My first day of college, at the parent orientation, Momma had apparently found a friend for me by introducing herself to the people next to her and saying "My Jenny don't suffer no fools, what's your daughter's name?"
I know this because Amy, the daughter of those parents, found me on the first day of classes and told me her parents had responded by asking my name, program, and dorm. To be fair, Amy and I did become friends, but I never admitted to Momma it was because she had set us up.
"You know," Momma started, "you could try just a bit harder to be friendlier with Andrea. I'm sure she's just feeling a bit left out."
It took everything in me not to roll my eyes.
"There's a dozen other people in this group she could be friendly with. It's not that I don't want to be friends with her, it's just after two months I have yet to find something in common." I focused hard on the rip in Daryl's jeans I was fixing. "Plus, she's been all chummy with Shane lately, she doesn't need me." More specifically, Andrea was slowly working her way onto my "fools" list.
"Mmmhmm." Momma said.
"Momma…."
"I'm just saying it wouldn't kill you is all."
"Ok, ok, I'll try a little harder." I said, with zero intention of doing so.
Andrea, T-Dog, Rick, and Shane eventually all returned from their grid search empty handed and disheartened. After handing off watch duty to Andrea (who in all honesty I didn't come anywhere near to trusting to protect us with that rifle), Momma and I settled by the camp fire to finish the mending. The fire was hot in the setting Georgia sun, but we we're going to need it for the light soon enough, so I tolerated the beads of sweat soaking up my shirt.
Daryl hadn't returned yet, which was expected considering the ground he was hoping to cover, but it had reached the point in the day everyone was feeling a little anxious about his return. It wasn't safe in the woods at night alone, even for someone as skilled as Daryl.
I looked over from my rough and ready stitches I was slowly working my way through to the neat and tidy pin straight line Momma had crafted down the side of one of Carl's shirts.
"How do you always get yours so nice like that?" I asked, feeling extremely frustrated with the Frankenstein vibe my repairs were giving off. I knew Daryl wouldn't notice or care, but the others might not be so gracious.
"Just patience, and about forty years more experience."
"Yeah, yeah." I mumbled, barely avoiding maiming my fingers with the dull needle.
The normal hustle and bustle of the camp had settled into a peaceful quiet as everyone wound down for the evening. Dale had settled into some reading in the RV. Rick was in there too, doing lord knows what. T-Dog and Shane were napping in their respective tents.
Carol and Lori had gone up to the farm house to prep dinner for the Greene's, a good will gesture that I think was more to take Carol's mind off the current situation than anything else. Glenn had parked his behind on the porch with Dale's guitar, apparently under the impression that his random string plucking would sway Maggie into doing it with him again.
Dinner at the farm house was an invitation only affair. We wouldn't possibly all fit in their dining room, so the guest list had been limited to Carol, Lori, Rick, Momma (also me, but I had politely declined), and Glenn (color me surprised).
"Walker!" Andrea shouted from the top of the RV. "Walker!" I leapt to my feet and scrambled up the ladder quickly.
"Just the one?" Rick said. He had quickly gathered outside with Dale, Shane, and T-Dog around the vehicle.
"Dale," I leaned down from the roof, "binoculars!" Andrea had her eye glued to the scope of the rifle. The heavy binoculars were pressed into my hand.
"I bet I can nail it from here." Andrea stated.
"No, no, Andrea." Rick sounded nervous. "Hershel wants to deal with walkers."
"You best let us handle this," Shane said. I couldn't see what they were doing, I pressed the binoculars hard to my face, trying to follow Andrea's gaze. There, at the edge of the clearing, something shuffling towards us, dragging….something. It was hard to tell.
"Andrea, don't." Dale said, sounding like he was coming up the ladder himself. Heavy footsteps thudded away from the RV, I looked away from the binoculars quickly to see Shane running dead straight, locked onto the incoming target, with Rick and T hot on his heels. As they got away from the RV I looked back out through the lenses. Something didn't seem right here. This walker wasn't moving, well, much like a walker.
