Chapter 11

Alice was sure that she would be able to appreciate the sound of rustling leaves more if it didn't spark fear into her heart. She woke up with a start and sat bolt upright, preparing to have to fight a walker. It was a mistake, she immediately felt sick and fell back onto the cushions again with a groan, it took her a few moments to remember where she was and once she did, everything came flooding back to her. The sun was high in the sky and she thought it must be late morning, outside the birds were singing and the fire was now cold in the fireplace, Daryl was gone. She looked down and saw that a blanket had been placed over her to preserve her modesty and she remembered the previous night; the alcohol, the kiss, and what had happened after that.

'Oh shit.' She whispered to herself as she rubbed her forehead with her thumb and forefinger, she did not understand in the slightest why any of her friends had enjoyed being drunk when it led to this. Of course, she wasn't completely oblivious to the hangover but she hadn't expected it to be this brutal. She rolled off of the sofa and pulled on her clothes as she found them on the floor. Repressing a blush with all of her might she tried to stand and found that her head was still swimming lightly, she hoped the feeling passed soon.

She found Daryl on the front porch, staring into the woods. The cold air helped revive Alice somewhat and she felt a little better, she thought she would probably feel even better if she could have some water but water was a small luxury in this world.

'Hey,' She said softly and was surprised at the roughness of her own voice. She coughed to clear her throat as she sat down beside him on the steps, he barely looked at her. She knew that she was embarrassed about her behaviour the previous night but he seemed to be mortified. As they sat in silence Alice pulled her hair from the messy bunches and re-did them a little neater, she felt better with every breath of cold air.

'About last night...' Daryl began quietly and Alice interrupted him before she was even sure what she was saying.

'It was nothing, right?' She said brightly, not trusting herself to look at him. 'We were both just drunk, it happens, people get horny and they screw whoever's there. It's fine.' There was an element of sadness in her voice but she did her best to mask it with the bright and chipper tone she had apparently adopted. She took a deep breath, 'we just shouldn't mention it to anyone else, probably.'

'Yeah, definitely.' He affirmed and they both nodded and caught one another's eye. There was another moment of awkward silence before they both stood up very suddenly at the same time as if wanting to be the first to leave.

'Cool, I mean, we should probably go...' Alice said, gesturing vaguely towards the woods, 'Maggie and the others will probably be wondering where we are.'

'Yeah, you're right.' He replied awkwardly and she made to go back into the house. 'Hey, Ali...' He called after her and she turned to look at him, 'you alright?'

She shrugged and smiled the brightest smile she could muster.

'I feel fine.'

They gathered up their things quickly and ate a quick meal before heading out into the woods. Alice had thought that the food would make her feel better, would settle her stomach somewhat, but it didn't. As she traipsed through the woods, following Daryl and trying to keep up, she kept recollecting snippets of memory from the night before. She couldn't remember it in full but she remembered that it had felt good, that it had felt right, that she had been happy. Daryl obviously didn't feel the same way and she didn't want him to feel like he had any kind of obligations to her. She might have had some kind of feelings for him, she might still have them, she was unsure, but he clearly only slept with her because she was there and they were both drunk. As they got closer to the car she felt lousier all the while; Daryl didn't say a word and she didn't feel the need to strike up any kind of conversation which was inevitably going to lead back to their little secret. She wondered if he would distance himself from her completely again, if she'd really managed to ruin everything this time.

The car journey home was equally as uncomfortable. Alice found herself staring out of the window and avoiding looking at Daryl at all costs. He tried to start conversations a couple of times but she wasn't in a very talkative mood, he put it down to her feeling bad after the amount of alcohol she had the night before.

A few times he thought he heard her sniffling and turned to check if she was crying but her face was turned away from him. When they got back to Hilltop her eyes were a little red but other than that she was alright, Maggie came out to meet them.

'We were worried about you, you were meant to be back last night. What happened?' She demanded, she saw Alice had been crying so let her be and rounded her anger on Daryl.

'It was too dark, we had to stay.' He explained coolly and then walked away. Maggie turned back to Alice and calmed down a little.

