God, this chapter took an eternity. I had my first case of writer's block for this story and it resulted in many written scenes that were deleted and changed for this one chapter. I think it's because now that I have the group in a temporary shelter and things are settling down I kinda had no idea where to lead the story to. But, I overcame that damn writer's block, and I'm happy where this chapter ended. Even the beginning of the chapter was a last minute decision and I had fun writing it. I wanted to address the sexual tension between Daryl and Elena here, but that's going to be pushed to the next chapter. This one is kind of an emotional step for the both of them. Hope you guys like, I watched repeated episodes of the Walking Dead to be inspired to write this one lol. Yes, I have no life.
Thank you guys for reviews, favouriting and following. Awesome devotion from you people, you guys are great! :)
I take no credit for characters with an exception to my OC's.
"They could be National Guard, with high powered rifles like that? Hell, their trucks are completely stocked."
"Have you lost your mind? They're wearing civvies! You must be goddamn blind."
"Better watch yer mouth, boy. Last I checked you ain't our king shit."
"Clearly, I'm the only sonofabitch here even thinking."
"Toni, calm down."
Elena watched as Amelia spoke softly beside him, placing her slender hand on his thick arm. She could see the tension in his muscles, his hands curled into fists and knuckles white, the vein on his forehead that seemed to protrude when he was angry. She could feel her head going hot at the tension between Toni and Joseph, both men facing one another with feral intent.
The discussion started in their decent to find the interstate. The group had found their way into rural Georgia, which had been a hell of a lot safer than being in the cities. Toni had been leading them through the routes in order to find the highway so they could head south of Georgia in order to beat the winter, but something had obstructed their path. They were low on food and being in rural Georgia, finding houses and shops to loot was nearly a scavenging hunt. Actually, it was literally a scavenging hunt. They hadn't had much luck. Not until one of them discovered the two pickup trucks that were filled to the brim of boxes stamped with FOOD CHARITY on the side. It was more supplies than they had seen for a long time, however, if something was too good to be true than it usually was.
Shortly after discovering the trucks in the distance, other survivors had emerged from the gas station they were currently parked at. Four normal looking men that were armed with lethal artillery you'd see on army personnel. Considering the group was admittedly desperate for food, the subject about whether they approached the men came into question.
They had been going at it for a couple of minutes and already the conversation had escalated far beyond a debate that Elena kept her eyes peered for any advances that could result in a fist fight. She hadn't seen Toni this angry in a long time and it seemed to her that Joseph Peterson was just trying to get a rise out of him. Of course, Toni was ten years his senior and may have been less experienced with life than Joseph proudly was, but at a time like this Elena didn't believe age of authority really applied. However, Joseph always thought differently.
It had been a month since he joined the group with his wife, Anna, and since then he had been trying to call the shots thinking he knew what was best for the group. Elena wondered if his hatred toward the U.S. military—which he made abundantly clear on occasion, saying that it was their fault this infection had gotten this far—was the reason why he always tried to butt heads with her brother-in-law. If that was so, she couldn't believe how a man his age was being unbelievably immature over the whole situation. Who they were didn't matter now, not since the dead started to walk the earth.
"Honestly, man, you are so damn single-minded. Why should we even listen to you?" Danny said.
Danny Brooks was probably a few years younger than Joseph and had since been timid. Him and his girlfriend, Nancy had been with them almost from the very beginning, when the world had gone to shit. Back when it was just the five of them, Danny always followed Toni's lead, more frightened of what the world had become that he didn't trust to make rational choices himself. But ever since Joseph joined the group, it was as if he shifted his loyalty to the next alpha male, agreeing with Joseph's argument every time he had one, just like a lap dog.
"The world ended, you ain't a soldier no more. Your rank don't mean shit."
Toni glared at him, his squared jaw clenched. "My experience as a soldier saved your worthless ass, or did you forget?"
"Yeah, I bet friendly fire in the middle-east and 'accidently' killin' unarmed civilians gave you a whole lotta experience," Joseph said in a snide tone. "Bet you're havin' a field day now with all them corpses walkin' around. Feelin' right at home, aren't ya?"
"What the hell do you know, huh? You ignorant sonofabitch!"
"Toni, enough!" Amelia suddenly shouted and gripped his arm tightly.
Toni ceased his advance toward the older man, his eyes terse on him. Joseph lifted his chin, a defiant smile creasing his lips.
"Honey, c'mon." Amelia's voice came out softer this time as she tugged on his arm.
In that moment, Toni relented before allowing his fiancé to pull him away from the discussion before it had gotten a hell of a lot worse. Elena followed after, giving Joseph a distasteful look just before doing so. What agitated her more though was the silence coming from both Nancy and Anna, who neither said a word about their men going overboard in the conversation. Amelia appeared to be the only one who obviously had the courage to stop it before it evolved into a physical altercation and although they didn't get along, that was something Elena admired about her.
"They don't know what the hell they're doing," Toni began when they walked a few paces away from the others. "We don't know who the hell those guys are."
"I know, honey, but we are down to our last few cans of food," Amelia replied. "We have been through several houses and haven't found anything. I'm not saying Joseph is right, but maybe we could talk to those men, maybe they can spare us something."
Toni closed his eyes then and blew a long breath. "Amelia, those men are not National Guard. They're not cops, they're not soldiers. They are strangers packing serious heat. You really think they're gonna spare us shit?"
Elena chimed in. "There's only four of them and seven of us," she tried to reassure.
"And only one of us that have been trained to use a goddamn gun!"
"Toni, listen to me." Amelia placed either hand on his cheeks, facing his eyes back on her, her stare unyielding. "You do not have to make all the choices all the time."
