Thank you all for the reviews! I've been so busy I haven't had a chance to reply back to all of you or reply back here on this chapter; had hoped to get this new one posted Sunday but according to the time it's 6AM Monday!
This chapter pretty much sums up about a week at the prison while Alana is resting up for the supply run.
Enjoy!
Daryl was right in not knowing when he'd have a chance to be alone with Alana the next day. And it remained the same for the following days.
Because the supply run for the horses would not occur until Alana was recovered, there were no other outings from the prison, aside from the killing of walkers that came into the fields and the grazing of the horses in said fields. It was something that was welcomed by the group; there was no worrying about losing someone. In those days it was likely the first time since arriving at the prison that the group began to truly believe as a whole that they could make something out of that place. Make a living. They were all given the moment to stand back and breathe easy.
But breathing easily was not something that Daryl found came to him effortlessly. Rick had spoken during breakfast the day after returning with Alana and T-Dog about sending another group out. Alana was not there to hear what he said; she remained asleep in her cell. Rick had told them his plan soon as everyone was inside the cafeteria, aside from Alana and Axel, who had morning watch. At first Daryl had no complaint towards the idea, but then he began to piece things together. It wasn't long before Rick confirmed with his words what Daryl was thinking.
Rick had a way with making sure others listened to him, but were not allowed the chance to challenge him. He had made sure everyone who could make it to breakfast was there. He made sure that the food was not yet served. He caught them off guard. And then he turned his back before anyone could say a thing. It was beyond an ultimatum; there were no consequences to be had because there would be no objection.
His declaration was simple.
A group would be sent out to bring back supplies for the horses and check the roads that led to the prison on the way. Alana would be leading the group. They'd leave as soon as Alana was ready to go.
That was why Rick had made sure they showed up that morning. To show that there would be no questioning Alana's role in the group, the role that he was giving her. While truly the only ones who needed to hear this were Lori and Carol, Rick knew that choosing Alana for such a role in the group would cause opposition. She was not at full strength and sending her outside the prison would be too tasking on her.
In Daryl's eyes, things only became worse when Rick said that from that point on Alana would be heading every group outing. He wanted to object to the decision, but remained quiet, knowing he couldn't say anything. He wanted to go straight to Alana's cell—he didn't care if she was sleeping, he'd wake her reckless ass—and tell her she wasn't going outside the prison. That she needed to stay right where she was. But instead he stayed right where he was.
He was actually relieved to hear Dale chime in, as always letting his heart lead his mouth.
"She's hurt. We can't keep sending her out there. You saw how she was yesterday when you got back here."
Rick would hear none of it though. "That's why the next group won't be heading out until she's ready. I already spoke with her and she agreed to this." He said that nothing else would be discussed until Alana was ready. Didn't even say how many people would be going or where they'd be going. Didn't know how long they may be away from the prison.
Daryl did know one thing. He sure as hell wouldn't be staying behind this time.
Knowing that he wouldn't allow Alana to go out there without him proved to do little to ease his tension though. Because Rick had decided that the group would not head out until Alana was ready, and that meant everyone was remaining at the prison, the list of things to do quickly became short. There was only so much that could be done around the prison. Even with as large as the place was, Daryl felt like he was suffocating.
That first day he kept himself busy by staying up in the guard tower after seeing that Alana would be keeping to her cell. And he knew there was no way he could find a moment during the day to be alone with her. In the evening he wasn't given a watch shift, so he sat in his cell, eyes skimming over the clock. Waiting for the right time to go to Alana. He ended up waiting till an hour into the second shift. He brought the blanket and clock with him again, ready to sit on the floor next to Alana's bed. When he saw that she was lying facing the wall, completely unaware that he was in there, he thought it best to just go back to his own cell. He knew that if she woke and saw him she'd stay awake until he left. And he wouldn't leave until the end of the third shift. She needed her rest. Daryl didn't want to be the reason she remained unwell. He picked up her jacket from the foot of the bunks and laid it over her shoulders before heading back to his own cell.
