1 Month Before the Outbreak
The sound of the motorcycle faded away but RickyJo waited until she couldn't hear it at all before she leaped up and started packing. She needed some time to herself to clear her head. Besides her confusing and conflicting feelings, she couldn't remember the last time she had spent the whole day sober. Merle could be overwhelming and she didn't want him pressing her into a relationship she wasn't ready for. She felt a little bad for ditching him like this but she needed some time alone to sort things out and figure out what she wanted.
RickyJo powered her phone on to check it. At first she had been checking it everyday to see if Daryl had called her yet. Now she was down to about once a week. Tossing it back in the passenger seat of her jeep, she grabbed her bags and tossed them in her little trailer than began yanking out the tent stakes. She didn't bother to take the tent all the way apart, since she was going to set it back up when she got where she was going. Poking around to make sure she wasn't forgetting anything important she got in her jeep and took off. She intentionally pulled out in the opposite direction from where she was going and drove down to a busy lot where people parked to go swimming. Then she turned around and took a different road to head back up the mountain.
When she started to get close to where she was going she called her cousin. This time of the day she would be at work which was perfect since RickyJo just wanted to leave a message. Hey Jess. I am going to take off for a while. You are not going to be able to get ahold of me but I just wanted you to know that I am fine. I love you and kiss the girls for me. She hung up and turned her phone off. Jessica would worry anyway but at least now she would be less likely to have the police out looking for her. It had been hard to think of a place to go where no one would be able to find her. Finally she had remembered that really old hunting cabin that her grandfather had owned way before he had his nicer one over at the farm property. The place was totally run down but she could always stay in her tent. Jessica had never been there and neither had Merle. Daryl had been out there once but that had been at least five or six years ago. She had been thinking about selling the place and they had gone out to look at it. Now she was glad she never had any offers on it.
Parking around the back of the place, she went it, holding her arm up in front of her to get rid of the cobwebs. The place was dirty and a fat raccoon was sitting in the middle of the room, looking at her. She hung the door open and then walked around to shoo him out. The place was dusty and smelled strongly of animal but she could air it out. At least the roof wasn't leaking and the fireplace worked. After sweeping up a little, RickyJo brought her air mattress in and got set up. Then she went out on the porch and sat on the old rickety swing that was out there, putting her feet up. Now that she was alone she felt like she could finally breathe. By now she guessed that Merle had gone back to the other campsite and realized she was gone. He was going to be good and mad about it too. She figured he could sit around with Daryl and talk about what a crazy bitch she was and how much they both hated her.
RickyJo was still hurting over what happened with Daryl. She wasn't sure what she had done wrong, but he hadn't called her in months so it must have been pretty bad. Merle had been more than happy to tell her that no matter what happened, it must have been all Daryl's fault. It had made her feel really good, but she wasn't sure she believed him. He had also made it clear that if Daryl didn't want to step up and be a man, he would be more than happy to have her on his arm and in his bed. But Merle had a way sometimes of saying all the right things and then taking it all back later. RickyJo had seen him do it to her cousin time and time again and she wasn't sure she trusted him. He had seemed sincere about his feelings but it was hard to tell with him. She wasn't going to let him make a fool out of her. And RickyJo felt she needed to take Jessica's feelings into account. She knew they weren't really together but that didn't mean Jessica wouldn't be hurt.
It was all too much and the more she thought about it, the more RickyJo was glad she had gotten away to clear her head. If she had stayed and camped the rest of the summer with Merle she would have let him talk her into bed with him and then she would be even more confused. Or maybe that would have made it easier. She also knew she was still upset and part of her wanted to sleep with Merle to hurt Daryl. She didn't like that part of her. This is why I date women. Unable to sort anything out, RickyJo decided to go to sleep early. Maybe things would seem clearer in the morning.
** I had a question in a review about how RickyJo ended up camping alone so I hope that helped. As always thanks for the reviews and I own nothing from The Walking Dead. Also I wanted to warn everyone that there may be some sexual violence in an upcoming chapter. I will put a warning at the beginning of that chapter in case anyone wants to skip it. **