"Yes I do."
"No, you don't. You keep pushing yourself and take all responsibility. Honey, you've brought us so far and protected all us. You need a break."
Conflict can be seen in Toni's eyes, but he didn't say a word.
"Please, just stand down on this one, okay? Let the others make the call. You've done enough for us."
Elena shifted her eyes back to Toni. He watched Amelia for a moment longer, his brow wrinkling with inner turmoil. Then he swallowed and lowered his head.
"Okay," he whispered. "Okay."
Amelia smiled, pressing her lips against the top of his head. He sighed, his tense shoulders relaxing. Elena always found it amazing how her sister could easily soften Toni up, like she was his kryptonite.
"Joseph is gonna really love being the lead on this one," Elena remarked.
"Asshole has been itching to take lead since he joined us," Toni replied. "Let him."
It was true, and maybe him taking lead just this once would loosen the tension in the entire group. Maybe they disagreed in a lot of things, but Elena still saw the others as friends, people that have worked equally in getting through this disaster. Still, Elena didn't know what to think about the armed strangers. A part of her wanted to believe that they were good people, people who were just trying to survive like them. And a part of her couldn't help be as skeptical as Toni was.
When Toni and Amelia made a move to return back to the others, Elena felt the sudden need to relieve her bladder. She hadn't had a chance to do so earlier, not when they discovered the four men with their two stock piled pickup trucks. Even the argument between the group about confronting them had steered her mind into a tangent.
"Hey, guys, I'm just gonna be a minute," she announced. "Nature calls."
Amelia cocked a brow at her. "Why didn't you go before?"
"I'm sorry," she said, her voice sarcastic. "More pressing matters were in the way."
"Be quick," Toni replied. "Make sure you got that crowbar with you. We're gonna go ahead and talk to the men."
Elena nodded her head obediently. She lowered the duffel bag she had over her shoulder, unzipping it and taking her crowbar out. Afterwards, she headed off toward the thicket a little ways away. She gazed around momentarily, staring long and hard to her surroundings. Those things, dead people, walking corpses—whatever you call them—may be slow, but they were quiet and the last thing she wanted was to let her guard down. When she thought she was safe for the time being, she went ahead to get the human necessities out of the way quick so she had time to hear the negotiation that was about to take place with the strangers. Elena may not have been leader, or even second in command, but she still wanted to be there as support.
Buttoning back her pants, Elena threw the duffel back over her shoulder.
BANG.
Elena jumped on reflex as the loud boom assaulted her ears. It was so loudly sudden, sounding like a firecracker, but she wasn't stupid. She knew that couldn't be it; there were no intricate colours of lights in the sky from a man made explosion. This was something uglier, something a lot worse.
She shot her eyes over the hedge of bushes she had been behind and instinctively she ducked. It had been her first reaction, followed by her heart thundering violently in her chest at the sight she saw. She peered through the bushes, her breathing harsh in her ears and her eyes wide.
Joseph was down on the ground. From a distance, Elena couldn't tell if he was alive or not, but judging by the awkward position he laid, with one arm folded unnaturally behind his back, the latter was an assumption that may have hit right home. She knew this also when the explosion of a gunshot was just intro to the chorus of screaming, both male and female.
Anna was on her knees by Joseph's side, incoherently yelling out words that were barely understandable. Nancy was crying her lungs out, gripping onto Danny tightly who stood stock frozen.
"Put yer gun down. I ain't gonna tell you again."
Elena didn't recognize the voice, but distinctly she could see it coming from one of the strangers that they discovered barely moments ago. His arm was raised outright in front of him, his hand aimed ahead. She knew now the black object in his hand was a pistol, the same pistol he had just fired.
All of a sudden she heard profanities, followed by heavy authoritative demands. They were coming from Toni, whose thick arms held tight his Mossberg 500 shotgun straight toward the stranger. Amelia was shielded behind him and unnervingly quiet.
Elena placed her hand on the dry ground beneath her, unable to keep her balance as she sat on her heels, both frozen and frightened at the scene in front of her. It was nothing she'd ever seen before. Well, to be fair, in the past couple of months, there was a lot she hadn't seen before, but this was different. It was straight out of a movie. Armed antagonists waving their guns around like they owned the place, taunting and throwing out orders toward the almost defenceless group of protagonists. Elena could barely hear what was being said between the antagonist leader and Toni, but judging by their body language it was nothing good.
Then she saw movement coming from either side at the current stand down and Elena thought she felt her heart beat faster. Men, of all shapes and sizes began to materialize, each loaded with firearms that she had no way of labeling. Elena counted as they appeared.
Eight…nine…ten…eleven…
Holy shit. It was like a small army.
All of them were armed to the teeth, making their advances toward Toni, Amelia, Danny, Anna and Nancy. Toni was still shouting as he cocked his shotgun, switching his aim toward many of the individuals who appeared to be laughing. Laughing. Who the hell were these guys?
Elena heard something then, almost like a shriek. She didn't know where it was coming from, but the next thing she knew, rounds of gunfire were popping over the voices.
Danny had his snubbed nose revolver in his hand, popping off rounds toward the men, each shot going off randomly. Elena then heard the booming blast of Toni's shotgun, and after that it was just a never ending chaos of bullets flying. By now, her heart was pounding deafeningly in her ears that she barely could hear the gunfire ahead as the blood rushing to her brain ran cold.
Some of the men were going down, but not many. She then saw Danny flinch and hit the pavement. Nancy was screaming beside him, but it couldn't be heard over the gunfire. She grabbed his revolver from him, pointing it outward when she revolted three times, a mist of blood at each shot. She dropped.
