"Do you think this place is safe? From the Geeks?"
"Geeks?" I asked, rubbing the sweat off of my forehead.
"Yeah." Glenn said, sitting on the hood of his van. "Geeks. You know, nobody wants to be around them?"
"You call me a geek all the time." I noted, shoving the stake farther in with my foot. If we had some hammers, this would have been done a lot faster. But nope, I had to pack a gun, a knife, and a bow.
"I know. Why do you think you've never had a boyfriend despite your obvious attractiveness?"
"Because I'm too independent?"
"You wish."
I chuckled, and finished shoving the last stake in. Finished. I glanced around to see if anybody else needed help, but everyone seemed settled in. I grabbed Glenn's bags and threw them into the tent.
"What about you?" He asked, noticing all of my bags were still in the van.
"I'm sleeping in the van." I told him, hopping into the back. If you took the back seats out, there was actually a lot of room in there.
"Why?"
"Because, Glenn, unlike you, some people need to be alone sometimes."
"Then why didn't you take the tent?"
"You've told me you hate the van about ten thousand times. I didn't want to hear it anymore." I joked. He rolled his eyes.
"Well, I'm gonna go be social. Have fun being a hermit, Bear."
I waved goodby and continued to dig through my stuff. Mostly canned or sealed food, water, and medicine, with a small collection of books and CDs. I would make sure to keep an eye on my little pantry, as I couldn't forget what I heard last night.
"We're better alone."
"I agree, little brother, but they have supplies, supplies we need. 'Specially Dorothy over there. She got a shit ton of medicine, which is just as valuable as food and water."
"You think she's just gonna give it to us?"
"Not all of it, of course. I could see that she's too soft. But that don't mean we can't steal what she don't give."
Dorothy was Merle's nickname for me, since I told him I was originally from Kansas. I had moved to Georgia for college, where I had met Glenn. Glenn and I were roommates before the outbreak, and no, not the kind of roommates that slept together. We had both been in a significant amount of debt, and desperately needed a roommate. Unfortunately, people didn't want roommates who were notorious for not paying their bills.
"Mishka, right?" A man asked. He was one of the men I met on the highway last night, an officer. I searched my brain for his name, hoping I wouldn't get it wrong.
"Shane? You can call me Bear."
"Okay." He paused. "I don't want to seem like I don't want weapons around here, but if you have any, could you try and keep 'em locked up? Carl's in a snoopin' phase, and the last thing I need is him shootin' his own foot."
I vaguely remembered that Shane had been traveling with a little boy named Carl and a woman named Lori.
"I will. I hope your family stays safe."
"Oh." He looked uncomfortable. "They're not my family."
"I'm so sorry." I said, feeling a blush creep across my cheeks. "Not to be rude, but where is..."
"Carl's father? Lori's husband? He died. He was shot a few months before the outbreak, and when they raided the hospitals, Rick was in a coma." He said stiffly. He seemed guilty, but I assumed it was because he was in love with a dead man's wife. I had seen the way he looked at her last night, and it was not the look of a friendship.
"Anyway, I gotta go check with everybody else. It was nice to meet you."
"Ditto." I said, quietly. I looked over at Lori, and she was looking back at me. She smiled weakly, and I smiled weakly back. I was never that great at lying or faking, only concealing. I wondered if I should've told Shane about the Dixon brothers, as I studied them. They were standing by their tents, whispering. Daryl was obviously younger, and kind of attractive. Too bad he was a thief.
"I like your gun." Carl said, in amazement. It was a .44 magnum, with a wooden handle. It looked a lot like the one Dirty Harry carried, and I thought it was pretty cool myself.
"Thanks. I would let you touch it, but I think your mom and Shane would get mad at me."
He huffed. "They're always telling me what to do. It sucks."
"The woes of being... How old are you?"
"Twelve."
"Wow." I was surprised. "I would've thought younger."
"Hey!" He exclaimed, although he was wearing a small smile. "I'm tough."
"I never said you weren't. You don't have to be old to be tough. That's like saying girls aren't tough."
"You seem too pretty to be tough." he said, studying me.
"Oh really?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah. Most girls that are pretty like you are really worried about their hair and nails and stuff." He shrugged.
"I guess I'll have to use that to my advantage."
"Can I use looking little to my advantage?" He asked, a crease forming between his eyebrows.
"Of course." I nodded. "In fact, you've got a better chance than I do."
He smiled. "Cool."
"You don't have to stay up." Daryl said, noticing me yawn. "I'll be just fine on my own."
"I want to stay up." I said stubbornly. I knew that if I went to sleep he would take off with Merle and our supplies. I wasn't going to let that happen. There were kids here, for fuck's sake.
The silence was awkward, but I could deal with awkward. I didn't want to associate with someone who could leave so many people defenseless.
"Alright, what's goin' on?" He asked, annoyance filling his voice.
"What do you mean?" I asked, my tone ice.
"I mean, why do you hate me already? At first I thought you just hated everybody. But after I saw you with the cop and the kid and the Asian, I realized that wasn't it. So why me?"
"Because you and your brother are thieves." I muttered, avoiding his gaze.
"What?" He wasn't menacing, he was confused. I looked him straight in the eye, my anger burning throughout me.
"Because you're a thief. I heard you and Merle yesterday, and I think it would be best if you left. I'm not going to let you steal from all of these innocent people."
Now he was shocked. Instead of trying to plead innocent like most people would, he kept quiet. For that, I was glad. At least he had a little respect.
After what seemed like hours, he finally spoke again.
"Why didn't ya tell nobody?" He asked quietly.
"How do you know I haven't already told someone?"
"'Cause if anyone else knew, we'd be kicked out already."
