

"What's going on?" He asks. "Who's Jack asking about?"

"No one." She mutters.

"You're a bad liar."

She smirks. "You'd be amazed how good I am at lying." She says, and he nods as he looks at her.

"I believe it." He says. "He means well, he didn't do it to upset you."

"I know." She sighs.

"Come on back. It's cold over here." He starts walking back and then turns when she doesn't follow. "Come on, kid."

"You know I'm twenty-nine, right?" She asks as she walks over to him. "Hardly a kid."

"Really?" He asks, and she nods as they make it back to the fire. "Damn."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"You do that." He chuckles as he sits back down with his family.

MJ sits between Jess and Jack again. Jess puts her blanket around MJ as well, and the hunter pulls Jack closer to them. He leans against her, and she bows her head down toward his ear.

"Sorry I snapped at you." She whispers. "I know you're just trying to find answers."

"I'm sorry." He says, and she shakes her head.

"You don't have anything to be sorry for."

"Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon?" Dale asks. "He won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind."

"I'll tell him." T-Dog says. "I dropped the key. It's on me."

"I cuffed him. That makes it mine." Rick says.

"Guys, it's not a competition." Glenn says. "I don't mean to bring race into this, but it might sound better coming from a white guy." He tells T-Dog.

"Why the he—" MJ clears her throat as she glances at Carl. "What difference does it make who's what color? I can tell him for you. Rick cuffed him after the S.O.B. groped me, and if this guy wants to take a swing at me... Well, it'll be fun to watch him walk after."

"What happened to we got bigger issues at hand here?" Rick asks. "I thought you were the peacekeeper."

"You haven't known me long. You'll come to find that I'm very complex." She smiles.

"I did what I did. Hell if I'm gonna hide from it." T-Dog says. "You weren't even on the roof anymore. You were looking after your boy."

"We could lie." Amy — Andrea's sister — says.

"Or tell the truth." Andrea says. "Merle was out of control. Something had to be done or he'd have gotten us killed. Your husband did what was necessary." She says as she looks at Lori. "And if Merle got left behind, it's nobody's fault but Merle's."

"Maybe that works for us around the fire, but this Daryl guy won't care." MJ says.

"How do you know? You've never met him."

"No, but I have brothers." She looks over at her. "What would you do if someone left her on a building surrounded by walkers?" She motions to Amy, and Andrea sighs.

"Word to the wise," Dale starts, and everyone looks at him. "We're gonna have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt."

"I was scared and I ran." T-Dog says. "I'm not ashamed of it."

"Maybe don't mention that last part to this guy." MJ tells him.

"We were all scared. We all ran." Andrea says. "What's your point?"

"I stopped long enough to chain that door." He says. "Staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at any one time. It's not enough to break through that — not that chain, not- not that padlock. My point — Dixon's alive. And he's still up there, handcuffed on that roof. That's on us."

MJ takes a deep as she looks away from him, her eyes land on Rick. He looks at her, and they both know that they're thinking the same thing. They should go back for him.

Jack and MJ end up in Jess' tent instead of in the RV like Dale offered. The hunter looks at her brother's old girlfriend.

"How did you end up in Georgia?" She asks.

"You mean since I was in California?" Jess looks at her. "Chuck left me here. I don't know why — to find you, I guess."

"And how did you end up with these people?"

"Daryl — he found me in the woods. I ran when things started getting really bad. I got lost." She tells her. "Daryl and Merle found me. Merle was less than pleasant to be around, to say the least, but I could either tolerate him or risk staying alone. I didn't know how to survive by myself or get ahold of anyone."

MJ sighs. "I need to talk to them — any of them. Cas and Zachariah are dead. But maybe I can talk to Raphael, though I really don't see that going over well. And obviously Michael's not an option."

"How would you even get them here?"

"Pray." She whispers. They're all just in tents, anyone could overhear. "I doubt any of them would come."

"Is it worth the risk?" Jack asks. "Don't they still want you dead?"

"I don't know." She shakes her head. "We can't do anything tonight anyway. Let's just try to get some sleep." MJ tells them, and they both agree.

—

MJ's tying Jess' hair into a low ponytail and she wraps a bit of hair around the rubber band so that it's not visible. Jess tends to keep her hair up for the most part now, it's best for keeping it out of her face as she works. And it just so happens that MJ knows a few quick and easy ways to make it look cute. Just because it's the end of the world, doesn't mean you have to look like the world is over.

A few feet away from the girls, Glenn's complaining because the others are taking apart the car that he drove back up to the camp. He's calling them vultures because they're going through it for parts. Rick tells him that maybe they'll steal him another one some day. He pats his back and walks over to MJ, who's trying not to laugh.

"Howdy, Officer Friendly." The dyed-blonde offers him an amused smile.

"You seem to be in a better mood." He says, and she shrugs as she looks up at him. It's the next morning, and everyone's working.

"I guess so." She says as Jess walks over to talk to Jack.

"Listen, uh..." He steps closer to her and lowers his voice. "About Merle—"

"I think we should go back." She whispers, and he nods.