"Oh God…oh God…oh God…" Elena couldn't recognize her own voice over the massacre, so creased with so many emotions that she could only identify a few. Confusion, revulsion, terror…
Her legs began to shake underneath her.
And then, there was silence of gunfire as one of the strangers managed to tackle Toni hard on the ground, wrestling his Mossberg from his hands. Bloody hits were thrown, Amelia running to his aid when another man came up behind, smacking her to the ground. She slammed to the pavement none too gently, but lifted herself back to her knees until a pistol was pressed to the back of her head. She didn't move any further.
"I will blow her goddamn head off! You understand me, son?"
Toni stopped fighting, his body seemingly stiff as one of the men ripped his shotgun from his hand and pulled up his comrade who had just been wrestling on the ground with him.
"Don't hurt her. Take me…take me instead. Let her go."
"Why should I let this bitch go?"
"She didn't do anything. For godsakes, I killed your men. Me—you sonofabitch, just let her goddamn go!"
There was a long pause and Elena held her breath, her nails digging deep into the dirt under her feet.
"Naw, I got somethin' she can do for me."
Toni didn't reply right away, his body tense, and it gave the men the opportunity to take chance in his vulnerability. The man holding his shotgun slammed the stock hard against the side of his head. But when he went down, he didn't stay down. Toni began to move in a robotic way as he pulled himself back up, but the man instantly threw his steel toe against his ribs.
"Toni—," Amelia attempted to shout but was immediately cut off when the pistol-wielder gripped tight her dark curls. Amelia was thrown on her back, clawing at the man's grip as he pulled her. She screamed, calling out Toni's name.
Three men retained Toni and he immediately began thrashing around, hitting one of the men in the process, but they kept a firm hold on him.
"You worthless redneck pieces of shit! If you hurt her I'll kill you! I'll kill you!" Toni's voice boomed, raspy and hoarse from the volume. "Amelia!"
Elena heard another shriek again and she shot her eyes over to Anna who had still been crying by Joseph's corpse. One of the men grabbed her, pulling her along after the men that dragged both Amelia and Toni. Others then went to where Danny laid pulling him up by the arms and dragging him also. Elena had the eerie feeling that he was still—but barely—alive.
Her fingers were numb now, digging into the dry dirt. Elena's whole body felt numb. She couldn't blink, she couldn't think, she couldn't breathe, she couldn't stop her heart that was pounding fiercely in her head. She couldn't move.
Everything, all of it, happened no less than a couple of minutes, and yet she felt like she had watched the horror for hours. What the hell should she do?
First decision was to see whether she could stand back on her feet. Elena pulled her fingers out of the dirt and flattened her palms to ground to boost herself up, but she froze.
Footsteps could be heard close by.
"Look through the bushes! There was another lil' bird with 'em, I know I saw her. Bitch gotta be hidin' here somewhere."
Her legs were numb, her heart still rapidly thundering, but Elena managed to turn and run.
Daryl could still smell the awful stench of decay, the scent lingering in both his nostrils and his head.
It had taken a couple of hours to get all the bodies moved out to the back of the building where'd they burn them at nightfall, where the smoke from the fire wouldn't be seen from a distance. Daryl had a strong stomach, certainly stronger than T-Dog who had to take short breaks to stop himself from gagging at the odor that seemed to accumulate and mold into the unit. Even so, he was glad that job was over and he finally had room to breathe.
Majority of the bodies had been sitting there for a long time, months even; some of them cleaner from wounds than others. Thoughts invaded his mind at moments, as he pulled the bodies through the back door with Rick if all these corpses had even died as walkers. The bodies were dressed up mostly in civilian attire, but there had been some instances where he saw uniformed corpses stitched with the Pearson Self-Storage logo. Evidence like this suggested that there may had been more survivors here than the security guards, but Daryl thought it pointless to dabble in such ideas.
After they had thrown the last body outside, Rick instructed that they get on with plundering the units spoils considering there was a lot left to be scavenged. Hershel, Beth, Carl, Glenn and Maggie had already gone on and had looked through several for the morning. Daryl decided then to return to the units they were currently occupying to check up on Elena, to see whether she was awake or not.
He had left her in the early morning, mostly because he didn't have the heart to wake her. She actually looked so at peace. No muscle spasms, no rapid breathing, no unsettling shivering. Just peaceful, which, with the rough nights like hers, she uncommonly had. Daryl let her get the extra hours of sleep, even if it meant awkwardly explaining to the others where she was when Maggie and Glenn had caused a panic about her missing from their unit. Daryl had tried to be nonchalant about it, explaining that she couldn't sleep so she spent the night in his. He didn't know how much their relationship was still under the radar. Carol knew, Glenn knew and because he had no guile, Daryl was sure Maggie knew also. Rick had given off hints about knowing too, but the others had been almost awestruck when he told them where Elena had been missing off to. It didn't necessarily matter anymore whether the group had knowledge about Daryl and Elena, but the curiosity in everyone's stare was enough to annoy him.
Daryl left T-Dog and Rick to help with the scavenging. With his flashlight in one hand and his crossbow on his shoulder, he took his leisure back through the middle hall where he could make a right toward the exit where their units were, but he stopped at mid-step, catching something white in his peripheral. Daryl turned his eyes down the hall. He could see light a little ways ahead, pouring from one of the units. He narrowed his eyes and followed it.
