They were safe. For now. The threesome consisting of Glenn and the mystery two made their way to the South Exit of the second floor of the department store. The brunette quickly got rid of her tears and turned to face Glenn as they passed the shoe department.
"I'm Cassie. It's nice to meet another person around here." She smiled, showing a row of white, perfect teeth and held out her hand.
"Glenn." He easily replied as he met her hand in a shake. "That's Tony, my twin brother." She motioned to the large man in front of them. Now that she mentioned it, they did look slightly alike. The had the same auburn hair color and face structure. However, their eyes is what was really different. While Cassie had dark green eyes, Tony had dark grey. The twins mannerisms were the same, that Glenn could tell.
"Nice to meet you guys. Thanks for saving my ass back there." Tony displayed a small smirk as his calculated eyes moved around the room and behind shelves, looking for any type of threat. "Don't mention it."
"No, really. You didn't have to help me, I pulled a stupid move, and I'm sorry about your friend." Glenn looked down briefly, then back up at the twins.
Tony was the first to respond, "Really, no big deal. We did it," His sentence was quickly picked up by his other half, "because one day we hope someone will help us out." Cassie swiftly finished, not missing a beat. They were almost to the exit now and the coast was still clear.
Approaching the door, the three saw a few walkers roaming around just outside the glass doors. They quickly moved out of view and knelt down to get their bearings together. Meanwhile, Glenn was having an internal battle. To bring them back to the group or not. They seemed level headed, knew how to take care of themselves, and just lost someone. Why not, they seemed harmless enough?
"Listen," Glenn began, "I have more people. I was on a run for them. We are just outside the city at a small quarry. Why don't you join us?" The twins shared a look, seemingly communicating without words.
"We aren't big fans of groups..." Tony left his sentence hanging, and looked towards his sister. "They only cause trouble anymore." His sister seemed to agree as she looked back out the glass windows, thinking of a plan.
"But strength in numbers, right?" Glenn badgered. He liked these two, and the camp could always use more helpful people. Plus, they saved him.
The two looked back at eachother, grey meeting green in a silent conversation. "I guess we could give it a try," Tony began, "but no promises that we will stay." Cassie added.
Glenn nodded and looked out the doors. "I don't suppose you got a car out there?"
"Now, what's the fun in that?" Cassie inquired and jumped to her feet, looking towards the two still kneeling. Tony grabbed the sniper rifle he had strapped to his back and set it up pointed to the window. "You're covered." He said reassuringly.
Cassie saluted them silently and made her way to the door, quietly opening it.
"What's she doing?" Glenn asked the brown haired man next to him. "Getting us a car." He answered like it was obvious as a smirk graced his lips.
The tiny girl made her way through the walkers silently killing any with her knife if they got to close for liking. Suddenly, she disappeared from view.
It was silent as Tony shifted looking for his sister. "Should we go get her?" Glenn asked worriedly. Tony held up his hand. "Give her a minute." More walkers shuffled in the direction she was last seen. The young Korean moved forward nervously. "But," Tony cut him off, "She always has a plan." Just as Tony finished his sentence, a car could be heard in the distance. The stretching of tires broke the silence as the dead's heads snapped up towards the sound. A blue charger moved from the unseen and stopped in front of the doors. The window was rolled down and Cassie's head could be seen. "Let's go, boys." A sly smile slipped its way on to her face.
Tony got up and gathered all their things muttering, "Show off." Under his breath. Glenn's face grew a smile, Oh yeah. He defiantly liked these two.
The car was moving smoothly down the highway. "How'd you find this beauty and get her to work?" A still amazed Glenn asked as he stroked the leather seats. "Cass is a car buff." He chuckled lightly and looked at the girl driving. She was going awfully fast and made turns quickly and smoothly when Glenn told her to.
"Hot wiring is easy stuff. A monkey could figure it out." Cass answered modestly, but let a smirk adorn her features. "Turn here. The quarry is straight ahead." Cass turned and spoke, "Are you sure your group doesn't mind us being here?" Glenn just noticed her accent as she spoke in the small car, it wasn't Southern, that's for sure.
"I'm sure you'll fit in just fine. They are nice people." Glenn assured. "By the way, where are you two from? The accents aren't from around here."
The twins shared a look and both replied, "New York."
They were making it down the dirt road that led to the quarry to see a group of people gathered at the enterance to the camp looking curious and armed to the T.
"I'll get out first." Glenn swiftly moved out of the car, hauling the bags out with him filled with supplies. The small crowd of people quickly smothered him, asking questions and welcoming him back.
Shane quickly moved to the front, "Who's that in the car Glenn?" He seemed slightly angry.
"Oh, they saved my ass in Atlanta." He motioned for them to get out of the car. The twins stepped out, but stayed cautiously by the doors. "Everyone, this is Cassie and Tony. Cassie and Tony, this is everyone." For the first time, Tony and Cassie seemed standoffish and looked at the group specifically. Finally, the twins nodded at the rest of the group.
Shane quickly surveyed the two. The girl was beyond pretty. She had auburn hair, tan skin, a small, curvy body, and dark green eyes. The man was large, full of muscle, and had a sleeve of tattoos on his left arm. He too had dark hair with grey eyes.
"Well, I'm Shane." He stepped forward towards the girl. Her eyebrows raised as she looked at the man with a sense of distrust, but smiled anyway. "Cassie. Look if it's a problem that we are here, we can go. Just wanted to make sure Glenn made it back ok." She looked towards Tony, who could also feel the tension within the group.
"No, no. Just got to be cautious is all." Shane answered swiftly as he saw they were about to bolt. It was Tony's turn to speak as he stepped forward.
