Safe haven | Rick Grimes

005. NO GURANTEE'S EITHER WAY

Chapter five

"No guarantee's either way."

The next morning, the kids were kept far away from the carnage while the adults worked to clean up the aftermath of the attack. Andrea still hadn't moved from her sister's side. The rest of the group quietly moved around her grief.

A heavy fire blazed at the edge of the clearing, thick smoke rising as they began burning the walkers. Scarlett swung the fire axe down, burying it into a walkers skull to ensure it was truly dead. She yanked the blade from it as T-Dog and Glenn stepped up, hoisting the corpse to carry it to the flames. She wiped sweat from her brow, passing Shane and Lori as she headed back down the slope to haul up more bodies.

She returned to the top of the hill carrying a heavy corpse, holding it by the legs while Morales struggled with the top half. "Okay, just..just switch with me," Scarlett told him.

"No, I can do it," Morales panted, his grip slipping on the blood slicked shirt.

Daryl strode up, throwing his pickaxe into the dirt diving next to Scarlett's axe. "Move," he muttered. He crouched down and effortlessly hoisted the top half of the body.

Together, he and Scarlett began carrying it toward the fire. Glenn jumped in front their path, his face pale. "What are you guys doing?"

"What does it look like we're doing, Glenn?" Scarlett asked, her voice tight with exhaustion.

"This for geeks," Glenn shared, pointing sharply to the left. "Our people go over there."

"What's the difference? They're all infected." Daryl growled.

He and Scarlett paused, lowering the body slightly. "Our people go in that row over there," Glenn insisted, his voice cracking with emotion as he kept his arm extended. "We don't burn them! We bury them. Understand? Our people go in that row over there."

Scarlett took a deep, steadying breath. She caught Daryls eye, and together they picked the corpse back up, shifting their direction to the left toward the makeshift graveyard.

"Reap what you sow," Daryl muttered under his breath to the camp.

"God, just shut up," Scarlett snapped. She deliberately dropped her end of the body, causing the sudden shift in weight to make Daryl stumble forward.

Daryl glared at her, straightening up as Scarlett walked away to reclaim her axe. "Ya'll left my brother for dead," Daryl called out to the group, his eyes narrowing as he backed away. "You had this coming."

Scarlett walked up to the next walker on the ground, swinging her axe into its head. As she pulled the blade free, Jacqui and Jim approached to help movie it. Scarlett's eyes immediately locked onto a dark, wet stain on the side of Jim's shirt.

"You're bleeding?" she questioned, her medical instincts putting her on high alert.

"I just got some on me from carrying the bodies," Jim shared, brushing it off as he bent down to grab the legs.

"I think the doctor can decipher between fresh blood and old rot, Jim," Jacqui told him, her voice tight with sudden suspicion.

Scarlett stood up fully, keeping her eyes fixed on him. "Did you get bit?"

"No," Jim told her, his voice wavering. "I got scratched during the attack."

"You're bit," Scarlett stated flatly.

"I'm fine," Jim insisted.

"Then lift your shirt up and show me," Scarlett demanded, her tone leaving no room for argument.