The closer he stepped toward the light, the more he was able to see it was slightly moving, giving him the foresight to know it was coming from a flashlight. He made his way over, his own flashlight illuminating the space in front of him. For a moment, he aimed it above, the light reflecting off the nailed down 154 above the unit. He tilted his head in through the opened door.
There he found Elena, sitting down on the cold concrete with her back lent against large cardboard boxes of new furniture. Her face was angled down, her eyes concentrating intently on something on her lap.
Daryl stepped inside the unit. "Whatcha doin' in here?"
Elena shot her head up, as if broken from a mental stupor. She stared at him quickly before averting her eyes. She began rubbing them quickly as she drew in a nasally sharp breath that could only be described as a sniffle. Daryl furrowed his brow, intentionally aiming his flashlight into her face to get a better look at her. Her eyes were glossy and a little red.
"Hey, sorry I didn't hear you coming down the hall," she said.
Daryl moved his eyes passed her, illuminating the corners of the unit. "Find somethin' useful in here?"
"Oh, no, this was um…" She inhaled again, her breath a lot steadier. "This was Toni's and my sister's old unit."
Daryl brought his eyes back to her. She gave him a small smile, fidgeting with something in her hands. He lowered his eyes to it and Elena followed his gaze. It was then that Daryl realized the object that she had laid over her lap was a book.
"Whatcha got there?" he asked, taking another step closer.
Elena kept her eyes firmly on the book, her vision seemingly faraway. "A photo album. Something I guess my sister was putting together that she left and hadn't finished."
Daryl gazed back down over her lap where the album was sprawled open, loose piles of photographs on the surface.
"I almost forgot what Toni and her looked like…"
Daryl stilled for a moment, watching her. Her voice was thick with a wave of emotion that he hadn't heard in a while. The unit filled with awkward silence that Daryl didn't know what more to say.
But Elena shook her head, swallowing hard and sighed. She lifted her eyes again and met his. They were hidden with grief. "Were you looking for me?"
"Yeah," Daryl answered simply and watched her carefully.
She nodded her head, scrambling back onto her feet. "I guess I lost track of time—damnit." As soon as she spoke, standing back onto her feet, the photographs slipped from the album, sprawling over the floor.
Elena bent, quickly retrieving them. Daryl could see the trembling of her hands, confusing him before he bent down with her. Momentarily, he scanned his eyes over th pictures of a man he distinctly recognized and a woman he'd never seen before. Daryl brought his fingers to gather a couple of photographs for Elena who had been quickly filing them back into the photo album. His eyes averted for a second, then he suddenly did a double take. He sat on his heels frozen, his hand reaching automatically as his fingers pinched the corner of a single photograph. He lifted it from the cold concrete closer to his view.
Elena picked up the last few pictures from the ground, placing them back into the album. She gazed around for a second to see if she missed anything, when she realized Daryl was holding one. She lifted her palm up for it, but Daryl's hesitated. He concentrated intently on the photograph, his brows wrinkled and eyes narrowed.
Elena parted her lips to ask him what was wrong, but he suddenly looked up at her. His gaze changed from the calm state he had been in to quick irritation. Her brows rose in bewilderment and he finally handed her the photograph. Elena couldn't help let her curiosity flare, and she looked down at the picture, wondering what had caught his severe attention.
It took barely a second for Elena to understand Daryl's change of expression, the corners of her lips lowering.
"I can't believe Amelia kept this…," she whispered, her voice so low she barely heard it in her own ears.
"You done here?" Daryl asked quickly, his voice loud as he stood. "We're gonna need a hand, ain't got time lookin' at pictures."
Elena returned her gaze on him. He stood with his back partially facing her, his shoulders tense. "Yeah, sorry," she apologized. "Just give me a second to put this away."
Daryl didn't say a word, just looked back at her quickly, a small sense of ire held in his eyes before he walked out of the unit, leaving her.
For a moment, Elena didn't move, her body slowly running cold. Her eyes drifted back down to the palm of her hand, the image of the photograph slowly burning into her mind.
It was an old picture, taken several years ago, but Elena remembered that day, remembered how happy she had been and it reflected the smile she had in the picture. She was younger, her lips pulled back from a white smile. But it was the person beside her that caught her attention; it was the person beside her that she was sure caused Daryl's quick irritation. In the picture, a boy held her tight against him, his lips curved in a lopsided grin, his green eyes bright and soft.
It was Nathan McClane.
"Look who finally decided to show up."
Elena was only able to manage a small grin at T-Dog's announcement. After Daryl had left her, Elena had taken her time to set the photo album back where she had found it. But she didn't have the heart to do it. Something like that, as materialistic as it was, was now as valuable as gold. She hadn't had the time to look through all the photos, but diving back and reminiscing in the memories was almost like a drug. A high where everything else in the world didn't matter, not starvation, not the cold, not the walkers, not death. Nothing.
Luck hadn't been on her side for a long time, but she began to think maybe it was biding its time to give her something like this. Maybe it was fate to return to Pearson Self-Storage, to find Toni and Amelia's old unit and to find the photo album. Maybe it was just pure luck. Whatever it was, it had filled her with a zeal and yet the devouring sensation of loss. Seeing Toni and Amelia's faces within happier times returned the emotional heartache and memories of how she lost them. The tears had come to her instantaneously; however, she didn't have the strength or willpower to put down the album. She didn't even have the strength to put it back in the box where she had found it.
"Sorry I took so long," she said.
"Did ya just wake up?" T-Dog asked. "Makes me wonder what Daryl and you were doing last night to make you sleep in."
Elena felt her face grow hot and she tried to keep her composure, reminding herself that nothing had happened between her and Daryl last night and she had no reason to be embarrassed. However, the look T-Dog was giving her, both teasing and curious, was making her grow nervous.
