Authors note: Hey guys! So, unfortunately I'm a bit rusty on my fiction writing, as I've been strapped with so many essays. So, hopefully this is enjoyable! This is, if you didn't already guess it, a bit of a filler between season 1 and 2, before season 2 starts up. Anyway, hopefully there'll be more updates very soon and I hope to actually hear from some of you :)
Harley had grown up in a non-religious household. Well, her mother was a Christian and sometimes told Harley how much she loved Jesus. But, beliefs were never pushed on anyone in her family. She knew all the stories of hell, purgatory, and heaven. She never really believed in them, though. She had always just thought of them as a way to scare people into being good.
That was before the world ended and hell was everything. She had watched her parents and grandfather get eaten right in front of her and her little sister, Riley. She'd had to shoot her own parents in the fucking head. She'd had to try and explain why to a fifteen year old. Nothing was right anymore, nothing made sense. That University degree that sat on her mantel hadn't prepared her for this.
The "end" had been a few weeks ago now. Or was it days? It felt like years. Decades, even. She couldn't keep track. She didn't have her cell phone that had the date on it anymore, let alone a calendar. It didn't matter now. All they were doing was moving from one death trap to another. First they left the camp after the walkers found it, then the CDC, and now they were on the road again, going God knows where.
Harley sat in the passengers seat of Daryl Dixon's beat up and faded Ford truck. The thing had to be at least ten to fifteen years old. At least. It ran pretty good though, considering how rickety it looked on the outside. She couldn't sat riding with Daryl was her top choice; but, as horrible as it was, it got her a break from Riley. She loved her sister, more than anything. Even with doom upon them, Riley kept up her angst ridden teen act on no matter what. Harley couldn't say she wanted her baby sister getting near any walkers, but the girl was fifteen. She could have done something to help out the camp. When it came time to pack up and move on, the idea of being stuck in a vehicle with her sisters whining for however many hours sent chills down her back. She knew, she knew it was awful. Hell, Andrea had held her little sister as she died. Harley knew complaining was the last thing she should be doing. She knew she should be trying to spend every minute she could with Riley, but she did need this couple hour break. Bad.
"So. . . Beautiful weather, huh?" Harley said finally after a long silence between her and Daryl. She didn't really care to talk to him. She'd talked to his brother, Merle, enough. Merle had been a disgusting, racist, sexist pig, and was sure Daryl wasn't that much different. Daryl just grunted. It made her blood boil. Every time she tried to talk to the younger Dixon, he just made some stupid noise. If she hadn't heard him talking to others from the camp she would have sworn he couldn't speak at all.
"When someone talks to you, in civilized cultures, people usually use words to answer with." Harley said curtly as she crossed her arms and then turned to the passengers side window to watch the trees and road signs speed by in a blur.
"Well, if you were gon' fuckin' say somethan' that actually meant somethan' I woul' answer." He answered in the same sarcastic tone Harley had used. She rolled her eyes. What an idiot.
"What the fuck do you want me to talk about, Dixon?" Harley retorted. "'So, you see that zombie chomping on that little girls arm today?' I think we see enough unpleasant things without having to talk about them constantly,"
"'S called bein' realistic. Yah can't ignore da' fact this shit is happenin'."
"I'm not!" Harley sighed, face palming. "I wish I could be that oblivious."
"'En you'd be dead." He replied solemnly. Harley took a glance at him from the corner of her eye, he had both hands on the steering wheel, holding it tightly and was looking straight forward at the road like a robot.
"Never mind," Harley said in a quiet voice. She was regretting now getting a ride in his truck. The only reason she had was because she didn't want to deal with many people, and getting into Daryl's truck meant having the closest to alone time she'd have had in what felt like an eternity.
"Yeah. It is nice," Daryl said after a solid minute or two of silence. Harley was so surprised to hear him speak she almost jumped.
"What?"
"Tha weather, stupid," He said and rolled his eyes at her. She wanted to be offended, but she found herself chuckling.
"Yeah, nice that it's finally cooling down," Harley agreed in a nod.
"Yup," Daryl said as he turned a left behind the RV in front of them. It took them to a clearing where, by a big pond, a decent sized log cabin perched. It was one thing, that despite all the death and agony going around like chicken pox in the fourth grade, looked normal, if not downright cheerful.
"Da fuck?" Harley heard Daryl mutter under his breath as he parked behind the RV and got out to meet up with the others, with Harley not far behind.
"How did you know this was here?" Andrea asked as the group all walked towards the front door.
"I didn't. We needed a place to stay, so I took that left hoping we'd either find something or be able to turn around," Rick said seriously as he lifted his pistol up as Shane opened the front door.
"Stay out here," Rick said to the group as he, Shane, Daryl and T-dog went in with their weapons to inspect the house to make sure everyone wasn't walking into some big death trap. The group left outside were silent.
"We're good, get inside," Rick said and ushered everyone in. The inside of the cabin was adorable; and for once, there was no blood, guts or anything pertaining to the undead. The curtains were a cute green and white checker print, there were little embroidered signs hanging up on the walls that read things like "Home sweet home" or "Give us this our daily bread". Everyone almost sighed with relief. This was amazing, real shelter.
"The hot water works!" Glenn joyously cried out after he had turned the knob on the sink. He had figured it would be in vain, but it had worked! No, this place was better than amazing. This place was going to be home. It had to be.
