Finally, an update on an actual Friday! I'm starting to sound like Pewds...
I had a guest review asking why I always say 'blink with eyes'. I laughed about it, but if it annoys you, I'll try to do it differently. (English isn't my native language :P)
I'm a little sick, so don't expect this to be the best chapter of the story...
(Disclaimer; I do not own The Walking Dead)
Enjoy! ;)
Chapter 8: Homefront
We're walking next to each other, following the road, just like Alexa planned. I sometimes turn my head to look at her. Just a quick glance. She keeps her eyes on the front, face blank, acting like she doesn't notice. But she sometimes folds her hands into fists, so I know she knows.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not a creepy pervert or anything. I'm just really confused. Alexa keeps confusing me, but last time I asked, we ended up shouting at each other, and we only happen to have more questions after. I may be a little afraid for the answer, but I know that I'm making her uncomfortable with my hesitation.
I clear my throat, and she looks up, a little relieved that I finally ask. Maybe she's afraid to start about it too.
"So…can I ask you something?"
A quick smile crosses her face. "As long as it's not about my anger issues…sure."
I clear my throat again, a little nervous. "Uh…why did you come back for me? I mean…you came to look for me, but you hate me-"
"I don't hate you!" she interrupts me with a sneer. I shut my mouth, and Alexa widens her eyes, as if she realises something. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'll try to keep it down."
I grin. It's pretty funny to see her try so hard to be nice.
"It's OK, I don't mind. It's the walkers I'm worried about. And…Harold, or whatever his name is."
"Yeah, you're right" she approves, with a careful smile. She quickly looks over her shoulder.
"But…why did you come back?" I ask again, trying to stay to the subject. Alexa bites her lip and blows air out of her nose.
"I don't know. I guess I didn't want you to die. Yet." She kicks a stone away from her foot. "If I really wanted you dead, I would've killed you myself."
I swallow a bitter taste down my throat, a little shocked by the answer. But when I think about it, it's actually quite positive. In a really weird way. She doesn't want me dead anymore, maybe she even starts to like me. I look at her again. OK, maybe 'liking' isn't the word.
"You never apologized for that" I say, and she frowns.
"Apologized for what?"
"For pushing me in the hands of a group of walkers….?"
"I don't see why-" She stops right there. She has raised her voice, and is now putting her hand over her mouth in shock. I chuckle.
"That's not funny!" she tries to be angry, but a smile is hiding in the corners of her lips.
"No, it's not funny at all" I say sarcastically, and she gives me a shove to the shoulder.
"Do you wanna know why or not?"
"Yeah, of course!"
"Well…" She then sighs. "Honestly; I don't think I should apologize yet. I mean, I was really mad at your dad and indirectly at you, and just you whole group. I thought your dad deserved the same thing that happened to me; lose somebody you care about."
I nod. "It sounds…reasonable. I mean…revenge does that."
"I'm not sorry, though" she shrugs, and I lift an eyebrow. "Really, I'm not. Don't you think you made a mistake too? You somehow managed to make me not like you instantly, and that's not because you're the son of the guy who killed my friends. It was just something that annoyed me about you."
"Wow…thanks for the honesty" I mumble sarcastically. Alexa looks at the ground, a little ashamed. And now it's awkward again.
We both say nothing for a while, lost in our own thoughts. I don't look at her anymore. All I do, is looking in front of me. The ground under my feet is getting harder, more like stone instead of dirt, which means we're almost home.
I see she notices too. Alexa digs her toe into the ground, looking at it while putting a strain of hair behind her ear. She avoids my eyes, but I can see hers are watery. Did I do something wrong?
Because I don't know what I have to do, I pretend I haven't seen the tears. Just keep walking, you're almost home.
Maybe it's not me. Maybe she's just lost in thoughts, or memories. I can relate to that.
I suddenly realize I don't know much about Alexa. I've known her for almost three days now, and it's taken me that long to really get curious who the this girl is.