She'd know it was him that had put it there.
That next day he had passed her in the hallways. Alana had her jacket on over a worn grey shirt; Daryl noticed earlier that Maggie had taken a bundle of Alana's dirty clothes to wash. She tugged a bit on the bottom of the jacket and nodded at him.
She knew it had been him.
WDWDWDWD
By the end of the third day everyone had seemed to break off into their own routines to fill the time. Andrea spent most of her time up in the guard tower. She had spoken with Alana during dinner one night, telling her how she understood now why she was able to stay up there all day.
"It's nice to just…be alone. Like the world can't reach you up there."
Alana agreed with her. And as silly as it may have sounded, both concurred that it actually felt a bit warmer up in the guard tower. The sun was still so very far away, but they were that much closer to it than the others.
Michonne spent the time wandering through the rest of the prison, spending a portion of her time in the gym. She had mentioned a few more times to Alana that there was a leg press in there. Alana still wasn't ready to try it out just yet.
Axel, if not wandering around on his own, could always be seen sitting outside in one of the chairs, staring off through the fields. Sometimes he would head over to the greenhouse, asking Hershel random farming questions. Other times he could be seen tagging along behind T-Dog, walking the prison grounds. He still had his collection of off-colored remarks, but, according to others, was nowhere near as bad as Merle. Once, when Axel saw Alana trying to walk about without the brace, he suggested just rolling around in a wheelchair. "Shave your head too. Start calling yourself Xavier." He gave a crackling dry laugh and kept walking past her. A moment later Andrea came walking up to her with the brace; Axel had told her what she was trying to do.
And anytime Carl went off somewhere on his own, it was always Axel who knew exactly where he was.
If Carl wasn't off on his own, he was tagging along with Rick or Glenn while they sat up in the guard tower or walked the fences. More and more Rick was allowing him to come along when they ventured outside the gates to take care of walkers. He was never allowed to fire the gun Rick had given him though. And he was still small compared to the walkers, so he wasn't allowed to kill any with the baseball bats or machetes. It could be seen on his face that he was unhappy with the rules put on him, but Rick did his best to give him some sort of importance. Having him sit up in the guard tower or standing guard over the gates to keep an eye out while they killed walkers. Sometimes at night Carl couldn't sleep and he'd go outside to sit with whoever was on watch. Dale always did his best to make him feel important to the group if he was on watch when he came out. He'd ask him to watch a section of the field (although he would still skim his eyes over that part) or to keep an eye out while he headed back inside to use the restroom or walk the grounds.
With the time Rick spent keeping watch, and with Carl finding someone's shadow to follow, Lori was left to her self. She would sometimes sit outside with Maggie and Carol while they washed clothes. But for the most part she remained inside C-Block. Alana had seen her one day in the library while she was bringing back the books she no longer needed. Doing her best to just put the books back where she had found them, Alana intended to leave with as little interaction as possible, but Lori had other intentions.
"I'm still having those migraines," she had told Alana as she stood at the head of one of the aisles. "Is there anything I could take?"
Alana stared down at her feet for a moment. "I'll see if I have anything." The weakest medication she had was aspirin and so during dinner she handed Lori the bottle, telling her to take half a pill once a day for a few days. If that didn't help, then she could take a whole one. She told Rick that it would be fine; she had spoken with Hershel beforehand. Lori voiced her gratitude; Alana still wondered what Rick had said to her to bring this change out in her. But she knew she'd likely never learn what it was. Perhaps he never said anything. Maybe holding onto such negativity had finally worn her out. Maybe she realized it was a losing battle she fought.
Hershel could always be found in the greenhouse, even if there wasn't anything for him to do. He'd still go in there. Alana would receive visits from him, checking in to see how her knee was doing and also if the antibiotics were helping out. He had told her she'd just need one more week of them and then it should be safe to stop taking them.
