Pincushion and Beanpole Take On The Walking Dead

Vatos

Dale stood on top of the RV, holding his binoculars to his eyes as he scanned the valley to keep watch for Walkers. Emma sat on the roof beside him, pulling a variety of colorful shirts and dresses for Gidget.

"Gidgie needs to wear a new dress today. Her blue one got blood on it yesterday, and Gidgie doesn't like to look dirty." Emma babbled, her nose wrinkled in disgust. "Which color do you think she should wear, Dale? The blue?" She held up a denim dress embroidered with flowers. "Or the green?" She held up a neon green tutu with a glittering ruffled skirt.

"Uh-huh. Sounds good, sweetheart." Dale murmured, his mind on Jim. He could see the man over in the bushes digging holes several. Adjusting the sight on his binoculars, he zoomed in and saw that Jim was soaked in sweat as he took off his cap and wiped away the overflow trickling down his forehead with a shaking hand.

Emma pouted. "That's not an answer."

He ignored her as he continued watching Jim, realizing he must have been at it for quite awhile.

Dale sighed and motioned for Emm to follow him as he climbed down from the RV, his focus on Jim instead of Emma's chattering.

"Jim? You okay?" Dale asked tentatively. He looked at the multitude of holes pockmarking the hill and sent Jim a worried glance. "You keep this up, you're gonna keel over out here. Drink some water at least."

Jim ignored the old man, continuing digging the holes as if Dale had never spoken at all. Even Emma stopped her chatter and stared at Jim whose sole focus seemed to be on digging the holes. Her anxiety flared and she began flapping her hands at her sides and making noises. Prior to this, Jim was so quiet. And sad. This trance scared her. Dale put his arm around her, giving her a quick squeeze before guiding her away back towards camp.

It was odd how happy people were acting as they joined them. It was such a departure from Jim. It almost seemed like a betrayal to be so happy when clearly there was something wrong with Jim.

"Hey, Dale." Andrea called, chuckling. "When's the last time you oiled those line reels? They are a disgrace."

Dale frowned, not answering. He pulled Emma close, trying to calm her shaking. She pulled Gidget out of the carrier and cradled her tightly; too tightly as it turned out when the dog yelped under the pressure. She quickly loosened her grip on the animal, apologizing in a soft voice as she rocked her and waited for Dale to continue.

"I, uh, I don't want to alarm anyone, but we may have a bit of a problem."

Shane came up to the group, moving in close to Dale and causing Emma to push closer into his side. Dale sent her a comforting glance, noting the fact she had retrieved her slingshot from her pocket and was gripping it in her hands with some concern, and pointed over to where Jim was still digging the holes.

Jim continued digging, even as the whole camp came out to see him.

"Hey, Jim. Jim, why don't you hold up, all right? Just give me a second here, please." He said, stepping progressively closer to Jim as he talked.

Jim stabbed the shovel spade into a mound of dirt, annoyed to have been interrupted. "What do you want?"

"We're all just a little concerned, that's all."

Morales leaned to the side behind Shane. "Dale says you've been out here for hours."

"So?" Jim scoffed.

"So why are you digging? Are you heading to China, Jim?"

"What does it matter?" He cried, throwing his hands up in the air. "I'm not hurting anyone."