Daryl awoke with a start. He hadn't slept that deeply in he didn't know how long. He looked over to see Isabeau silently staring out the window at the gate in front of them. The sun barely lit the area, the trees and vegetation were so overgrown-it was like being in a damn jungle. Although this much shade would keep a person cooler during the heat of the summer. He saw there was some kind of crumbling brick wall running off to both sides of the gate-if they couldn't open the gate they might be able to climb up on the wall and see what was on the other side.
"Looks like somethin' out of a horror movie," he rasped. Isabeau jumped slightly and turned to him smiling.
"Was there a sign that said what kind of hospital this is? Or the name of the hospital?" she whispered excitedly.
"I don't remember," he mumbled. "What's got you so stirred up?" He sat up and pulled a cigarette out and lit it, taking a deep pull on it while cracking his window.
"I remember reading that some of the older TB sanitariums and mental hospitals that had been abandoned were being condemned and bulldozed or were being redesigned as resorts or museums. Maybe this is one of those." She looked out the window in excitement again.
"Mental hospitals?" he growled. She nodded. "No fucking way-I don't care how fancy it is, I ain't staying in no fucking looneybin," he spat out. He shook his head adamantly. Before Isabeau could reply, Rick walked up to Daryl's side and motioned him to come with him to look at the gate. Merle walked up on Isabeau's side and jerked his chin over at Daryl.
"What was he whining about so early," he grumbled. He didn't look like he had gotten much, if any, rest.
"I told him this might be an abandoned TB hospital or mental asylum and.." she broke off abruptly as Merle scowled and shook his head. "What?" she asked impatiently.
"No. We ain't staying in no mental hospital. No," he said vehemently and stomped off after Rick and Daryl.
Curiosity getting the better of her, Isabeau stepped out of the truck and trotted after them. Glen had joined the three men as well, and they all turned back and scowled at Isabeau as she trotted up to them.
"Get back in the damn truck Beau," Daryl growled. Rick nodded in agreement.
"We don't know what we're going to find in there, Daryl's right," Rick agreed. Isabeau felt her cheeks grow hot with anger immediately. She opened her mouth to protest, but Merle cut her off.
"Sorry, shortstack, but I gotta agree. Wait in the truck a bit, we'll come get you as soon as we get the lay of the land in there," and they all turned back to the gate dismissively. Isabeau hesitated, furious that they were making her wait like she was some helpless girl. Daryl turned back around and seeing that she was still standing there he stalked back to where she stood and grabbed her arm roughly.
"I wasn't playing. Get back in the truck now, or I'll put you in there myself," he spat out, and pushed her off in the direction of the truck. Isabeau yanked her arm from his grip and stomped back toward the truck, angry tears running down her cheeks. Damn him, damn them. She had proven she could take care of herself. And she would be able to tell them a lot about whether the place would be worthwhile to stop at if she could get a look around. She slung the door open and threw herself into the truck, slamming the door before she thought about it. Luckily the men didn't look back around at her, or she felt they would have scolded her like some naughty schoolgirl.
She sat back and kicked the dash and the door and hiccupped as she tried to stop crying. She was damned if she was going to give him the satisfaction of seeing he'd made her cry.
Chapter 14
After about an hour or more, Glen came back to the truck and smiled uncertainly at her. "It looks like there aren't any walkers in there. Looks like it's been abandoned a while-even before all of this stuff started," he began. Isabeau just looked at him, her arms crossed over her chest and her nose red from crying. Glen felt uncomfortable, but the other three had insisted he be the one to get Isabeau, feeling that she wouldn't take her anger out on him.
"So," she snapped at Glen. She knew she sounded childish, but she didn't care. The wait had just increased her anger and resentment.
"Um, well they said that you and some of the others should come in and we can all start looking around. I'm going to go get Beth, Andrea and Amy. Maggie's coming with me too." And before she could snap at him again, Glen scurried off to tell the others to come look at what they had found.
Isabeau sighed in exasperation and got out of the truck, this time shutting the door quietly. She stomped up to the gate-apparently there had been a chain and possibly a padlock keeping the gates closed at one point, but the padlock was nowhere to be seen. Just unwrapping the chain from the gates had enabled the men to go inside the walls.
As she got closer to the walls she could see the old walls were fieldstone and had probably cost quite a lot even back in the day. They were overgrown with ivy and moss and flowers were scattered everywhere in the weeds around the walls. As she walked through the gates, she drew in a gasp of surprise. There was a large circular drive, with a large long dried up fountain in the middle of the drive. The grounds and gardens in front had long become overgrown and unkempt, but she could see at one time it would have been a beautiful view as you came up the drive.