He and Glenn would also take the horses out into the field after the walkers had been cleared. Alana had noticed how Glenn was spending more time around Hershel. And how Hershel would, in that southern habit, politely order him about to go do this or go grab that. And each time Glenn would get a nod of approval afterwards.
Because Andrea and Michonne kept themselves relatively busy, Maggie would always be popping in on Alana, making sure she had everything she needed. Alana would catch her wandering from spot to spot; at first doing laundry, then taking a watch shift, finishing with preparing supper. Out of everyone, it was Maggie who showed fluidity in taking on every task there was at the prison. And she never complained. Every time she came to check on Alana, she had a smile on her face.
T-Dog spent a lot of time either helping Rick out or being followed around by Axel. They would be seen standing off, chatting away quietly, and laughing randomly at comments the other made. Alana discovered that breakfast became more…adventurous…thanks to T-Dog after a few days. The man said that breakfast was his specialty. It had started one morning when he was coming back inside from his shift and was hungry. So he took it upon himself to take a look round the kitchens and see what there was for him to work with. On that morning Alana woke to Maggie holding a plate of powdered (with pancake batter added to fluff them up) scrambled eggs mixed with dried bits of bacon and chopped onion, topped with biscuits and gravy. T-Dog even threw in some of the dried bacon bits into the white gravy.
Alana had nearly been tempted to make her way down the stairs to get a second plate that morning.
She wasn't given any day or night shifts, so Alana found herself not being very active within the group. Dale didn't hesitate to come and keep her informed of what was happening or to idly chat with her. It had been a while since she and Dale had spoken at any great length. It was comforting to revisit those chats. For the most part.
The chats began innocently; Dale would tell her about random moments from the day he had seen or heard. One day he asked her if she knew why there were three separate buildings for the prison. He then went on to tell her how each one was designated for inmates that committed particular crimes. She learned a great lot about the penal system that day. She learned a great many things that week from him. He was like a walking history and factual book. Many things he knew of served no purpose to him—such as knowing that the last Russian czar's wife and daughters were wearing portraits of Rasputin in lockets round their necks when they were killed—but they were still interesting nonetheless. It came to be that Alana could rely to receive a visit from Dale everyday, each time with a new story to hear. There were a few times where she would do the talking, mostly about life back at home.
It was towards the end of the week that Dale had first brought up Daryl in their discussions and it did not leave Alana pleased.
He had only asked if she was doing okay. Alana had, at first, thought he meant her health. How her knee was recovering. But the look he gave when she answered told her he wasn't referring to her knee. They were sitting outside on the basketball court and it was a rare day because Daryl had actually beaten Andrea up to the guard tower. Dale's eyes wandered up towards it and Alana knew the true meaning behind his question.
"I'm fine," she had told him again. The way she said it warned Dale to not pursue the topic. Alana didn't believe that he would drop it though and so she made the excuse that she was feeling tired and left for her cell.
On the way in she had passed by Carol, just as she had multiple times since coming back with Rick and T-Dog.
The woman's actions were queer. Her lack of actions were queer. After that day, when Daryl had spoken with her, Carol hadn't once approached Alana, said anything to her, or done anything. She still catered to Daryl, but the man showed her the smallest of notice. Yet she kept at it.
It disturbed Alana. She couldn't possibly be content, could she? She had to be planning something. Or was it just the simple fact that it was she and not Alana who showed Daryl attention that bothered Alana? She tried to think back, to pinpoint when it was that Carol had begun harboring ill will towards her. She had been so grateful that she and Wilhelm were going out to search for Sophia. That she and Daryl had risked their lives while doing so. And when Daryl came back to the farm after falling down the ravine, that night it was Carol who had asked Alana to take him a plate of food.
But…that day…when Glenn had told them there were walkers in the barn. That was the day. Carol had said something to her. About Daryl. And then she heard her talking with Daryl. She had said nothing when Carol spoke and then she backtracked, having thought there was something between her and Daryl. And with Daryl, he had said there was nothing between them.
