Authors note: I have no rights or ownership over any of the walking dead characters or plot lines, this story was intended to be an alternative to season two. Alice is my own character and is based loosely around myself. Her history is not my own history though other aspects of her ethics etc are based around my own. Criticism is always welcome and much appreciated. If you want you can follow me on twitter Pixie_Photos. As always enjoy! Peace. X
CHAPTER ELEVEN
I woke with a start, the room was dark save for a trickle of moonlight leaking in through the half open curtains. I rolled over to my side expecting to see Daryl sleeping peacefully next to me. To my surprise I was met with nothing more than an empty bed and a ruffle of sheets. I pushed myself up into a sitting position and looked around the room, he was no where to be seen. Charming, uses me then slips out before I woke up. I ruffled my hair a little trying to stop myself from crying then slipped out from under the covers and found my clothes from across the room and pulled them on. I clipped my bra up and caught a glimpse of my ribs in the mirror. I paused for a second then walked over to the mirror and took a closer look at the bruises. My tattoo on my ribs was practically invisible underneath the blackened skin. I sighed loudly then pulled my tank top on over my head and, shoving my cowboy boots on, headed down stairs. I stopped just around the corner of the stairs as I heard angry voices coming from the kitchen below me. I quietly sat down on the step I was standing on and listened to the conversation.
"I sympathize with ya Rick, I do, but I ain't got the resources or the place for ya to be here as a permanent thing," Hershel. What the hell was he saying,
"Ya tellin' me we have to pack up and leave?" Rick sounded just as disbelieving as I was.
"Ya found that little girl, ya boy's startin' to look better, as soon as he's stable enough to travel I expect ya to be gone," his tone sounded very final.
"We can hunt, we can look after ourselves, we wouldn't use any of ya resources, we could help ya protect the land. Build ya a fence, keep ya safe," I rested my elbows on my knees and listened a little closer.
"I appreciate what ya sayin' Rick, but I don't need them things, I need to keep the resources I have for my own people, I can't be sharin' the towns supplies and the like with a group as big as yours," time to interrupt. I stood up from my little perch and clunked my way down the remaining stairs. They both looked up at me standing on the little platform, Rick looked worn out and stressed, Hershel just looked blank.
"What time is it?" I asked walking down the last few stairs and coming over to stand in between them a little.
"Just passed one am," Rick said tearing his eyes away from Hershel and looking at me.
"Y'should get some sleep," I said gently to him, stuffing my hands into my back pockets.
"I'm meant to be on lookout till mornin'," he replied wearily.
"Don't worry 'bout it," I said shaking my head a little, "I'll cover ya. Go see ya boy," I tilted my head a little towards the other room. Rick looked between the two of us then with a resigned nod he headed off, mouthing 'thank you' to me as he passed. I waited until I heard the door click shut before I turned to Hershel and started the questioning.
"Don't say nothin'," he said leaning against the kitchen bench.
"Fine, just know, if ya throw them out, I'm goin' too," I said grabbing my crossbow from by the stairs.
"Y'always have a place here, y'always did, Maggie appreciates ya bein' here, especially now since Billy and Patricia are gone," so Shane and Dale had found them then.
"I'm sorry t'hear that," I said simply before walking out of the kitchen door, which had been fixed back onto its hinges and properly secured, and onto the porch.
Shane was leaning against the wall, his rifle clutched tightly to his chest when I rounded the corner.
"I take it ya got the next watch?" he said turning his head to face me. I nodded at him slightly.
"Daryl went out to the RV," he said looking down at the floor then back up at me.
"How're ya dealin'?" I asked. The RV comment hadn't gone unnoticed but then again, I wished it had. He scoffed a little and kicked his boot against the floorboard a little.
"It's hard, y'have to," he paused and sighed loudly, "y'have to almost block it out, find some way to make it alright," he gripped the rifle in his hand a little tighter.
"Y'did what ya had to do to keep that little boy alive, I don't know what kinda hell it is ya draggin' yaself through, but I think ya need to remember that that little boy in there is alive because of what ya did. That definitely ain't nothin'," and with a final nod and a completely lost and helpless look, he walked passed me and headed into the house. I leaned back against the wall where Shane had been standing and stared out over the pitch black night. Daryl was in that RV. He'd purposefully gotten up out of bed, gotten dressed and snuck out of the room with the intention of leaving me there alone. I took a deep inhale of the fresh night air and slowly let it out.
"Shouldn't have done it," I whispered to myself softly.
"Done what?" I jumped at the question and looked around. There was no one on the porch. I walked over to the handrail and looked over the edge. T-Dog was sitting with his back against the bottom of the porch his legs outstretched in front of him.
"What're ya doin' down there?" I asked peering over the edge and raising my eyebrow a little at him.
"Gettin' some air," he said simply, raising his eyes to meet my gaze. I smiled at him a little then, letting my crossbow hang across my back hurtled over the edge of the handrail and landed with a soft thud on the ground next to him.
