Chapter 10

"You're not serious, are you?" Even in those hurried whispers as the two of them hung back from the rest of the group, he could pick up the disbelief in her voice. "They had guns in our faces a moment ago and now we're just gonna go with them?"

Daryl looked up from the ground, meeting the interested gaze of two of the men walking in front of them as he did. They seemed to be slowing down, probably to try and catch what she was whispering about. Her eyes told a different story though, big and wide behind her rectangular frames, she seemed actually worried, scared even. It was the first time he'd seen such a thing from her and he couldn't help but frown at her reaction; this wasn't ideal by any chance but maybe these guys knew who the black car with the white cross belonged to? And if so, maybe they could Beth back. He was just beginning to explain that to her when Joe's voice rang loudly in the quiet of the day.

"Well Len, I don't think your claim's gonna hold," he said with the same type of odd glee in his voice he'd had when he'd talked about Daryl's crossbow or he'd asked what would be the point of hurting yourself when you could hurt others. The man in the hoodie standing next to him was glaring in their direction and mumbled something they couldn't hear from where they were, still the gray-haired leader's response came to them loud and clear: "I'd have thought that'd be easy to guess, but guess not. It's not gonna hold 'cause it seems like the vest and the girl were already claimed before they met us."

There was another nasty glare from the man Joe called Len, and one more mumble that they couldn't quite catch which seemed to lead to sighs of disappointment from the rest of the group as well. He turned back to Michelle who was eyeing the whole group suspiciously, with a death grip on her bloody walking stick.

"Hey," he started, getting her attention back as the group began walking again. "Maybe they know who owns that car. Maybe we can find Beth." He'd touched a cord with that, her face changed right away, fear turning into hope before fading back into worry as her eyes moved from his to the six men walking ahead. Something about them was scaring her and if they were to be traveling with this group even if just until they'd asked about the car, he needed to try and get her to relax even just a little. "Plus, we ain't in any shape to be on our own right now. Extra protection could come in handy."

She was debating the whole thing in her mind, he had some good points that she couldn't deny it. And she really hoped they could find Beth and resume their strange little trio again. But, those men made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on ends; she's survived this apocalypse up to now by trusting her instinct which was now screaming at her to run as fast and far as she could.

"I've seen men like that before," she responded, looking right into his eyes to be certain he understood her. "And I've made it this far without getting... without certain horrible things happening to me and I don't want to take a chance with that..."

"I wouldn't let that happen." He understood why she was worried, those men definitely didn't seem like a friendly group but where she'd only seen men like them before, he'd grown up with them and yes, they might be rough around the edges but they weren't psychos.

"I appreciate that." She nodded, as if agreeing with what he said. Even if she knew he meant it, she wasn't fully reassured though. This whole claiming business they kept going on about and the way that disgusting one with the bow had leered at her made her more than uneasy, she needed to feel safe if she was going to stick around and there was one thing that might do it, but she didn't know if he'd go for it. "They just don't seem like the type who'd take no for an answer but, they might respect another man's... territory, for lack of better words and they, somehow, seem to think that I'm yours..."

He gave her a weird look, obviously wondering where she was going with all that, and to be honest, she wasn't certain herself. The whole thing, that even at the end of the world men still thought of women as property, was just making her skin crawl, and to have to ask something like this of someone she actually was growing to respect made her feel pathetic.

"I'm not asking you to do anything, just don't deny it if they ask... please?"

It was the way she said please, her voice going up by an octave or so, that made him agree. If it made her feel safer, he would do it. Anyway it wasn't like it would require much from him, she wasn't asking for him to convinced them or to act as if she really was his girl, simply to let those guys believe what it seemed they were imagining about them.

"You got it."

"Thanks, Daryl."

As the day progressed, Michelle quickly began reverting back to the way she behaved when she'd first joined up with Beth and Daryl. She walked at least four step behind the rest of the group, her eyes fixed on them. She barely said a word and, for the first time in days, she'd pull her gas mask out of her backpack and put it on as if it was battle armor.

They made their way down the tracks, toward some unknown destination, and because the last twenty-four hours had not been unpleasant enough, two different packs of walkers stumbled upon them. In a way though, it was good therapy, getting all that anger and sorrow out on the flesh-eating undead. But the calm that came after surviving an attack only lasted so long, soon enough she would find herself clenching her jaw in frustration some of the comments she heard from the men ahead of her or as a way to keep herself from crumbling at the thoughtthat now she'd failed not only Ellie but Beth as well.

Finally they settled for the night, away from the tracks, in the forest. Attaching stringed-up cans to trees felt almost normal until she'd turn around and see the company she was in, and once again, she had to try and shut her brain up as it pushed for her to just disappear in the darkness. Maybe it would be for the best but she'd already lost Beth today and she wasn't ready to give up Daryl as well. They may have had their rocky moments, but he was still one of the only two people she still trusted in this world and that was worth something.

To his credit, he kept close to her once they stopped for the night, sitting by her as they warmed up around a small fire. They didn't have anything to eat, even though the rest of Joe's group did, but none of them offered and they weren't about to beg. "I'll get us something in the morning," he'd told her. "There's gotta be some squirrels or rabbits or something in these woods." Neither of them felt comfortable sleeping with the six of them around, but running through the night after the car had left them drained of all energy, and much to their dismay, they quickly found themselves fading. They laid down in the leaves, the same way they'd been standing against Joe and his men earlier; back to back and ready to take down whoever or whatever had the bad idea to come at them.