There have been a few times throughout my relatively short life where I have some pretty stupid things, like that time I asked my neighbour when I was 16 if he was still a virgin. My 50-something, married neighbour. In the middle of the night, whilst wearing nothing but my underwear with a bunch of my giggling school friends behind me who were sleeping over at the time. Or even that one occasion when I was 18 when I decided that I wasn't going to practice my martial arts techniques whilst my teacher was outside of the class, giving a lecture to some other student. I'd rather start practicing my clearly awesome dance moves which then turned the entire session into an episode of: "so you think you can dance?" Or when I was at university in kent and decided to run around my hall, drunk and naked, with a number of my dorm mates (Fatma included). Not all of the stupid shit that I have done has been necessarily...'fun' or deemed funny like a lot of the previous mentioned stupidness. Like now for instance.
It took a few moments for it to completely register everything being said. But the main three words at this moment were 'problem', 'smashed' and 'door'.. "Daryl... Can you repeat that again? " I look up at him from where I was looking at Carol who still looks to be in a state of bewilderment.
"Well, went back to where we came in and it ain't the same. Like the forest we came through - gone! It ain't there. Just a tiny yard." Daryl finished his voice lined with a mixture of shock and a hint of excitement.
"Not that part." I practically spat at him. "The part about the door... My. Back. Door." I manage to get out through gritted teeth. At this both Daryl and Glenn seem to understand my meaning and paused, both looking rather guilty and awkward. "Did. You. Break. My. Fucking. Door?"
"Not exactly, it still opens and closes" Glenn spluttered out. I got up from the chair and moved away from the table, shoving past both Daryl and Glenn into the Dining room which lead to the rear garden. Rick and Abraham were already there, pacing outside in the small garden.
"This isn't right. It can't be." Abraham says, rubbing his hand over the back of his head whilst looking around the small garden. I didn't take much notice of this as I paused at the sight of the door. The glass was completely smashed in and it looked like it had also been rammed into a few times in order to force it open. Smashed, dented and now completely useless… as a door anyway.
"What the actual fuck?!" My fists clenched either side of my body. I can't look at it any longer and turned to face the large wooden table in the centre of the room, resting my arms on it. Fuck. This place is rented… the landlord will kill me. I can't afford a new door. Neither can Fatma. Thinking of Fatma how the hell is she going to react to all of this? What am I going to bloody tell her? I let out a garbled scream and turn towards Rick, Abraham, Glenn, Daryl and Carol. At some point the three of them had entered the room behind me and stepped outside to take a look at the garden which had apparently 'transformed'. "You people are... " my voice was strained and pretty quiet, even though words seemed to fail me at that precise moment but I still manage to get their attention. "Such MORONS! Bloody idiots! Why did you break my fucking door? I can't afford to fix it. Can any of you?" Rick's eyes narrowed on me as Abraham strolled over towards me, a menacing look in his eyes. God did these guys love me. If only looks could kill.
"No one uses money anymore. No one has for a long time now so just shut it. We'll secure this place later." Abraham's tone was just as dark as Rick's glare, looking down at me straight in the eyes. For pity sake, these men truly believe they're living in an apocalypse. Then again they probably used to be until roughly 30 minutes ago.
"If you've got any wood and tools I'll fix it the best I can" Glenn said looking genuinely sorry. I give Glenn a sharp nod before looking back at Rick and Abraham.
"See. All better- now you won't have to worry so much about the walkers." Rick spoke as he strode past me towards the door. I took a few deep breaths before continuing the aggravating conversation any further. An idea sparking to mind.
"Right, if you would all go back into the other room I'd like to show you all something else." I spin on my heel and march off back towards the kitchen and grab a few things which will prove to them that they are not in the middle of an apocalypse. I can't help but let out an exasperated sigh. Although something in my gut is telling me that they're all telling the truth about previously being in a apocolypse, especially after the very small chat with Carol but every sense of logic is screaming at me otherwise. I need to smoke, it would take the edge off. I go back to the hallway after setting down the few things I had in my hand onto the counter and grab my bag and pull out my things. Slipping on my slippers which I had left downstairs from this morning I walk back into the dining room I see Daryl with a plastic bag he must of grabbed from the kitchen, picking up all the pieces of glass. "what are you doing?" Although it was obviously clear what he was doing I couldn't help but ask.
"Figured since I did it I should clear it all up." Daryl said glancing over at me over his shoulder before getting back to picking up the bits of glass.
"How did you do it? It's a double glazed door so it must have been pretty hard to smash." I could see a small smile on his lips but as quickly as it was there, it was gone. As he spoke I started to roll myself a cigarette.
"Used a metal rod, then my elbow. Weren't that hard." There was something about the way he was talking that made me want to punch him. Not too hard, but hard enough to get him back for making it sound so easy to break the door.
"Yea well, don't boast about it okay." I walked over to him and handed him the cigarette, the one for myself was in my other hand. Putting the tobacco, rizzlers and filters in my dressing gown pocket.
"I ain't, just sayin." He looked down at the cigarette that I held out to him. "Thanks… it ain't drugs is it? Why's it brown?" he said looking down at the cigarette in my hand.
"It's a fag, tobacco. You should know, don't you smoke? And it's brown because I'm using liquorice rizzlers."
"How'd you know I smoke?" He stood up from his bent over position the cigarette in one hand and the bag of glass in the other.
"Just a guess." I shrugged, silently cursing myself for saying anything. I can't tell him 'Oh, cause I saw you smoke a few times on the show'.
