I dug my iPod and ear buds out from my pants pocket and plugged the ear buds into the iPod before putting them in my ears and hitting play, the first song to come on was Home Sweet Home by Motley Crüe. I laid my head back on the wall of the delivery truck's trailer and cranked the volume up before zoning out completely...being careful to not fall asleep. I was shaken out of my day dream by Merle so I quickly ripped my ear buds out. "We're here sugarpie" He said with a smile before hopping out of the truck, I looked around and saw everyone but Rick had already left so I stood up and walked over to him placing my left hand on the top of his seat. "What's wrong Rick-a-ma-role?" I asked softly. "It's just...I'm scared I'll never find Lori, or Carl, or both" Rick said exasperated, so I let my hand slide onto his shoulder, he turned to me and I gave him a confident smile. "Rick, I promise you'll find 'em, both of 'em, hey who knows, maybe they're here, so what do you say? Shall we go out there?" I said in attempt to cheer him up, I received a small smile which I knew was better than nothing...and all I was getting. So we hopped out of the truck, my boot lace got caught in the door which made Rick laugh because when I turned to see what had me stuck I smacked my face off of the van. "Hee. Haw. Haw." I said flatly as I removed my lace from the door and jumped down. He shook his head and walked away, I was 5 seconds behind him nursing my sore forehead, and when I caught up to him I walked into him. I let out an 'oof' as I stumbled back a bit, and I was just about to tease him for standing like a deer in headlights when I looked up, I saw what had him in a daze, and quite frankly it put me in one too. There stood Shane Walsh, our best friend, mouth practically agape at us and to the right of Shane a few paces were Lori and Carl.
"Oh my god" Rick let out before he walked over to them, Lori and Carl ran toward him, Carl screaming dad over and over with joy. I smiled before looking over at Shane who had just torn his eyes from Rick and his reunion to look over at me, I never thought I'd say this, but, I've never been happier to see him in my entire life! I let a grin break out and I charged over to him, he put his arms out and I jumped on him. When he caught me he spun around, I just buried my face in his shoulder and linked my arms around the back of his neck tightly. "Oh my god Shane, you—you're alive!" I belted out with an excited squeal as he shook me a bit before setting me down. "Now it hurts me that you doubt I could live through this kinda thing" He said chuckling, and I just looked at him with a mischievous grin before letting him go and we both turned to see Rick crying and hugging his sobbing wife and excited child. I looked over at Rick who smiled at Shane, but when I watched Shane give him a smile back, something didn't seem quite right. As I continued to watch what Shane was doing I saw him look longingly at Lori, and that's when it clicked in my head, something happened between them. I walked away from Shane and toward Rick and his family. "Mind if I cut in, it'll only take a sec!" I asked with a smile and Rick nodded before letting them go I hugged Lori first. "Thank you for keeping him safe Rabbit; you really do live up to your name don't you?" She asked still crying as she rubbed my back. "Yeah, I guess so Lor, but someone had to take care of this big lug!" I joked and that caused her and her son to laugh. Carl turned to me when Lori and I parted and I hesitated for a moment as he walked over to me, I even took a step back before picking him up gently and hugging him. It was still hard for me to do, and both Rick and Lori knew just why so when I saw them smile, I knew it was genuine happiness, not just for themselves, but for me.
