"Hey!" I hear someone shouting. I don't look up from cleaning my cross bow, figuring if they were talking to me they would let me know. I fight back the urge to groan as footsteps get closer and I hear Glenn say my name. He squats down to where I'm sitting with my un-assembled weapon.
"That girl you found is awake and Hershel wants to have a meeting, I guess Rick has already spoke to her," he tells me before standing and walking back. That was one nice thing about the kid, he never just wanted to chat. I take my time to finish cleaning and reassemble my cross bow before rising to my feet and slinging my shoulder through the strap.
I was mildly curious about the girl, I still had her pistol and her pill bottle. I had gone up to see her once but she was still asleep, her dog seen me though and came over to say 'hi.' Which consisted of him dancing around my feet and licking my hand. I had wanted a chance to ask her about the pills before I had to go to one of these stupid meetings. She had said she took them so if she had been overwhelmed she wouldn't feel anything but I wasn't sure if we could really afford to trust a druggie. Any other internal problem I would have he always went to Carol to talk with. She never judged me, sometimes it was kind of nice but most of the time it just seemed to get on my nerves. I'm the last "member", as they liked to call us, in the room Hershel liked to have these little meetings in. Everyone turns to stare at me when I let the door slam shut behind me.
"Join us Daryl," the old man says motioning to a seat at the table but I just lean my back against the wall next to door. "We are here to discuss whether or not we let the young lady Daryl found stay here with us."
"Does she even want to stay?" Sasha asks.
"She begged me to let them stay," Rick answers, its odd to actually see him at one of these things.
"Them?" Sasha asks. "I thought it was just some girl."
"She's got a dog," I explain. "Pretty loyal dog from what I've seen."
"She promised me that her dog is well trained," Rick adds.
"What is her name?" Carol asks, of course she would think of the most logical question.
"Lorelei Lee, she said," Rick replies, then adds, "she also said she could be a great asset, that she is very skilled with a bow"
"If she's a skilled shot then why was she as skinny as she was?" Glenn finally speaks.
"She didn't say, just that she and her dog have been alone for two months or more," Rick answers.
"Two months is a long to to make it on your own like that," Sasha says, slightly impressed.
"How'd she answer your other questions?" I ask looking right at Rick.
"Well enough I think we should give her a chance," Rick say looking right at me. "There was something that she seemed to want to hide, I didn't pry it seemed like a very tender subject."
"What about her ankle?" I ask shifting my eyes to Hershel.
"Dr. S said she needs to stay off it for at least three days to a week," he tells me. "It was only a sprain."
"Then we need to at least give her that time," Carol says like someone should have brought that up from the beginning.
"I agree," Hershel says.
"I agree," Glenn.
"I agree," Sasha.
"Well I guess that's all of us," I say, throwing the door open and slipping outside. I let a small smile slip as I walk away. I keep my head down as I walk, not paying attention at all to where I'm going, when a slightly familiar smell hits me and I stop in my tracks. I take a look around, I found myself back into the cells where the people from Woodbury live. I get to the cell where I figured I would find the girl, Lorelei Lee. Her dog meets me at the cell door happily sniffing my jeans and licking my hand while I see the girl is awake, laying on her stomach facing away from the cell door.
"What're ya doin?" I ask roughly stepping into the cell. The girl jumps and nearly falls off the small bed but saves herself and manages to sit up.
"Jesus Christ Max!" She almost shouts. "You are the worst look out in history!"
I see her stuff something underneath the tiny pillow that's on all the bunks. I scoot the stool closer to me with my boot and sit down, the dog lays down by my feet. She watches me warily with her slightly blood shot eyes. I pull her pill bottle out of my pocket and toss it next to her on the bed. She doesn't acknowledge the bottle but instead meets my gaze with narrowed eyes.
She finally breaks the staring competition and sighs, picking the bottle up and stuffing it into her backpack. "I've collected these from houses I've looted to barter for things I can use," she tells me. "Gotta say though, they kind of saved my life, not as much as you did though." She kind of mumbles the last part and doesn't look up from her backpack.
"Yeah well, couldn't have just left ya there like that," I mutter in response.
She laughs, "you could have very easily." She meets my gaze again , this time with a slight smile on her lips. "But you didn't and for that I will forever be in your debt. My name is Lorelei, by the way."
"Daryl," I say not sure if she remembered me telling her before.
"Daryl," she mumbles lowly, almost like she forgot I'm even in the room. She's quiet for a second before her jaw drops and she stares hard at me. "Daryl Dixon?"
My eyebrow raises slightly. "Yeah," I answer.
"I know your brother," she exclaims and I fight the urge to flinch. "Wow you look a lot like him. He's been worried about you, have you two found each other?"
I nod my head once before I can find my voice to answer her. "Merle died," is all I say and her face falls.
"No!" I'm slightly surprised to see she actually sheds a tear. "I mean I'm sure he had it coming but still I just can't believe it. Are you sure?"
I chuckle slightly out of nervousness mostly. "Yeah I'm sure," I say trying not to think about that day I found Merle.
She's silent for awhile and I almost ask what it is she is thinking about but I refrain. Finally, she reaches underneath her pillow and pulls out a small blue pipe and a lighter. She still doesn't say a word as she lights it, takes a hit, and hands it to me.
