Chapter 4
Kay returned a while later, Rosita at her side talking about something or another. She wasn't really the type that spoke a hell of a lot, but the blonde didn't mind the company either way. They'd secured the tunnel on one end, tying up the same wire they'd used a night ago. Kay had secured a trip wire not too much further in, and explained that the cans would get a walker but not a human. They were cornered at the other end, so a little extra protection wouldn't go amiss.
The way back was a little tense, and Kay wasn't sure about what was going to happen when they returned to the others. Their voices were carrying down the tunnel, and that was reassuring some. But Tara was something else, and the blonde didn't know what to do or how to react. The smaller woman had looked totally confused when she'd been pulled away to help Rosita, and that didn't really bode well.
"Just relax" The woman in the cap stated, giving her bicep a light squeeze. Kay was thankful, but a little embarrassed at the same time. She'd never been in any sort of situation like this, and never expected to be either. The kiss had come as a rather nice surprise, and the second even nicer. But the look that had crossed the dark haired woman's features weren't.
At the other end of the tunnel, Tara had done as she was told and sat down. Her knee was still screaming, and throbbing. She couldn't really put much weight on it, and it was really worrying her. Though, they were heading for Terminus, so that would give her a chance to rest before continuing on with Abraham and the two others. That had been decided while Kay and Rosita were taking care of securing the place for the night.
The blonde was an unknown piece in the puzzle right then. Tara knew she should feel terrible for kissing her, should feel confused and ashamed that she'd done so. But she didn't, she liked the taller girl, and she had done so from the moment she kicked the walkers head in as if were a simple football. She liked how genuine she was, there was no front, and there wasn't a macho mask that many people adopted in this world. The blonde was strong without needing to act it, and had beyond proven her loyalty in such a short space of time.
She did feel bad for just jumping on the girl, but after what she'd done and risked without any hesitation just to save her, the smaller woman had wanted to more than she'd wanted to do anything in a long time. Kay hadn't complained, and she hadn't seemed mad either. Tara was having a hard time believing it had been her first kiss though, but that was just because it was good. It wasn't like her own first kiss, clumsy and a shambles. But then again, she had kissed people, and Kay had just followed her lead.
A small smile pulled at her lips as she watched Glenn and Maggie whispering quite gleefully between themselves. A small fire had been lit on the tracks, and threw out an orange glow; illuminating their surroundings just enough. She was happy, and felt less guilty now that they had been re-united. They'd be arriving at Terminus sometime during the next day, and Kay had quite literally leapt into her life and wedged herself there.
Finally, something felt right. For the first time since the start of this world, she felt like she actually belonged somewhere. At the camp with Alisha and Brian, she felt like she had to put on a front. Act tough, act like she knew what she was doing. She was sure they both thought she was just a scared kid, who had no idea. A scared kid trying to protect her sister, niece and father from the biters.
These people didn't see that, they saw her as someone who was trying her best for someone she'd just met. Someone who had made a mistake and was trying desperately to make up for it. That made her feel better, and Kay just added to it. The taller woman had filled her with a renewed hope. She was so kind, and genuine and just cared too much. But it was refreshing and she wanted it to stay that way. She should hate herself for being unable to mourn the loss of her girlfriend, but she didn't.
The blonde approached her, a small almost nervous smile pulled at her lips. "If you don't want to share tonight that's okay" was the first thing she said as she dropped down to sit next to her. Pulling her pack off her back to set it between her legs.
"I want to share" Is all Tara said, watching as Kay pulled a few cans from the bag, then the sleeping bag and tarp and zipped the bag up. She was nodding as if she had no idea what else to say, her cheeks had gone bright red. Though the dark haired girl wasn't sure if that was just the fire light.
"We'll get your knee elevated tonight. Maggie and Glenn have offered to take watch, then Bob and Sasha. They're very nice, have you met?" She asked, an eyebrow raised.
"Just for a second, they went to help Abraham with something" Tara admitted, leaning back to prop herself up on an elbow; stretching her legs out in hopes of relieving some of the ache. It didn't do much to help, but it got a bit better.
Her impossibly dark eyes bore into the back of the blonde's head. Watching in the dim light as the taller woman fiddled with the zips on her pack. Flicking them and twisting them as if she was nervous, she looked over to see Rosita mouthing something at her and wasn't sure what that was about. Kay seemed to know, because she twisted around and cleared her throat.
