Two
I woke up and stretched quietly; the warm sun shone through the grey canvas and heated the little triangle of a hut. I laid there for a few minutes, wallowing in the wonderful warmth. I wasn't hungry, thirsty or cold. I could hear people laughing and talking. For once, I was only worried about how I looked. I pulled the tiny compact mirror out of the corner of my bag, I'd found it in a purse on my way to the department store, and examined my face. My hair, frizzy and wild fell in big, black waves past my shoulders. The thick bangs dusted my eyebrows. I looked a mess. I changed into shorts and a tank top and put on the black flats. I stepped out of the tent, which opened right up to the "commons" area of the camp – the fire pits and chairs. Everyone turned to look at me and Shane stood up, "Good morning, Jo May," Andrea said patting the car seat next to her, "How about some breakfast?"
I smiled and nodded. Shane hit his knee, "Well, I'll be. There is a pretty set of teeth behind those lips."
I felt my face flush red and my smile grew on its own. I sat quietly next to Andrea and took the coffee and granola bar from her, "Thank you," I said. Everyone munched on their bars and drank their coffee. I could have sat there for the rest of eternity – quietly taking in these new faces, new voices. They all seemed comfortable; there was no one to really be afraid of, maybe Ed but I trusted Shane to keep him in line.
I panicked when the conversation turned to me, "Where in Louisiana are you from Jo May," Shane asked, staring at me with a friendly smile.
"Uh, well," I said, swallowing the hot coffee, "Saint Tammany Parish… little town called Belle Ree, I don't expect ya'll to know it."
"Can't say that I have," Dale said, "That near the ocean? Or farther in?"
Before I could answer, a scream came from the woods. It was Carl. We all stood up, uneaten granola bars and cups of coffee hit the ground. We all took off for the woods – various weapons in hand. Lori stopped at Carl who was the screaming and picked him up; he was alright as was Sophia, who Carol had in her arms.
Rick and Glenn skidded to a halt in front of the walker gnawing on the dead deer. Shane put on the breaks in front of me and I ran into his back – his arm came around and his hand grabbed my waist, "Get back, Jo May," he said, I put my hand over my nose – the scent of the zombie filled the air – I nodded and stepped back. Shane and the others beat the walker down until Dale came by and decapitated it with the axe.
Brown-green bile oozed out of its neck and I had to turn into the bushes and vomit. I recuperated and stood straight, turning around to face the group again, "I'm alright," I said quietly. I made my way back to camp while they disposed of the walker,.
I sat on my cot and inhaled through my nose; exhaled slowly through my mouth. I held my head in my hands and my hair fell around me, a curtain of protection. I was a bit embarrassed at the sight of my mop of black hair. It could use a trim, especially my bangs. And probably a heavy duty conditioning and blow out… it was so wavy and frizzy. Wild hair. I'd never win a beauty pageant looking the way I did now. I was crazy to even think about being in a pageant! The only pageants there would be now was the talent competition in which everyone showed how swell they were at staying alive.
"Merle!"
I jumped up and panicked for a moment, my heart pounding faster. I stepped out of my tent and saw that, I by deductive reasoning I could only say was Daryl. He had on a cut off sleeved, thermal shirt, jeans and a string of squirrels attached to his side. He sat a crossbow down next to his tent, "Looks like a got a new neighbor, huh, Merle," Daryl asked his absent brother, "Who'er you?" I stared at him. He looked at me and had the bluest eyes I'd ever seen, "Hello? You a retard? She a retard?"
"Jo May," I said, "My name is Jo May, from Louisiana."
Rick's voice turned Daryl's gaze away from me and my heartbeat slowed a little. Daryl did not take the news of Merle very well, who would really? After a few hours by himself, he calmed down. Daryl sat outside his tent, skinning the squirrels. I felt sorry for him – his brother was probably a skeleton hanging on the roof by now. No one was around and no one was comforting the poor guy; I doubt he would accept any comfort anyway. I picked up a knife that was lying on the cook table and walked over to him. I pulled an empty bucket over, flipped it upside down and sat down across the table from him. I grabbed a squirrel by the tail and glanced up at Daryl – he was staring at me. My eyes shot down to the squirrel. Daryl stared at me, "Just cut off the feet and tails." I nodded and did my task.
"I'm sure you'll find your brother," I said, chucking a tail into the scrap bucket, "He's pretty tough, as far as I could tell."
"Yeah," Daryl said, peeling the skin off a squirrel body, "He is."
"Should I bury these," I asked, staring at the bucket of stumps and tails and rodent heads.
"I'll do it," Daryl said, keeping his eyes down, focused on the task at hand and the one that lay ahead.
"Jo May," Andrea's voice said and I jumped, the knife in my hand clattering on the table, "C'mon, we're gonna go take a good bath, yeah?"
I looked back at Daryl; he was staring up at me, "Get gone." He shooed me with his knife and I jumped up from the table and trotted to my tent. I felt oddly useful, like I had a purpose for a few minutes – and it felt good.
I grabbed a fresh set of clothes from my tent and took one last look at Daryl before walking up to Andrea, "That's the most I've heard you talk in awhile," she said, as we walked to the lake.
"Daryl," I said, "He isn't like Merle, I don't think… and he reminds me of the boys from Belle Ree."