I set Carl down after telling him how much I missed him and gushed over how big he'd gotten. "Kids even got a mullet now huh? Lori, you may live in a country town but you aren't that redneck" I laughed wholeheartedly, and so did everyone else. After Rick and I were all introduced everyone went back to doing their daily routine, I stood there stiffer than a piece of 2x4 as everyone bustled around me. I felt awkward to be honest, I had no idea what to do, and not too many of the group members were happy to see soldiers in their camp; I guess they blamed us for the apocalypse...if only they knew. Glenn grabbed me to help him set up his tent so I did. "Sorry about my friends Peyton, they're a great group really they are! It's just...they kinda well..." Glenn stammered as we started putting pegs into the ground. "They hate the military, understandable, however it wasn't us who started the infection, it was a stupid scientist" I explained as we continued, he nodded thoughtfully. "It's not just that though, I guess they feel that the 'quarantine' you guys pulled was kinda shitty" He continued, it was my turn to nod as we connected the poles. "There's that too I guess but, it was either that or let the walkers, as you guys call 'em, eat everyone and annihilate the world and our lives as we know it" I said plainly as we finished putting the tent up. "Well, I know that, and deep down, they know that, but it doesn't make it easier and everyone wants someone to blame, I think all you gotta do is prove them wrong, prove that the military isn't what they make it out to be, and that nor are you" Glenn suggested and I stood up straight and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I suppose, trust isn't a right it's a privilege, even more so nowadays" I muttered more to myself than anyone.
Glenn nodded in silent agreement as we started towards Shane to see what was needed of us. "Anything else we can do Shane?" Glenn asked placing his hands on his hips and looking up at the taller man. "Uh, yeah actually two things, check the radio and see if you can fix it and I'll need whoever doesn't do that to help me get stuff for the fire tonight" He offered shifting his stance so that he was leaning to his left as he folded his arms across his chest. Glenn nodded and looked from him to me. "I'll fix the radio" He said before trotting off.
"Well, guess that leaves you stuck with me huh Sheriff?" I asked jokingly and he smiled softly before grabbing two axes that were leaning against the RV and handing me one. "Ready?" He asked before trying to pull off a genuine smile, I just smiled back before twirling the axe in my hand once. "More than" I replied and we headed to the forest, I could see Lori watching us out of our peripherals and all I could do was smile in disbelief, still keeping my stare on the path ahead. As we got further into the forest my thoughts began to roam around Shane and Lori, had they done something? If they did how far did they go? Why did they do what they did? All these thoughts felt like a thousand tiny bugs gnawing away at my brain but all that was interrupted when I walked into something, I looked up and it was Shane. He looked down at me with sadness, a sadness I had never known him to show...minus that one night all those years ago, and when Rick was put in the hospital. "Peyton, there's...there's something I gotta tell you" He said before swallowing hard, I looked away before looking back to him. "If it's about Lori, I know" I let out before awkwardly shuffling to my right and continuing forward, wishing I hadn't just voiced my thoughts. "I—wait what?" He sputtered in bewilderment. "Forget it" I muttered as he jogged to my side. "No, what were you gunna say?" He demanded still flabbergasted, I pretended that I didn't hear him and trudged on. "Peyton Rose Tacoma, don't you ignore me!" He barked and I stopped dead in my tracks, fists balled. "Alright Shane, you made your point" I growled whirling around to meet his eyes with my fiery gaze. "I think something happened between you two, when you looked at her today you looked forlorn, and you didn't look all that happy to see Rick was back...or me" I huffed before storming off. "I did miss you both of you!" He protested all I could do was keep my jaw clenched in an effort to end the conversation; I really hated the military given talent of reading body language right now.
"Peyton, please! Conversations go two ways remember!" He bellowed before grabbing my wrist and I dropped my axe and swung at him but he caught my fist. "Fine! You want this damn conversation so bad? Alright! I think you two slept with each other!" I snapped back at him, filled with rage as I tried to wriggle free. When I finished that sentence I knew I was right because his face flinched in recognition and my heart sank. "How could you Rick? Not that she's any better but...Shane...Rick's your best friend!" I continued my face clear with disgust. "Don't you drag Lori into this!" He barked at me and my eyes narrowed and my teeth bared at him. "Don't you dare stand up for her Shane, she cheated on her husband that isn't right now matter how you spin it!"I growled, wishing more than anything for the ability to punch him. He just stood there looking at me, more specifically, my eyes as if he were carefully deciding what to say next before his whole body relaxed. "Look, what I meant was, she thought her husband was dead and so she moved on" He defended, this time more softly but no matter how much I hated seeing his brown eyes melt like they did I remained strong. "I still couldn't, I would refuse to believe that my husband was dead, not unless I saw it with my own eyes and I certainly wouldn't let the devil charm me into an affair" I whispered harshly before ripping my wrists from his grasp and snatching my axe and storming off.