Before she could say something, Tara took the chance away from her. "You don't regret it do you?" She asked, assertively. Her tone didn't waver as she fixed the blonde with a stare.
Kay seemed startled, her eyes went wide and she stared back for a moment. "Uh" she floundered, swallowing hard. "No, it's just, you seemed really... Confused and I didn't want to um, assume or anything and Rosita said to relax"
"She's right" Tara stated simply, sitting up again. "You really have never kissed anyone before?" She asked, watching the taller girl shift uncomfortably.
"Never was interested in relationships, and then this happened and I never had a chance to" she paused a moment "to do anything like that" She stated a little sheepishly. Her nose wrinkled and she rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. It was funny, almost. This girl had jumped right into a crowd of zombies to save her life, and now she was afraid of a kiss.
Tara just stared at her, completely dumbfounded. Her features were pulled up and twisted in confusion as she waited for an explanation. "Not that I expect anything from you, or want anything from you. Not that I would mind but I'm not expecting anything" she rambled, and Tara wasn't really sure if she should have been amused or not; but she was.
The dark haired girl did what she'd only done twice before, grabbed the blonde and kissed her. Once again Kay was a little startled, but was quicker on the uptake this time. It didn't last long, but it had successfully shut the taller girl up.
"You really need to talk less" Was all Tara said, a small smirk tugging at her lips as she inwardly decided she liked kissing the blonde.
"Duly noted" Was all Kay said, her cheeks flushed bright red as she chewed on her bottom lip. She sat there for a moment before pushing herself up off the ground and moving to get their dinner heated up. Soup was good, but warm soup was even better. The nights got rather chilly out there and the heated dinner helped keep you warm while you slept. Tara just watched her, an eyebrow raised curiously. It was a moment before she caught Glenn's smirk and approving nod. He was sat on the other side of the fire, away from them while Maggie was helping hold cans over the flames. Kay was favouring one shoulder again, and it reminded the smaller woman to ask about her arm. Wounds were common in this life, and a simple flesh wound was normally just ignored. You got used to pain, and things like that but sometimes it got a little too uncomfortable. Besides, if something got infected you were in danger. Infections brought a lot of bad things with them, and they didn't need Kay to get sick while on the way to Terminus. Tara wasn't a nurse or anything, but she picked up a few things along the way. She felt like she owed the blonde enough to try and help her out.
It wasn't long until Kay had come wandering the short distance back, she was still blushing and looked rather flustered but all that did was amuse the dark haired woman. "Do you want tomato, or do you want chicken noodle?" She asked as she took her seat up once again.
"Chicken noodle" Tara stated, and took the begrudgingly offered can, shaking her head at the muttered 'Typical'.
"I want to look at your arm after we've finished. You're nursing it so it's got to be uncomfortable" She all but ordered, and wouldn't take no for an answer.
"It's fine, don't worry about it" Kay stated, a shrug of her shoulders indicating she wasn't worried herself.
"I don't care, I want to see it." She spoke, though her voice was softer this time: watching as the blonde wrapped her lips around the side of the jagged can.
"Fine" Was all the blonde muttered after a moment, clearly not too happy about it. Tara wasn't sure if it was because she was called out, or if she wasn't comfortable with the fuss. Though a sneaking suspicion told her it was a bit of both.
The sat in silence for a while, as they finished off their soup. The only good thing about food being scarce is that when you did get some, it didn't take a lot to fill you up. The others were talking quietly around the fire. Little groups of two or three. Sasha and Bob were sat closely together. Eugene, Rosita and Abraham were sat in the van they'd found from somewhere between leaving them, and coming back to them. Glenn and Maggie were curled up together whispering, and that left her and Kay. The blonde was still brooding to herself, and she was watching and wondering about Terminus.
Dinner was over shortly, and Tara had all but yanked the taller girl's jacket off. Her sleeve underneath had been cut up to make a bandage so she could see bare skin in the dim light. Kay had tried to protest again, but the dark haired woman was having none of it. The little bandage was a bit tricky to get off, but once she'd pulled it down she was faced with the wound she'd closed up with tree sap.
It looked angry, and red and incredibly painful. She wondered if it was already starting to go bad. There was dried blood caked and cracking all down the blonde's bicep and forearm, and the bandage was rather disgusting. She wrinkled her nose for a second, and Kay just sat there as if she was already aware of how nasty it was. "I told you not to worry" She stated, trying to shrug her arm out of Tara's firm grip.