"So, what is it ya shouldn't have done?" he asked after I had taken a seat next to him.
"Gotten involved," I said with a soft laugh.
"With the hunter boy?" I went completely silent and looked at him closely.
"How'd ya..."
"Please," he cut me off, "it's almost as obvious as a gun to the face that ya keen on the guy," he gave me an easy smile. I was walking into unfamiliar territory here, I didn't usually have people showing interest in my personal life and after what Daryl had done, I wasn't too fond of the idea of letting someone else in.
"We just like the same stuff," I said simply, "besides, he used me for what he wanted and that's that." I tried my best to sound indifferent, though I doubted it had worked.
"And what's that? Huntin'?"
"Exactly," I said with a light laugh.
"He's a good guy," T-Dog's voice was low. I swallowed hard and drew my legs up a little shifting my crossbow from around my back to sit in my lap.
"He saved me twice, made sure my ass was safe from them walkers, even though I dropped the key to his brothers handcuffs down a drain by accident which meant he got left on a rooftop to die," my eyes went wide as I turned to face him.
"His brother?" I questioned.
"Yeah, Merle. He's the other Dixon, he was a crazy racist asshole, but his brother is a good guy," he turned to face me. I pursed my lips a little in thought and decided to leave it at that. Questioning things, in my experience, made it a whole lot worse than it was.
He stood up after a while and with a 'night'. He wandered off to the tent that was set up outside. I sat there for a while staring at my cowboy boots. I was glad I had decided to bring them and my bike boots along, they were the most comfortable shoes I owned, and in a world going to shit like it was, comfortable was a luxury. I pushed myself up off the ground and walked around the perimeter of the house searching the open fields for any sign of life or movement. Luckily for me there was nothing, unluckily though, it gave me way too much time to mull everything over with Daryl. I kicked a rock absently as I came to the conclusion that sleeping with him was possibly the worst choice I could have made. He'd gotten up and left me there, whatever excuse it was that he could come up with, couldn't possibly be good enough to merit that sort of an action.
"Hey," I turned to see Maggie sitting on the rail of the porch, her legs dangling down just above one of the rose bushes near the house.
"Hey," I walked over and stood in front of the rose bush and looked up at her, "can't sleep?"
"Dad told me ya know about the shed," she was staring intently at something in her hand turning it over and over again.
"Yeah," I studied her face a little.
"I can't keep doin' it," her eyes had gone all glassy.
"Doin' what?" I asked walking up the steps and standing a few feet away from her.
"Everything," she let out a sigh, "I don't wanna keep goin' down there and feedin' her rabbits and squirrels every few days, it's killin' me, but now with Billy gone, Dad definitely won't let her go," her voice was quivering something chronic, it wasn't hard to tell that she was choking back tears.
"I don't know what to tell ya, I don't," I said softly playing with my crossbow a little.
"It's not y'problem. Ya don't need to say anythin'," she forced a smile at me then went back to staring at whatever it was in her hands. I stayed there with her for a while longer before finally deciding to go and check out the other side of the house.
I stood there over looking the empty paddocks for a while. I was just starting to wonder who and when I was going to change hands when I heard footsteps behind me.
"Y'can go get some sleep if ya want," I pursed my lips together at the heavy southern drawl and rested my hands on the hand rail, leaning forwards a little.
"Did y'hear me?" his boots clunked on the wooden decking as he walked over to me.
"Yeah, I hear ya," I pushed away from the handrail and made my way to walk passed him. He held his arm out and grabbed my lightly around the waist stopping me from walking passed.
"Let go," I growled stopping dead.
"What's up with ya?" he was glaring at me but kept his hand where it was.
"Let go!" I said a little more forcefully.
"Not till y'tell me what ya problem is," he quipped back. I let out a loud sigh, the slid the hand gun I had against my thigh out of it's sheath and held it to his temple, staring him directly in the eyes. His face went completely blank and he matched my gaze.
"Let... Go," I repeated more deliberately. He seemed to be almost contemplating what he wanted to do when I snapped the safety off of the gun and narrowed my eyes a little at him.
"Fine," he grunted letting his hand drop and stepping to the side a little. I held his gaze for a moment longer before clicking the safety back on and stuffing it back into the holster. With that I headed back inside and collapsed onto the couch in the main room. I lay there staring at the ceiling for a while before eventually drifting off into an uneasy sleep.
When I awoke the house was completely silent, there was a fraction of light trickling in through the cracks in the windows illuminating the entire room giving it a hazy glow. I sat there for a moment contemplating what I was going to when I finally lifted myself out of the chair and grabbed my crossbow. I slipped silently out of the door and made my way out into the paddocks. I glanced back at the house to see T-Dog standing guard, he gave me a slight nod and them turned and looked the other way. I bit the inside of my lip a little and headed out into the woods. If Hershel wanted us to leave, then we would leave and I had the perfect place for us to go.