He soon caught up to me and we walked in silence. I could see him constantly looking over at me with my peripherals and I wanted to slug him even more, remember that moment I said I'd never been happier to see him in my life? Yeah that moment was gone. Shane was mine and Rick's best friend, we never gave up hope on finding him, so why did he on us? That question burned through my thoughts more than the others and my heart sank more, it was just like graduation night all over again, and that made my heart ache all the more. "So you think I'm the devil huh?" He asked as he looked at the ground, I looked over at him, scanning him and observing him before looking ahead again. "Peyton Rose Tacoma..." He said with frustration and I huffed with annoyance. "Would you cut it out with using my middle name? You know I hate it, and pestering me won't exactly get you on my good side" I growled before picking up some twigs. "Just answer me, a simple yes or no" He requested and I sighed heavily before shaking my head. "Yes, I do" I answered curtly still scanning the area for more lumber. Out of the corner of my eye I could've sworn him look solemn and hurt, I was suddenly losing my need to stay strong in my beliefs towards him and Lori. "I think we've found enough wood, and it's gettin' dark, we should head back" Shane suggested and I looked up to the sky. "Yeah, good idea" I answered softly before following Shane back to the camp in silence, I guess I had been so absorbed in thought that I hadn't noticed the time.
When we got back to the camp Shane and I set up the camp fire, every now and again looking over at me like he wanted to say something but was biting his tongue. Once everyone finished with their duties and the sky grew dark enough everyone bundled themselves up and gathered around the campfire. I myself hung back for a second unlike my fellow soldiers whom I guess had already made friends and were laughing around the campfire. Merle looked up and when he saw me standing in the background he motioned for me to come over, so I did, and sat on his right. The older man Dale spoke up, asking Rick how he felt when he awoke to the apocalypse. "Disoriented. I guess that comes closest. Disoriented. Fear, confusion...all those things but...Disoriented comes the closest" He answered almost poetically, my heart sank but I was glad I had found him. "Words can be meagre things, sometimes they fall short" Dale piped up with his grandfatherly voice and smile as he set down his green coffee mug.
"I felt like I'd been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else, for awhile I thought I was trapped in some coma dream, something I thought I might never wake up from. I'm glad Peyton and her squad found me, they gave me hope, saved me" He continued, giving me a giant smile. At that point I felt guilt wash over me, I knew what his wife and Shane had done to him, and here I am, a sister to him, and I can't even bring myself to say it. I gave him a warm smile as did Ben and Akio who already responded with a 'no problem'. "Rick, you're my brother, I love you so much...I couldn't stand the thought of losing you, I couldn't leave you behind" I piped up and at the end of 'couldn't leave you behind' I shot Shane a glare and Lori one too, just to make her aware that I knew what happened, and she hung her head in shame, I was glad Rick and the group didn't seem to notice my glares or Lori's shame...except for Akio. "Mom said you died" Carl stated sadly as he looked up at his dad. "She had every reason to believe it, don't you ever doubt it" Rick said calmly as he rubbed Carl's arm affectionately with a small smile. I stood up abruptly and excused myself. "Need to stretch my legs, knees are locking up on me" I lied quickly before walking away pretending to stretch my legs out as I walked away towards the back of our delivery truck.