"Come on," she insists, blowing out a cloud of smoke, when I don't reach for it right away. "Its just weed."
I take the pipe, its a dark blue color swirled with lighter blues and a single white streak, I spin the pipe in my hand looking it over. It has been quite awhile since I've even seen marijuana let alone been offered some to smoke. Merle never had a problem getting his hands on anything that would get him high.
"You don't have to," she interrupts my thoughts. I look up from the pipe to see her staring at me with a slight smile. "I don't want to put any pressure on you, this isn't high school, and you are an adult."
Her smile widens when I lift the pipe to my mouth and light the bowl. It had already been half burnt when I take my first hit so we only pass it a couple times before its completely cashed. She knocks the ashes into her hand and blows them into the corner of the cell before picking up her bag and stuffing the pipe into a pocket on the side.
"Wanna cigarette?" She asks pulling out a crumple red pack from a pocket on her skirt. She take one out and lights it then offers me the pack and lighter. "Its my last one but you did save my life so I guess I can share."
I ignore the wink she gives me but I slide out her last cigarette and light it. The cigarette is drier then dirt but they all taste like that now a days, but I guess it only makes it easier in not having a craving for one. She holds her hand out for her lighter I assume but she takes the empty pack and her lighter.
"I don't like to litter," she explains with a small smile as she stuffs the pack into the top of her bag. "I know, the world has ended and I don't want to pollute."
She leans forward to flick the ash off her cigarette on to the corner of the metal table. "You don't do much talking huh?" She asks with a smile.
"Only when I have something to say," I answer flicking my cigarette into my hand and smearing the ash onto the knee of my jeans.
"So this isn't some interrogation?" Her smile just gets bigger.
I can't help but smile slightly myself. "So you mean to tell me that you'd offer drugs to your interrogator ?"
She laughs loudly, flicking her cigarette again on top of the table. "It was supposed to be like a peace offering," she says still chuckling. "You know, smoke'm peace pipe? Plus, you didn't have to smoke it."
She had a point. I don't say anything and for the first time she, too, remains silent. I watch her for a few minutes, she stares almost blindly down at her cigarette. She takes a couple drags but she doesn't flick it again causing the ash to get dangerously long. Every time she raises her hand out of her lap I expect to see the ash fall onto her skirt.
"How did it happen?" She asks breaking the silence and finally flicking the ash of her cigarette into the pile on the table.. "Merle?"
"He was shot, in the chest," I flick my cigarette again. "He had already turned when I found him."
"You think someone gunned him down?" She asks, actually sounding a bit sad. I just shrug my shoulders, I didn't really feel up to telling her the whole story leading up to when I found Merle. "Probably huh? Merle didn't have too many friends, right?"
She smiles at me while taking a drag from her cigarette, when I don't reply she just keeps talking "he saved my butt a couple times, and he was civil towards me. Sometimes, I even thought he liked me, not like that, mostly I think I amused him. I'm pretty disappointed that I won't ever run into him again, was starting to enjoy our random run ins actually."
"Good to hear someone will miss him," I say gruffly.
She just laughs lightly and smiles again. "So do you know if I'll be able to stay?" She asks, her voice falling and again she averts her eyes.
I almost laugh, I figure this has been the real question that's been weighing on her mind. "Yeah we talked about it," I say, her eyes dart back to mine and I see another question in them. "Yah gotta at least let that ankle heal up."
She chews on her lip for a second before nodding. "Makes sense," she smiles but it don't reach her eyes. "Thanks."
"Oh here you are Daryl," Carol's voice comes from behind me. "I was wondering where you ran off to."
I snuff out the cigarette on the bottom of my boot then rise to my feet. Carol and Hershel are standing at the cell door, Carol with a bowl of food. She's smiling kindly at me and I don't know what to say.
"Hello," Lorelei says, almost like she didn't want to be left out. Carol smiles a bit wider at me before brushing past me to hand the bowl of food to Lorelei.
"Just in case you were still hungry," she explains kindly.
"Thanks!" I can hear the grin in Lorelei's voice. Max had stood up when I did but now he, too, pushes past me most likely to beg for a scrap.
I half turn back towards the girl. "See yah 'round," I mutter before leaving the overfull cell. I make it all the way outside before I hear Carol's footsteps following me. She catches up to me then falls into step but don't say anything. I stop walking at the little kitchen area Carol and some of the other women have set up and start pouring some of the gruel they have made with the rabbits and squirrels I manage to kill. With the added people from Woodbury are supplies have been running a little low, but things should start to get easier once Rick's crops start to come in. I was really starting to get the munchies, and I really wanted something to drink.
"Is everything okay Daryl?" Carol finally asks.
"Everythin's fine,"I mumble.
"Well," she pats my shoulder. "You know where I am."
I watch her walk away, sometimes I just didn't understand what she wants from me. I sit down at a table underneath the makeshift canopy and start shoveling in my food. Things were really starting to come together around here, the other survivors from Woodbury were getting along pretty good and with Lorelei we've accepted two other survivors we've found out wandering alone. Only once has a group decided to make it on their own instead of joining ours. I finish my food and drop the bowl in the wash bucket by the stove. I need something productive to do so I head down to the fence where there always seemed to be a stock pile of walkers to kill.