"We're running low on supplies," Shane said that night when everyone had sat down for their nightly serving of beans and squirrel. "In the next few days, we're going to have to go into Atlanta to get more. Glenn has been able to make a few runs, but he can only carry so much."
"What do you mean we?" Amy asked.
Shane sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Glenn needs more people to go with him to help get the supplies we need. No one will be forced to go along. Only volunteers will go," he looked around the camp and made eye contact with everyone. "Glenn and any volunteers will leave in three days."
No one said anything as he sat down next to Lori who had a tight look on her face like she wanted to argue against the plan. Almost everyone looked like they wanted to. But all of us knew it was needed. I didn't say anything while I was eating. I was still silently fuming at Andrea and Daryl and didn't want to talk to either of them.
After I was finished, I went to my tent immediately so no one could try and talk to me. I sat on my sleeping bag with a sigh and leaned back on my hands and listened as everyone talked and started to settle down for the night. But the main topic amongst the group was this supply run and talking about if they were going to go or not.
I mused over the idea after everyone had settled down. I could handle myself with a gun. I wasn't perfect with it, but I could manage. And sitting in camp washing clothes and doing dishes was making me stir crazy. I needed something productive to do. It was Atlanta though. And judging from what Gleen told up from all of his supply runs, it was filled to the brim with walkers.
I was pulled from my thoughts when I heard movement outside my tent. Someone approached quietly and stopped infront of the opening that was zipped closed.
"Rae," Daryls voice said quietly. If I was asleep, I wouldn't have heard him. "Ya up?"
"That depends," I answered. "Are you going to come in here and be an asshole if I say yes?"
He unzipped the flap to the tent, stepped inside and zipped it back behind him. He stood awkwardly for a moment before I sighed and patted the sleeping bag for him to sit down. He sat next to me stiffly and started to chew on his lip.
"Did you need something?" I asked after a few moments of silence. He sighed and leaned back on his hands.
"I shouldn't a' gotten mad earlier," he grumbled.
I smiled at him. "I know."
He glared at me. "Ya don't gotta be cocky about it."
I ignored his comment and leaned back on my hands also.
"Whut do ya think of this supply run?"
"I don't know," I sighed. "I think I'm going to go."
"Figured."
I looked over at him, and he was still chewing on his lip looking at everything but me. "What about you?" I asked.
"Nah. Merles gonna go. If I go, an' if it ends up takin' a few days these idiots won't be able to feed themselves." He shifted so that his elbows rested on his knees. "I don't like the idea of ya goin' though."
I didn't know what to say to that so I stayed quiet. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to say anything anyway. Daryl was never one to talk about his feelings. So if how he was feeling was something other than pissed off, irritated, or just him being calm, I never pressed it unless he did. Sometimes he just made off handed comments just to get them off his chest, not to have a long deep conversation about why he felt that way. I ran my fingers through my hair and yawned.
"Get some sleep," he said standing up. He unzipped the tent and stepped about. He gave me one last glance and zipped it shut behind him.
Three days later, the supply group gathered in front of the RV. It was Gleen, Andrea, T-dog, Jacqui, Morales, Merle and I.
"We get in and we get out," Glenn was explaining. "Don't draw attention to yourselves. Lay low. Don't shoot unless you have no other option. We're going to make this as quick and least dangerous as possible."
I was watching Merle out of the corner of my eye. He was grinning like a mad man and I could smell a sweet peppermint smell from him. I knew that smell from anywhere. He had very obviously to me just smoked a shit ton of cocaine meaning he was going to be a huge handful.
I barely heard Glenn list off a few things that we needed before we left. The group separated to gather what we needed and Daryl took the opportunity to approach me.
"Keep an eye on 'im," he muttered to me, both of our eyes on his older brother.
"I was planning on it," I said lifting my eyes to his face.
He glanced down to me. "But don't let 'im keep ya from protectin' yerself. Watch yer own back, too."
"What're you going to be doing while we're gone?"
He shrugged. "Probably go huntin'. I've been seein' signs of deer around. Maybe I'll go an' try and find one."
"Be careful," I said after a moment.
"You too," he said. He stared down at me and lifted his hand to the side of my head and ran his fingers through my hair and rested his hand on the base of my neck. I wrapped my arms around his waist and pulled him into a hug. "Come back alive, ya hear?"
"I will," I said pulling away.