Akio had followed me and leaned against the back of the trailer with me. "Just like Atlanta" He muttered looking over at me with his brown eyes. "Yeah" I breathed out as I dug my hands in my pockets. "You like Shane don't you?" He asked looking up at the sky momentarily. "No, I haven't harboured feelings for him like that since high school" I answered gruffly. "So then, what was your scowl towards Lori and Shane for?"He continued, I sighed hoping to God that he'd change the subject but he said my name in a warning tone instead so I folded my arms and let my anger show through. "Lori and Shane slept with each other, several times, and Shane has feelings for her...what bothers me about that is that Rick is Shane's best friend and he left him behind? I still searched for him, and I wasn't gunna stop until I confirmed he was dead or an undead, and if Lori was willing to do the same as Shane she's just as disgusting in my eyes" I growled angrily. "Yeah but, she said she thought he was dead...If you thought I was dead, wouldn't you move on? I mean if you and I were dating that is" He tried to rationalize and I shook my head with anger. "No! I wouldn't, not unless I saw you dead or zombified end of discussion "I spat in disgust. Akio nodded his head in agreement. "Well, that's pretty loyal, a good quality Peyton" He said and before I knew it, he was standing in front of me with his hands on my face and crushing his lips onto mine.
He pressed his body right against mine so I unfolded my arms and wrapped them around him, letting my hands rest on his shoulder blades. After a few passionate kisses he dragged his tongue across my bottom lip begging for permission and I just looked up at him with a playful smirk, and he returned it with a mischievous one before shoving me further against the trailer, hard. He knew the way I liked it, but I wasn't about to cave so he lifted my legs and I instinctively wrapped them around his waist and moved my arms to wrap around the back of his neck. He bit my bottom lip then trailed kisses from my lips to my jaw line to my collarbone and I let out a small quiet moan and he took the opportunity to dart his tongue in my mouth and soon it was a fight for dominance, but we both ended up getting more and more sexually aggressive before he finally won and I let him take over, we were about to get more heated when we realized what we were doing and stopped. "Sorry, can't help myself around you" He joked as he rubbed the back of his head. I gave him a long passionate kiss. "When there's less people around, we should try this again, and Akio? Thanks for cheering me up" I said panting and he smiled. "I'd like that...and anytime Peyton" He stated simply with a wider smile and we hugged tightly for a moment. We walked off and Ben and the gang were putting out the fire and grabbing their things, getting ready to hit the hay. I saw Shane stalk off to the RV, so I followed to see what he was doing; he climbed up the ladder and onto the roof of the RV and sat down in a chair, trying to get his hat on perfect.
I climbed up as well and picked a sniper rifle up from the chair beside him before sitting down next to him. His eyes were fixated on Rick and Lori's tent, and my heart started to sink, he had feelings for Lori...and I figured that would happen, but for a reason other than I had stated to him before, it really bothered me which caused me to sigh aloud accidentally as the rain started to fall and the thunder rumbled. "What now?" Shane snapped and my face went to mild alarm before I put a hand on his shoulder, and he looked at me, the pain in his angry beautiful brown eyes melted me. "Look, I'm sorry for judging you earlier; I'll keep my opinions to myself...but...talk to me Shane, what's bothering you?" I asked sincerely and he shrugged my hand off of his shoulder and turned away from me. "Fine, be that way" I grumbled as I got off of my chair and got down on one knee resting my elbow on it and scanning the area through the scope on the rifle, adjusting it every so often. "Y'know, It's weird seeing you do that" He stated curtly and I kept my eyes trained on the sights. "Oh yeah? And why is that?" I asked flatly still sweeping the area looking for any sight of Walkers. "I dunno, it's just...knowing you all these years and seeing you now, I'd just never thought I'd see you know how to adjust sights on a sniper rifle is all, it's kinda-" He trailed off and I set the rifle down and turned to him. "Scary? Yeah, I get that a lot" I mumbled before picking the sniper rifle back up and going back to scanning the area. "No, I was going to say impressive and...Saddening" He sighed and I turned to face him like he had 8 heads. "Wha?" I asked bewildered and he laughed a bit before continuing.