'Come on,' she said and put her arm around Alice, leading her back towards the house, Alice allowed herself to be led. 'Are you okay, you look upset?' Maggie asked her quietly as they walked back to the house.

'Yeah I'm okay.' She said and Maggie drew her into the office.

'Talk to me.' She suggested and Alice sighed, she didn't see the point in keeping things from Maggie.

'Don't tell Daryl I told you this because I don't know whether he would want me to…' She said and Maggie nodded.

'Complete confidentiality here.' She assured her and Alice took a deep breath before spilling her heart out to Maggie.

'We found some alcohol and I got kinda drunk and so did he and we kind of ended up… sleeping together.' She said quickly and waited for Maggie's reaction. Maggie was understandably shocked and took a moment to process the information she had just heard.

'You… You had sex with Daryl? She asked and Alice nodded. Maggie couldn't help herself she burst out in a fit of giggles which she tried hard to repress. 'I'm sorry.' She spluttered between her giggles.

'Is it supposed to be funny?' Alice asked, genuinely perplexed.

'No, no I'm sorry.' Maggie said and straightened her face, calming down a little as she tried to return to comforting Alice.

'It didn't mean anything. It just happened, but now it feels weird, you know?' Alice told her and Maggie could genuinely sympathise, it couldn't be easy. She was secretly a little proud that her suspicions were confirmed and she was correct in assuming that Alice had a crush on Daryl. She allowed herself to feel a little smug for a few moments before returning her attentions to comforting Alice, she could tell that Alice had never experienced anything like this before.

'Listen, everything will be fine. If you want me to talk to him I can.' Maggie said and Alice shook her head.

'No! It's fine. I'd rather just forget about the whole thing.' She said and Maggie nodded her assent.

'Okay, just know that I am here if you ever want to talk.' She said and Alice smiled.

'Thanks, I'm gonna go lie down, I don't feel great.' Alice laughed and Maggie grinned in return in understanding.

Alice slowly made her way upstairs and across the landing to her bedroom. Once she was safe in her room she began to let the feelings come. Things were strange and she wasn't sure how to feel, what happened with Daryl had made her feel uncomfortable and insecure but it was still better than what had happened with Gene.

She managed to fall asleep for a couple of hours before she was relayed a message asking for help that evening with one of the children from the trailers. She sent back a confirmation that she would come that evening after dinner and help out. She didn't want to run into Gene but she couldn't see a way out of declining helping children.

The day seemed to crawl by and when she eventually went out to the lesson she couldn't help the way her heart hammered in her chest, every turn brought about the new fear of seeing Gene. She saw him talking to a girl by his gardening patch and hoped that her fears might be abated. She felt a little calmer when she was in the lesson and even began to enjoy teaching again. She left late as usual and found herself starting to enjoy the night air again, despite it being absolutely freezing; and then Gene rounded the corner.

'I missed you these past couple days, how are you doing?' He asked softly, leaning down to kiss her on the cheek. She stiffened and cleared her throat but did her best to keep calm.

'I'm better than I was.' She told him and tried to move around him.

'Where are you going?' He asked, grabbing her arm and holding her fast.

'I'm really tired. I just want to go to bed.' She said and tried to shake him off but he yanked her arm back to him, she hissed in pain. 'Let me go.'

'Why were you up so late? You were out with Daryl, right? What, were you just doing what everyone's been saying you've been doing? You're known as the town prostitute you know.' He grinned and she shook her arm again and tried to shake him off.

'Okay, we're done. Spread whatever shit you want about me, but we're done. Get off of me.' She growled in warning but he just pulled her closer to him and pushed her up against the trailer, holding her with his body as he began to unfasten her clothing.

'I'm going to let that slide, just because you mean so much to me. I know you're not a whore.' He whispered in her ear and she could feel anger and panic rising in her chest as he pulled at her jeans and forced his way into her panties.

'Get away!' She tried to yell but he held one hand over her mouth and pressed his body harder against hers, forcing his hand between her legs and pulling them apart. She couldn't help the tears now and they spilled down her cheeks and over his hand as he forced himself inside of her. She cried out in pain but her screams were muffled by his hand.

Panic set in. Her hand closed around her knife and released it from its holster. She slammed it into his neck and the world stopped.