He nodded and went to pick up his crossbow. I watched him as he walked to the other side of the camp and head towards the woods.
"Larae, you coming?" T-Dog called from the car we were taking to the outskirts of the city.
"Yeah," I said, jogging over to them. I got into the car and sat in the back seat. It was a large SUV that we were taking so all of us could fit. Glenn was driving and Merle took it upon himself to take the passengers seat. I sat behind Merle with Jaqui and T-dog, and Andrea and Morales were behind us.
All of us were silent. I could feel the tension and the nervousness build as we approached the city. But Daryl was still in the back of my mind. What was that back at the camp? What were we now? We're we anything?
Merle shifting in his seat pulled me out of my thoughts. I saw him starting at me with a grin in the side view mirror. I shook my head. I couldn't be caught up in my thoughts now. After we got back to camp I could figure everything out. Now was just not the time. I had to keep myself alive and still keep an eye on a coked out duggie that was a hair-trigger away from snapping and getting everyone killed. But Daryl needed me to watch him. Try and keep him alive. So I would try.
"This is as far as we go," Glenn said stopping the car and turning it off. He got out of the car and everyone followed. We followed after him as he led us to a chainlink fence that had been cut so someone could roll it back and get through. He stopped before he went through. "That's where we're trying to get to," he said, pointing to a top of a building that we could see over the warehouses we were around. "It's about a mile and a half into the city and that's where we're going to be elbow deep in walkers. Stay quiet and keep talking to a minimum until we can get to the tops of the buildings."
He led us through the fence and I could already smell the decaying scent of walkers. We stayed pressed to the sides of the buildings as Glenn moved ahead of us, motioning when it was okay to move forward to the back of another building. He would move ahead quickly. Look around, dash to the other building and look on the otherside and motion us forward. And this repeated until we were in the city.
I could feel the head bearing down on us even in the shadows of the buildings. The sweat was running down my back, covering my arms, running down my face and into my eyes. It was hard to tell if I was sweating from the heat though. Every sound, every movement, every rustle caught my attention and my hand was constantly gripped around the handle of my pistol in the waist of my jeans.
Glenn finally came to an alleyway and led us down it quickly. There was a metal ladder there that led to the top of the building. He motioned us up it. Morales and T-dog went first. Andrea started to climb the ladder and I took a deep breath as I climbed after her, Merle behind me. Glenn followed once we had reached about halfway.
Morales helped me over the side of the building as I reached the top. "Thanks," I breathed, brushing the sweat from my forehead. I pulled my hair into a knot as Glenn pulled himself over the side of the building.
"Okay. Once we get inside, I have no idea if there will be walkers or not. Keep your eyes open. Grab only what you can carry. We don't need anything weighing us down if we've got to run."
A loud bang of what sounded like a gunshot echoed through the city.
"What the hell was that?" Andrea almost shouted, running to the edge. All of us followed quickly and watched as a man on a horse was being swarmed by walkers.
"Oh god," Jacqui murmured, her hands over he mouth.
"Dumbass," Merle snickered pushing away from the edge and away from the scene before us.
The rest of us watched in horror as the horse was taken down and he scrambled under a tank. We heard more gunshots as walkers tried to follow him underneath. I felt my heart sink.
"He's done for," I said quietly. We watched for a few more moments and I felt my heart leap back as his head came up through the top of the tank and slammed the top down. "We have to help him!" I exclaimed.
"How?" Andrea asked, almost bitterly.
"Tanks have CB radios in them," T-Dog said. "Shane gave me one before we left. If we can find the right frequency, we can talk him through the tank. Get him out of there."
"Yeah, and who's going to go get him?" Merle chidded.
All of our eyes landed on Glenn who sighed. "I figured as much." He snatched the radio from T-Dog and moved to the edge of the building. He switched the radio on. "Hey you. Dumbass. Yeah, in the tank. Cozy in there?"
"This is suicide," Andrea muttered, storming off.
I am so so so sorry about not updating. My job has me working my ass off and I've been so exhausted that when I come home I just go to sleep. I haven't had any time to write. I'm so sorry. I'll try to update faster, because this week seems like it's going to slow down.
Finally, I got to the point of where the series starts. I've been excited to get here. I hope this chapter is okay.
But what about Daryl and Larae? What do you all want to see happen?
Lave me a review and let me know what you think!