"Keep wondering," she told him.
"Don' listen to him," Maggie remarked as she stepped outside one of the units. "He's just nosy."
T-Dog let out a heart filled laugh. "C'mon, man. When you got Daryl Dixon tellin' you that Elena spent the night in his unit, you're gonna want some answers."
Elena rolled her eyes. "Since when have you been so concerned about gossip?"
"I ain't," he replied. "Why you bein' so defensive, hm?"
"I'm not."
"Damn, you are such a bad liar."
Elena waved him off. "Believe what you want, T."
He laughed again. "It's all good, answer is written all over your face anyway."
Elena shook her head, already accustomed to T-Dog badgering her when he was curious about something. Normally she'd ignore him, but him pressing for answers on something that was entirely true made her suddenly shift uncomfortably on her step.
Without another word, T-Dog returned back to scouring the units he currently resided in, throwing out boxes of unnecessary objects to the side. Elena promptly entered inside the unit Maggie was in, just after she gazed up and down the halls.
"Where is everyone?"
"My dad, sister and Carl are lookin' through another hall. Glenn went with Rick and Daryl outside, somethin' about checkin' the perimeter, I dunno." Maggie shrugged and lifted her eyes to her. "I don' think Rick feels safe here."
Elena nodded slowly. "I guess I can understand, place is pretty open."
"But it's the biggest shelter we found in a long time." Maggie smiled. "An' with that storm blowin' through, it's the best place we could stay."
"It doesn't matter. Rick feels responsible for us, so he's gonna worry. Everyone else seems to be settling in fine."
"An' you?" Maggie inquired and gave her a small grin. "You stayin' in Daryl's unit now?"
Absently, Elena chewed on her bottom lip. "I'm not sure."
The thought had loitered in her mind since the morning, hovering more profoundly after Daryl's strange behaviour when he left her in Toni and Amelia's unit. Well, to be fair, it wasn't that strange. Elena knew where the irritation came from, the brash anger in his eyes that both stiffened his shoulders and heightened the harshness in his voice. It could have either been from the grievance he had for Nathan, after he presumably called him a 'red neck piece of shit' and 'inbred white trash'—two insults to his heritage that still made Elena wince just remembering them—or it could have been resentment for how close Nathan and her were.
Elena was modest enough to not assume the latter immediately, but she knew had the position been reversed, seeing a photo of Daryl looking so happy with another woman would have brought that jealousy forth. And she wasn't often a jealous person.
Plus, to add even more fuel to the fire, their sudden choice of abstinence and refusal of any initial affection was going to be highly tested sleeping in a unit together where they actually had some privacy.
"Trouble in paradise?" Maggie asked.
Elena shrugged one shoulder. "You could say that."
"Maybe y'all just hit a dry spell. It'll pass."
"Yeah," she replied and cleared her throat, already thinking of an aversion. "So, have you guys found anything useful in this place?"
"Mostly furniture. Glenn found some tools that are battery operated. Probably can find a hardware store and get some new batteries for 'em. Could use those for somethin', not sure what, but Glenn was sure we could use them. Dad and Beth found some clothes in garbage bags, but I don' know how desperate enough we are to wear those."
"We could wash them, get that stench of moth balls out and you might change your mind."
Maggie laughed lightly. "Maybe. Anyway, want to help me out here? Got a lot more units to search through. We probably won't be finished today, but at least we can get most of done."
"Sure thing," Elena replied and rolled back her sleeves.
The passing winds began to water Rick's eyes, forcing him to squint from the cold air. He ran his gloved hand through his hair, wet from both sweat and the snow coming down. Outside was a chaos of white, their vehicles buried in the snow along with the pavement beneath his feet.
The storm had become a mixture of both snow and ice, darkening the skies in shades of grey that Rick wondered how long it would be before they saw the sun again. That, however, wasn't much of a concern as was the security of the area. Rick, together with Daryl and Glenn, canvassed the perimeter, committing the entire location to memory for future reference. As empty as the area was, there was still a problem of guaranteed defense. The front gate had been torn down, not to mention parts of the chain-linked fence that stretched around the land. The security guards that once took shelter here had tried making a barricade with both rope and cable, but it had been obstructed before from possible stragglers.
Right now, Rick wasn't worried about walkers breaking down the barricade and entering the vicinity, not with the storm charging through. He was worried about the possibility of other survivors finding this place. It was true that they hadn't seen or even come across evidences of live human beings for a long time, not since the factory, but it didn't necessarily mean they weren't out there. It was a foolish self-assured assumption to think that they were the only survivors in Georgia.
As a precaution, Rick had Glenn and himself move the vehicles out back, away from view. Maybe it created a large vacancy sign for anyone that came across, but it also created the element of surprise for the group if needed. Rick had the set of keys for the entire area to lock down the building. That may not stop other survivors from entering, but it would give the group time and a home advantage.
If they were to stay here for a maximum of seven days, easing down their vigilance wasn't a move Rick was going to let happen. He had spoken about a place like this, a safe haven, some place they could call home for a long time, but something inside was telling him this wasn't it. Even if they fortified the place, fixed the fences and gate, it was a long way from town where they would have to start making runs eventually. Their supply at the moment was gracious enough and with the freezing rain and snow they had enough water to last them weeks. But Rick knew this wouldn't be a permanent shelter, just something to get them through the storm, maybe—and this was only a sentimental statement—it could get them through the winter also.
"Except for the holes in the fences everything seems to be okay," Glenn said over the whining wind. "When are we gonna burn the bodies?"