"I mean, impressive with your skills but, saddening in that you've changed, you're a little more harsher now, and colder and calloused" He said softly and my expression went to solemn, and I looked down and away from Shane. "Yeah well, Shane, war can change you like that" I huffed in agitation as I switched knees to rest on. "It's just, I guess I always figured you'd still stay the same-" Shane trailed off and I shook my head in frustration. "I still have the same personality Shane, I just grew up is all" I snapped before setting down the rifle for good and getting up to leave, all he ever wanted to do was bring up my life as a soldier, and I just wasn't ready to confide in a civilian, just what I had done. Shane shot up and grabbed my wrist and I stopped dead in my tracks. "How come you can ask me personal questions about what happened with Lori and I but I can't ask you about your life as a soldier? You've definitely changed PT" He shot back. "An affair is far different from the life of a jarhead Shane" I growled low, shooting him a glare and baring my pearly whites at him. His face went to hurt before it was quickly masked again. "How about this, I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours" He suggested with a pleading smile and I smiled back. "Alright, but you might wanna get some tissues Shane" I joked as I sat back down in my lawn chair, soon followed by Shane. I sat down, told him some stories, but not the one that still haunted my every waking dream...the one that gave me my PTSD.
"So explain yourself, what happened between you and Lori?" I said as I leaned back into my lawn chair. "Well, when Rick was in the hospital, I kept Lori and Carl safe, took care of them, as time went on they began to feel like a family, we began to feel like family and I fell in love with Lori, we fell in love hard, as you may or may not know, Lori and Rick...their marriage wasn't doing so well, so that only spurred our relationship further" He explained, heartbreak clear in his voice as he stared hard at Rick and Lori's tent, which on one side looked like it was shaking and Shane tossed his head in the opposite direction. "I see" was all I could answer with as I listened for any kind of disturbance. "So, you and that Asian feller, what's his name uh...Akio? What's the story behind that?" He asked clearing his throat, clearly trying to change topics and get his mind off Lori. "I dunno" I answered honestly and looked at Shane, his head was down. "Do you like him?" "What does it matter Shane?" "Just wonderin' is all" I analyzed him more; he had taken his hat off and was fiddling with it, like he had been back at the hospital when Rick was in a coma. "Remember that day in the hospital, back when Rick was in a coma?" I asked softly. "Yeah what about it?" "You were gonna say something to me that day, before my General called, do you remember what it was that you were going to say?" I asked trying to change that uncomfortable subject. "No, I don't" He answered curtly and I looked at him weird, but he didn't seem to notice.
"Don't change the subject by the way, you and Akio, what's going on between you two?" He asked looking over at me with pleading eyes. "I dunno, I like the guy I guess, but there's just so much going on that I don't know what you'd call us, or how to proceed with things" I answered as Shane grabbed two pops and handed me one, a cream soda, he still remembered my favourite. I opened mine immediately after I thanked him and took a sip. "So have you two had sex yet?" He asked, and at that moment I spat my pop out in disbelief, wide eyed that he'd just asked that. "Uh, no, not yet" I laughed awkwardly as I wiped the pop off of my boots with my gloves. Shane's hair was beginning to get sopping wet so I took his hat from his hands and put it back on his head before taking another sip of my pop. "Why do you want to know?" "No reason" He answered tersely and I shook my head and stood up but he pulled me down and into my chair, looking over at me with his sad brown puppy dog eyes. "Please don't go Rabbit, not tonight, I need you" Shane pleaded and I nodded my head as I leaned over and hugged him. "I'll always be here for you Shane, thick 'n' thin" I answered softly before sitting back in my chair.
"So, 3 inch eggroll of fury huh?" "SHANE! I thought we were through with this!" I barked as I threw my hands up in the air in frustration. I slumped back in my chair and let out a puff of air. He just laughed at me and patted my head. "I'm just teasin' but you really do seem to favour the Asians" He said as he pushed my shoulder, jostling me. I looked up at him and laughed. "Or you're just jealous" I teased back with a cheeky grin. "Pfft! Why would I be jealous?" He shot back with a devilish grin. "Because I'm pretty, and strong, and funny, c'mon you know me Shane I'm like the perfect package" I joked throwing my hands up like it were obvious which just caused Shane to go into a fit of laughter, I was happy I could distract him from Lori, even if it was momentarily. No matter how much it still hurt that he never came back for us, I guess that would just have to be something I need to let go. As the night went on Shane and I joked around, my way of still keeping him occupied and also to catch up with him and his life from after grad night to the hospital and then from the hospital to now.
