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Chapter Ten
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Anna paused in the hallway after leaving The Hunter to rest. She could hear voices coming from the kitchen, along with the clattering of pots and pans. The late evening sun shone through the window at the end of the hallway, casting a syrupy orange glow over everything. The house was warm and bright and completely out of sync with everything else in the new world. Anna knew she should be comforted by it, but her instincts still bristled anxiously. Apart from the obvious, what was wrong with this picture? She leaned heavily against the wall and shut her eyes for a moment, trying to order her thoughts.
There was nothing immediately suspicious about Hershel or his daughters – apart from Hershel's reluctance to reveal how Rick and his group came to be at the farm. Rick's group were typical survivors – thrown together haphazardly, barely attempting to ignore how truly incompatible they were with one another. From the ones that she'd met, none posed a threat that she couldn't deal with. Not even Shane.
Because of his physical strength, his personality and aggressive nature could be considered dangerous to an extent, but Anna guessed that this was not his default setting. He probably used to be a really nice guy. Something was needling him deep inside, causing him discomfort. It was obvious that Rick had known him for a long time and Rick didn't present as the sort of person who would willingly associate with someone naturally volatile, so the logical conclusion must be that Shane had a thorn in his paw over something. Rick knew it too, Anna could tell. Shane's outbursts and nasty comments surprised him, made him worry. It would appear that Rick had been thrust unsuspectingly into the role of leader within this band of merry men, and was having trouble adjusting when his right hand man was, simply put, being a dick.
The blonde woman, Andrea, was next on the list. Not a threat insomuch as she didn't seem to mean any harm, but definitely sporting an itchy trigger finger. A minor concern. One that would be considerably greater had she been a better shot.
The Hunter was a little different. He was easy enough to get a read on, mainly because he wasn't trying to hide anything. That wasn't the strange thing. The strange thing was why he was with these people. If the missing girl wasn't his daughter and he wasn't with her mother, so to speak, then his presence in the group was unusual. He could clearly fend for himself, and Anna had watched him communicate with Rick and Shane as Hershel had stitched him up – they were not on the friendliest terms. Anna guessed that The Hunter's upbringing had not exactly been charmed and authority figures probably brought out the worst in him. The question was, why had he stayed with the group for so long with nothing to hold him here?
"Are you alright?" Anna opened her eyes to see a middle aged woman, her hair cropped close to her head, idling at the other end of the hallway, a look of concern on her pretty face. Anna pushed her hair from her eyes and smiled "I'm fine, thank you; I was just taking a moment."
"You must be Anna. I'm Carol." Carol moved closer, her skinny arms wrapped around herself. To Anna, she looked wrung out.
"You're Sophia's mum." No sense in skirting around the subject. Carol nodded, her expression a little vacant but her eyes full of meaning "I'm sorry to hear that she's missing."
"She's been gone almost three days now." Carol murmured, coming to lean against the wall opposite to Anna.
"How old is she?"
"She was twelve last April."
"Gosh – she's a big girl now, then." Anna was immediately transported back to the Accident and Emergency department, standing in quiet corridors in the early hours of the morning keeping watch on strung out parents while the resuscitation team worked on their child down the hall. She would make hushed chit-chat, asking question after question about the child, keeping the parent's minds busy. Others tried to steer around the topic completely in order to distract them, but Anna had always felt that this was counter-productive. In her opinion, it was more comforting for them to be able to think about the child as the person they were before the car accident or the fall or the illness, rather than reminding them that there was a very real possibility that their world was about to end. As far as she was concerned, it was unlikely that there would be a moment from that point on when that child's face wasn't going to be the first and last thing on that parent's mind. It seemed foolish and cruel to try and sully that.
"Yeah," Carol smiled slightly "She's tall too."
"Set for the catwalk then, I imagine."
Carol chuckled "She would hate that. She's a real wallflower." Settling into the conversation, both Anna and Carol stooped to sit on the floor opposite one another, their backs resting against the walls. They talked quietly for some time until another figure appeared in the hallway "You know ladies, we have perfectly good chairs that I would not be opposed to you sittin' on." Hershel's voice was soothing, his tone carrying a glimmer of amusement. Both Carol and Anna offered him a smile "Are you here to check on Daryl?" Carol asked as they hauled themselves to their feet. Daryl. That was The Hunter's name. Hershel shook his head "I've come to check on my other patient." He turned his attention to Anna, who for a brief moment thought he was referring to her before remembering the venflon taped to Rick's arm "I gather you have some nursing experience, Anna. I'd be grateful if you could take a look with me, perhaps give a second opinion?"
