We ride most of the way in silence. I casually flip through the small book of CDs someone left in the truck and find one that I like.
"Don't put none of that rap shit in, yer brother pulled that on me already." Daryl warns me as he watches me push the CD into the radio. I roll my eyes at him.
"Do I look like a girl who likes that crap?" I ask. He doesn't complain when the music starts so I figure he doesn't mind it.
Merle can't sit still the entire way, he shifts around and fidgets from the back seat. We had argued about shotgun before leaving. He refused to sit up front even though he needed more room than I did. I turn to look at him when he kicked the back of my seat for the millionth time. His face is pale and sweaty. From what I heard about Merle, this is most likely a sign of some kind of withdrawal. Daryl peers at him in the rearview mirror as we pull into the small town.
Daryl brings the truck to a stop in front of a line of stores ranging from a convenience store to a sporting goods store. We close the doors to the car quietly and head into the convenience store. Most of the shelves are bare. I carefully pick through some of the items left and grab anything that looks somewhat useful. Daryl keeps an eye on me as I rummage around.
"What's on the list from Rick?" I whisper to him.
"No list this time, just get whatever we can. What are you looking for?" He asks
"I don't know. I just wanted to get something for Eli's birthday so we can actually celebrate it. I'm sick of putting his life on hold." I try to explain.
Merle crashes back into the front of the store from the back room with a giddy expression. He has a bottle of Jack in one hand and an open carton of cigarettes in the other. I shake my head at him as he jumps over the counter to show Daryl his jackpot.
"Yer gonna get us killed over some whiskey and cigarettes." Daryl gives him a dirty look before he starts looking through things again.
"Where'd you get that?" I ask, suddenly curious as to what else might be hiding here.
"In back, locked in the manager's office." Merle puts the items in his bag and storms off in frustration. He doesn't like being scolded, especially by Daryl. He heads out of the store and down to the next one.
I make my way back the way Merle came without a word to Daryl. The backroom is barely lit. I step slowly through the clutter on the floor, watching for any sign of movement. The manager's office is somewhat large and clean. Whoever it was had set up a small cot and must have been staying here for sometime. I was able to pick up some scattered clothing for the guys and some bedding.
I sat down at his desk and started digging through, looking for anything. The search was looking like a dead end until I open the bottom drawer. Inside are various pill bottles and a pack with some needles that looked like insulin shots. Not sure what any of it is, I shove it all inside the bag I carry with me. Toward the back of the drawer is a broken picture frame. I pick it up carefully and stare at the image. A short, balding man stands proud next to an angry looking woman and two bored teenagers. I laugh at the picture before tossing it aside. On the back of the frame, someone taped a small key. I pick it off and stare at it, trying to figure out what it may have come from.
The key doesn't fit the desk or the door to the office. I try the filing cabinets without success. I hear Daryl step through the stockroom in search of me.
"Ya find something?" He asks, watching me stare at the key.
"I don't know, figure he might have something locked up. Maybe a weapon or something." I hand him the key so he can look at it.
He shines a light around the room but nothing jumps out at us. He heads back out to the stock room and looks around. Directly across from us is a large metal storage cabinet. He steps over to it and tries the key. The door opens with a groan. He hands me the light and he starts digging through the cabinet. Inside are cleaning supplies, toilet paper and first aid kits. Toward the bottom there is a few battery operated flashlights and some packages of batteries. There is also a shelf dedicated to office supplies. We load up anything that looks valuable.
Daryl reaches up to the top shelf and feels around. His sexy grin tells me he found something and when he pulls his hand away, he has two pistols. He keeps looking and stumbles upon two full boxes of ammo. He puts everything in the bag in his hand before taking the flashlight from me again. He sweeps quickly through the stock in back but turned up nothing useful.
We move through an insurance office coming up with little things like hand sanitizer and lotion from the desks. A few sweaters are hung up in the back closet. We find Merle in a shop that was all but empty. It looks to be some kind of sporting goods or camping store. Merle is rifling through the display counters searching for something. I join him.
"Find anything good?" I ask, trying to keep my tone light. Daryl heads to the back offices, looking through drawers and desks.
"No. This place was picked clean from the looks of it. Did find a couple of hunting knives and a dart gun, but that's about all." He shows me the things he found. One of the knives is a bright orange color and the other is camouflage. I grab the camouflage one and open it, inspecting it carefully.
"What do you think? Think Eli might like this?" I ask.
"Hell yeah he would." Merle grins.
"Thanks Merle." I reach over and squeeze his arm. He jumps at the contact and I laugh before moving along. As we pick through what's left, I see him pick something up off the floor with a huge smirk. He quickly hides whatever it is and ducks down another aisle. Daryl comes back from the back room.
We finish raiding the stores and I'm able to pick up some more art supplies for Eli, as well as some supplies for Judith. Daryl finds a nice sports watch at the jewelry store we hit for both Carl and Eli. By the time we head back, I feel good. We didn't find a lot of things but overall, the trip is a success.
The sun is starting to set when we pull back into the prison. Rick meets us outside with a grim look.
"What's goin on?" Daryl asks.
"Andrea was here a while ago. She set up a meeting with the Governor, day after next. I need you there." Rick explains. My heart starts to race. I don't like the idea. I can tell Merle doesn't either.
"I don't know Rick. I don't think you should do it." I tell him.
"I don't know either but at least it's a chance to end this peacefully. I'm going to offer him a truce to split the area." He says.
"You can't just take Daryl. You better take a few guys."
"We can't afford to. That would leave you guys open to attack." He argues.
"Take Tommy or Mason. That doesn't leave us too thin here and you have backup. You should take Hershel too. He'll keep it calm." I counter. He just nods in agreement. We unload the things we found. I take the bag full of goodies back to our room, wondering how to wrap it all.
Daryl comes in a short time later. I'm sitting on the bed with my feet pulled underneath me, looking over the baby book. He sits down on the edge of the bed and looks at the page I'm reading. It's about baby's first year.
"Ya all right?" He asks.
"Yeah, just wondering how this is gonna work." My finger grazes over the words on the page.
"It's gonna work cuz this baby is gonna know just how much his mommy and daddy love 'im." He tries to reassure me with a gentle kiss.
"Him?" I ask, pulling away from him for a moment.
"Yup." He tells me before leaning in for another kiss. This time I don't pull away.
