Chapter fourteen: A favour per chance.
"Thinking will not overcome fear, but action will."
With the revelation of Walkers in the barn, tensions were running high amongst certain members of the group, namely: Shane, Rick, Dale and Hershel; Shane was paranoid about the Walkers getting loose and had ordered a watch schedule that I refused to be a part of, scowling at his stupid, shiny scalp whenever he passed by.
Lori was quiet as she approached; rubbing her hands nervously on the backs of her thighs as she stopped and I looked up from the firewood I was stacking for Carol.
"What's up?" I asked and she took a deep breath before sticking something white under my nose. Frowning, I looked at what it was closely and then smiled. "Congratulations." But Lori didn't look all too happy.
"I uh…asked Glenn to pick it up last time he and Maggie went out but…it'd be too suspicious if he went again today…do you think you could-I mean would you mind…" Lori rubbed her hands shakily and steadied herself. "That is…I need to ask a favour." I sat back with a nod.
"Sure, anythin' you need." She smiled and held out a piece of paper, I unfolded it and took in the request. "Are you sure? Does Rick know?" She shook her head.
"No and I'd prefer him not to, I don't want this on his conscience, distracting him." Standing up, I tucked the paper into my pocket and nodded.
"You know what? I've been struck with uh, a sudden desire to go into town today." I replied, eliciting a proper grin from Lori as I held up my hands. "And you know, don't be nervous, Rick won't hear shit from me." Turning away, I entered my tent and found dug about, finding that my hoodie was missing, I settled for a long sleeved button down instead; grabbing a bag from the RV, I made to leave. Hopping over the fence instead of opening it, I noted that the road was clear of Walkers and cars as I walked, sun beating down.
When I got to the pharmacy, I made a quick sweep, trying to be pro-active in keeping the building clear of Walkers; the pills Lori wanted were in the same aisle as the condoms, lube and pregnancy tests, strange place to be putting them. As I threw the packets into a paper bag, I spotted some pre and post-natal vitamins and decided to bring them along too, just in case Lori changed her mind about the situation.
Over the road was a small thrift store next door to a fancy boutique, I wondered if I'd be able to find a new jacket in either store and decided it was worth the risk. The fancy boutique held nothing of interest to me but underpants and I only scanned the clothing racks before heading into the thrift; my luck turned favourable in there and I picked up a new backpack as well as clothing. I found a hoodie very quickly, it was grey with yellow ducks printed on it, and as I browsed I picked up a few other items: a black shirt with angler fish print, a pair of red, wide legged overalls, a fluffy, rainbow striped sweater that looked like someone's gran had painstakingly hand knitted, several cotton turtle necks in varying shades of grey and a camouflage utility jacket.
As I was leaving, I spotted some jeans and started to search for my size, finding a single pair in dark grey; below them was a pair of black sneakers, which I also bagged. I rolled all of my treasure into my new backpack and threw it on over my back, holding the group bag in my hand, fully of supplies for them, like batteries and various other useful things Lori had written down.
I left the shop and moved to get back on the road; I heard growling over my shoulder and turned around, ready to reach for my knife if need be. A few metres away a Walker was shuffling over and I scoffed, ready to ignore it before a second pulled me off balance, hands gripping my backpack tightly. With a grunt, shook free and stumbled back, knife drawn I took out the first and turned to the one I'd ignored to see another had joined it.
"For fucks sake, why won't you leave me alone?" I snarled, taking one out and getting blood down my front from its head exploding; the third was further away, so I stomped over and killed it, bathing more blood onto my shirt. Rolling my eyes, I wiped the blood on my knife off onto my shirt and cursed under my breath; I started my journey back as the sun began to fall, bathing the road in an orange and bronze glow.
A cool wind began to blow as I trekked up the drive to Hershel's house, someone in the distance threw open the gate and came storming towards me and from the ponytail, I judged it to be Andrea.
"Where the hell have you been?" She demanded and I frowned, looking over her at the others coming down the drive.
"I went into town, why, what's goin' on?" She huffed and stopped short of me, glaring. "Is someone hurt?"
"No, but what the hell are you doing staying out so late and without anyone knowing that you were gone." I sighed and covered my face before lowering my hands and nodding.
"You're right, I'm sorry I should have told someone I was goin'. I didn't realise how late it was gettin'." I apologised softly, Rick stopping between us and took in the blood on my shirt.
"What happened?" He asked as Glenn, Lori, Carol and Maggie joined us, others gathered further up the drive.
"Uh, gathered some stuff," I began, handing the supply bag over to Carol, "wandered about lookin' for more food and medicine, just uh, lost track of time I guess." Rick motioned to my shirt.
"Are you hurt?" I glanced down at it and shook my head with a frown.
"No, there was a Walker in the street, was gonna ignore it but it had friends, I took 'em down." I explained and he nodded, rubbing a hand over his chin and growing beard.
"Alright," Rick looked around and the others took the que to leave, "you scared some of us, disappearing like that, coming back late and covered in blood." I nodded.
"I know and I'm sorry, what happened here while I was gone?" He sighed and put his hand on his hips, looking down at the floor.
"Hershel wants us gone, especially now that the situation with Shane and the barn has come up. We can't leave, not now, not with Lori the way she is."
"Did she tell you?" Rick shrugged.
"I found the test and confronted her, that's the reason she sent you to town right?" I nodded sheepishly, spotting a lone, dark figure stood near my tent. "Did you find what she asked for?"
"Yeah, but I picked up some vitamins to, in case she didn't wanna go through with it." I replied, scuffing my toe on the ground sheepishly. "You ain't pissed are you? At me I mean." Rick smiled but shook his head.
"No, give me the pills and I'll take them to her." I dug through my new backpack and handed Rick the paper pharmacy bag. "Thank you, you go get some rest." With a nod, I left Rick and headed to my tent, where the figure was now gone.