The shorter woman just tightened her hold and gritted her teeth. She'd gone to retort with something rather rude but was cut off by Rosita crouching down next to her. The woman in the hat wore a small frown but held out a bottle of something clear. "What's that?" Kay quizzed, shying away from the liquid as if it would burn her.
"Sit fucking still will you?" Tara snapped finally, jerking the girl back towards her a little too harshly. The blonde yelped, but otherwise did as she was told. Her muscles visibly tensing as she kept herself bolt upright.
"Alcohol, it's only a bit of moonshine we found at some old shack we came across. It'll help clean it out." She explained, and by that point Maggie had joined them with a flashlight.
"That's one nasty looking gash you got there" She stated, but her voice was warm and she wore a smile. That in itself gave Kay a little more confidence in what the other two were doing.
"Take off your shirt" Tara ordered, and Kay smirked at her an eyebrow raised as she shrugged the material off.
"You could have said please" The blonde laughed, but was soon hissing in pain as the dark haired woman dabbed the alcohol onto her skin a little too forcefully.
Maggie had grabbed the rest of what had been her shirt and was ripping it up into strips, a lot larger than before. "This really should be stitched up" She was saying, and before Kay could argue she was gone and back again carrying a small box the blonde thought looked suspiciously like a sewing kit.
"Do you know how to stitch?" Tara asked, a little dubiously; her eyebrow raised as she watched Maggie pull a needle and spool of thread from the box.
"My father was a vet, He showed us how to do this when all hell broke loose" Maggie explained, and the blonde relaxed a little.
"You keep ripping that up, it'll still need to be wrapped when we're finished" she spoke again, addressing Rosita who was still kneeling beside them.
The woman in the cap just nodded, and grabbed the fabric of the old shirt. Tara was dipping the thread into the moonshine while Maggie was holding a lighter to the needles surface. This was as sanitary as they were going to get and it would have to do. The dark haired woman kept flicking her eyes up to watch the Blonde's profile. Her jaw sharp was clenching and unclenching, and she was chewing her lip absently.
"You'll be fine" She stated simply, and watched as the blonde looked over at her for a brief moment, a warm smile tugging at her lips.
"It's better than it getting infected" Maggie piped up once she'd threaded the needle and moved closer. Kay didn't seem phased by the pain, if there was any. She remained as she was, sat chewing her bottom lip a little uncomfortably.
Tara had moved to get a closer look, interested in how it was done. It looked like sewing, actually, it looked a lot like sewing. Maggie was concentrating and the only noises came from the quiet rip of fabric, the crackling fire nearby and murmured voices from the others in the tunnel.
It was over as soon as it started, and the wound had been shut entirely. The bits of thread were sewn neatly into the skin and Kay seemed to be more relieved than she should have been. A final dousing of moonshine, and a couple of make shift bandages later they were done.
Maggie had gone back to Glenn, and Rosita to Abraham and Eugene. Once again Tara was left with the blonde she'd grown attached to. "Thanks for that" Kay muttered, leaning to press a hesitant kiss to the dark haired woman's cheek. She was blushing quite hard again, and looked like she wanted to say something else but didn't know what.
"It's getting late, we should try and get some sleep." Tara muttered, a small smile tugging at her lips as the blonde nodded.
"We'll set up here shall we? Nearish the fire?" Kay asked as she stood up, grabbing the tarp to lay out first.
"Whatever you want" The shorter girl replied, standing to try and help. Her knee was getting better, but it was still throbbing painfully everytime she put weight onto it. Kay not surprisingly wouldn't let her help and forced her to sit back down. Their makeshift bed was soon made up, and looked more than a little inviting. She briefly wondered if they'd have actual beds at Terminus, and that lead to whether or not she'd be happy sleeping without the blonde she'd grown close to. Kay let her settle first, using her pack to prop the dark haired woman's bad knee up. Settling it gently as she lay Tara's knee down over the bag. It wasn't much but it'd do for a little while.
Kay didn't seem like the type to really try and be gentle, in anything she did. She didn't kiss gently, she didn't touch gently, she didn't speak gently or anything. There was no gentle when it came to the blonde, but when she had wrapped her fingers around Tara's leg to lift it up and onto the pack she'd done it gently. So gently and slowly it had surprised the dark haired woman. Proving yet again just how much this near stranger cared.