Was that when it started?
It had to be.
That was when they found Sophia.
The woman had nothing. Maybe this is why she gave her attention to Daryl. Why she rallied behind him, attempted to encourage him. Dale had told Alana of that night on the road after the farm, how Carol had tried to persuade Daryl to break off from Rick. To become their new leader.
Was this truly all just some way for Carol to fill a void she felt she had? It had to be, Alana thought. There could be no true feelings there. It all made sense then; before she had been so angry. Alana hadn't bothered to really think on the matter, she only wanted to defend herself at the time.
As much as Alana wanted to confront Carol, Daryl had told her not to. And he had told Carol to leave her alone. So far she had. She still did these little things for Daryl that irritated Alana, but she had done nothing more. The jealousy was still there for Alana though; the fact that she and Daryl had to remain a secret, just to keep fragile Carol stable.
Part of her wanted nothing more than to tell Carol, to show her, that there really was something between her and Daryl.
But then she risked losing Daryl.
She had never been one for following after others. Even in the military she did things in her own little ways. With Daryl though, she had no choice. If Alana wanted anything from him—if she wanted him—she had to do things as he wanted to. That night when Daryl told her he wanted her, but didn't know what to do about it, it made things very clear for Alana. She had to approach everything between them as if it were his first time, because for him she believed there were many never's in his past.
It was for seeing those never's become first's that Alana refrained from approaching Carol. And in return her consolation was Daryl and every moment they were able to have together.
Every night he would come into her cell and sit on the floor next to her bed. Some nights he would stay there for hours, others, only for a few minutes. He had thought of suggesting she toss out the metal bunk frame and just lay the mattresses on the floor. He'd be able to lie with her then. But he didn't think it would be good for her knee. Alana had seen the pensive look on his face that night and asked what he was thinking. He told her.
"Maybe when ya leg is better," he whispered, leaning back a bit towards the entrance, checking to make sure no one was up and walking downstairs. It was close to shift change. He got ready to go back to his cell when Alana ventured to share a thought.
"You could get rid of yours. If you wanted." She added the last bit, not knowing if Daryl would want her to come to his cell instead during the nights.
The next day, while Alana had gone into the cafeteria to find something to eat for lunch, Daryl grabbed two extra bed sheets and tied them up on the bars to his cell. It gave him some privacy. The following day he got rid of the metal bunk frame.
Alana had made sure to be around when night shifts were handed out during breakfast. Daryl was taking the first shift, then Axel, then Michonne. Axel was on the second level with them, but two cells away from Daryl's. Alana waited until the first shift was almost over before leaving her cell. She carried her pillow with her, hugging it to her chest as she quietly went inside and lowered herself on to the mattress. Daryl had doubled the two of them and thrown a mattress sheet over them. She laid with her head in the furthest corner from the entrance; she did her best to hide under the covers just in case someone else came by and peeked in.
The slight echo of Daryl's feet could be heard as he climbed the stairs and stopped at Axel's cell. Alana could hear them whispering and the footsteps began again. When she saw that it was Daryl she pulled the covers down so that he could see she was there.
He had been hesitant coming back inside, unsure if he'd come into his cell and see her there waiting. He hadn't been given the chance during the past two days to tell her anything; that he did want her to be there.
Daryl hadn't exactly planned on what he'd do if she did indeed show up.
He came and sat down next to the mattresses, removing his boots and the jacket he was wearing. He saw the small smirk from Alana when once again he actually had a shirt on with the sleeves still attached.
"How's your knee?" he asked her quietly.
"Better," she told him, sitting up.
The mattress was just a bit wider than the cot he had been using back on the farm; Daryl eyed it for a moment. He was thinking getting rid of the metal frame was a bad idea. They'd be too comfortable and he knew he wouldn't want her to leave. She may not want to leave.