"I'm telling you, I can hit it." Andrea said.
"Don't be stupid, there's a high chance you'll hit Rick or Shane out there." I responded.
"I can do it!" Andrea said forcefully.
Looking through the lenses, the shapeless thing out there started to come into focus. "Andrea, don't, I think it's just –"
BANG. I recoiled sharply, snapping a hand up to the ear that was only recently starting to regain it's full hearing range after Shane snapped the shotgun next to it at the CDC. "Mother fuck—" One hand clasped to my ear, I dropped the binoculars and spun to Andrea.
Screaming, the most horrible sound, Rick screaming from across the field. It cut through the ringing in my ear like a knife.
"No! No!"
"It was Daryl you asshole!" I shouted before somewhat carefully throwing myself down the ladder of the RV and running hell bent out to the others. Pounding footsteps behind me signaled someone was following, but I didn't bother looking back to see who.
Panting with burning lungs I got to the others.
"He's alive," Rick said, heaving the clearly unconscious Daryl up between him and Shane. "We gotta get him back to the house."
"What happened to him? Are those ears?!" Glenn had appeared, clearly noting the mess Daryl looked.
Daryl was covered in blood, tied up in wet field bandages, and yes, wearing a necklace of (hopefully) walker ears. I grabbed his crossbow from where it lay in the grass and looked back from where I came.
"Let's keep that to ourselves," I heard Rick say.
Andrea, Momma, and Dale met us halfway, all clearly distressed for different reasons.
"Oh my God. Oh my God, I killed him!" Andrea wailed as she pressed in front of me.
They started to slowly drag Daryl back towards the house.
"Shut UP," I hollered, pushing past her to follow the group. "It's not about you right now."
Momma was walking with Rick and Shane now, poking at various excessively bloody spots on Daryl, trying to assess the damage.
Dale peeled Andrea off back towards the RV as we rushed past it, clearly sensing Andrea wasn't going to be tolerated at this moment in time.
"Do you think he's bit?" Glenn worried next to me.
"I don't know," I replied. "Shit, this thing is heavy." I readjusted the crossbow over my shoulder. I was panting with the effort of my sprint across the field and subsequent trek back. Track and field was never my strong suit.
We were greeted at the porch by Hershel and his family.
"Get him inside, upstairs, all of you are staying out here." Hershel pointed a finger directly at Glenn and I. "Mrs. Lingle, I'll need your help please. I'll speak to you all about this after." Hershel's stern timber echoed across the porch like the voice of God himself. Silently Momma moved passed me, rubbing my back gently as she went through the door. She caught my eye briefly, I'm not sure what she saw on my face, but it caused her to give my shoulder a little squeeze.
I turned back to Glenn as the others disappeared into the house. Heaving a deep sigh, I sat down heavily in one of the porch chairs, set the crossbow on the rough planks beside me, and buried my face in my hands.
Glenn, smartly for once, remained silent.
"I might actually kill her." I said.
"Jenny…" Glenn looked at me. "She didn't mean it…" he trailed off, barely believing his own words.
"She didn't mean it, but her stupidity might actually get us all killed one day. I mean, if she wasn't so hell bent on impressing everyone and showing off to Shane and Christ her stupid face when I –"
"Jenny." A hand on my back. I shut my mouth and looked up at Glenn now standing in front of me. "He's going to be fine, and Rick won't let this slide." Staring at him I nodded then gazed out across the porch and heaved a sigh. I leaned forward and rested my elbows on my knees.
"It could have been me, or you, or Momma, or literally anyone. She could have actually made the shot, and one of us would be dead."
"Yeah, I know, I get it. Like I said, Rick won't let it slide." Glenn placated. We waited in silence for a bit before eventually Rick and T-Dog joined us. I stood up as Rick met us out on the porch.