"Pfft. Woman, ya ain't half strange."
"How so?" I ask, stepping past him out of the door and started to light the cigarette in my mouth. He followed and stood beside me, the bag of glass now next to the door.
"Well you come down dressed like that" he gestured up and down my body. I raised an eyebrow at him before stepping towards him to light his cigarette. Looking into his eyes whilst I flicked the lighter, sparking a little flame to life. Keeping my eyes on his the whole time as he leaned in to light the cigarette in his mouth, his eyes also never leaving mine. I stepped back slightly, inhaling a large amount of smoke before blowing it back out of my lungs. I knew I was flirting with Daryl but I couldn't help it. The guy was hot… but he didn't half need a damn shower. "And then you start goin' on about callin' the damned police-"
"Which any normal person would do-"
"But you didn't, they ain't here."
"True. Carry on, what else makes me strange." There was a pause before he finally spoke. Puffing out a smoke ring which actually looked pretty impressive.
"Then you start fighting and you're like some kind of karate expert-"
"It's taekwondo." I replied nonchalantly, flicking my fag lightly to get rid of the growing amount of ash at the end of it.
"Whatever, where did you learn that anyway? Weren't no armature shit- I've only seen crap like that in movies." Part of me wanted to giggle at that part. Was he trying to compliment me?
"I went to lessons throughout high school and college but stopped during university. I still practiced because it was a good exercise to keep to."
"So what do ya do then? Teacher or somethin'?" He said shifting slightly so he was facing my direction more instead of just looking straight ahead. His gaze looked like he was analysing me.
"Special forces." I turn away from him and glance at him from the corner of my eye. The corners of my lips tugged up in a slight smile, it was fun to tease. He didn't look convinced though, just raised one eyebrow as if to signify 'yea right'. "Only joking. I'm a nurse."
He let out a small, barely audible chuckle and said "what? You beat people up and then fix em?"
"Yep, that's right. So watch it Pookie." I froze immediately. What have I just done? Another mistake. Only Carol calls him that, it's her nickname for him. Daryl didn't seem to notice my hesitation as he was looking back into the house, his expression unreadable.
"The hell is it with women and callin' me that name. It on my forehead or somethin' or did Carol tell ya to call me that?" He mumbled roughly. "Bloody pookie… can't think of anything else? Maybe somethin' a little more manly?" His gaze was still fixed on the house.
I let out a small but fake chuckle, that was close… so more people called him that apart from Carol? "You just look like a 'Pookie'" I teased. I need to watch what I say, I can't appear to know too much or that will just get me into more shit with these people. Daryl didn't look too impressed by my remark and threw the rest of his fag, which wasn't much at all, on the ground. "Well I need to prove to the rest of your… urm.. group.. gang?" I paused slightly but carried on anyway, not entirely sure how I should address them all as I was about to make yet another slip up and say something stupid like 'family'.- I know they aren't actually related but they consider themselves a family unit right? I'm not sure what response that would get but I'm not willing to risk it. Some of them might be acting slightly nice towards me but these people are dangerous. Massively so. Flashes of Rick biting off part of that man's throat in season 4 came to mind. "Well.. that they are here… in England. Why do you believe me so easily anyway?" Daryl looked up at this and took a moment to respond.
"Guess after everythin'... in some ways I'm prayin for it to be true… but then again… I'm not." My mind went straight to thoughts of Beth and I couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of guilt. Beth was dead in the series, she died in the mid-season finale. But to these people, she was still very much alive and still trapped in their world. A world filled with nothing but fear and death.
"Well, come on then, we need to get back to the others" I threw my finished fag on the floor and stepped back into the house
After a further tiring 10 minutes of shouting, threats and fruit. Yes, fruit… I managed to convince the group residing in my lounge that they were in England and that there was no apocalypse by showing them bananas and other tropical fruits which were impossible to obtain unless living in the right environment. Or more importantly, couldn't have without trade and supermarkets. Although a lot of them looked initially happy to be finally free from their cursed lives back in their world, they looked almost empty. Sad, guilt ridden. Probably because of the amount of people, loved ones they had lost on the way… and because Beth wasn't with them, to them- she was lost forever.
Rick's hands were covering his face, he was sitting on the arm of the 3 seater beige leather sofa next to Carl who was holding Judith. Her cries had stopped now and she was content for the moment with being bobbed up and down on Carl's leg. Although they were both extremely dirty they looked, to some extent, healthy. But definitely underweight. They all did. "So are you going to answer some of our questions now?.. Just so we can clear some of this up." Rick asked as he looked up from his hands.
"Yes.. go on." I spoke letting out a little sigh.
"What year is it?"
"2014" At that his eyebrows furrowed together. Obviously the time line in the show wasn't entirely on par with the real world so I wasn't sure what year it was in the show. Everyone in the room apart from myself and Judith looked confused at this. "New world, different year right?"
"It appears so." Eugene mumbled.
"Now… how about you guys… wash or something. I have two bathrooms.. so you'd have to take turns but I'm going to give priority to the children here."
"That sounds like a wonderful idea" Carol said. I could tell that I had been partly forgiven for my slip up in the kitchen and that carol was trying to help me in getting the group to calm the hell down. "What do you think Rick?" There was a pause where Rick said nothing, no one did. He was still trying to analyse me. Although I don't think I really blame them after what happened at terminus.
"Yeah, okay" Rick finally muttered.