"Putting everybody on edge isn't going to help anybody." I shrugged.
"That it?"
"No. I'm also hoping you're not the bad guy." I looked over at him to see him staring at his hands.
"Me too." He muttered, almost too quiet for me to hear. "Me too."
"Mishka, why didn't you help us?"
"Alexei was just about to graduate! He didn't even get to live a full life."
"I hope you're happy."
I jerked up, waking from my nightmare. I wiped the sweat off my forehead, and grabbed my bow. We had been here for about a week and I decided I was going to go hunting today, hopefully finding some meat. I didn't want to dig into my food supply before I absolutely had to.
Everybody was up, Dale and Glenn sitting on top of the RV, the women running around with the children, and the rest of the men standing by the fire. I figured I belonged more with the men than the women, so I walked over to them. No one complained about me being there, so I figured it was okay.
"We need to start settin' up jobs." Shane said. "Glenn already agreed to be a supply runner, so the rest of us have to find somethin' to do."
"I was just about to go hunting." I said, holding up my bow. My magnum was locked tight in the van.
"Good." Shane approved. "Anyone else here know how to hunt?"
"Me and Merle." Daryl said quietly.
"Merle and I." I corrected. He shot me a dirty look, and I glared at him. It was kind of a staring contest for a while.
"You like 'em feisty." Merle muttered to Daryl. That snapped me out of it, and I turned my attention back to Shane.
"Then Daryl, Bear, you guys are assigned to hunting duties. You might wanna start soon, try to catch somethin' for tonight." I nodded, and went back to the van. I grabbed some canned peaches, bread, peanut butter, and some Mountain Dew. I'd have to eat the bread and peanut butter fast because they would expire in a few days. So would the soda, and I had four two-liters. I figured Daryl might want some and packed all four.
Daryl met me by the edge of the words, carrying an extremely badass crossbow. It was awesome enough to make me want to learn how to use one.
"Don't touch it." He warned. I then remembered that I was supposed to be mad at him, and tried to channel annoyance in from earlier. Unfortunately it didn't work, and I probably didn't look as pissed off as I wanted to.
We shot a lot of squirrels, and I was surprised to see Daryl was a good shot. He was even more surprised when he saw I was a good shot.
"Where'd ya learn how to shoot?" He asked, impressed.
"I became really obsessed with self defense when I was younger, so I bought a gun, some knives, and a bow, and I practiced shooting and throwing every day. After practicing for so long, you get pretty good."
He chuckled. "How long did it take ya?"
"About six months." I said. "I had a lot of free time. Anyway, how'd you learn?"
"Like you." He admitted. "Taught myself. Taught Merle eventually. He's not great at it, but that's just 'cause he don't listen to me."
I laughed. "For some reason, I don't find that hard to believe."
We sat down, and I pulled out the bread, peanut butter, and Mountain Dew. I made him a a couple sandwiches and a liter of Mountain Dew. He looked surprised, but gladly took it.
"Thanks." He mumbled. I just nodded, and bit into the sandwich. I was going to miss peanut butter so much.
"So why the hell is your nickname Bear?" He asked, talking with his mouth full. I wrinkled my nose, but told him.
"My real name's Mishka, and when I was younger, I absolutely hated it. Nobody could pronounce it, and it was way too different than anybody else. So I asked my dad if I could have a nickname, and he told me that in Russia people called Teddy bears Mishka. So my nickname could either be Teddy or Bear, and Bear sounded way cooler to me."
"Bear's way cooler than Teddy." He agreed. We sat in peaceful silence while we ate, and I stole the occasional glance towards him. Now that his mouth wasn't full of food and open, I could appreciate his looks. He had to be a bit older than me, and seemed perpetually worn out.
We returned later that day, with a ton of squirrels. Everyone thanked us, and I could tell Daryl was overwhelmed by the compliments. I smiled at his shyness, and saw Glenn looking at me. He glanced between Daryl and I, then smiled. It was a mischievous smile, and I frowned at him. He wasn't going to leave me alone now.
After finishing my food, I went over to my van, going through my books. I fished out Lord of the Flies, and began rereading it. It had been my favorite for a while, ever since my dad convinced me to read his collection of classics. Whenever my brother would whine, I'd call him Piggy. He'd get so pissed.
"Any picture books in there?" Daryl joked. I shook my head, smiling a little. Marking my page, I searched through the stack, trying to find something he might like. Triumphant, I handed him a mostly black book.
"Deliverance?" He asked, puzzled.
"Yep. It's pretty good, too. Second only to Lord of the Flies." I said, lifting my book up.
"If it's stupid, I'm gonna tell ya." He warned. "I ain't gonna pretend to like it 'cause you do."
I nodded. "Alright. Try not to insult it too bad."
"I ain't ever insultin', Volkov."
"You ain't comin' to keep an eye on me?" Daryl asked as I made my way to my van. I shook my head, yawning.
"I'm too tired for all that babysitting bullshit." I looked down before I looked him straight in the eyes. "Besides, now that we're hunting partners I have to trust you with my life. And whether I should or not, I do."
"I trust you too." I nodded at him and made my way to the van, hoping I made the right decision.
Turns out, I did make the right decision. When I woke up, the supplies and the Dixon brothers were still there. As Daryl climbed down from the RV, I smiled at him. He just gave me an 'I told you so' look. I rolled my eyes, but couldn't contain my happiness.
Merle, ever so perceptive, noticed our encounter.
"You actually trust us, Dorothy?" He asked, surprised. I said my next words carefully, not wanting to offend either Daryl or him.
"Don't make me regret it."
Hope you guys like it! The story'll pick up soon, and I hope you won't be disappointed. Please review and tell me anything you feel you need to, and I'll respond.
-Love Bella