"Well, just be careful around him alright," Andrea said, "He's a little wild."
I nodded. All of us ladies undressed to our bras and underwear and waded into the cool water. We passed around the shampoo bottles, the shaving cream, a new package of razors – it might be the end of the world but, we'd still be pretty and clean. The water felt good with the hot sun beating down on the top of my head and I swam out and dove beneath the water, letting the silence of lake surround me. I stayed under, swimming as far away as I could from the group and popped up, pushing my hair out of my face. Shane was sitting right there fifteen feet from me, "I'm not watching," he said, he was clearly in a bad mood, "Just making sure nothing comes around." I stared at him for a few moments longer, he stared right back, straight into my eyes. He had his hands on his knees and his head down a little. I turned around and swam back to the group, I could feel Shane's eyes on me. By the time we were ready to get out of the lake, I looked back and he was gone.
We waded out and put on our fresh underwear and bras but, we elected to sunbathe for awhile before heading back to camp. I sprawled out on the dock and Carol French braided my hair.
Later that day, I took my small pile of dirty clothes and tossed it in the basket Jacqui had given me. I stepped out of my tent as Daryl strapped his bow to his back, "Do you have some clothes you'd like washed," I asked Daryl. Everyone stopped and stared at me as if I was crazy. Dale cleared his throat and they all went back to their own business although I'm sure they kept their ears open.
"Uh, yeah," Daryl said, tossing some pants, shirts and underwear into my basket.
"Good luck," I said, he was already walking away, I wasn't sure if he had heard me. But, he turned around, nodding slightly; he squinted at me in the sun.
"Thanks."
The ladies and I washed the clothes in the shallows of the lake, our pants rolled up and feet in the cool water, "That was mighty nice of you to wash Daryl's clothes," Carol said, smiling at me.
"Well, we did leave his brother chained to a roof in the city," I said, "It was the least I could do to help him out."
We talked quietly; it was nice to have women around. I felt comfortable and I felt myself slowly coming back to normal. Slowly. After awhile we became rowdy, joking around and laughing. Andrea and Carol ticked off a few jokes about vibrators and we all snorted to each other, looking back at Ed who was keeping an eye on us, "You ladies need to get to work," he said, smoking a cigarette from the back of his truck.
"Or what, Ed," Andrea snapped, rolling her eyes at him. No one liked Ed as far as I could tell. I didn't either.
Ed walked over and grabbed Carol, he pushed Andrea out of the way, causing the girls to try and pry Ed off of Carol but, Ed slapped Carol instead. I called for Shane who came running over as fast he could. I had never seen such a look on anyone's face. Sheer, blunt rage.
Shane bashed in Ed's head. I stood, watching dumbfounded. I couldn't believe the absolute force Shane had in his hands and arms. Ed was a pulp when Shane walked away. Carol fell to her husband's side. I felt sorry for her, feeling like she owed him anything, that she should fall to his side and apologize. I wanted to kick Ed.
Instead, I shot after Shane, who was headed back to camp. He flung himself inside his tent; I poked my head in, "Are you alright?"
"Yeah," he snapped.
"Your hands are bleeding," I said, "C'mon, let me clean them up."
Shane came outside and sat in a chair, I sat on the ground and ran some water over it, he winced when I dabbed the cuts with alcohol, "Thank you," Shane said, inspecting his cleaned wounds that had stopped bleeding, "I appreciate that."
"Thank you for letting me into the group, ya'll didn't have to do that," I said, standing up and walking away.
Shane grabbed my hand and even though he barely held it and hardly pulled me his way, I yelped and yanked away from him, "People like you are always welcome," he said, awkwardly, "I'm sorry if I… are you okay?"
"Yeah," I said, searching for an explanation. I knew I didn't want to tell the truth, "Just a little shaken." Shane nodded, I don't think he believed me but I walked off anyway, looking for Lori and the pile of wet clothes I had left behind.
The rest of the day was quiet, waiting for our friends to return – the tension could be cut with a knife. Ed stayed in his tent; his cocky attitude had been diminished. We mostly sat around the campfires, talking quietly. Shane patrolled every once in awhile, clearly fuming. As the sun set, we all checked the strings of cans and bells and settled in for the fish fry; using the fish Andrea and Amy had caught for us. Shane and I cooked them up, using some leftover batter mix Dale had left in his R.V., "Where'd you learn to cook like this, Jo May," Lori asked, throwing a piece of fish in her mouth.
A smiled and felt my ears turn red, "We ate a lot of fish back home," I said, "Fish, alligator, even frog legs."
Shane looked at Lori and then at me, "Jo May, you are a dream come true. Tomorrow, we're gonna catch and cook up some frog legs."
I nodded, "Sounds alright."
Lori laughed and shook her head, "I can't believe you two eat frog legs! Gross."
"No way," I said, "They are so good," my mouth watered at the thought of my Mama's cooking, "Cook em up with a pan of jalepenos and oysters fresh off the bayou! And some alligator strips and crawfish," I realized I had been going on for awhile and I smiled and focused on pulling the stray bones out of my fish.
Amy got up to go to the bathroom. We were all stuffed and relaxing, the night was cool and the fire threw off gentle, warm waves of heat.
It turned to Hell in an instant.