The rest of the groups had already settled down by the time Kay climbed in next to Tara. The blonde was a little hesitant, almost as if she didn't really know if she was allowed to do it. The taller woman pulled the unzipped sleeping bag up and around them, and settled herself down.
"You don't have to be so shy. We kissed, a couple of times. That doesn't mean anything has changed." The dark haired woman stated as she stared at the ceiling. But she didn't believe it herself, the dynamics between them had changed.
"Whatever you say hotstuff" Kay smirked, nudging Tara's shoulder playfully.
"You'll stay with me after Terminus right?" The smaller woman asked, she didn't want to seem too anxious, or even like she cared more than a little. But she did, and she didn't want to part ways with this girl whatever the reason.
"You're stuck with me" Kay muttered as she turned slightly to grin at the dark haired woman. Tara just stared at her for a moment, a small smile pulling at her lips as her impossibly dark eyes focussed on the blonde.
"Good" Was the last thing that was spoke between them that night. They both fell into a sleep fit for a king, if a king was in a tunnel during the apocalypse that was anyway. The next day looming over them with uncertainty, nobody knew what Terminus held for them. But they all hoped it'd be somewhere to rest for a while.
The next morning wasn't as bright as the others had been, the tunnel blocked out most of the light. Tara awoke with Kay's head on her chest, and the taller girl pretty much wrapped around her. Their legs were locked together, and she was pretty much trapped under half of Kay's weight. The pack they'd have used as a pillow was situated under her knee, but it seemed the blonde was just as happy using her breasts as she continued to snore away lightly.
Glenn and Maggie were talking on the other side of the died down fire, and Abraham was with them. It sounded as if they were discussing whether or not they had enough supplies for some kind of breakfast. It also didn't really sound good, but the entire can of soup she'd had the night before was still tiding her over.
She finally shook Kay, a little more gently than she would normally. It took a moment for the blonde to stir, and she rolled over almost instantly, trying to get away from whatever was trying to wake her. "Hey, you need to get your ass up" She spoke in the taller girl's ear. She finally lifted her head and turned to glare at the dark haired girl, her short blonde hair was stuck up in funny directions from sleeping.
"Fine" she finally muttered, and begrudgingly rolled out of their bed. She paused for a moment, mid roll and twisted to look back again. "How's your knee?" She asked, and Tara felt warmth spread out from her stomach as the blonde stared back at her with that same genuine stare.
"It feels better" she admitted, stretching her knee out with a lot less pain than she'd felt the night before.
"That's good" Kay nodded, and carried on through her roll and jumped up to round their makeshift bed. Tara lifted her leg up a little stiffly and moved it off the pack that Kay had leaned down to rummage in. She pulled a bottle of water from it's depths and handed it over, a small smile tugging at her lips.
"You have really nice boobs" She stated, as if she was simply talking about the weather.
Tara very nearly choked as she took a sip, her eyes went wide as she looked up at the girl; confusion tugging it's way across her features as her eyebrows knitted together.
"Better than the pack anyway. The cans in that make it rather hard" She explained, almost as if she had no idea she'd said something that could be taken wrongly. But the sly grin told Tara she was joking.
"You're weird." The dark haired girl stated, shaking her head as she let a small smile tug at her lips.
"Hurry up and get that packed away!" Glenn called over, Maggie stood next to him their fingers laced together. "We're heading out as soon as you're ready"
"If I fold this will you fold the tarp?" Kay asked, completely unphased by their conversation. Tara just nodded, and shifted off their bedding to pull it up and fold it a little shoddily. Stuffing it into the bag before the blonde stuffed the sleeping bag in after.
They both stood, and before Tara could go anywhere, a strong arm was wrapping around her waist once again. She'd have argued if it was anywhere else, but thought she'd get a little more out of the injury. The blonde taking the weight off her knee once again.
Kay just offered a wide smile, leaning to make the height difference a little less awkward. "If it's doing better you don't need to make it worse by walking on it" She stated, as if she needed to explain herself.
"Whatever you say." Tara stated with a smirk, settling into the slightly awkward embrace as the entire group made for the exit of the tunnel to take down their draps and pack them away before embarking on the last leg of their journey to Terminus.
