So this chapter is a little history on the two main characters, what this story is going to feel like from here on out. Let me know what you think, I really hope everyone likes it! Took me a while, and I love it. Happy reading and reviewing!
Chapter Two
Eli…
The sun was hot against her bare skin as it cut through the trees. It never failed to wake her up as soon as it rose, demanding her attention. Eli reached above her, stretching out all the way to her fingertips, and leaned over to look at the ground a good 17 feet beneath them. Sarah was still sleeping. The sun didn't interrupt her dreams like it did Eli's. She snored quietly in her separate blind, her small Red Sox cap pulled down over her dark brown eyes.
Eli pulled at the tank top she had on, fully aware that the thin material didn't leave much to the imagination. It made her feel naked. Her jeans so worn that holes began to peak through at the knees, the shirt she'd walked in for almost a week now had started out as a dark blue, but now it barely passed as the same color of the sky on a cloudy day. She had four changes of clothes in her large brown bag. She kept her clothes, blind equipment, and small ration of food in that bag. When the two of them started out on this journey of survival Eli felt as though the large camping bag would topple her over. Now she wore it like a second skin, never winced at the weight of it. It made her feel light and dizzy when she didn't have the pack on, like she'd suddenly lost a piece of her.
"Sarah?" Eli whispered gently. When her niece didn't budge she broke a thin branch off of the tree and poked her in the side with it. "Sarah!" Her voice was full now.
The girl shoved the stick away and groaned, annoyance in her voice. "Ugh… what Eli? It's so early."
"I gotta wash up, change these clothes. I need you to tell me you're awake, need you to sit up and keep your eyes open for the next twenty minutes. Can you manage that?"
Sarah slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes and nodding. "Sure. Me next."
Eli nodded in agreement, feeling comfortable at the thought of Sarah staying in her blind until Eli was finished up. She quietly made her way down the trunk of the tree, her calloused palms helping her along. By now Eli's hands were nearly unrecognizable, torn up and constantly dirty. She remembered when she was barely a teenager, the thought of dirt hiding under her fingernails would send her into a near panic attack. Her need for cleanliness was borderline obsessive. It was strange, how unimportant all of it seemed now.
Still, She thought, approaching the cool pond just south of their blinds, clean hands will be such a treat.
It wasn't too often they found water clean enough to bathe in. Even when they did Eli insisted on the examination of every inch of shoreline. She demanded to know if there was a bloated walker, water logged, waiting to poison them with the toxins that flowed out of them into the disguised pond or river. This led to them not being able to take too many baths. That and they were starting to run low on soap.
Eli ran the bar of soap along her legs, under her arms, over her belly. She scrubbed at her fingernails until the skin burned as red as ripe tomatoes. Once she was satisfied with the way she felt and smelled, she inched her way out of the pond, looking to the tree line. Eli never trusted silence. The absence of birds chirping or the sweet sound of cicadas made her skin crawl. Terror would swoop in and grab a hold of her, walking with her in tandem. She always washed up with her underwear and bra, cleaning them at the same time she cleaned herself. God forbid she get stuck in a pond, strangers lurking at her from the sandy shore, trapped. She'd wait to clean her dirty jeans and tank top until Sarah took her turn in the pond with the soap. She slipped into her cleanest clothes chosen from her giant pack. A pair of khaki shorts and a white t-shirt about two sizes too big. It hung off her shoulders, letting them poke through and get some color. Freckles littered her neck, shoulders, bridge of her nose. She always hated those freckles, and hated how much everyone else seemed to love them. Everyone always commented on them, telling her they gave her character. She didn't want character. Eli had always just wanted to be like everyone else. She'd never experienced that in her entire life.
The silence was heavy as someone standing on her shoulders as she made her way back to where they had just slept. The familiar anxiety and worry made its way into her veins as she started to move a little faster, looking behind her at every turn. Eli felt eyes on her, and although she couldn't prove a thing, she felt it, someone watching… it made her queasy.
"Jeez, take long enough, much?" Sarah's eyebrows were raised as she threw down pieces of tarp and poles. Eli caught them with ease, this being their routine, Sarah was the one small and light enough to take the blinds apart while maintaining her balance on the whichever tree branch swayed under her weight. She'd take Eli's apart, toss it down, and then her own. This process took about twenty minutes, but it was worth it. Peace of mind. The only way either of them would ever get any sleep.
"Alright auntie," Sarah wiped at her dirty face as she slung her pack on. "Let's go."
Eli smiled at the sentiment. Sarah hardly ever called her that anymore.
Daryl…
Daryl was sick and tired of this canned shit they'd been eating. He actually missed roasted squirrel, gristle and all. He was doing the same thing he'd been doing for a damn week. Just sitting there, leaned back up against the dark prison walls, wishing he were somewhere else. Not with other people… he'd actually grown to like the ones he was with… just somewhere else. At the local watering hole where he'd swing from the tree rope into the river below. The parking lot of the local pub at dusk, when all the girls that were too good for him were already making their way out, on to bigger and better things. They were beautiful to watch while they left. He'd end up with a girl he didn't want at the end of the night. He guessed that's the closest thing he could compare to being stuck in that hole of a Georgia jailhouse. At least he had Carol, Rick, Herschel… these people that made him feel whole again. It had been such a long time since he'd felt that way. Over a decade at least. Maybe the last time he'd held little Sarah in his arms… the last time he'd seen Emilie smile.
The last time he'd seen Eli wasn't a memory to make him feel whole. It was the moment he remembered in the darkest parts of the day, when all the lights were off and voices quiet, that last meeting replayed in his mind. The mistakes they'd both made, how much he wished he could take it all back. She had been his best friend. He'd loved her once, the only girl he ever loved, as a friend and otherwise. They'd fucked it up so badly, there was no going back.