"He's alright," Rick said, coming over to our corner. "Your momma and Hershel are patching him up. Looks like he fell on one of his arrows. He found this." Rick held out a tattered doll that had once been Sophia's. "He's awake, said he had found it at the bottom of the creek bed. I'm gonna go bring it to Carol, let her know what's happened. Your momma said she would come get you when he's all set."
"Rick, you can't just let Andre—" I started, trying to catch him before he left the porch.
Rick paused and put a hand on my shoulder. "Your momma has already given me the full run down, all of it." I looked at him wondering what that meant. "I'll talk to Andrea, don't worry." I just nodded, not really knowing what else to say. "Stay for dinner Jenny, you'll be happier here than back at camp right now." He didn't wait for a response before walking off the porch in search of Carol, T-Dog following close behind him.
"Come on Jenny," Glenn tugged at my sleeve. "Sit down. I'll catch you up on operation Greene."
I stared at him questionably.
Glenn looked around, as if to make sure no one was listening. "That's my code name for getting Maggie to date me."
"….code name….date you…." I stared somewhat blankly at him. "You know this is practically the apocalypse right? You don't really have to worry about the dating part of this thing."
"Yeah well, that line has already worked on her once and I don't imagine it working a second time."
I kept staring at him, then burst into laughter. "Please tell me you didn't actually use that line."
Glenn grinned at me, "I mean….I won't not tell you…"
I sat back down waited for him to divulge.
After an hour on the porch, Glenn and I had been graced by the rotating presence of Maggie, Carol, and Lori. All of whom took turns speculating about what exactly Daryl had found out there.
Shortly before we were all supposed to sit down for dinner, Momma came out to let us know she and Hershel were finished and Daryl would be needing someone to bring him some supper.
"I'm recommending you, baby girl." Momma said. "You're the most neutral party. He's liable to throw the plate at anyone else and I need a minute to sit these old bones down."
"Yeah, sure." I said, taking the offered plate from her and heaving his crossbow back up onto my shoulder.
"Fair warning," Momma continued, she had eased herself into the chair I had just vacated, "he's quite the bear when he's hurting." I nodded, having assumed as much considering he wasn't exactly rainbows and butterflies when he was feeling good either.
At the top of the stairs I paused at the door and took a breath, prepping myself for what I was about to encounter on the other side. A sudden flash of my brother Jack, angry and in a hospital bed swam across my mind. I took a deep breath and slowly opened the door with one hand and balanced the plate of dinner in the other.
My eyes met Daryl's and my brain took a moment to fully take in the scene. He was standing in the en suite bathroom directly across from the door I now stood in, nearly naked, eyes as wide as mine, balancing one hand against the back of the toilet and…peeing, oh shit I walked in on him peeing.
I felt my face burn red hot with embarrassment.
"Shit, fuck, I'm sorry!" I spun around quickly and shut the bedroom door so no one in the hall would see, but stayed standing like an idiot, my back to the bathroom and my nose nearly touching the wood door. The crossbow had dropped to the floor with a solid thud.
"Ever heard of knocking? Fuck's sake." I heard the toilet flush.
"I'm sorry!" I cringed again, not only at the fact that I violated the privacy of possibly the most private person in our camp, but also because I had gotten a clean view of all the "trouble" Momma always said had been put on him.
Scars of all shapes and sizes crossed his sides and back starting at his shoulders and trailing under the bandages around his stomach and the waist of his briefs. The kind of scars you don't ask questions about and don't ever expect to be told about.
"You gonna just stand there or you gonna help me back to the God damned bed." I could hear him panting and I stole a peak over my shoulder to see him leaning with his eyes closed against the bathroom door jam. Quickly, I put the plate down on the side table and rushed to grab his elbow. He swung his arm over my shoulders and leaned heavily on me. His skin was hot against mine and I wasn't going to stand there and pretend he smelled like magnolias.
"You reek Dixon." I said, moving slowly with him across the room.
"Yeah, well, your momma ain't the sponge bath kind of nurse." I dropped him unceremoniously onto the bed and earned a satisfying grunt. "Bitch." He grumbled breathlessly.