Neither of us dared touch what happened on Grad night, and I don't think either of us planned on talking about it for awhile. We had bigger more important things to focus on like survival, that, and we just not only got back to each other but, just got back to being friends again. "You should get some rest Rabbit" Shane piped up randomly at one point and a look of shock placed itself on my face momentarily before it was wiped away with a blank slate. "I already slept on the ride to here Shane, I'm ok, but thank you for the concern, and you can sleep though I'll keep watch" I said looking back at him with a small smile. He looked at me with uncertainty before turning his whole body to face me. "Look PT, after I saw you in the hospital, I looked up PTSD and saw that it said with some subjects they don't sleep..." Shane began and I eyed him carefully. "Those that suffer in that sense usually have something they do to help them sleep at night with no nightmares...sometimes it's having someone share a bed with them..." I cut him off, I knew what I was about to accuse him of wasn't where he was going at all but I had to derail the subject fast. "Whoa whoa whoa Shane hold your horses, look I know you're hurting from Lori and all but, I don't want to be a rebound and we just got back to being together again and just got back to being friends again after all these years, I don't wanna ruin it" I ranted acting like I was afraid of getting hurt.
Sure, I had a few things that usually helped me sleep at night without having nightmares like meditating, but when did I ever have the time to do that with all these walkers around us? Or dancing but let's be realistic, dancing during an apocalypse would just look weird, and Shane was right, when those first two didn't work, having someone sleep beside me did, but I wasn't ready to discuss my PTSD with him. "Look Peyt, that's not what I meant, and it certainly wasn't my intention, I didn't mean it to come across that way, I'm sorry" He mumbled and I squeezed his hand gently. "Thanks for understanding" I replied with a small smile. 'Crisis derailed and avoided, phew!' I thought to myself as I let go of his hand and turned back to patrol. "I'm not ready to go to bed yet though, so uh, guess I'll keep ya company 'til mornin'" Shane answered a few minutes after and I just nodded my head and we spent the night together watching over our camp and making small talk between each other.
When morning hit Shane and I groggily stumbled out of our chairs and lazily made our way down the ladder, him first with me right behind. I looked down and happened to catch him looking up at me, pausing part way down the ladder. "What?" I asked with a yawn and he smiled big. "Nothin' just forgot you had such a nice little ass on ya that's all" He chuckled as he took his right hand off a rung and tapped it once before going back down. "I'll get you back for that Ron Jeremy" I joked as I hopped down. "Ron Jeremy?" "Yeah that seventies porn star guy, you have that style of hair" I continued to joke and he looked momentarily offended before a realization hit him. "How would you know about porn?" "How don't YOU know about porn stars, wasn't that your thing, isn't that your thing" I shot back with a playful grin. We continued our playful banter before helping some of the people around camp. After helping Carol with laundry and lugging some of our supplies from the van into camp Shane came and asked me to go with him to get some water, I said yes and we headed to his black Jeep Wrangler. My jaw dropped when I saw it and ran a hand along the hood and door before wrapping my hand around the roof rack. "He's-" "Gorgeous I know, but actually it's a she" Shane corrected me and smiled as I hopped in the passenger seat.
"Your ride, you drive" I piped up politely when he held a look of playful shock. "I figured you'd wanna drive Dusty JR.!" He said still acting taken aback as he hopped into the driver's side. "Dusty jr.? As in? No way!" I said excitedly. "Yes way, I figure, she looks just like your old Dusty so, I named her Dusty" He answered as he backed out and did a three point turn. "I knew you missed me" I said punching his arm playfully. We both laughed as we drove away. "So, I know you diverted my question about PTSD last night, pretty clever kit, but haven't you heard? Trix are for kids" He joked and I laughed. "Ok you caught me, but what did you want? A full confessional about how I can't sleep at night without doing certain things to make me relax, or having someone babysit me at night so I don't scream and attract a horde of walkers with my noise? No, too dark and depressing" I answered folding my arms under my chest. "Touché" He answered before he finally parked the car at a creek and we both got out. "But kit seriously, I want to know all about you, everything, I want to be able to help you" He said looking up at me as he grabbed the large jerry cans and I grabbed some. "I'm not ready to talk about it just yet Shane" I muttered as I walked over to him and he led me down a steep hill. "Let me know when you are" He answered back and we got to the base of the hill and started scooping up water from the creek.