"Tonight," Rick answered, "when it gets darker. I don't want the smoke to lead anyone or anythin' to us."
"Gonna be puttin' people on watch duty?" Daryl asked, pacing a couple of steps through the snow.
Glenn chimed in before Rick could reply. "Do we really need that? I mean, we got locks on the doors, not to mention it's freezing out here."
Daryl averted his eyes to Rick, who was thoughtful. "Can't risk lettin' our guard down, you know that. For now, we'll have shifts keeping guard by the entrance and the back exit until the storm calms down. Then we'll talk about havin' patrols outside."
Glenn sighed, but said nothing in disagreement.
"Should head back, help the others go through the left over units for supplies." Rick holstered his python, placing both hands on his hips.
Daryl scanned the area for a moment longer before taking the strap of his crossbow and shrugging it over his right shoulder. He turned then, following after Glenn who was already making his way to the front entrance. Daryl had to admit it was a hell of a lot nicer inside than it was out there.
Being out there in the storm almost reminded him of past winters in the mountains of Northern Georgia, where he use to live before things had gone to shit and he left with Merle to Atlanta. The winter didn't faze him much, Daryl was accustomed with hiking and hunting in shit climate before, but clearly the others weren't use to nature's aggression. If patrols were to be made outside, he'd take the job mostly to give him something to do.
Stepping through the entrance door, Daryl made his way down the hall, passing both Carol and Lori who appeared to be preparing lunch. He took his leisure toward his unit, shrugging his crossbow off his shoulder to unbutton his leather vest that was suddenly making him hot. He threw it aside overtop his bag before fixing his collar. Momentarily, his eyes drifted to his poncho that was folded neatly just by his backpack. Daryl chewed the inside of his cheek absently, averting his eyes to the opposite side.
Elena's blanket was still there, left in a heap on the concrete. He spotted something black rested on top and hesitantly, Daryl took a step toward it. In that instant, his eyes narrowed, recognizing the leather bound photo album. She didn't put it back like she said she would.
Almost immediately after did that image of the photo he picked from the floor of Elena and pretty boy returned back in memory, making Daryl clench his jaw. He wasn't sure at first if it really was that prick. Admittedly, Daryl had forgotten all about the sonofabitch, until the familiarity of that stupid grin of his ignited recognition. It was the same stupid grin he had on when he talked to Elena, that same stupid grin he kept when he had the balls to insult Daryl's background. Seeing the asshole in the photograph with Elena, looking happier than he'd ever seen her brought his anger forth. And that same anger suddenly slithered back in his limbs.
It shouldn't have considering they had a history and Daryl knew this. Even so, being aware of that with evidence shoved in his face couldn't exactly be ignored without some agitation added to the mix. Maybe it was just an immediate reaction because Daryl and Elena weren't on steady ground at the moment; maybe it was because he just loathed him. Whatever it was, it didn't matter. Pretty boy was far gone by now, and for all he knew, he could be dead.
Daryl turned away with a rough breath, deciding to leave the album where it was. However, he stilled at mid-step.
Daryl wasn't normally curious, he knew curiosity always led to trouble, a lesson he learned firsthand by his father when he was a kid. But this curiosity surged through his body, strong enough to cease his escape, strong enough to drift his eyes back to the photo album on the ground. He wanted to deny it; he wanted to ignore the need that coursed through his body. But as disinterested as he pretended he was, he wanted to know what other photographs of Elena were in there.
For a long minute, he hesitated on his step, chewing the inside of his cheek sub-consciously while his eyes still boar steadily at the album. But as much as his curiosity weighed on him, Daryl turned away and exited the unit quickly before he changed his mind.
That night, the group sat huddled in the hall illuminated by the battery operated lanterns for dinner. Rick and Daryl were out doing a final sweep of the area outside in the storm, before T-Dog took first watch by the back exit. Elena expected watch duty to continue even though they seemed to be well protected in the building. It was just that act of need that Rick held onto to feel the group was well protected and the place was secure. She had even offered to take watch for an hour also by the entrance so he didn't have to stay up the whole night like he usually did. A few hours of sleep never did Elena any good and she was sure the same could be said for their leader also.
Until then, Elena sat with the others. She kneed the back of her neck, hoping that would loosen the knots that coiled from a hard day's work of exploring through garbage.
Many of the units she had gone through that day were full of worthless junk and she was only able to dub it so after rummaging through the millions of cardboard boxes each had inside. Elena didn't realize until then how many meaningless things people held onto and stored for the sake of never going through the grief of throwing stuff away. And the best part of it, was that she had to do the whole scavenging task again tomorrow through the rest of the units.
"Wow, you two don't really look like sisters," Carl suddenly said.
Elena stilled her hand on her neck and opened her eyes, averting them to Rick's son that sat close beside her. He had one of the photographs from the pile of many she had found earlier, this one of Amelia and Toni.
Since majority of their meals together were always brimming about the weather and the plan of survival, Elena thought a new change in pace was in order. There wasn't much they had for entertainment purposes, so she thought that her revealing the discovery of photographs of her past was enough. Of course, most of the photos were of Amelia and or Toni considering it was Amelia's collection to be put in an album, but there was a few in there with her when she was younger to the most recent one taken. And, not to forget there was that one of her and Nathan, but she left that one out from the others.
Her mind went back to Daryl's expression when he saw that photo and she thought about talking to him about it. However, that decision was immediately rendered pointless. Daryl knew they had a history, and grinding against that knowledge wasn't going to make matters better. Plus, getting Daryl to express about how he felt on that matter was just going to be wasted effort. Like she said before, her past relationship with Nathan didn't matter anymore and not talking about it made that statement true.