She hasn't said a word about her family, except for her friends, and Ash doesn't seem to be a relative either. Is she an orphan? Does she have any siblings? What's her birthday? Where did she use to live? Where did she go to school? What's her favourite food? Band? TV-show? Book?
"We're close" she suddenly says, ripping me out of thoughts.
"Yeah, I know" I say. I see her wipe a tear out of the corner of her eye, and I look the other way. I just don't know what to do, OK?! This girl's been really mean to me, and now we're both walking home, and she's crying her eyes out over something and I don't know what.
I sigh, knowing I can't get us home with her being in this state. Think of what a man you know and what he would do in this situation….Hershel would give her a hug. But he's like a Santa-look-a-like. Everybody loves a hug from Santa. My dad would pat her shoulder, and walk away, doing something more important. Daryl would bow his head, and chew on a straw, looking the other way. Glenn would talk to her, like he talks to Maggie or Beth. He's got at that. Merle….well, let's not talk about him.
As you can see, I don't really have the best male-examples. Perhaps I should do a combo of The Hershel and The Glenn.
"Hey…" I say carefully, looking at her. Alexa blinks.
"What?"
"You OK?"
She shrugs. "I don't know. I just don't know."
"You wanna…sit down or something?" Gah, I'm bad at this. Alexa shakes her head and sniffs her nose.
"You wanna waste any more time?" she replies. She grunts. "Why do I keep doing that?"
"You're just…frustrated" I say. "I get it. I can be a dick sometimes too, even if I don't want to. Can't help it sometimes."
Alexa narrows her eyes. "Yeah….exactly."
We're already starting to hear the moans, and the fences peek through the trees. Almost home.
"You'll get past it" I shrug, feeling like we're finally able to have a normal conversation. "Takes a while, but you'll see."
"Thanks" she says.
I put my hands in the pockets of my jeans. "That's OK. You owe me."
We finally step away of the forest, into the direct sunset.
"Wow, what a day" Alexa sighs. She looks at the prison, the long shadows of the buildings falling on the grass. I see Carol walking around the gate with a machine gun around her shoulder. I can't help but to smile. Home. Never thought I'd be so happy to see this horrible place again.
"You ready?" I ask. Alexa lifts her eyebrows, and a little of her old sceptical self has returned.
"Of course, dumbass. I've not been walking all those hours to see the view."
"OK" I chuckle, and I start walking. With a little jump over the ditch, I land close to the fence. I turn around, thinking I can help Alexa, but before I can offer my hand, she's already standing next to me.
"What are you waiting for?" she asks, pretending to be annoyed, with a smile. I offer my arm to her, like a real gentlemen. She rolls with her eyes, but, surprisingly, takes it.
A walker is turning his head as we walk by, but Alexa kicks it in the stomach. We walk through to the next gate, where Carol widens her eyes, seeing the two missing kids walking up to her, covered in dirt and leafs.
"Carl…Alexa…" she gasps, running to the lock. More walkers are paying attention to us now, and I'm starting to worry. We're still in the middle, and we're drawing more and more attention to ourselves. If Carol doesn't open the gate now….
I look at her, and she looks back. "Care for a run?"
"Let's do this" she says, and we let go of each other. I grab my gun, even though it's not loaded. Always useful as melee, though.
Alexa grabs a knife from under her shirt. Did she have that the whole time….?!
Alexa stabs the first walker getting in her way, blood splashing on her arm. She pulls it back, jumps over the corpse, and sprints towards the gate.
I follow her, a little slower. I have to say; she's tough.
I slam my gun against the skull of one undead bastard, and kick another one out of my way.
"C'mon, man, what's taking so long?!" Alexa teases, shouting over her shoulder.
"Little busy over here" I reply, preventing a walker from grabbing my leg.
Carol finally opens the gate, and Alexa walks onto the courtyard. Carol grabs her machine gun as soon as she sees the walkers closing me in. She starts firing, making me a path, while Alexa is encouraging me by shouting really offensive things at me.
"C'mon, you pussy! Is that all you got, cowboy?!"