But then Alana pushed the covers down and scooted over towards the wall. It didn't take Daryl but a moment to lower himself onto his back. Alana grabbed the covers and brought them back up as she laid on her side, right hand instinctively grabbing at the bottom of Daryl's shirt. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pressed her against him. After a few minutes he began drawing circles on her back under the blankets. He kept waiting for her to fall asleep but she didn't, so the two of them laid there in silence.
"Still don't want ya going back out there," he said at a later point.
He could feel as she quietly chuckled.
"I'm the best for the job. If you're so worried about me then come with me."
Daryl scoffed. He already planned on it.
"Could always kick ya leg. By accident," Daryl thought aloud.
Alana quickly pinched at his hip and Daryl jerked up, pushing her hand away, slapping it. She poked at his stomach, pushing herself against the wall to get away from his retaliation. It was obvious her leg was much better with the speed she squirmed away. She held a finger up at him warningly, moving it slightly in the air towards him. He just slapped it away.
Both paused when they heard Axel coming back inside and waking Michonne up. Alana slowly pulled the covers up with a low snicker as she covered her head up. For a moment, they both felt like they were back at the farm. Back to how they used to be. Daryl laid his head back on the pillow, peering through the space between the sheets on the bars. They could hear as Axel got back into his cell, the sound of his boots hitting the floor.
The two of them remained quiet for a while and Daryl could tell Alana was falling asleep. She had relaxed back into him and her breathing had evened out. There were still maybe three hours before the shift ended, but Daryl knew it wouldn't be wise for her to stay any longer. He himself was beginning to doze off. He shook her shoulder and Alana pulled herself closer, gripping at his shirt as she tried to burrow her head into the hollow of his shoulder.
Another shake and she raised her head a bit and then lowered it back down.
"Ya gotta get up," he said. "Gonna be tired all day."
"Don't care," she mumbled back against his skin. He shivered at the cool air that escaped her mouth.
Daryl pulled himself out from underneath her and Alana allowed herself to plop down fully onto the mattress, peeking up from under the covers.
"Get the hell up," he muttered, pulling the covers from her fingers. Alana looked up at him with a calm face.
"I forgot how to use my limbs." Annoyance began to show from Daryl. "One more hour."
"Ya ain't nothing but a feather," he said, leaning over to stick an arm under her and pull her up.
Begrudgingly Alana sat up and scooted off of the mattress. Daryl helped her to stand, picking up her pillow and handing it over. Alana stood behind him as he walked up to the cell bars and looked out between the sheets. He held the one sheet back and Alana walked out. Another glance, then Daryl followed after her. In her cell, Alana put the pillow back in place and pulled the covers back. Daryl's shirt was crumpled up underneath them. Standing there, he knew she didn't need any help getting into her own bed, but also was willing to use any excuse to remain there just a bit longer.
Looking at the brace on her knee he asked, "Ya gonna tell Rick you're ready to head out?"
It was the middle of the week. Thursday would make it a full week since checking the roads. Alana had admittedly become comfortable, not having to do anything. And she wanted a few more days, she thought, as she looked up at Daryl.
She told him she would wait till Saturday and though the tension didn't fully leave Daryl's shoulders Alana could see some relief.
He watched as she burrowed under the covers, lying on her side. He wasn't sure why he was still standing there or why he came forward and sat on the edge of the bed. Daryl looked down at Alana, ready to tell her to get some sleep, but he stopped. Her eyelids were already heavily shut and her entire body had become lax. Keeping her up like this during the night was finally catching up with her. Daryl carefully stood back up, ready to walk away.
And then like a fool, he thought afterwards, he leaned over her and quickly kissed her lips before going back to his cell.
He had to find a way to see her the next day.
Let's all take a moment to applaud Daryl for his first proper kiss. Okay, so yeah she wasn't even awake, but let's be nice and let him have it anyways (: Daryl's nickname should be Baby Steps.
What little stunt do you all think Daryl will pull to get a chance alone with Alana?
