Something touched her! Her first thought was a biter had gotten into her cell. Immediately, Shawna grabbed her hunting knife out its sheath along her belt. She jumped out of her bunk to defend herself. It came closer. The dark figure loomed before her silhouetted in the fading light. She tried to focus on the figure but she was too groggy. She swung her hand with the knife in it. A hand grabbed her wrist and pinned it to her side as it came forward. Another dark figure emerged from behind the first one. Shawna gasped. There were two of them! She would fight for her life. She tried to swing her left hand to punch it. Her fist was quickly grasped and pinned as well. She closed her eyes to avoid seeing gnashing teeth as she fought to get free of the grip. She screamed! Then a voice sounded.
"Whoa! Whoa!" the male voice said calmly. Shawna kept fighting, not registering the voice. He said loudly and clearly, "I am not a walker!"
Shawna gasped and stopped fighting. She opened her eyes. Finally, she was able to focus on the silhouettes. One was Rick. The other was the man with the crossbow. That same small butterfly in her stomach jolted awake again.
"I'm sorry," she apologized quickly. She eased the tension in her muscles. "I thought . . . just a reaction," she stammered. She took a profound breath and eased into a normal rhythmic pattern with each abiding breath. The adrenaline started to subside.
A small group of people had gathered just outside her cell upon hearing the shouts. Some of the people where shaking their heads. The man with the crossbow quickly shooed them away, then, turned back to Rick and Shawna with a furrowed brow. Rick's eyes were wide. His reaction to her fight or flight mode was the result of his years being a police officer. Once Rick heard Shawna's breath return to normal, his gaze softened as he kept his eyes on her, his hands still on her wrists. Embarrassment had set in on Shawna. All her tension was released. She lowered her head.
"Damn. Looks like we got ourselves one hell of a fighter," the crossbow guy said with a smirk. Rick chuckled a bit and eased his grip on her wrists but did not let go.
"Are you okay, now?" Rick asked Shawna seriously. She nodded still looking down. Rick let go of her wrists completely. "Do you remember me? I'm Rick. This is Daryl." Shawna's head snapped up as she stared at Daryl.
"Yes, I remember you. I'm Shawna," she said returning her gaze upon Rick. Slowly, she turned to Daryl. "You're Daryl, Merle's brother?" she asked.
"Yeah," Daryl said squinting at her. "You got a problem with that?"
"No," she answered shortly. There was an awkward silence between the two. Rick looked back and forth between them. She remembered Merle. She only wondered if Daryl would be like him.
"We didn't mean to wake you," Rick said breaking the tension. Shawna's eyes snapped back to Rick. "I know how precious that kind of sleep is worth. We were just coming by to ask what your job was when you were in Woodbury."
"Oh, right," she said remembering what Carol had said. "I was in charge of ammunition. I sorted it and kept a running inventory. I handed it out when it was needed."
"Good to know," Rick said then looked at Daryl. She followed his gaze.
"Do ya know how to shoot?" Daryl asked Shawna.
"I do. I'm better with a rifle than with a handgun," Shawna replied confidently.
"We'll see about that," Daryl said with a cocked eyebrow.
"What do you mean? Is there some sort of test?" Shawna asked a bit puzzled.
"Ya get one shot," Daryl informed her.
"One shot to prove myself? I can do that, but there are others that won't be able to do it. Don't underestimate them," Shawna replied, "Most of the better shots are dead."
"You're talkin' about that group the Governor took out? Why didn't you go with them?" Rick asked.
"Like I said, I was in charge of the ammunition. If I went out, who is to say that someone in your group wouldn't have taken it?" Shawna explained. "We were all scared. We were told you all wanted us dead. We were put into fight mode. We were on the verge of fighting amongst ourselves after the Governor left to come here. Half of us wanted to escape while the other half tried to make them stay. I had to protect the ammunition." An image popped into Shawna's head. It was of the previous day. She was standing in the ammunition room with a rifle pointed at the door, ready for anything that may come through it. In a beat the image was gone from her mind and her focus was back on Rick.
Rick looked over at Daryl then back to Shawna. She swallowed hard.
"You don't have to worry about that anymore. You're safe here," Rick said. "Now, what is this about you being accused of stealing food from Woodbury?" Rick started. "Is that going to be a problem here?"