As for the other photographs, Hershel called it a miracle of a find, but Elena only thought of it as just pure dumb luck. Elena allowed the group to look through them, especially after T-Dog had begged to see embarrassing photos of her that could be in the pile. She knew there was none. Glenn, Maggie and Beth stood close by one another as Maggie flipped through the photos one after the other. Carl had been curious also. His mother on the other hand was a different story.
Lori had been quiet since Elena let the photos get passed around, a strained smile on her lips. But Elena knew that the tinge she saw in her eyes meant something that she wasn't at all surprised to see. It was envy. Elena couldn't much blame her; after all she had found the one thing that still tied her to her past, memories caught in pictures that she could forever take with her even though the world had abruptly come to an end. Elena knew that Lori wished she still had her family photo albums with her that she supposedly lost at Hershel's farm when the herd came charging through. Had she been in her shoes, she would have been envious too.
"He's right," Beth spoke softly. "Yer sister had green eyes and really curly hair."
Elena grinned slightly. "We got that a lot. People said I look more like my mother while she took after my father's side."
"She was beautiful," Carol whispered, offering her the last photograph.
"Yeah," Elena replied and felt the familiar tightening in her chest. She tried to keep her thoughts at bay.
"I know yer brother-in-law wasn't with us for long," Maggie whispered and lifted her eyes to her. "But he seemed like a good guy."
A sad smile creased Elena's lips. "He was." Elena knew Toni personally before the apocalypse hardened and changed him. He was such a charismatic guy, and maybe he had deep issues every time he seemed to come back from a tour overseas, but he always kept a smile on his face. The one thing she hated was that the others didn't get a chance to see him that way and as first impressions go, Toni looked like a careless asshole that treated her like shit. But that wasn't him at all, that wasn't the Toni she wanted to remember.
"He did so much for me and my sister, even put up with our fighting…You don't realize until now how stupid that all was, to never get along."
The group became awfully quiet after that as Maggie shuffled through the last few photographs left and handed Elena back the pile.
"Should hold onto that," Lori spoke suddenly, her expression serious as she gestured toward the photos. "Even though they're just photographs, something like that is precious now in a world like this."
Elena shot her eyes toward Lori, and in the light she could see a glossy sheen over her eyes. Then she nodded once toward her. But a confliction was bottling up inside her.
Yes, it was sheer luck to find something that by assumption this world had destroyed, anything that still tied you back to your past, back in the days when life was simple and happiness was easily found. Even so, to hold onto something that reminded you of everything you had lost almost brought a deathly feeling in Elena's chest. Maybe it was ignorant to think that if she had nothing to remind herself of her family, the loss of them would be easier to handle. But now that she had found photos of them that gave her the recollection of what they looked like back in simpler times, it just made the grief worse. She had no illusions that finding these photographs were a blessing, but she didn't know if she could keep something that reminded her every damn day that she'd never get Toni and Amelia back.
"C'mon, baby, bedtime," Lori said then, waving her fingers toward Carl. He pursed his lips—something he had been doing often lately whenever his mother used the nickname—but got up from Elena's side and made his way back to the unit they occupied.
And one by one the group began to disperse back to their makeshift rooms to call it a night. Elena bid them a goodnight as she straightened the pile of photographs in her hands and stood up. She made a decision to retreat to the unit with Glenn and Maggie, to hopefully get a goodnights rest that could be evitable in keeping her grave thoughts to the back of her mind, but she thought she'd try anyway.
However, Elena stopped in mid-step, having remembered that she had left her blanket and the album in Daryl's unit. Elena made her way down the hall toward Daryl's temporary room and strode to the space she had taken up last night. She slid the photographs inside the empty album and placed it under her arm before grabbing her blanket.
"Yer leavin'?"
Elena turned, her sight taking in Daryl as he entered slowly inside. He held his crossbow against his right leg, his brown hair wet and slightly messy. His blue eyes gazed at her.
Elena shrugged one shoulder. "I don't want to invade your space more than I need to."
Daryl scoffed half-heartedly as he turned his eyes away from her and made his way to his nest of belongings. "Gonna stay back at Glenn and Maggie's? Thought you said ya felt like a—whatcha call it?"
"A third wheel?"
"Yeah, that, in there with 'em."
Elena tilted her head for a moment, bunching the blanket in her arms. "Are you extending an invitation?"
"Got room," he said. His back was facing her as he began to unbutton and pull off his leather biker vest, dropping it atop his bag. "An' I don' want ya wakin' me up every time Glenn and Maggie…whatever."
A smile tugged at the corner of her lips. "It might cause a stir in the group, me staying with you."
Daryl appeared to hesitate at that, his back straightening. He paused for a moment before he spoke again. "Let 'em talk. It don' matter."
In a sense, Daryl was right. Elena wasn't so much concerned for the others to know their affair, but there was one person she worried about. She had grown close to T-Dog in the passing months; even saw him as a close friend. But she knew the stir would be caused by him, and the teasing afterwards was something she wasn't going to look forward to. But it couldn't be helped.
Before leaving to grab her things she had left in Glenn and Maggie's unit, Elena thanked him wholehearted, mostly because staying with Glenn and Maggie wasn't exactly a choice she wanted to follow through. For one, Glenn and Maggie deserved to have private time with one another without her invading it, and two, spending more time with Daryl was something she wanted.
