Silence in the Clouds // D.D.

Chapter 9 - It's Time to Decide

"Gonna take more than that," Dale started. "And you let Sam up here, so I don't know how well that is working." Dale looked over at her, a weird look on his face, like he was insinuating something. Sam just scoffed.

"She's not completely annoying like the rest of y'all," Daryl grunted. Sam was surprised at the small heat that crawled over her cheeks. "Carol send you?"

"Carol's not the only one concerned about you, your new role in the group."

Sam narrowed her eyes, curious as to what that meant about her, as she was similar in the group as Daryl was, just less...respected.

The two went back and forth a bit, Daryl loading up his crossbow with bolts to be used later. It turned quickly to Dale pushing for him to help save Randall, since Daryl appeared to not care about what happened to him.

"And what about you Sam? Don't you care?"

"No. Whether he lives or dies, I'm not going to trust that he's some innocent little kid. Not after what Daryl said his group does," Sam stood, arms crossed over her chest.

Dale went back to Daryl, mostly, stating that the man had a say in the group's decisions, that people looked to him for answers. Daryl didn't agree, and frankly, neither did Sam. With Shane still in the picture, Rick would always be fighting for control with him.

And while Sam didn't necessarily want any part in this, she couldn't help but feel a little hurt that no one was asking her opinion. But, maybe that would get better with time, when she proved herself more and the group trusted her as much as Carter did.

Dale went on and on, calling both Daryl and Rick decent men. "But Shane, he's different." Sam rolled her eyes. Of course Shane was different, they could all see it, at least Daryl and Sam could.

"Why's that? 'Cause he killed Otis?" Sam's eyes widened at that, not knowing who Otis was or what had happened. But she assumed, from this conversation, that no one else knew that Shane had killed this man.

"He tell you that?"

"He told some story, how Otis covered him, saved his ass," Daryl said, Dale walking up close to him. Sam listened intently, head tilting slighting as she took in the information. "He showed up with the dead guy's gun." And that was the cherry on top; Sam knew that whatever had happened, it was no accident that this man, Otis, died.

Maybe she could get Daryl to tell her about it later, but for now, it seemed like Daryl was going to go out on a hunt, and she wouldn't be sticking around camp instead. Gathering her things, Sam prepared to go hunting, making sure her quiver was strapped to her back securely.

"Rick ain't stupid. If he didn't figure that out, its 'cause he didn't wanna. It's like I said—group's broken." And then he was off, stomping into the woods, not even waiting for Sam to catch up, knowing she would anyways.

Sam walked silently anywhere, and that definitely didn't exclude the woods. Daryl was just as silent though, as they made their way further into the trees, Sam taking a deep breath of the forest air. She hadn't been out there in days, and hadn't realized how much she missed it.

Even when she wasn't hunting, she was in the woods for work, following and observing, hiking and camping. The overall survival techniques she had picked up over the years had become extremely useful now that was all life was: surviving.

Daryl wasn't one for talking, as Sam had picked up on, and that obviously also included hunting. The two made their way between the brush in silence, eyes and ears open to the surrounding trees, knowing that most of what they would find would most likely be squirrels, especially this close to the farm.