"I think so too, but I gotta run it by my wife."

"She's not gonna be happy." MJ glances over at Lori, who's not-so-inconspicuously watching her and Rick. "I don't think she likes me much." She says, and Rick looks at her. Lori then goes back to hanging clothes.

"Probably because you're not contributing to the camp." He says as he turns back to face MJ.

"Excuse me, but I'm one of the vultures who was tearing apart Glenn's pretty, pretty car while you were sleepin', princess." She tells him, and he laughs. "No, I think her not liking me has more to do with you."

"Me?"

"Mhm." She nods.

"What are you talking about?" He asks, confused.

"I'm the girl who saved you. And then the first time she sees you up and around in a long time, you've got your arm around me, and I've got Jack." She says. "Look, I don't know, maybe I'm wrong. I don't do well with other women anyway. Maybe it's just that they don't typically tend to like me." She tells him.

"I'm sure Lori will like you fine. You just gotta get to know each other." He says, and she shrugs.

"It's not really a major concern of mine, I'm more worried about keeping people alive than happy." She says. "And I really do think that we should go back for Merle. I don't like him, but leaving him up there like that just doesn't sit right with me."

He nods. "I know, me either. Let me just talk to Lori." Rick starts to walk away, and she grabs his arm. He turns back to her.

"I'm going with or without you, just so you know." She says, and he sighs. MJ then turns around and goes to find Jack.

Shane pulls back into the camp in his car then. "Water's here, y'all. Just a reminder to boil before use." He tells everybody.

Rick's talking to Lori a few minutes later, and then they all hear two of the kids in camp start screaming — Carl and Sophia. MJ's the first to start running, instinct taking over her body. She yells at Jack to stay put as she pulls the angel blade from her hip.

Carl and Sophia run past her, to the others who are headed their way. Lori hugs her son the second that he's within reach, and MJ finds a walker eating a deer a few feet farther into the woods.

She looks around the area and finds that it appears to be alone. MJ grabs the back of its head and it growls as she pulls it back. She shoves the blade into its head and then kicks it to the side as the others finally catch up to her.

"Nice of you to join us." MJ glances at the men as she uses the leaves to get the majority of the blood off her blade. "Someone wanna tell me why Bambi's got two arrows in its ass?" She asks as she looks back at the deer.

Shane looks at​ her skeptically, and Glenn sighs. Andrea and Amy turn away at the sight of the dead deer.

"The arrows are probably Daryl's." Jim tells her. "Guess he's back."

"Told you she was scary." Morales mutters as he looks at Shane.

"Arrows." MJ muses as she walks over to the deer, putting her blade away. "Reusable — that's actually pretty smart." She says as she pulls them out of the deer's backside.

"You took the walker out all alone?" Dale asks, and she just nods. "It's the first one we've had up here. They never come this far up the mountain."

"Never say never." She mumbles as she cleans off the arrowheads.

"Well, they're running out of food in the city, that's what." Jim says and then something snaps behind MJ. She pulls her blade back out as she turns to see what it is.

Shane walks up beside her with a gun, and she rolls her eyes. It's stupid to go for the gun as first instinct. She also doesn't want anyone thinking that she needs saving.

A man walks out of the bushes and his steps falter when he sees the group. MJ puts the blade back on her hip as Shane lowers his gun — the others all relax as well.

"Son of a bitch." The new guy says when he sees the walker-chewed-deer. "That's my deer. Now look at it. All gnawed on by this...filthy, disease-bearing, motherless, poxy bastard." He says as he continuously kicks the dead walker.

"All class." MJ says sarcastically.

"Calm down, son. That's not helping." Dale tells him.

"What do you know about it, old man?" He questions as he walks over to him. "Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to On Golden Pond?"

"Tactless." MJ shakes her head.

"You got something you wanna say?" He asks as he turns to look at her.

"I think I just said it." She smirks at his obvious annoyance. "Daryl, I presume?"

"And who the hell are you?"

"I think these are yours." She holds up the arrows, and he snatches them from her.

"Don't touch my shit." He bites back a snap.

"Don't talk to her like that!" Jack tries to rush forward, but Rick grabs him.

"Hey, didn't I tell you to stay at camp?" MJ questions as she looks at him. He's trying to get away from Rick. "Knock it off."

"I wanted to make sure you were alright."

"You've known me since the day you were born, kid. When am I ever not alright?"

"When John—"

"That was rhetorical. Get your ass back to camp." She says as she walks over to him, pointing back the way that they came. "I wasn't asking. Move it."

"I don't like when people talk to you like that." He says as he walks away from Rick.

"That's sweet, Jacky, but I can take care of myself." She tells him. "Go back to Jessica."

"What does rhetorical mean?" Jack asks, and she chuckles as she walks behind him.

Daryl's eyes linger on her for a moment as she walks away with the kid. He's never met a woman so outspoken and completely unfazed by a man yelling in her face. Or one who can go from a heated argument to joking with a teenager at the drop of a hat.