"Oh! This reminds me, I have some water purification tablet thingies, we should use those" I exclaimed digging out a couple of palm sized packets from my pant pockets. "Good idea Kit!" I handed him a pack and we finished filling up our coolers with water before tossing in our tablets walking back up the hill with two coolers of water in hand each and tossed them into the back seat before heading back to camp. Instead of focusing all of my attention on the road ahead, I watched Shane from my peripherals and saw Shane still looking doleful. "Park the car" I requested and Shane just looked at me confused before pulling to the side to a complete stop and putting the e-brake on. "You really care about Lori...don't you? I mean hell, you even look like you love her" I stated and turned to him with a concerned face and he just looked down with a hurt expression. "Shane, I know it hurts, but you've gotta move on, Lori will get over her childish hate for you when she realises you didn't lie to her about Rick being dead when it's what you really believed" I began and he still said nothing. "But what you also have to realise is that Lori loves Rick very much, and you can't step in the way of that, it's time you moved on-" "Her marriage with Rick was going under even before this whole damn apocalypse happened, Did she tell you that? Huh? Did she?" He bellowed and slammed his fist on the steering wheel, keeping his angry brown eyes on the road ahead. "I loved her, love her and she just threw everything away like it meant nothing" I laughed a bit before scooching closer to him and resting my arm across the top of his seat.
"Now you know how those girls back in high school felt" I joked, still keeping a soft smile and he turned to face me, a smile tugging at his lip but he quickly put it back to a frown. "Yeah, I guess you're right, but I dunno if I'll get over her for awhile" "And that's normal, welcome to the world of women and human emotion Mr. Macho man" I said dramatically tossing my arms into the air and bringing them at my sides as if I was emphasizing the world. "Peyton?" "Yeah?" "Were you one of those girls?" I looked away at the forest on my right. "Yeah, I was" I mumbled, I felt his arm wrap itself around me and pull me into him before it was joined by another arm.
"I'm sorry Peyton, I regret that night" "Me too Shane, me too" I said returning the hug. After what seemed like hours of our embrace I was the first to part and I cleared my throat. "We should get back to the camp, people are probably wondering where we are and why we haven't turned up yet" I said looking back toward the road and Shane looked at me a moment longer before nodding his head, taking the e-brake off, and driving the rest of the way back to camp. When we got back Andrea and T-dog grabbed the large green jerry cans and made their way into the main part of the camp. "Water's here y'all, and no need to boil your water before you go and use it, Peyton here brought along water purification tablets" He announced with a smile on his face. That happiness however was short lived and replaced with concern when we heard someone scream "Mom!" it was Carl. "Carl?" She cried out with worry and I was already bolting down with Shane, Merle, Ben, Dallas, Akio, Lori, Rick, Andrea and everyone else in tow I was breaking branches just to get to Carl. "Mom!" "Baby?" "Mommy!" "Carl? Carl? Baby?" Carl came into view and his mother snatched him up. "Nothing bit you? Nothing scratched you?" "No" "Ok". We came to a small clearing where a walker was feeding on a doe carcass that had some arrows in its hind leg I withdrew my pistol from its holster, then grabbed my silencer from my pocket and attached the two together.