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"What do you think?"
"He's certainly putting up a hell of a fight." Anna had listened incredulously as Hershel recounted the story of the boy in the bed before her, and having watched the Vet take a pulse and a blood pressure, she held a stethoscope against his chest and listened to the slow but steady heartbeat "You seem to have performed a miracle. Had I seen this boy in the A&E I wouldn't be holding out much hope," she said truthfully, quickly glancing at the boy to make sure he was still sleeping "Do you think there will be prolonged internal damage?"
"He was lucky; no vital organs were compromised and although there was some internal bleeding, we seem to have taken care of that now. Had the ventilator not arrived in time however, it would be a different story. It had to be collected from the High School a few miles up the road."
"Who went and got the ventilator?" Somehow, Anna thought it unlikely that Hershel would have sent either of his daughters on a certain-death mission to retrieve a piece of medical equipment. Hershel stared down at his hands.
"A very good friend of mine, Otis. He and Shane made the trip but only Shane came back. Otis offered to go because... because he was the one who shot Carl."
"I'm sorry," Anna offered quietly "I'm sorry about your friend." In the bed, Carl stirred a little before settling again. Anna and Hershel waited until his breathing was once more even and easy - the symbol of slumber – before continuing.
"Otis was... a very good person. He gave up his life so that Shane could make it back with the ventilator. His absence will be felt in many ways. But he is at peace now."
"I'm sure of it." Anna placed the stethoscope back on the bedside cabinet "What will happen once he's well again?"
"I've already informed Rick that once Carl is able to travel I would like for his group to leave the farm, in the interests of keeping my family safe."
"And you'll stay here?" together, Anna and Hershel left the room and walked along the corridor. Hershel nodded. Anna was about to ask why when he held up a hand to silence her "Another time." He said gently as they arrived in the kitchen and out of habit, both made straight for the sink to wash their hands.
Beth, Maggie, Carol and two women that Anna had not yet met bustled around the small kitchen. One of them, a tall thin woman with a head full of thick dark hair made her way over to Hershel, drying her hands on a dishcloth "How's he doin'?"
Hershel looked at her with kind eyes "Much the same. No worse. It's best that he continues to sleep for as long as possible."
The woman processed this information, her hands still fiddling anxiously with the dishcloth, before nodding her thanks and turning her attention to Anna "You're the lady that Daryl brought back. I'm Lori Grimes - Rick's wife."
"Anna Spencer."
The other woman moved forward slowly, as though every step were hurting her. Her blonde hair hung in strands about her shoulders and it was clear that she had recently been crying. Hershel moved to place a comforting hand on her shoulder "Anna this is Patricia, Otis's wife." Patricia nodded silently, her eyes once again threatening to fill. Seeing the potato peeler in her hand, Anna recalled the earlier conversation shed had with Beth and saw an opportunity to do Patricia a kindness.
"Here," she said softly, reaching for the potato peeler "I gather you're looking for someone to do that for you."
"Why don't you go rest Patricia? We can finish up here." Lori offered, catching Hershel's gaze over the top of Patricia's head. Hershel nodded silently and gently steered her from the room.
Anna offered a small smile to the remaining women in the kitchen before setting to work on the potatoes. For a while they worked without conversation, the only sounds being the kitchen instruments clinking gently against one another.
"So Anna," Carol began eventually "You used to be an ER nurse."
"Yes. But I promise I've made better decisions since."
A ripple of vague laughter ran around the kitchen "Did you get a lot of crazy stuff coming into your ER?" Beth leaned against the counter as she dried up after Maggie.
"Well..." Anna struggled to think of something that wouldn't put them off their food "We did once have a man come in who swallowed his own glass eye."
Beth's jaw dropped "You're kidding."
"I wish I was. And then there was the woman who rocked up insisting that the wires in her walls were making her sick."
"And were they?"
"I doubt it. She lived in a pop-up tent outside Camden station."
X
Rick and Shane were wiping their feet on their way into the farmhouse when a gale of laughter rang out from the direction of the kitchen. They glanced at one another, eyebrows cocked, and for brief moment Rick was reminded of better times. Lori had had a group of friends who seemed to live at the house. He and Shane would often arrive back to the sounds of constant inconsequential chatter and laughter. At the time, it had irked him. Now though, he missed it.
"Hens always flock together." Shane grumbled. Andrea, who was making her own way through the door followed by Glenn, T-Dog and Dale, stopped to shoot him a dirty look.
