A/N Trouble ahead. Enjoy
xxx
Chapter 10
When Daryl arrived for breakfast the next morning he greeted Carol with a tired expression.
"Looks like someone didn't get much sleep last night" she innocently commented, ignoring the colour that rushed to his face. Tasha slipped into the room a few moments later, yawning as she took her bowl of oatmeal from Carol. She decided to ignore the raised eyebrow and knowing smirk on the older woman's face.
They sat at different tables and were so obvious at ignoring each other that everybody noticed.
"You two had another fight?" Maggie pulled out a chair and sat next to Tasha, Glenn took the seat opposite.
"What was it about this time?" he queried.
"We aint had a fight, don't know what yer talkin' about" Tasha shifted uncomfortably in her chair, not meeting their eyes.
"You're clearly avoiding each other this morning, just assumed you weren't talking" Maggie looked between the two of them, knowing something was going on.
Daryl sat at a table with Rick and Carl. He saw Rick staring at him with a small grin on his face.
"Missed you at dinner last night" Rick commented casually.
"Wasn't hungry" Daryl grunted in reply
"Guess Tasha wasn't hungry too" Rick didn't look at his friend, just carried on eating his breakfast.
He saw the spoon hesitate halfway to Daryl's mouth, before the hunter replied
"Guess she wasn't"
"Went to your room, just to check you was okay, you know after last time?" Abruptly Daryl looked up, seeing Rick grinning broadly. "Didn't need to knock 'cos I'm guessing it was all going pretty good"
Daryl dropped his spoon into his bowl and, without saying a word stormed from the room.
"What's up with him now?" Glenn commented as they saw him stride through the door. Tasha looked over her shoulder and saw Rick smiling at her. When she caught his eye his smile grew and he winked at her knowingly. This didn't go unnoticed by Maggie.
"Oh my God" she laughed "Now I know why you both missed dinner last night and why you're pretending not to see each other. You two finally got together"
Tasha shoved her bowl across the table and stood up.
"Hell, aint you people got anything better to do than interfere in other folks business?" With that she also stormed from the room.
"How they ever managed to stop being angry long enough to get together is gonna be one of life's mysteries" Glenn muttered as he tucked into Tasha discarded breakfast.
Tasha strode down the corridor and headed up the stairs to the roof. She liked it up there, it was quiet and somewhere she could think. She wasn't embarrassed about spending the night with Daryl, she just didn't think it was anyone's concern but theirs. She shoved the door open and walked outside. It was going to be another hot day and she appreciated the slight breeze she could feel on her face. She walked to the edge of the building and stared out over the forest.
"They piss you off too?" Daryl was leaning on the wall, near the doorway, smoking a cigarette.
She nodded and went over to him. She took the cigarette and took a long pull on it before handing it back.
"Didn't know yer smoked" he took a drag himself and held it back out to her. She shook her head.
"Gave it up a few years back, just needed a pull to calm down" she told him.
"Should've guessed can't keep secrets in this place. Don't know how Rick guessed so quick" Tasha was pacing the roof top.
"Came by our room last night to check we was okay when we didn't turn up for dinner" Daryl looked sheepish "Guess we should've been bit more discreet"
Tasha flashed him a grin.
"Yeah I guess we did get a bit enthusiastic at times"
They exchanged glances as they thought back to the previous night. Both seemed to have the same idea at the same time and they closed the distance between them, Daryl dropping the cigarette as he caught her face in his hands. Their lips crashed together in a hard, passionate kiss, arms wrapping around each other as they tried to get as close as possible. They were breathing heavily when they parted.
"Gonna have to find a place no one knows about" she told him "somewhere we don't have to worry 'bout being discreet"
He grinned at her "Why, what yer got planned?"
She gave him a suggestive look "You find us a place and I'll show yer exactly what I got planned"
He feigned indifference "You gonna give me an idea so I know it's worth my time finding somewhere"
Even though there was no one around to hear she still leant forwards and whispered into his ear, smiling as his eyes widened slightly and a smile crossed his face. When she stepped away he turned and headed for the door.
"Gonna start looking" He reached for the door handle.
As she turned back to the forest Tasha caught sight of a flash of movement, close to the edge of the trees.
"Did you see that?" She called softly. He was back by her side in a second, keen eyes searching the forest .
"Movement, just on the tree line behind the storage shed" she told him as they both looked into the forest. There was a glint of sunlight on metal and they both swore as they saw two large military trucks on the road in the distance. They appeared to be stationary and wouldn't be visible from anyone looking on the ground.
"Need to go tell Rick and the others" Daryl stepped back and headed for the door, Tasha following. He yanked the door open, stopping when he heard a cry from behind him. Tasha was stumbling towards him, an arrow embedded in her leg, just above her knee. He started towards her and an arrow whistled past his ear, just missing him. Both dropped to the ground.
"Go" she hissed at him "Warn the others. I'll be alright here, if I stay low the bastard can't get me again" she saw the indecision on his face.
"Go" she snapped "You gotta tell the others. This looks like big trouble"
He knew she was right and with a final look he slipped through the doorway. She gave him a few minutes to get down the stairs then dragged herself towards the door. It had swung shut after he had passed through and she had to reach up for the handle. As her fingers reached it she felt a sharp pain and saw another arrow protruding from the back of her hand, pinning it to the door. She swore loudly and tried to pull it free but it was firmly embedded in the wooden door. As she slumped back down she heard the sound of gunfire coming from both inside and outside the compound, then the sound of heavy vehicles followed by crashing and the screeching of metal. She realised that whoever was attacking them had used the heavy trucks to tear down the fences. Terminus was now well and truly breached.
Desperately she reached up with her good hand and pulled hard on the arrow, it came away from the door and out of her hand and she dropped down again. Her leg was bleeding and the arrow had passed right through, the tip slicking out the back of her leg. She ripped the sleeve from her shirt and tied it around her thigh, just above the arrow. She took a deep breath and gritted her teeth as she gripped the shaft and pulled it from her leg. She gave a muffled cry as the tip pulled free. She used the other shirt sleeve as a make shift bandage over the wound, then tore a strip off the bottom of her shirt and bandaged her hand, pulling the fabric tight to stem the bleeding. Cautiously she lifted her head, peering towards the trees. She caught a glimpse of a man with a bow, leaving the forest and heading for the broken down fence. She guessed he was part of an advance guard, sent ahead to scout. He'd obviously seen her and Daryl and tried to take them out to stop them warning the others. He reached the fence and scrambled over the twisted metal, heading for the building she was on. She swore again, angry with herself for being stupid enough to leave her weapons in her room. She hadn't thought she would need them to eat breakfast. She forced herself to stand and limped over to the door, still clutching the arrow she'd pulled from her leg, she would wait for the man to come out then jump him from behind, she might be able to disarm him. As she waited she could still hear gun fire, mixed with shouts and screams. The longer she waited the angrier she got, she couldn't wait to kick some ass.