Chapter twelve: When did I last shower?
"I know that I want you in my life forever."
We followed the road for about a mile before the town was upon us; it was a complete ghost town, not even Walkers were stumbling about like morons. We hit the pharmacy first, but it was slim pickings unfortunately and there really wasn't much we could grab that would be useful. Next we tried the local corner shop, which was slightly more bountiful; at least there was a healthy supply of toilet paper, which would make everyone happy.
As we walked around the store, Daryl split off down another aisle and I kept looking through the canned food that was left, grabbing a can every now and then; I was careful to keep an eye out for ankle biters, they were basically snakes, slithering along the floor and the only difference is that a snake will only bite if it feels threatened, Walkers bite for the hell of it. I was just finishing when I realised that I couldn't hear anyone else rummaging with me and frowned, flicking on my flashlight and shining it around before turning it off and shouldering my bag anxiously.
"Daryl?" I called softly, looking over my shoulder to make sure he wasn't sneaking up on me again and he wasn't. "Where'd you go?" I tripped up on a discarded jug of milk, sighing as I reached for my knife. "Daryl, god, stop pissin' about and fuckin' answer me before I have a panic attack." I crept around into the next aisle and he was still nowhere to be seen and my heart started to pound. "Jesus Christ, where the hell could he have gone?" I lowered my hands and wiped sweat from my neck shakily, creeping to the last aisle and still not seeing anything. I left the shop and looked up and down the street, thinking maybe he'd hoofed it without telling me but still there were no signs of anyone else being around.
Running a hand through my hair, I turned on the spot, casting an eye over the entire area thoroughly before groaning and sitting in the middle of the road. I put my head in my hands for a few minutes, trying to keep my breathing even before sniffing and looking up again, there were only a few other stores I could envision Daryl having snuck into, across the road there was a camping supplies store and I made a bee line for it.
"Daryl, are you in here?" I hissed, waiting for a few minutes before sighing. "Stop playin' now, it's not funny anymore." I shivered and tried to steel myself. I entered and the store was devoid of life, living or Walker as I crunched over smashed glass in my search for a tent; there were so many to choose from I wasn't sure which was the best option. In the end I grabbed a two person tent in slate grey that I fastened to my back under the back pack I carried already; I needed a sleeping bag as well and found a pink one that was slim enough to fit in my bag with the food and no complaints.
"Ellie," My head snapped up and I bolted from the shop and jogged up the road, "Ellie?" I spotted his back and slowed down.
"Hey, I'm over here!" I called back; he turned around and visibly relaxed, once I was close enough, I pulled him into a hug. "Where the hell did you go?" I asked, unable to let go just yet, feeling how uncomfortable he was. "Don't pull that ghosty shit on me again, please; I missed you enough without addin' this to it." He nodded against my neck and I sighed. "Jesus, I thought you'd been dragged off and devoured by Walkers and I don't-I don't think I could-…Just don't scare me like that again." I waited another few minutes before stepping back, arms still around his neck, shaking from relief and nerves.
"Just went to see if those cars had any gas." Daryl explained gruffly, but he'd not moved either. I looked up into his guarded eyes and nodded, feeling silly for panicking so much, he was a more capable adult than me to add insult to injury.
"I got a tent." I replied dumbly, unable to form a more coherent sentence. "Everybody else had one, just wanted to be popular." He nodded and I blushed. "We should…uh…finish up?" We broke apart, but stayed stood opposite each other as Daryl fiddled with his crossbow, seemingly uncomfortable because of the emotional female he was stuck with. Give the man a herd of Walkers and he had balls of steel, a woman on the verge of tears? Well, that was a whole other barrel of fish.
"Sophia, I heard her say you thought I'd find you." I nodded and licked my lips.
"I knew you could, if anyone in our group could do it, my chips were on you my mysterious friend." I answered truthfully, readjusting my bag. "We should get goin', Dale will be havin' conniptions if we're not back in plenty of time…I found bunches of canned goods, we should be good for a while in that respect." I swallowed hard and then nodded as we walked together to the edge of town, making our way down the road leisurely like we had time to waste. "Will you teach me to hunt?"
"No." I frowned and looked up, realising that Daryl was smirking, he glanced down. "You talk too much." To prove a point, I refused to answer his questions all the way back to the farm, I thought it was pretty impressive, even when my face turned red from holding my questions in for so long. Once we were back through the gates, the redneck laughed. "Impressive." He then headed back to his little camp and disappeared into his tent while I took the food and other relevant supplies to Lori, who seemed to be in charge of the camp's food supply.
"Oh thank you, this is amazing." She said gratefully and I smiled, looking over my shoulder and then worrying that Lori could read minds.
"I'm happy to help out." I replied, she then noticed the tent I had on my back.
"I can get Glenn and T-Dog to clear some space for you, if you want." Lori offered and I shook my head, putting my hand on her shoulder.
"I'll get outta your hair; I can get very annoyin' sometimes." I pointed to a space just behind the main camp, heavy footfalls breezing by. "I'll set up over there, shady enough." She gaped and I nodded, taking a shaky breath.
"Are you alright?" I nodded.
"Yeah just had a scare in town," I looked around to make sure no one was listening in, "I got separated from Daryl, felt like I was gonna keel over I was that worried." She nodded and then grinned, the same one Carl got when he was being naughty. "Don't give me that look." Lori nodded and frowned, looking down at the cans in her hands.
"I need to ask you something." I nodded and retrieved my water bottle from my bag to wet my throat. "Rick, he seems very friendly with you, I noticed it at the CDC." My eyes went wide.
"Fuck no, no there ain't nothin' to worry about from me." I exclaimed reassuringly and Lori nodded. "God, don't even worry about that, I like my men uh," I fell silent as Daryl marched by; pulling my tent from my back roughly, "asshole." he flipped me the bird as Lori raised an eyebrow.
"You like men with red necks?" I shrugged.
"Every girl has a type." She laughed and I joined in, ignoring the glare Andrea was giving us both. "Jeez, that has gotta be our secret, okay? Do you reckon Hershel will mind sacrificin' his shower for a few minutes? I smell like I died."
"Asking doesn't hurt anyone."