"And that's not sexist at all because...?"
Shane decline to answer her, instead stomping away into the house. Rick sighed. Moment over.
X
Anna couldn't remember the last time she had felt so many eyes on her. She kept her gaze on her plate, unsure of what to do or say. It was clear what the majority of people in the room were waiting for her to say, but she found herself at a loss over how to broach the topic.
In the end, it was Rick who spoke out "Anna if you don't mind, I'd like to hear some more about the compound you've been telling us about." He shot her a look that said he had noticed the bristling tension around the table as well.
Anna sent him a grateful glance "What would you like to know?"
X
The oppressive temperature hit Anna like a wave of heat as she alighted from the jet, her eyes shielded from the bright North Carolina sun by her (offensively expensive) sunglasses.
"Miss Spencer?" a solidly built and good looking middle aged man stepped forward from between two armed soldiers. Anna nodded her answer, afraid that she would unlikely be heard over the jet engines, still intrusively loud even as they cooled down. She could already feel a trickle of sweat running down her back and tried not to grimace as she reached for the hand that was being held out to her "Call me Anna!" she fairly shouted over the roar. The man's handshake was firm ad confidant.
"My name is Griff Jones. You were recommended to me personally by Alex Carling at Scotland Yard." Anna bit back a smile. Trust Alex to have connections with the CIA "Alex and I worked together on a case a year or so ago." She explained, the smell of aviation fuel still strong in her nostrils even as they clambered into the waiting towncar.
"He told me you'd be the one to blow the lid off this thing."
"Unlikely, but it's nice to know he still cares." Anna's stomach jolted unpleasantly as she felt the car move off. She wasn't a poor traveller, but the journey had been bumpy and around halfway through the sleep deprivation had finally caught up with her. She tried to take a deep calming breath without Griff noticing, but the expression on his face told her she had been caught out.
"Don't worry – you'll get a chance to sleep before we throw you in off the deep end. It'll be another six hours or so before your interviewees arrive. They're being transported from Washington."
"Thank you," Anna breathed a sigh of relief "I was just about reaching my seventy-two hour limit."
"In that case, I'll brief you fully once you're rested and ready to go again," Griff shifted to face her "But I feel I should warn you that we're in pretty deep here. You have no idea how much your assistance is appreciated."
"Agent Jones, I hope my abilities haven't been overestimated. I very much doubt that this will be a one person job."
X
Anna sat back and let the rest of her dining companions assimilate what she had just told them. She noticed that Shane sat back with his arms folded, his gaze burning a hole in the table top. What was his problem?
"So..." Dale began eventually "What were you doing at the compound in the first place?"
"I was on secondment from the UK."
"A spy? Hey Rick, load up the truck, this broad must be trustworthy – she's a goddamn spy!" Shane jeered from his end of the table.
"I'm not a goddamn spy," Anna could feel the anger rising within her "I'm a goddamn spy-catcher."
"Yeah?" Shane sneered "What's the damn difference darlin'?"
Anna glared and him and through gritted teeth she growled "When you're a big boy, I'll show you."
The scrape of chair legs against the wooden floor vibrated through her as Shane jumped to his feet, leaning toward her over the table, his eyes half closed menacingly "Girl, you better start talkin' 'cause I'm about done bein' patient with you. Now what the hell is a spy-catcher?"
Anna levelled her gaze at Shane, looking almost disbelievingly at him "What do you think it is? It's hardly going to involve gardening, is it?" At the sight of Shane's nostrils flaring, Anna sighed and with pronounced effort so to indicate that he was being exceedingly stupid, she said "I. Catch. Spies. That's what a spy-catcher does. I get information out of people."
"Bet that makes you a pretty effective liar." Shane hissed. Anna opened her mouth to retort but Rick slammed fist down on the table, making everyone jump.
"Shane, stop. You can't just go around accusing someone you've known for less than twenty-four hours of meaning harm. Anna has been honest with us."
"How the hell do you know that?"
"Because what sense would it make to lie about a safe house two states over? As a lie it's over-elaborate, but as truth... it makes sense."
"Give that man a coconut." Anna muttered.
Shane's eyes flashed with fury and he threw one last dirty look at Anna before stalking out.
There was a moment of awkward silence at the table before the sounds of a child coughing in the next room brought Lori, Rick and Hershel to their feet.
Anna nudged Carol "I'll help you clear up."
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Sorry about the wait for this one! I'm also pretty sure it ended on an unsatisfactory note but I wanted to post something so...