Shawna sighed heavily. "I told Carol I was accused. I NEVER took anything," Shawna stated forcefully. She clenched her jaw shaking her head. "Yes, I served time for the theft, but I was wrongly accused. Look at me! Do I look like I'm wasting away? I could stand to lose a meal or two."
Rick looked into Shawna's eyes. He did not shift his gaze to her waist line as Carol had. He was trying to distinguish fact from fiction. She returned the stare hoping he would see the truth.
"A'right," he said, "I don't see it being a problem then."
"I appreciate you trusting me," she told Rick. He nodded.
"There are not many of you who can handle a gun. You're gonna go with Daryl here," Rick began, "He's gonna see you shoot. Technically, you're not gonna waste any ammo. You're gonna take down a walker outside in the yard. Once we know how you shoot, we'll decide where to put you. To tell you the truth, you really impressed me by the way you tried to cut me with that knife of yours. Your instincts are just fine," he finished with an impish grin.
"Thanks," Shawna returned with a bit of smirk. She was still a bit embarrassed attacking Rick like that.
Rick and Daryl moved out of the cell. She noticed that her blade was still in her hand. She placed it in her sheath.
"I'm gonna continue down the block," Rick said to Daryl, "Why don't you take Shawna out and see what she can do?" Daryl just nodded. He looked at her standing in her cell. She was pulling her hair back into a pony tail.
"Comin'?" Daryl asked.
She nodded. "Yeah," she said as she exited her cell.
The two walked out of the cell block into the common room. They passed by the established group of the prison who looked up when Daryl and Shawna walked through. Daryl picked up a rifle as she stood by waiting. She tried to smile and nod at them but only Carol returned the gesture. She figured the prison group was just as leery of the Woodbury people, as her group was of them. It was going to take time for everyone to feel comfortable around each other. They went back to talking amongst themselves once she and Daryl were near the doorway that led to outside.
Once out there, one could hear the throaty sounds of the walking dead around the prison. It was still somewhat disturbing to Shawna. She didn't think she would ever get use to the noise. Maybe that was a good thing, because that meant she was always aware that they were there. If she became too numb to the sound, she could, and would most likely, end up dead.
Along with the crossbow slung on his back, Daryl had a pistol stuck into the front of his pants. She remembered Carol saying they didn't have many weapons to go around. Perhaps she had only said that to discourage people from looking for them to stage an escape. Shawna followed Daryl until they came to the tower. They walked up the steps to the wrecked guard tower. An Asian guy and a thin brunette turned to look at them as they reached the top. Daryl nodded to them.
"Newbie?" the Asian man said indicating Shawna with a nod in her direction.
"Yup," Daryl answered shortly.
"My name is Shawna," the woman said introducing herself seeing as Daryl was not going to do it.
"Glenn," the man answered. He indicated the woman beside him, "This is Maggie."
"Hi," Shawna said to Maggie. Maggie just smiled awkwardly. Daryl handed Shawna the rifle.
"Are you any good?" Maggie asked Shawna.
"Shooting?" she asked, then shrugged. "That's what I'm here to prove."
Glenn raised his eyebrows. She positioned the rifle snug to her shoulder while supporting the barrel with her left hand. With her right hand she pulled back the bolt handle to load the weapon. She then positioned her right hand on the grip. She took the safety off, then, slipped her index finger into the trigger guard lightly resting it on the trigger.
"Which one?" she asked as she was trying out the site on the gun. Daryl looked around at the meandering walkers in the yard.
"Blue shirt," he answered pointing at the appropriate undead person walking about 50 yards inside the fence. Before Daryl could put his hand down the shot rang out and the biter dropped to the ground. Glenn's mouth fell open.
"Damn," Daryl uttered. He kept an eye on it just to make sure it stayed down. It never rose again.
Shawna put the safety on and handed the rifle back to Daryl.
"Nice shot," Maggie said with respect. Daryl took the rifle and started for the exit.
"Thank you, Maggie," Shawna said softly with a quick smile before following Daryl. "Nice meeting you," she mentioned just before descending the stairs.
