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Chapter 3
The Next Day
He had always been an observer. His childhood had helped him develop an uncanny ability to act uninterested, yet absorb every detail of what was happening around him. Daryl watched the girl move through camp with a wary eye. She was the complete opposite from the other two women in the RV. While they were thin, blonde waifs of things, this girl was sturdy, not large, just healthy and her thick, dark hair brushed her shoulders in choppy layers. There was nothing striking about her, but her heart- shaped face was pleasant. The black linen shorts, button up top and strappy sandals she wore were completely impractical. She obviously hadn't prepared well when she packed up her stuff. This frustrated Daryl for some reason.
If Merle knew what he was thinking, he would slap Daryl and ask why he wasn't used to women using their brains yet. Merle didn't really think women were good for much more than cooking and screwing. This always bothered Daryl, but he kept his mouth shut. Arguing with Merle had always been a lost cause.
She was related to the guy who owned the RV. Dad maybe? He hadn't heard her call him by anything yet, but they were obviously close to one another. They seemed to know what the other was thinking in any given moment and he had seen them communicate through eye contact alone.
"Hey," Merle hollered at him. "Stop being a pussy and git over here, help me with this tent."
"Screw you," Daryl said, but walked over to help anyway.
Merle laughed. "Screw that bitch. That's right, I saw ya lookin'. Don't tell me it takes the world going to shit for you to actually grow a pair and man up."
"Shut up, Merle!" Daryl threw a punch, but Merle quickly ducked away laughing.
"Gonna have to try harder than that, bitch."
Daryl spit on the ground at Merle's feet, "We gonna put this up er not?"
\\
Leah watched the Dixon brothers cautiously as they set up their tent on the outskirts of the camp. She had spent her whole life almost successfully avoiding men like them and now, here they were, right in her own" backyard". She watched as they spit, scratched and threw, mostly playful, punches at each other. Thankfully, she could barely hear their conversation. If their crude jokes and vulgar language had hit her ears she wouldn't have been able to control an obvious eye roll. Pure white trash, that's what the Dixon brothers were. She didn't care if they hadn't said a single word to her, she already disliked them based on appearances alone.
If she was being honest, it wasn't the Dixon brothers that bothered her. However, she wasn't being honest with herself today. So instead of taking responsibility for her own prejudices, she looked down her nose at them. Judged them. Found them lacking. It was easier that way. She knew that it made her just like them, but she forced that guilt down deep so it couldn't resurface and went to check on her uncle.
Dale was standing outside the RV talking to Shane who had seemed to evolve into the camp leader overnight. He wanted answers. Dale always wanted details and from the look on Shane's face, he was starting to get a little annoyed with Dale's unending stream of questions. The uncle and niece were still trying to put the pieces together of what was happening. The past 24 hours had literally blindsided them.
Leah hadn't slept a wink the night before. Her mind had been too busy running over the stories and trying to separate fact from rumor. She and her uncle had talked well into the night as they processed the whole crazy turn of events, but after Dale had fallen asleep Leah lay wide awake sorting through the horror. The more she analyzed, the bleaker the situation started to look.
"We need to set up some kind of perimeter and post lookouts," Dale said. "I can see for miles on top of the RV. We can use that."
Shane nodded and mentioned something about a CB radio that was in his truck. "I'll set it on the emergency channel. Now we're getting somewhere, Dale. A plan is better than questions."
Dale studied Shane from under his bushy eyebrows, sizing up the man and wondering if he was capable of leading the camp well or if he was just a power hungry cop looking to bully a few people around. Sure, things seemed good now, but Dale had a feeling that there was something bubbling under the surface. Shane had no idea that Dale was reading him like a book, but Leah did. She knew the look Dale got in his eyes when he was studying someone, after all the same look had been directed her way numerous times in the past 31 years.
"These people are looking to you, Shane. I know that's a big responsibility," He said after a beat. "They're scared, but being an officer I'm sure you have training in this type of situation. I'll be here if you need anything."
Shane gave Dale and Leah a nod before walking away, "Appreciate it, Dale."
Leah had to hand it to the guy he did have a natural way of getting people to listen to him. Shane had rounded up all the men in less than ten minutes and they eagerly listened as he delegated tasks and prepared a watch schedule.
Except for Merle, "I been listening to you pigs my whole life. Don't hafta no more!"
"Suit yourself, Merle. We're all going to need to pull out weight around here. Just know that I have my eyes on you."
"Yeah, I'm scared," Merle turned away with a snort.
"Do you trust him?" Leah asked Dale quietly about Shane.
