I've been looking at crossbows and I think I've settled on the Barnett Jackal as my weapon of choice. I hear lots of good things about it. Man...I'm about to freak out from excitement! Also, went out and shot my 12 Gauge shotgun today and realized how much I missed it! Been at school in the city for too long...far too long.
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
"Mr. Daryl...?" the small voice made Daryl nearly jump out of his skin and he turned around to find Sophia staring up at him, looking slightly afraid.
"Jeez, kid, you don't need to be sneakin' around! If you got somethin' to say just say it!" he snapped, his heart calming down quickly, but he hated that she had been able to surprise him. Maybe his senses were dulling!
"Sorry," Sophia's eyes dropped to the ground.
Nice job, you big asshole...
"Whad'ya want?" Daryl purposely softened his voice slightly. Sophia didn't raise her head but scuffed the dirt with her shoe.
"My mom wants you...she's in the RV." she replied softly. Then she turned quickly and ran over to where Carl was standing with a basket in his hand. Carl gave him a look of dislike and Daryl sighed, feeling like a completely worthless human being, and walked to the RV.
Carol swung the door open just as he was going to open it and it missed smacking him in the face by mere inches, causing him to take a quick step back.
"Whoops! Sorry, Daryl," Carol apologized with a laugh.
"Ya tryin' to ruin my good looks, lady?" Daryl griped.
Carol gave him a look he wasn't sure how to read and then she shoved a basket into his hand, he looked down at it, confused.
"I need your expertise, Mr Backwoodsman," Carol stated, nodding at the basket he was holding gingerly. "Sophia, Carl and I would really like to go looking for berries, mushrooms and plants we can eat."
Daryl wanted so badly to say something snarky and rude as he usually did but instead he found himself wanting to smile. Finally, someone was taking this whole "winter is coming very soon" thing seriously besides him!
"Good idea," was all he said in reply before he turned and made his way back to his tent to get his crossbow.
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
"There," was all Daryl said, he pointed down at a cluster of bright green plant life. To Carol and the kids it looked like a patch of shamrocks, but Daryl squatted down and started pulling it up, handing it to Carl to put in his basket. When he had depleted the supply of plants on the ground he stood back up and took a handfull back out of the basket and held it out for them all to look at.
"What is it?" Sophia asked, picking a single three leafed piece from Carl's basket an looking at it with interest.
"It's called wood sorrel," Daryl replied, turning the greens over in his hand. "Go on, taste it."
He took a piece and ate it, stem, root, flower and leaves all together. The others followed his example and their faces were priceless.
"It tastes like a green apple!" Carl stated as he chewed.
"No cooking required either," Daryl said as he put the rest back in the basket and winked at Carol, "If you ask me, that's the best part about it."
Carol nodded in agreement, anything that didn't require cooking sounded amazing to her. She nibbled on her pieces of sorrel as they continued moving and scanned the ground for more of the bright green treat. But before she found anymore of it, Daryl motioned for them to stop and he raised his crossbow. Carol didn't know how he managed to see the rabbit because she wasn't able to even pinpoint it until his arrow was sticking in it, she found herself looking at him with a sense of pride and admiration as he strung the rabbit on the rope he always had on hand.
"Nice shot," she stated with a smile. He looked at her for a second, almost as if he was expecting her to say something sarcastic and when she didn't he just nodded his thanks and began walking again, leaving the others to follow.
"Look! Mushrooms!" Sophia squealed excitedly, pointing at the base of a large tree to their right.
Carol noticed Daryl stiffen as the kids ran to the patch of frilly-looking fugus.
"Hey, don't eat none o' those!" he hollered after them. He shook his head in annoyance and crossed the distance between him and the kids in just a few angry strides. Carl looked up at him guiltily, a mushroom in his hand.
"I'm sorry! I...I only took a little bite! " he squeaked when Daryl snatched it from his hand and glared down at them.
Carol pulled Sophia up and into her tightly. The look on Daryl's face at that moment reminded her so much of the moment just before Ed would snap and hit her or Sophia, whichever was unfortunately closest and she found that familiar fear grab her heart and squeeze. But his stance wasn't one of aggression, she noted as soon as the thought has passed, and his expression held more fear than it did anger. She released Sophia when she realized that his harsh actions were nothing but concern and worry about the children's safety.