Once on the ground Daryl and Shawna made their way back to the prison building. They walked in silence for a moment, then, he stopped suddenly and spoke, "Where did you learn to shoot like that?"
"My husband," Shawna answered as she halted her steps. "He was a gun fanatic. He collected them. He took me out to a shooting range a few times and showed me how to operate a gun. I had told him if they were going to be in the house, I wanted to know how to use it."
"He didn't hunt?" Daryl asked.
"No," Shawna answered.
"Just collected?"
"Yeah."
"You have any of his guns with you?"
"No. The rifle I had was confiscated by the Governor."
He turned and starting walking again. She followed.
"Your husband, he dead?" he asked in a low rough voice. She looked at him from the side. He kept his gaze straight. She looked forward again.
"Yes," Her tone was finite. There was silence again.
Once they were back inside Daryl went straight for the table where most of the prison group sat. Shawna didn't know whether to follow him so she hung back at the stairs. She could see him talking in a hushed voice with them. An older man was the first to look her way. He began speaking with Daryl. It was a bit awkward having eyes looking at her. Usually, if Shawna had this many eyes staring, it would have been a group of skinny bitches with disgusted looks. Now, it was different because she had impressed them, so she thought. Daryl waved her over. It was Rick who addressed her when she joined them.
"We take watches in pairs. You will be with Daryl. I'm telling you now because your shift starts soon," he informed her. "You two get something to eat and then you can go."
The sun had just completely set. Darkness was taking over. There was minimal lighting in the prison. It cast a dull glow to the gray walls. Shawna gathered up a plate of food. There were no free tables, so she took to sitting against the wall just where she had when she entered earlier that day. Most people had taken their food to the cells except for the prison group. She was used to sitting alone. It surprised her that Daryl got up from the prison group table and moved towards her.
"You don't have to sit here," she began before he had a chance to say anything. "I know you would rather sit with your friends. It's okay. I'm used to it." He didn't say anything. He was chewing on something he had just put into his mouth. In his hand was the rifle from earlier. He licked his fingers and set it down beside her then returned to the table. "Oh," she said softly to herself. She had only speculated that he wanted to sit with her. She hung her head. Now she felt like an idiot. Shawna pushed her food around her plate feeling the embarrassment engulf her. That was twice in one day that she managed to humiliate herself. She decided just to eat, do her duties, and keep her stupid mouth shut. She would try, at least.
As she sat there eating, many sets of feet walked passed her but she never looked up. Everyone was coming and going since it was dinner time. She never even noticed that a set of feet had stopped beside her. She had almost finished when a body slid down the wall and sat next to her. She shifted her eyes to see that is was Daryl, then, went back to her food.
"You done yet?" Daryl asked. She turned to look at him over her right shoulder.
"No," she answered curtly and put a spoonful of food in her mouth. She chewed slowly. She heard somewhere once that if you ate too fast your body didn't process the food well enough and it led to weight gain. Why did she always remember meaningless things, especially now?
"I had a friend once. A really good friend," Daryl began. He was leaning back against the wall with his knees drawn up and his forearms resting on them. Shawna really wanted to say something sarcastic but resisted the urge. She just sat there chewing her food. "He was big boy. He could pack some food away. He was always the first person done eatin'." Shawna dropped her spoon on her tray. She felt insulted.
"Are you insinuating that because I'm hefty that I should be done eating already? Not everyone who is full-figured scarfs down their food. Because if you are, then I don't want to be your friend," She left the rest of her food on her tray. She had completely lost her appetite. She grabbed her tray and stood up.
"You could," Daryl said flatly. Shawna stopped and turned towards him with a scowl on her face.
"Excuse me?" she fumed. "I could? I could scarf down my food? You know what? You are just like your brother. And I didn't care much for his insults either." Was he really going to insult her? Daryl did not flinch when he saw the look on her face. He rose up off the floor to look her in the eye.
"A friend," he growled in her face. They stared at each other for what seemed like minutes. "Come on. We gotta go."
With clenched teeth, she dropped off her dishes to those assigned to kitchen duty and went back to pick up her rifle. She almost ran into Daryl doing so. He was right behind her with it in his hand. She looked hard into his eyes and grabbed the rifle from him. They didn't say anything as they went off to their post.