As I walk on the courtyard, she closes the gate. Alexa crosses her arms over her chest, and I narrow my eyes.
"Was that really necessary?"
She shrugs. "Probably not. Still fun."
Carol suddenly grabs me and takes me in a tight hug. The machine gun falls on the ground.
"Oh, honey!" Carol says into my neck. "Where have you been?"
I hear the door to the cellblocks open, and my dad, Daryl, Ash and Merle come storming out, armed and ready for a fight. The gunshot must've given them the wrong ideas about what is going on here.
My dad stops running as soon as he realizes who the two dirty kids are. He drops his gun, and stumbles towards me, as if he's dreaming. He takes my head in his hands, and looks me in the eyes. He then pulls me against his chest.
"Oh, man" he mumbles. "I thought I'd lost you."
"Alexa?!" Ash suddenly says. With an excited yelp, Alexa runs up to her friend. She jumps into his arms, and Ash swings her around the courtyard. It's nice to hear her laughter.
Ash puts her down on the ground again, and grabs her by the shoulders. "Don't you ever, ever do something like that again, you hear me? No more hide and seek. Seriously, you scared the shit out of me."
Alexa puts her hands on her hips. "What'd you think of me? You guys were the ones bailing on us."
Ash grins, a little embarrassed. Alexa hugs him once more, and mumbles something I can't hear.
My dad finally lets go of me, and I can breathe properly.
"C'mon," he says, "let's get you guys something to eat."
Only a few minutes later, we're sitting at one of the metal tables in the cellblock. Alexa sits at the opposite of me, with Ash next to her. She's eating her plate clean with small bites, as if she's afraid to eat too fast.
"If you keep eating this way, your food will start walking away from you" I joke, and Alexa rolls with her eyes.
"Old joke. You should refresh sometime, cowboy."
My dad comes walking back from the one of the cells, followed by Hershel. As I watch the old man hop over to my side, I remember myself to thank him later, for teaching me how to comfort someone. Especially if that someone is a girl. He unintentionally learned me a lot, and pretty much helped me out of the most awkward situation.
"Hershel's doing a little check on you guys" my dad explains, as Hershel sits down next to me. "Just a quick look for any scratches or wounds that need to be treated."
I see Alexa's face get pale, and she eyes Ash. He lays a hand on her shoulder and whispers something. Alexa sighs and nods, but she's still not comfortable.
Hershel quickly inspects my head, neck, arms and ankles. For scratches and ticks.
When he's finished, he gives me a pat on the back. "Looks good, son. Only one thing; wash yourself, would you?"
I grin, and the old man chuckles. He gives me my hat back, and makes his way over to Alexa. She suddenly looks like a scared little girl, instead of a mean and cynic one. Hershel smiles at her.
"Hello" he says, holding out his hand. "I don't think we've officially met. My name is Hershel Greene."
Alexa looks at the hand, confused. She hesitantly takes it. "I'm Alexa."
"Hi, Alexa. I understand this must be a little odd for you, but I have to take a quick look over your skin, just a little check-up. If that is OK with you?"
Alexa glances at Ash. "Sure. Go ahead."
Hershel does his little routine, but hesitates when he comes to the shoulders. He takes a closer look and narrows his eyes. Ash sits up. "What is it?"
"Did I get bit? Am I going to die?" Alexa asks, squeezing her hands together. Hershel shakes his head, but doesn't understand Alexa can't see that.
"I found a tick, nothing to worry about. We just need to take it out, and you'll be fine."
"OK, cool" Alexa says, sighing relieved. Hershel stands up.
"Aren't you gonna ask if it will hurt?"
Alexa shrugs. "Not really interested. Couldn't be much worse than taking an arrow to the waste."
I widen my eyes. "You did what?"
"OK, let's not talk about this now" Ash says with a low voice. He looks worried, and the subject of Alexa almost dying isn't helping. But Alexa likes to tell me all about it.
"We once had a confrontation with some gang who fought with sticks and arrows. It kinda got outta hand, and we had to run. But I got shot, and we had to find a place to hide, and then we met this doctor, and everything turned out just fine."