"Are they poisonous, Daryl?" she whispered, eyeing Carl and waiting nervously. Sophia was whimpering and Carl's face was pale and his eyes were brimming with tears.
Daryl let out a long sigh and tossed the nibbled mushroom piece off to the side.
"You're one lucky son of a bitch," he muttered, giving Carl what was an odd mix between a glare and a grin.
Carol let out the breath she had been holding and knelt next to Carl to pull him into a hug.
"Thank God," she muttered. Daryl crouched next to her and pulled out his buck knife to start cutting the mushrooms.
"Hen of the Woods," he stated matter-of-factly, like that made any difference to Carol. But she looked at the mushrooms closely, committing their appearance and the site where they grew to memory...you never know, she might need to find them again someday.
The patch of mushrooms was actually a very large yield and Carl's basket was completely full between them and the sorrel.
As they moved on from the patch, Carol snuck a look behind her at Daryl. He was staring straight back at her and she looked away quickly, blushing. Good grief, she was trying to be discreet!
"What?" she heard him ask from behind her, suddenly only a few inches from her and she jumped in surprise.
"N..nothing, I was just seeing if you were there," Carol replied lamely, still a little caught off guard.
"Of course I am," Daryl replied indignantly, "What, you think I'm just gonna sneak off and leave ya'll out here or something?"
Carol didn't get an answer out before he passed her by quickly and walked away bristling almost visibly.
Somebody's a little bit touchy today...
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
This foraging thing could have it's perks...
Fuckin' stop that!
What? I'm just saying...it's about the only chance to be alone with anyone.
Alone with Carol, you mean?
Well...
Since when did you start thinking about her like this?
Daryl's mind was a constant battlefield today. He had woken up with her face in his mind's eye and he hadn't been able to shake her from it since! She was getting under his skin and it seemed like every time she was close to him at all today little jolts of energy would shoot through him.
He found himself unable to concentrate very well as they left the mushroom patch. He watched her from behind as they started walking, admiring the way her hips moved and the tone of her calves just below the hem of her khaki capri pants. He noticed how she didn't let her arms wing loose as they walked but she crossed them in front of her, her left hand holding her right elbow in a defensive stance.
Earlier when Carl had scared the shit out of him by pulling that stunt with the mushroom, the fact that she had pulled Sophia away hadn't been missed by him. The look in her eyes and on her face made him want to kick himself in the ass! Looking back, he wished he had taken it calmer and hadn't been so rough on the kid...
What! You had every right to be! Any stupid kid knows ya don't eat wild mushrooms without knowing exactly what you're putting in your mouth!
He's just a kid, and a city kid at that.
No excuse. It's common sense.
Well it could have been handled a little better.
You mean you wish you hadn't scared Carol? Admit it, this ain't about Carl's reaction.
She doesn't deserve to be scared anymore.
It's a scary as shit world out ther in case you haven't noticed...
Yeah, well...then all the more reason. She should be able to count on the people in thei group, not feel threatened by them.
By you.
Daryl shook his head angrily, ridding the thoughts from his mind. He found his eyes traveling back to Carol and just as he trained his eyes on the back of her neck, she turned and looked right at him! As quick as she had looked back, she snapped her head back around. Daryl found himself needing to shorten this space beteen them so he quietly stole up behind her, purposely getting into her personal space.
"What?" he asked, wondering what she had looked back for. Maybe she had something to say.
"N..nothing, I was just seeing if you were there," she replied, he saw her jerk in surprise and she stepped away slightly, eyeing him warily.
If Daryl had hackles they would have raised at that moment. So that was it? She was worried he wasn't going to sneak off somewhere? Maybe all that he had done for her so far hadn't proved anything after all.
"Of course I am," he snapped visciously, he felt his chest tighten at the thought of her words. "What, you think I'm just gonna sneak off and leave ya'll out here or something?"
Without waiting for her excuses, he turned on his heel and went to take the lead of the group, increasing the pace to a furious walk.
There was no way he was ever going to be able to push through the shadow that had been Ed Peletier and there was no way he could let his guard down enough to tell Carol the truth...so why even try?
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
I meant this chapter to be longer but I have to leave soon so I had to cut it short. More to come, possibly even by this evening! Thanks to everyone who is still reading even after my long dry spell in NYC! You all rock!