What looked to be the main building was three stories tall, with a wide gallery up to the second floor supported by several columns smudged with mold and erosion from the weather. There also appeared to be two wings added on at some point after the main building had been completed. These two wings were three stories as well, with verandas running the entire length of the main floor. Some of the windows in all the buildings looked intact, although a good many also looked broken. Wishing to delay having to deal with the three bossy men, Isabeau started off toward the right thinking to investigate the back area of the building. The other women and Dale were meandering up the lawn behind her toward the main building. She started sidling off toward the right, hoping to avoid anyone seeing her when Daryl came up behind her and grabbed her arm. She jumped, startled.
"Oh no you don't," he grumbled. "Ya weren't even paying attention, I coulda been a walker and bit ya." He continued. Isabeau tried to yank her arm out of his grasp and he tightened his hold and shook her slightly. "Dammit, I know you can take care of yourself. I don't think you're helpless. I just want everyone, especially you," and here he shook her again slightly, "to be extra careful. You didn't see what happened last night. I don't want you to ever see anything like that. So whether it makes you mad at me or not, you are going to mind me when I tell you not to go off on your own until we know for a fact that this place is safe." He let Isabeau go when she jerked her arm away this time and she stumbled. She knew he was right, but he didn't have to be such a jerk about it. She felt her face grow hot again and clenched her teeth, determined not to cry in front of him. He watched her carefully, not saying anything while she got her temper under control again. "Now, I been around back and if ya want ta see it you're going to go with me," and here he raised his eyebrow at her, "or someone else if you're too mad at me. But you're not going to go walking around this place without someone else with you." He stood and waited on her answer. She glared back at him mutely, and seeing he wasn't going to say another word until she did, she finally nodded curtly and waved her hand at him to lead the way. He stepped over to her and grabbed her hand and pulled her beside him. "This is the only way I'm going to keep you from running off ahead," he grumbled, and squeezed her hand lightly. She didn't squeeze his back but she didn't pull away from him either.
Chapter 17
As they made their way around the building towards the back, excitement overrode her anger and she found herself exclaiming over the different flowers and trees and the gazebo that had fallen into disrepair and then as they rounded the building to the back lawn, she stopped dead and her mouth fell open. "Oh," was all she could manage. Daryl glanced over at her, relieved she had forgotten her anger at the sight in front of them. The back of all three buildings had vast porches that had at one time been well screened in-most of the screens were now absent or in tatters. There were what had once been orderly flowerbeds of all varieties that even now after years of neglect had thriving plants and flowers overgrowing the old bed boundaries. There was a larger gazebo off toward the left of the lawn, and then the lawn sloped gently down in one direction to a river, in the other direction there was a creek. At the foot of the lawn, about fifty yards from the buildings, the two bodies of water united.
Forgetting what Daryl had just said, Isabeau started to run toward the water. Daryl let her hand go so she could run, starting to trot behind her so she didn't get too far away from him. He watched her run down to the water's edge. There was an old rotted partially collapsed dock that ran from the bank out into the water. The water was clean and a deep blue. Daryl and Rick and been happy at the sight of it-it meant a source of clean water for them, even if they didn't stay here they could stock up for a while. There would also be fish for them to catch and fry or dry for future eating. He was sure the woods around them would have squirrel, deer, maybe even bear to hunt and trap for meat. Maybe they would even find some type of berries. He thought he had seen some trees on the opposite side of the lawn, maybe fruit trees? He looked over and saw that Carol and Sophia had joined Andrea, Amy and Beth over by the trees. Now they just had to decide if the buildings were habitable, and if they could safeguard the place enough for them to stay. It would be a boost to all of their spirits if they could stay here-fresh water, woods for hunting, and if even one building was fairly intact it would be big enough for all of them to stay in.
"Hey, Beau. Ya wanna look inside the buildings?" he asked her. She had taken off her shoes and socks and was wading in the water up to her knees. She turned to him smiling happily, her anger forgotten. "Oh yes, please!" she shouted and quickly waded out of the water and ran up to him. He smiled, glad her temper had passed. He hated making her angry, but if they were going to try to be together she would have to understand he tended to be overprotective of anyone he cared about. He didn't mean to be a bully about it, but she was the most headstrong woman he'd ever seen and he didn't know how else to get her to listen to him. He supposed they both were in for a bumpy ride until they got more used to each other, and there was always the possibility she might decide he wasn't what she wanted. He hoped not, but he wasn't going to trust the good luck that had already happened to him to last. He had no experience with good luck, just bad, and he knew that never let up.
She grabbed his hand and started pulling him eagerly up the lawn toward the main building.