We all surrounded it, Shane with his shotgun, Rick with a crowbar, me with my pistol, Dale with an ax, Glenn with some sort of piping, and a man in a ball cap and coveralls with a beard held a pitchfork, the women and kids all stayed back a bit behind us, Akio and Ben stood in front of them to keep them from coming closer to us and even got them to back up a little. The walker turned around and let out a snarl as we got a good look at the ugly bastard. Pale green sickly eyes, greyer than ashes, scraggly greyish white hair matted to his face from blood. He wore a button down shirt with a pocket on the left breast and loose tie, both articles of clothing completely soaked in blood...most likely from his prey. But what hit me the most, was that from just above the upper lip to just below his chin he was missing skin. He lunged forward and I took aim but Rick had already lunged forward first to smash the walkers head with his crowbar, that was followed by Shane smashing him in the back with the butt of his shotgun, then an all out bashing came from the men who held their bludgeons. Then Dale ended it by hacking off the head of the walker. "That's the first one we've had up here, they never come up this far up the mountain" Dale panted as he gestured to the walker's corpse. "Well they're runnin' out of food in the city that's what" Said the man in the coveralls and blue ball cap with a dark brown beard. As Dale swatted a bug away a rustle from the bushes sounded, I advanced with my gun raised and waited for another walker to appear, but instead, the barrel of my gun met the face of a handsome man around my age with dusty brown hair, blue eyes, a goatee, well built body, and a grey muscle shirt, holding a crossbow in his hands.
I lowered my weapon and stepped back looking back at the guys, Dale nodded that he was one of theirs. The new man walked by my but first gave me an analytical up and down before looking at the doe. "Son of a bitch!" He grumbled as he walked around the bushes to the clearing. "That's my deer!" He continued to complain as he got closer to the corpse. "Look at it all gnawed on, This FILTHY, disease bearing, motherless, poxy bastard!" He grunted out as he kicked the walker's body quite a bit. "Calm down son, that's not helping" Dale said softly, the man rounded on Dale, Shane held the side of the barrel against Dale's chest as if to protect him. "What do you know about it, old man? Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to 'on golden pond'? I've been tracking this deer for miles!" He bellowed before turning back to the deer and pulling the arrows out from the deer carcass. "Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison. What do you think? Do you think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?" He asked looking back at everyone. "I would not risk that" Shane said from below the bill of his ball cap, gun rested across his shoulders and hands/arms back resting on the gun, Daryl sighed. "That's a damn shame, I got some squirrel, 'bout a dozen or so, that'll have to do" Daryl said before turning to the walkers head and kicking it with his foot a bit. The walker's eyes fluttered open and its jaw began to move. "Come on people, what the hell?" He semi lectured as he shot an arrow into the walker's eye socket.
Daryl put his boot on the walkers head and withdrew his arrow. "It's gotta be the brain. Don't y'all know nothing?" He fully lectured as he walked towards camp. I strode up towards Glenn and tapped his shoulder. "So who's redneck number two?" I asked in a whisper. "Redneck number one Merle's younger brother Daryl" Glenn whispered back and I made an o shape with my mouth before walking in silence. "Merle! Merle! Get your ugly ass out here! I got us some squirrel, let's stew 'em up" Daryl called out as he set his bow down on a lawn chair. Merle emerged from behind the RV and smiled before hugging his brother. They greeted each other and Merle turned himself and his brother to face us walking back to camp from out of the bush. "Daryl, that little blonde beauty right there? That's my new friend Captain Peyton Tacoma of the US Army, girl saved my ugly ass back in the city" He said pointing to me and I smiled. "You forgot to add that she had a gun in my face" Daryl growled as I held my hand out for him. "To be fair, I had it aimed in the air before I saw you, and I didn't know if you were friend or walker until you came out of the bushes" I shot back and Daryl seemed to think this over for a second before reluctantly shaking my hand back. "Nice to meet you and thanks for saving my brother, what kinda trouble did he get you into?" Daryl asked looking at his older brother with a smile.
*Woo! That's chapter 6/ Part 1 of episode 3 down, sorry for getting this done so late, I've been super busy with moving and other stuff so finally it's up! Gunna try my best to finish this episode! Thanks for all the reviews guys love 'em and fixing things as I go along :) if you have any ideas lemme know :) Also Kit is what a baby rabbit is called*