"Understandable. You got a group to look out for." He held out his hand to Shane, "I'm Tony, like Glenn said. Cassie is my twin sister." Shane shook his hand firmly. The whole group looked toward the twins and leaned in closer, waiting to see if they are going to stay.
"I see. Well, you are welcome to stay." He looked sternly at the two, "But any problems and you'll have to go." The twins nodded.
"Dinner is in an hour. Talk to Dale up there on the RV, and he'll find you a place to sleep tonight." Shane told the two as the group silently began to disperse. Tony and Cassie looked at each other, and shared a look. They already didn't like Shane and his alpha wolf attitude.
"We have tents. We will get along just fine with those." Tony answered quickly as Shane nodded and moved towards a woman and a small boy.
The twins quietly started to unpack everything they needed and looked around for a place to set up their tents when two girls and an older man approached them.
"Hi, I'm Andrea, and this is my sister Amy." The older blonde directed the introduction to the two. "And this is Dale." She motioned towards the older gentleman.
"It's nice to meet you," Cassie started, "I'm Tony and that's Cassie." The other twin finished.
"You guys are twins, right?" The younger looking blonde asked curiously. "I heard Glenn say that earlier. The two looked at each other, than back at the blonde, when they both answered at the same time, "Yes." Dale smiled fondly at the two twins. She seemed so independent, but dependent on each other at the same time.
"That's so cool. Let me and Andrea introduce you to everyone else. Give you the gossip." Amy smiled and motioned for the two to follow them. They made their way to the small fire were a group of people had gathered for dinner.
"That's Lori and her son Carl." The small blonde motioned to the middle aged women and the young boy, who both waved politely "That's Morales and his family. T-Dog, you know Glenn obviously, Jacqui, and Jim." Amy pointed to each person respectively "You'll remember their names eventually." Andrea said to the twins with a genuine smile. Little did she know, both twins already memorized all the names Amy said.
"Over there at the other fire is Ed, his wife Carol, and their daughter Sofia." The blonde's voice lowered in disgust when she said Ed's name. Both twins looked at each other knowingly. "That tent over there is the Dixon tent. Merle is the older one and Daryl is his younger brother, you'll meet them later."
Shane decided to join in on the conversation at this point. "I'd stay away from them. They are as tempered as bulls." The twins shared another look, deciding to ignore his comments for now.
"It's nice to meet you all." Cassie smiled brightly at everyone around the campfire as Tony nodded polietly at everyone from behind her. Dale handed the twins some beans and mystery meat. "It tastes better than it looks." Dale said reassuringly.
The twins nodded and sat on two empty seats as a voice erupted from behind them. "Started dinner without us then? How rude, huh, baby brother?" The two newbees turned around to see two men walk up towards the campfire.
"And who is this lovely piece of ass?" The redneck's slurs were directed at the brunette sitting in the lawn chair. Her eyebrows rose in an arch as her brother tensed next to her.
"This 'lovely piece of ass' as you so nicely put it, has a name, redneck. I suggest you use it." The green eyed girl insisted, not backing down from his intense stare. Suddenly, the redneck started laughing, "I like this one. She's hot and has a back bone. I like 'em feisty."
She rolled her eyes and sat back in her chair to continue eating. The two rednecks moved forward to get food from the campfire and sat on the log a little further from everyone else.
"So what were you two up to before the word ended?" Shane asked the two new comers. The twins shared another look and turned their attention towards the rest of the group.
"We both just graduated from Stanford." Glances were passed over the fire at the impressive college. "You must be pretty smart, huh?" The small boy named Carl asked. "Yeah, we both have eidetic memories." Cassie answered smoothly. "Like photographic memories?" Carl asked curiously. "Sort of." Tony answered.
"What did you guys major in?" Andrea asked intrigued. "We triple majored, " Cass answered. "Psychology, Chemistry, and Physics." Tony finished her thought. Everyone looked impressed around the campfire. "I just finished my doctorate in Psychology last month." Cassie spoke again over the campfire. "What does that mean?" Carl asked confused.
"I'm basically a human lie detector."
"How old are you two?" Dale asked. "24." Both twins answered the question honestly as Shane let out a low whistle.
They asked about the family, but Tony and Cassie quickly avoided the question. They talked about New York and more schooling until the numbers quickly dwindled to just her, Tony, and Dale around the campfire.
"Well, I'm going to keep watch. I'll see you two in the morning? Sleep well." Both twins said goodnight and waved goodbye to the older man as he climbed on to the RV.
They sat in silence watching the ashes dance through the air above the fire until Tony slowly got up. "I'm heading in, wanna come?" She silently shook her head no and looked up to the starry sky. Tony kissed the top of her head and moved towards his tent.
The night was silent until a voice broke the peaceful record, "What are you still doing up, sugar tits?". Green eyes rolled as she looked over at the two that had joined her around the campfire.
"Once again, I have a name." Merle shook his head, not knowing her real name or just not caring. "Cassie, right?" His brother spoke for the first time for the night and it was directed at her. Their eyes met as she shook her head slowly.
"Right." They sat in silence for a few minutes until Cassie decided to break it. "What's the work around here like? Shane sit on his ass and tells everyone what to do?" Cassie guessed, however she knew she was right.
Daryl let a smirk grace over his expression as Merle hooted a laugh. "Damn straight, girly. We do the hunting, women doing women work.." Daryl finished his list, "take turns taking watch too." He bit the side of his thumb, a habit she noticed he had.
Cassie shook her head and began to stand, "Fair enough." She disregarded the women work jab and started to stretch.
"I'm heading in. Goodnight boys." She started to move towards her tent, slow enough to hear Merle and Daryl say good night after her.
