I'm back baby! Classes have been crazy, between A.P and college, eh it's just not fun. Trust me. But I'm back! I am working on updating all of my fics and this will be the first! Sorry for the wait and I hope you enjoy. Oh and thanks.
The sound of the cell door, slowly being shut, awoke me from the thin veil of sleep I was under. Peeling my eyelids open, I propped myself up onto my elbows to see Annabelle struggling to carry two plates piled with food. I reached out and took one as she smiled at me.
"You were still sleeping so I got food." She said as I sat up in the bunk, crouched over slightly as she sat down next to me, placing the plate on her lap. "They have eggs here. Carol made them." She added, poking at the eggs with her fork before slipping them into her mouth. I smiled at her and nudged the eggs with the fork around my plate. Putting the fork down, she looked over at me and swallowed her eggs. "You're hungry." Annabelle said simply as I cast my eyes onto hers.
"Don't worry, I'll eat later. I'm going to go see if I can go bag anything if Rick'll find someone to watch after you." I said, stabbing a small piece of egg and placing it in my mouth to appease her. Annabelles eyes flickered over my features before giving me a small nod and finishing off her eggs. "Here have mine." I said, taking my plate and putting it on top of hers. Moving her eyes from the full plate to me, then back. Slowly, she picked up the fork and looked at me. "Go ahead." I encouraged as I stood up and rifled through our bag. Hearing the scooping of the fork and satisfied swallowed, I sighed happily and pulled out clean clothes. I turned around to see the plate clean and the two forks laying across of it. "Now get changed and I'll go put these back. I'll try and find someone who can watch you for an hour or two." I said, trading the clothes for the plates as I stepped out of the cell and began adjusting the curtain in front of it. A coughing erupted out of the cell as I finished draping it across the doorway. I pushed it back to see a red faced Annabelle sitting on the bottom bunk with her hand over her mouth. "You okay?" I said, placing the plates down on the desk and kneeled down in front of her. Pressing my forearm to her forehead, I felt the warmth radiating off of her skin.
"My throat hurts." was all she said in a raspy tone. I bit down on my bottom lip as I removed my arm and she looked at me.
"Alright." I said, picking her up and laying her down on the top bunk. "Today's a pajama day. I'll get someone to check up on you and I'll go ask Beth if they have anything in terms of medicine." I told her as I tucked her securely underneath the blankets and tucked Eeyore in next to her.
"Will you come back soon?" She asked in the same raspy tone, clutching the small purple toy. Brushing a strand of hair away from her eyes, her fingers reached up and grasped onto mine.
"As soon as I can." I replied simply as she carefully released my fingers and pulled her arm back to her chest. "Get some sleep, you'll feel better." I said, shrugging on a jacket and slipping my bow onto my back along with the sheath of arrows. Reaching underneath the bed, I took out my gun and slipped it in the waistband of my jeans. Brushing the sheet back away from the entrance with the hand that wasn't carrying the plates, I stepped out, turning around to close the cell door behind me. Hearing the door shut with a click, I walked into the big room that was at the end of the cell block before you took the hallway that took you outside. Beth was sitting at a table with her Carol. They were chatting politely which slowed when they saw me enter.
"Good morning!" Beth said, with a smile in her eyes as she stood up. "I hope you liked breakfast." She said, taking the plates from my hands. "It's not much, but it's food." Looking at me with bright blue eyes, I nodded in response.
"It was great, thanks. Annabelle loves eggs. It used to be the only thing that she would eat, well besides Bojangles, and it's pretty damn hard to find that now a days." I said with a twisted tone of humor in voice that leaked it's way in unannounced. The room filled with silence as Beth placed the plates in a tub that was on the table off to the side. "Anyways, do you know where Rick is?" I asked, filling the silence.
"He's outside with Carl and Judith, are you planning on going on a hunt?" Carol asked me as her eyes raked over my bow.
"Yes ma'am." I replied. "I was going to ask if the other guy was back to see what ground he had already covered. Wouldn't want to go over an already combed area." I said.
"Daryl's not back yet." Beth said. "I'm sure that he wouldn't mind talking to you when he gets back, if you want to wait." She offered.
"Do you know when he's supposed to be back?" I asked as they exchanged looks. "I'll take that as a no. I'll just go ahead and head out then." I said, adjusting the strap and making my way towards the door that lead outside. Pushing the door open, the blinding mid-morning sun broke into the dark room as I turned around slightly and caught Beth's attention. "Would you mind checking in on Annabelle every once in a while? She feels a little warm. She'll probably be sleeping the entire day, but it would be nice to have someone just pop in on her." I asked as her eyes lit up and she nodded.
"I can go find my dad later on and he can check up on her, he's a doctor. Well sort of." She added at the end as I nodded in response.
"If it isn't any trouble." I said.
"Not at all." Carol added in as I nodded once again and stepped outside into the sun. Shielding my eyes as the door shut behind me, I could see Rick, Judith and Carl all in the field, close to the fence. There was two fences around the entire prison and the outer one was swarmed with walkers trying to push it over with their sheer weight. In some places, they seemed to be achieving their goal, the fence being held up with logs. I made my way down the field and noticed that Rick was actually farming. Pulling up weeds. He had a large expanse of crops, a whole farming operation actually. Carl noticed me first, holding Judith in his arms. He gave me a small wave along with a timid smile. Rick looked up from his crops, shielding his eyes with his hand, gave me a smile.
"Well good morning. I see you slept in then." Rick remarked, as he stood up and wiped his hands on his jeans.
"I tried, Annabelle's the early bird." I said, as Rick cast a glance behind me.
"Where is the little one?" He asked, checking behind me once again.
"She ain't feeling too good." I said, giving a small grin to Judith who smiled at me, before hiding her face in Carl's chest. "I was wondering where it would be okay for me to start hunting. It's time that we start pulling our weight, we wouldn't want to be a burden." I added.
"Your other group place a lot of stock in keeping up your end of the bargain?" Rick asked, taking out a cloth and wiping the sweat off of his brow.
"Something like that." I said, crossing my arms against my chest. "Where did your guy go already, if you know." I asked as Rick and Carl exchanged glances.
"I think he headed out south." Carl pipped in, looking at me with those blue eyes. "Took the main road a little bit past where we are and headed in the wood near there."
"He's already cleared everything out around the prison, besides the walkers either eat or scare anything else away." Rick finished. "You should wait for him to get back, he's got a map with him, could show you the layout of the land and get a plan set up just incase things go bad."
"I wouldn't want to wait any longer, do you know when he's getting back?" I asked again as Rick let out a small chuckle.
"I don't think he knows when he's getting back. You could talk to Mi-" Rick started to offer as the sound of one of the metal doors opening echoed across the prison yard along with frantic running. My head snapped back towards the large building to see Glenn running out with his pistol in hand before he shouted out to us.
"Walkers in D!"