Daryl turned his head then when Elena left and he exhaled a long breath. The libido part of him knew it wasn't a good idea to have her staying in the same unit as him, now with only open space separating the two of them, but the selfish part of him wanted her to accept the offer. Having her near him gave him a sense of ease, whether it was protective or tentativeness. The excuse of her not waking him up to spend the night in his unit whenever Maggie and Glenn kept her up was just a cover up. Expressing completely how he felt—which in this case, he felt more comfortable if she was close by—wasn't something he was practiced enough to be ready to do. Emotional expression was an act that still unnerved him. Maybe by now he should be accustomed to it, considering the strong attachment he had for Elena was well acknowledged by not just him but by her also, however, the difficulty of diving into something that he barely had experience with was terrifying. And the last thing Daryl would ever admit was being scared.
Daryl sat back by his belongings just as Elena returned shortly after with her duffel bag, backpack and crowbar. She set them back in the space she slept last night, a few paces away from him like last time. From the corner of her eye, he watched her as she laid her blanket down to the ground and settled herself. Neither of them said anything and Daryl decided to occupy his time in sharpening his hunting knife that had dulled down from previous kills.
Elena sat cross legged, her eyes lowered to the ground. He couldn't help but look back at her, curious as to what she was staring at until he realized she was looking back down at the album. She picked it up, opening the book and took out the stack of photographs.
"Thought ya said yer gonna put those back," he said absently, his brows furrowed on the blade of his knife.
"I…couldn't. It's just one of those things you want to hold onto."
"Hell of a thing to find."
"Lucky, I think."
He averted his eyes back to her. She was gazing down at the photographs thoughtfully, shuffling through them.
"Gonna bring it with you? When we leave this place," he added.
Elena stilled her hands, but she didn't lift her eyes to him. "I don't know yet."
Daryl furrowed his brow. That wasn't an answer he had expected from her. Her initial assumed response was that she would say 'of course' as if it was a hell of a question to ask. But there was a tone in her voice, something hidden behind her words that Daryl barely caught. He lowered his knife and gazed steadily at her.
Her eyes finally lifted to him, doing a double take when she realized his attention was on her. Her hazel eyes lowered again and she frowned. "I must be crazy, huh? I mean, I found a photograph of memories I'll never relive again, something that people wished they could have."
"But ya wanna leave it behind," Daryl spoke softly.
Elena nodded slowly and graveness filled her eyes. "All it does is bring me back to that day, y'know? When my group got killed. God, I was such a coward then."
"What?" Daryl couldn't hide the confusion in his question.
She met his eyes. "You remember me telling the story, right? The second day I met you guys, just after Toni almost…well, you know." Daryl didn't answer, but Elena wasn't waiting for confirmation, because she continued. "I was hiding when my group was ambushed and massacred. I just sat there. Sometimes I wondered if I had stepped in, if things might have gone differently."
"Probably would've gotten killed too," Daryl answered without hesitation.
But Elena appeared not to be listening. "I just froze up, watched as they dragged Toni and Amelia away."
"Ya said you an' Toni escaped."
She shook her head. "Before that, though, those guys knew I was hiding. They came looking for me and I ran. Ran. I left my sister and Toni for those guys to…" Elena's voice began to crack.
"Ya couldn't of taken 'em on," Daryl replied.
"I could have at least tried."
"You'd be dead." Daryl narrowed his eyes. "Or worse." He thought for a moment of what Elena had said happened to her sister by those assholes and his fist clenched tightly on his knife.
Elena placed the photographs down and slammed the album shut, burying her face in her hands, her emotional restraint snapping. "If I knew then what I know now, I wouldn't have run away. I would've done something. I ran away, Daryl. And one of the reasons I went back is because I knew I couldn't go through this life by myself. I was too scared to be alone." She sniffed. "I was an idiot. I didn't know what I expected to do, or find. I guess I thought I'd find Toni and Amelia in one piece or something…Instead what I got was Toni barely managing to escape and covered in blood. I didn't know what the hell I was doing but I found myself running to him, helping him out of there. I had no idea what happened, all I remember was hearing shouting and Toni telling me to keep going. I still remember the look on his face…with everything he saw. I left him to go through that shit by himself."
Daryl stood up and closed the gap between them. Elena lifted her eyes to him, her eyes big and red.
"You done?"
Elena furrowed her brow, her expression changing as if he had struck her.
Daryl lowered himself on his heels, staring at her sharply. "There ain't nothin' you could've done. Ya think goin' in there, guns blazin' would've saved 'em? Hell, those assholes would've shot ya down 'fore ya got one bullet in 'em. You ain't gotta play the hero. You still helped Toni, didn't ya? A coward ain't got the balls to do that."
Elena lips tightened as she stared back at him, adsorbing his every word.
"Blamin' yerself don' do shit, neither. It ain't yer fault what happened."
She slowly bowed her then and there was a moment of heavy silence.
Daryl saw it, that vulnerable weak spot that everyone had. Elena normally kept it well hidden in most cases until it came to anything emotionally staggering. He also saw why she tried so hard to protect and fight for the group, forcing herself into situations that were borderline suicidal. She said once that she wanted to prove that she wasn't weak and now he understood the reason why. She didn't want to fail the group because of what had happened to hers and to her sister. She wanted to overcome her fears and to prove to herself that she wasn't a coward. But the thing is she never was.
Daryl may not have known her all his life, but sometimes a lifetime wasn't needed to know a person. She went back even though she saw her friends being gunned down. She helped Toni escape. She practically carried him to safety and asked Rick Grimes, a perfect stranger, for help. She saved Toni from opting out. She did a hell of a lot of things no coward would have even lifted a finger to do.
And hell, if Daryl even had the guts to say it, he would have told her she was emotionally braver than he ever was.