And yet, when he wanted the thoughts in his mind to turn a brighter shade of blue, she'd still be there. Smiling her sideways smile at him. Leaned against his shoulder in the back of his brother's pickup truck, rolling down route 90. He thought of the time she tried lighting a joint in that truck with the wind whipping like a tornado around them both. He'd done his best blocking her body from the wind with his, tightly wrapping his hands around hers as she flicked the lighter over and over. When she'd finally gotten it they both laughed, held up their arms in victory. She blew the smoke in his face, giggling when he coughed so he'd put her in a faux headlock. It was enough to overshadow any bad memory… all the good ones he had to revisit.
He remembered when he had finally grown a set of balls and kissed the girl. She didn't expect it, which made him feel even stronger. Her knees went wobbly, her lips soft at the edges, her eyes fluttered closed. Eli barely closed her eyes when she slept, and yet here she was, head cradled in his hands. Her eyes shut to the world, and okay with it, not frightened. Because Daryl was the man on the other end of that kiss. Yes, the good memories were always enough to revisit. Make the darkness in his heart feel a little less final.
"Hey," Carol's voice startled him. He looked up at her under hooded eyelids as she slid down to the floor with him. Sitting next to him she began to bite at her lower lip, nervous. "Herschel's doin' better… and the prisoners are still on their side a' the walls."
"Gotta wonder how long that'll last." He stated absentmindedly, think back to the couple of days prior. Daryl would never get the sound of axe against bone out of his head. They thought the old man wouldn't make it, but he was pulling through. He was tough. Quiet and kind and tough. Daryl respected him more than he'd ever say aloud. Watching Herschel go through this was like slow torture. He hated pain, the sight of it, the sound… no matter what kind of pain it was, he knew it. Daryl could feel someone's heartache from a mile away, bottle it up, and keep it for his own. He'd mastered stealing pain from those around him and hiding it from them as long as humanly possible. He could handle the world being a fucking mess, he knew ugly when he saw it. Other people, they just weren't immune like him, so why not absorb their bullshit? Why not try and help? In his own stupid, simple way… maybe he'd helped some of those he knew. Maybe.
"Ya know, moments like this one, they always make me wonder what's goin' on in that head of yours." Carol looked over to him, the same sad smile he'd watched her wear from the first day he met her out on the highway. "Got me thinkin' you're not as indifferent as you'd like to be."
He snorted at her quietly, shaking his head. This woman was always trying to figure him out. "Or maybe I just like it quiet."
"I don't think that's it." The slight smile still gracing her face. "You care, you just don't care enough to say it out loud."
Wrong again… at least a little anyway. "Alright, whatever ya say Carol."
"Even if I'm wrong, I know there ain't no 'quiet' goin on in there Daryl." She tapped him lightly on the head. "It's louder than anyone could expect." She gave his arm a gentle squeeze. "I'll leave you to your noise then."
With that she stood, brushed off the seat of her jeans, and walked out to the courtyard where the others stood. Figuring out what to do next. He stood moments later, adjusting his crossbow on his shoulders, shielding his eyes from the sun streaming in the doorway. He'd step out, help Rick, help anyone that needed it. In silence. He wasn't lying when he'd said that. He really did like it quiet.
Eli…
Her cheek always felt warmest pressed up against his in the tall grass outside her parent's home. She imagined they'd be picking ticks off their legs when they wandered around to the front of the house seeing as how they were poppin' around like they were on a coon dog. The light shone brightest out there, florescent and harsh against the stars littering the sky. But for now they were here, surrounded by the cloudless pollen in the air, moon lighting up the sweat on their foreheads.
"What do you think it was like up there?" Eli asked him quietly, pointing her finger up to the mass that lit up the field. "When they walked on it I mean, what do you think it felt like?"
"Well… they floated right?" Daryl shrugged, his shoulders bouncing against hers. "Probly felt light… weightless or whatever." They were in their usual position, straight line, upside down and cheek to cheek. They barely had to move their eyes if they wanted to look into the others. They could tell a joke and wait for the laughter in the other person's eyes that way, they always knew if the other was sad, or angry, or anything really… as long as they were upside down, cheek to cheek, in a straight line. Her secrets were his, and his belonged to her, and all was right with the world.
"ELI!" Her father's voice echoed in her dreamy state, bellowing against the night sky. "Where you at, girl?!"
She involuntarily stiffened against the ground. Maybe if she wished enough she'd disappear into the ground, never to be seen again. If she were really lucky she'd drag Daryl along with her. Not like he had much reason to stay neither. He'd beg to fall into the depths with her. Anything, anywhere, was better than here.
"Shit, Eli, what'd ya do now?" He hissed, twisting his body and grabbing her hand, ready to take off in the direction of the woods that lined her property. Whenever her dad got real mad Daryl would bring her there. An opening in the patch of woods was their home away from hell. They set up the tent they had stashed underneath one of the fallen tree trunks and camp out. They had their flashlights wrapped up in plastic so water wouldn't damage them, and they'd spend those stolen nights making shapes out of shadows on the tent walls. He was going to take her there now. Daryl had simply heard her father and known she would need to get away for the night. Dad would probably stumble inside and forget she even existed eventually… until the next day when he sobered up.
Daryl always made sure she was tucked into her bed safely before her old man woke up. She'd press her hand against the window pane and wait until Daryl would match hers momentarily. When it disappeared she would be released from his safe grip and fall into her own pile of shit that was waiting. It was always waiting for her too. It never stopped
Eli awoke in her blind, the sun demanding her attention as it always did, and could still feel the cloudless pollen in her hair. The summer moon in her eyes. She swallowed down the lump in her throat and begin the day. "Sarah… Sarah! Wake up!" Just another day.
