Chapter 9

Carol frowned. She'd been having fun out here, and for once since this awful mess started, she'd been able to forget everything bad. Almost. Sophia was never far from her thoughts ever. She looked up at the sky and sighed. "I guess so."

Daryl watched her and chewed at his lip for a second, then he smiled. "We can come out here again. I mean, if ya wanna..." He saw her lips go from frowning to a smile. He knew he'd offered the right thing. He moved to the log and started to put on his socks and shoes. He wrinkled his nose. It wasn't easy putting wet feet into dry socks.

She was just getting out when the first rain drops began to hit her. She looked up, feeling more hit her face. She hurried to Daryl and quickly put on her shoes. "I don't think we'll make it back before a downpour hits..."

He narrowed his eyes. "The trees will keep a lot of if off us, but we need to try to get as close to the farm as we can before the bottom falls out." He grabbed his crossbow and slung it over his shoulder. He reached for her bag and handed it to her. After she slipped it on, he grabbed her hand and tugged her along. "Just try'n keep up, a'right?"

They were almost to the field beside the farm when the torrential rain began to beat down on them. She could barely see for the water in her face. Her hand still held snug in his. She wasn't about to let go now. The lightning lit up the sky, and she visibly winced, getting even closer to him without any prodding on his part.

He stopped in the canopy of the trees right on the edge of the field. "We can make a run for it. My tent is the closest, but we're gonna be soaked to the skin." He noticed her teeth chattering already. He chewed at his lip. "On three we run, a'right? I got dry clothes there that'd be a'right for now." He studied her face. "One. Two. Three..."

They took off, still clutching each others hands as they ran. He wouldn't normally care about the weather, but he knew she was freezing. Not more than five minutes later they were at his tent and he was fumbling to get the zipper open.

Soon as the tent was opened, she was pushed gently inside. She turned to see him slipping in behind her and re-zipping the zipper to keep the rain from flooding the floor of his tent. She wrapped her arms around herself and looked around. She'd been there not too long ago, but that felt like an eternity. And again, she felt just as safe.

He began to rummage around in his meager pile of clothes for something she could put on to keep warm. He managed to pull out a shirt and pushed it into her hands. "That...that should cover you. And what it don't cover, you can get inside the sleeping bag." His cheeks were flushed red and warm and he avoided her eyes.

She managed to catch his hand and when she did so, his eyes snapped up to hers and she held them in a steady gaze. "We can just turn our backs and get changed and dry," she suggested to put him at ease.

He nodded slowly and rummaged for something for himself. He found a dirty pair of trousers and another shirt. "Okay. You let me know when you're done..." He didn't want to embarrass her or himself for that matter.

She nodded slowly and gave him a reassuring smile. She turned her back to him and quickly set to work changing her clothes. She kept sneaking little glances at him. It was hard not to do with how small his tent was. She could hear ever move he made. The last glance that showed his naked bum was the last one she took. Her cheeks flamed red then. She whispered, "I'm finished."

"I ain't. Don't turn 'round yet." He found it difficult to pull on dry underwear and a pair of trousers in the cramped space. He grunted and huffed, finally managing to get them on and fastened. "A'right."

She turned around and prayed that he wouldn't see how red her cheeks were. She swallowed trying to wet her throat. "Thanks..." she said and scooted into the sleeping bag, but she remained sitting up.

He cleared his throat and looked up at the sky. The rain wasn't letting up, and he knew how much she hated closed in spaces. "I got a deck a cards if you wanna play a game or something..."

Her eyes moved over to him. "Yeah. Keep my mind busy..." she nodded slowly and shifted so they were face to face. "So what we gonna play? Poker? Gin Rummy? Go Fish?" She rattled off the only three card games she knew anything about other than Solitaire.