"They're gone?" Carl asked, after hearing the news. "Why?! You made her leave didn't you?" He accused Rick. Rick told Carl how she had left before they were even awake. Carl was angry. He'd adored Bandit, and liked Steph too. He stormed off, giving his father the silent treatment.
Rick had other things to worry about. Today, they were aiming to find the cafeteria in the hopes that some of the food supplies were still intact.
"It's a damn shame." Rick overheard Daryl telling Carol. "That girl had more balls than most men. Could've used someone like that, especially today." "Maybe it's for the best." Carol replied. "She's been alone this whole time, who knows how she would handle living with a group." Daryl shrugged.
Rick walked past and waved Daryl over to start preparing for the certain onslaught that would occur on their way to the cafeteria.
_._._._._._._._._._
Steph had found a place. Must have been a hunting hut, or maybe hikers used it for overnight trips. Surrounded by pines. It had bunk beds against 3 of the walls, and a bench against the fourth. Outside there was an old water faucet, and when Steph pumped the handle, she found that was in a usable condition, and there was an outhouse that was also in good shape. On the inside wall of the cabin there was a yellowing notebook where guests would sign their name after staying in the hut. Inside the front page, There was a small notice warning of a prison within 10 miles, and that any suspicious behavior should be reported, and any hitch-hikers in the area should be treated as possible escapees – do not pick them up.
The hut was small, and drafty, and there was cockroaches and mice, but it was secure, and hidden. She didn't like the fact that there was only one door, it would make escaping harder if it came to that. But it couldn't be helped, and Steph was no stranger to climbing out windows. It had been 5 days since Steph had left the prison. She'd found the hut 3 days ago, and had got several hours of sleep every night since. Not as good as the guard tower inside the prison, and certainly not as good as the house she had lived in for the past 5 years, but a whole lot better than sleeping rough.
She caught at least one rabbit per day. The rabbit population had swelled considerably, since there was no people around to hunt them and trap them and hit them with their cars. Steph wondered if walkers ate rabbits. Probably too quick for them, she thought. Walkers were scarce, and Steph was quiet in everything she did, hoping to keep it that way. She hadn't had to use her gun yet.
She wondered how the group was doing inside the prison. She figured they would be doing fine inside the many strong walls and fences. They were tough bunch, Steph thought to herself. She wondered what they had been like before the outbreak. She wondered if Lori had had her baby yet, and if it was a boy or a girl. She wondered if they had found the cafeteria, or the infirmary like they had planned. She wondered if Hershel had noticed that Carl had a crush on his daughter. She wondered if any of them wondered about her.
She knew she was better off on her own. No people sneaking up on her. She hated walkers with a passion, but at least they were straight up. They wanted to eat you, and they made it obvious. People, Steph wasn't so sure about. They could hide their motives, change their minds. She was never very good at people, and she never really liked them either. Even before they started trying to kill her and rob her. And eat her. She didn't know how to communicate properly. Never had. And the group seemed overly apprehensive after their time on the road. They could be dangerous, despite Stephs first impression. Yup, She was better off alone. Wasn't she?
They didn't want her there anyway, she reminded herself. Even after trying to help them on multiple occasions. She saw the stares, Rick didn't trust her, and neither did Carol. Beth probably hated her guts, and Daryl seemed ambivalent at best. But Carl liked her didn't he? Or maybe that was just her four legged companion. What about Maggie? Ugh. This is why Steph didn't like people. They made her feel, in a way she simply could not comprehend. She wanted to forget all about them.
She left Bandit sleeping on one of the bottom bunk beds, and made a small fire outside. She put it out every time she finished cooking, and started it again at the next meal, to avoid drawing attention. She rested a metal rack on the rocks of the fire pit, and while the flame was building, skinned the rabbit of the day. It was a goodie. She was starting to get good at skinning, keeping all the meat on the bones. She couldn't remember the last time she'd accidentally eaten a clump of fur, either.
After her meal, she fed Bandit. Bandit always ate well, possibly even better than before, since dog food was so easy to scavenge. She organised her backpack. She cleaned her knives, crowbar and checked her gun. She braided her hair. She laced her boots up tight. And then she slept.
_._._._._._._._._._
The next morning, she repeated this. Bag. Knives. Gun. Hair. Boots. Always ready. She left the hut, taking Bandit with her. She had a drink from the water pump and washed her face, before making her way out into to the bush to check her snares. There was a walker stumbling around near one of them. A middle-aged man, by the looks. Part of his scalp had come away and was dangling around by his ear. He turned to Steph and she swung the claw of her crowbar into his temple. It made a wet cracking sound and the walker fell backwards from the force. He didn't get back up.
Two rabbits this morning, out of the four snares. She gutted them there, a good distance away from the hut. She strung the rabbits together and put them in her backpack before making her way back to her new home. She had just made it to the hut and began cleaning the knife she had used to gut the rabbits, when the prison siren went off.