"Could have asked Hershel." I said, pulling the blankets up around him as he got settled.
"Nah, he was enjoying stabbing me with the sewing needle a bit too much." He groaned in pain as he fished around in the blankets getting comfortable.
"Here, eat, Momma said it'll do you good." I shoved the plate in his hands. He started to shovel food in his mouth with all the grace of a rabid dog. "You want me to stay…or…."
Daryl paused to swallow and shrugged a little. I eased myself into the chair that had been left next to the bed.
"How long did Hershel and Momma say you should stay up here?"
"Don't matter, I'll be fine to go back out tomorrow."
"Don't be ridiculous, you just needed me to walk you back from the toilet."
"If you're gonna sit there and tell me what to do you can fuckin' leave."
Bear indeed. I leveled him a stare that would make Momma proud.
"Carol is waiting for the second I leave this room to come up and pounce on you with her motherly love and feelings and gratuity. If you reaaaallllly want me to leave, I'm happy to go find her downstairs and tell her you're alone and need help." No answer. I moved to stand up.
"Wait, no, shit." He half heartedly lifted his hand and gestured for me to stay.
"Thank God, I really don't want to have to sit through dinner downstairs with everyone." Daryl gave a low chuckle then grabbed his side.
"Shit." He wheezed. I sat there keeping my hands to myself, he wasn't the kind to let you fuss.
"How close did you come?" I asked quietly, watching him close his eyes and breath through the pain.
"To finding Sophia?" He said.
"To dyin'." I said a little more sharply than I meant to. He opened his eyes and watched me for a beat, then shrugged.
"Too pissed at myself to die. Plus it didn't help I had Merle in my head calling me a pussy every step, would have lived if only to shut that bastard up."
"So…real close." I said decidedly. He shrugged again, not meeting my eye. I was about ready to slap that shrug right outta him.
"Weren't the first time, won't be the last. It's just the way things are now."
"Well, you're going to pretend I didn't say it but…I'm glad you're ok. I've missed hanging out with you. Haven't had a lot of time to do nothing on watch together since we got here."
"You mean, you miss stealing my cigarettes." He stated boldly.
"Well, since I'm bettin' Momma's gonna hold you hostage up here for at least the next 48 hours, you better be nice to me if you want someone to be sneaking you smokes."
"…You packin' right now?"
"Oh, so now we're friends again?"
He sat up straighter. "Give it up, girl! Don't hold out!"
I pulled the lighter and pack of cigarettes out of my pocket. Glen had run and grabbed them out of Daryl's tent, along with some clean clothes at the request of Momma, while we were waiting.
"Your momma keeps telling me Lingle girls are angels, I'm starting to agree."
"I figure you got an hour before they finish dinner and kick me out." I stood up and leaned across him to open the window next to the bed. For a second I was acutely aware again of his state of undress. Ten years ago Momma would have skinned me alive for being in a room with a boy with a closed door, regardless that I was in college. And a shirtless boy at that? Well I might as well have my obituary ready to print.
"Want one?" He offered me the pack as I sat back down. Gingerly he reached over and hung the cigarette out the window.
"I'm good thanks. If I go downstairs smelling like a backwater bar they won't let me back up tomorrow."
We just sat there for a moment, enjoying each other's company.
"Thanks." He said quietly, avoiding looking at me.
"For what?" I said.
He just shrugged.
I kept staring at him. He began to pick at the blanket.
"For puttin' up with me." He was looking at the cigarette in his hand, doing his best to avoid all eye contact. "Not many folk do."
"You're my friend Daryl, it's what friends do." I said.
A/N We're on a rolllllllll. Can't stop. Won't stop. Thank you all for the reviews, favorites, and friendly PMs : ) It feels so good to be writing creatively again! Next couple chapters are already written. Also I'm going to be going back through the previous chapters to repair some of the grievous grammar and tense mistakes. Reviews feed the soul! Leave me a note!