"Yeah, you were lucky" Ash sighs, ruffing her hair. Alexa tries to flatten it again, even though it's already been through the woods. Here and there a leaf sticks between the brown hair.
My dad sits down next to me, and looks around. "So, let's talk about what happened. How did you guys manage to survive?"
I look at Alexa, who's continuing her meal as if nothing's happening. So I guess it's up to me.
"Well, first we found a tree to hide in, but the walkers were on to us, so we couldn't climb down for a long time. We waited all night, and just before morning, there were gunshots and the walkers went away. We climbed down, and…..well….uh…"
I don't really know what to do. I haven't told my dad about the first conversation I had with Alexa, and I'm not sure if I should tell him now about what happened in the woods. Alexa puts down her spoon.
"Well, we had a little disagreement, and split our ways for some time" she says on a calm tone. "After a while, we found each other again, and decided that it was better for us to stay together and find our way to here."
"You shouldn't split up" Ash immediately says after. Alexa rests her chin on her hand.
"Yeah. I know."
I look at Alexa. She hasn't said a word about the Governor. Has she forgotten? Or doesn't she care? Does she want to? Should I say it?
I try to catch her eyes, but she's turned her attention to her porridge again. I try to pull off a little less subtle approach. Under the table, I kick my foot against her knee. She frowns, and looks up, furious.
Ash lifts his eyebrows, but I ignore it. I look questionably at Alexa, and she knows what I mean. My dad also notices something's up.
"What is it?" he asks me, but I'm not the one supposed to be answering. I nod my head towards Alexa, and my dad looks at her.
"OK, there's one more thing" Alexa gives in. "I met this guy in the forest. He was wearing clean and complete clothes, so I knew he wasn't from around. And he was wearing an eye patch. He told me he was looking for a boy my age, and the rest of the description was identical to Carl. I told him I didn't see anyone around here. He seemed to be very interested, and he was really creeping me out. He said his name was Harold."
"Did he ask anything else? About the prison, maybe?"
Alexa shakes her head. "No, just about Carl."
My dad runs with his hands through his hair. Ash looks confused and worried, almost scared.
"Rick, who is this man?" he asks. My dad looks at Hershel, who stands on the doorstep with the emergency kit.
"It's kind of a long story" my dad says. "To make it short; he's the guy who runs the town we thought you were part of. He kidnapped Maggie and Glenn once, and tried to kill us when we stroke back."
"Did he do anything else?" Ash asks to Alexa, who has her mouth full of porridge. She shakes her head lightly, not really caring for the serious tone of the conversation.
"Do you think he's behind all this?" Ash asks, and my dad shakes his head.
"I don't know. Could be, could be not. Maybe it's a coincidence, him being close to the shop after what happened there, or maybe it's somebody else."
Hershel sits down next to Alexa, and opens the medical kit. He grabs something that kinda looks like a thick needle, but with a vacuum at it.
"This might sting a bit" Hershel warns, but Alexa keeps calm. Hershel puts the weird thing on her shoulder, and basically sucks the tick out of her skin. Alexa lets out a little grunt, but then stands up.
"Now, if you would excuse me; I'm going to take a bath, or something similar to that, and have a really long nap."
"Sounds like a great plan" I say with a yawn. I notice the worries on my dad's face, and all the problems he has to deal with are suddenly written all over his face. The Governor, maybe another enemy, his son in danger, new people, protecting the prison….
I feel like I should help him, but I also know he won't let me. He always does things the way he prefers to. And nothing is getting in his way. Not even me.
Before I walk to my cell to get some clean clothes, I see Beth siting on the stairs with Judy in her arms. Beth greets me, happy to see me alive.
"She's missed you" she says, holding up Judith. I take my baby sister in my arms, and smile at her. She lets out a cry and touches my dirty cheek with her thick baby-hand.
"I've missed you too" I say, and give her a soft kiss on the forehead. Judith starts crying, and I give her back to Beth.
"It's good to have you back" she says. I grin.
"Good to be back."