He smiled encouragingly at her, "He's an officer and seems nice. Besides, we can't really pick and choose right now can we? Look how he has everyone listening to him already. They might not like it, but Shane has authority."
Leah chewed on her bottom lip, "Do you think this is the right choice, Uncle Dale? Staying here?"
"I don't see any other options."
Leah did. "I was thinking last night. What if we tried to head home? Maybe things aren't so bad there."
Dale gave his niece a sympathetic look, "It's too dangerous. I thought about that too. Even if we did try to go back, there's nothing left to go back to. I have you with me, that's all I need."
A fire sparked inside Leah and she couldn't keep it down. "I have everything back there! My bakery! My life! Everything I worked so hard to build! I can't just pretend like it doesn't exist anymore! I want to go back."
Those weren't the only reasons Leah wanted to go back. The largest reason remained unspoken, but Dale didn't need Leah to verbalize it to understand.
Dale shook his head, "That's suicide, Leah Jane."
"It's suicide if I stay."
"Let's think about this for one second," Dale touched her shoulder. "If we leave. Just the two of us traveling over 200 miles, we're opening ourselves up to attack. Here we have safety, food, supplies, guns, men. I know how you're feeling, but right now we need to focus on survival."
Leah chewed on her bottom lip, deep in thought. "So, I should just trust these people?" she finally asked. "Trust them why? Look at this bunch," her voice was hissing in a low whisper now. "Half of them are crazy!"
Dale nodded, "Let's give it time. We're not even really sure what's going on out there! I don't know about you, but I would rather have all my facts straight before we make a move."
"How much time?"
Dale didn't have an answer for that.
"I can't just leave them there," she said, her voice barely above a whisper as she brought up what had been gnawing at her the most.
"I know, sweetheart," Dale said, trying to soothe her. "But they wouldn't want us to go back. They wouldn't want us to risk our lives. They would want us to continue living and to fight, whatever this is."
Tears pricked behind Leah's eyes. She ducked her head and hurried into the camper before anyone other than Dale caught sight of them.
\\
Andrea found her in the back of the Winnebago later. The lack of sleep and tears had finally lulled her into a dreamless state and when Andrea walked in Leah was just rousing and wiping the dried tears from her eyes.
"You look like hell," Andrea noted.
"Gee, thanks."
"What's wrong?"
Leah rubbed her eyes again, smearing day old mascara across her the left side of her face. "What's not wrong," she answered with a laugh.
"Good point," Andrea handed her a tissue. "You've got mascara all over."
"Thanks," she took the tissue and began to rub the old makeup off her skin.
"So, a few of the ladies are going down to the water to try and take a bath. Want to come? You look like you could use one."
Leah threw her balled up tissue at Andrea, "Thanks for all the compliments. Be careful they might go to my head."
Andrea laughed and helped to pull Leah off the bed. "Grab some clean clothes. I'll wait outside."
When Leah stepped out of the RV a group of about 10 women was standing and waiting to walk down together. "It's going to be like showering in the high school locker room all over again," Leah said to Andrea and Amy as they began to move down the path to the water.
Amy laughed, "Except, I'm keeping my panties on."
"Wise," Leah shot a pointed look towards the Dixon tent as they passed by.
Leah thought she saw Amy shudder, "He makes me so uncomfortable."
As if on cue, Merle's head popped out of the tent. "Wooooweee. Where you ladies headin'?"
"None of your business, Merle." Andrea shot at him.
"You gonna get all naked and soaped up together? Why don't you let ole Merle come 'n watch?"
Daryl, who was oiling his crossbow looked up, "Shut up, Merle."
Merle snorted and kicked some dirt in his direction. "Cock blocker."
Daryl's eyes met Leah's and she wasn't shy about giving him a big show as she rolled her own eyes which earned her an immediate scowl from the younger Dixon brother.
T-Dog and Morales were following the group of women, weapons shouldered and loaded. "If I even catch a whiff of you down by the water. I wont hesitate to shoot you, Merle." T-Dog warned.
Leah heard Merle roar about taking orders from a nigger as she disappeared down the trail. She kind of hoped he would show his ugly face, forcing T-Dog to make good on his promise. Leah immediately regretted her thoughts. She didn't want to wish that on T-Dog. He seemed like an incredibly sweet guy. Merle Dixon just really rubbed her the wrong way.
"Is he high?" Amy asked.
"Wouldn't surprise me," Andrea answered her sister.
Leah was glad T-Dog and Morales were standing guard with their backs turned while the women stepped into the frigid water. Honestly, she was more concerned about Merle Dixon showing up than she was Walkers.
