8:30 PM
Dixon's Cabin

Daryl's head was a little light from the wine. They'd drunk the entire bottle while talking and laughing over dinner. It was always easy with Carol, the talking. He'd gone most of his life with little to say, and sometimes he wondered where the words even came from when he was with her.

Now, he set aside the poker after stoking the fire he'd made. It had dropped to 65 degrees after sunset, and they didn't need a fire at that temperature, but Carol thought it was romantic, and they could use it for light. She'd built a nest of blankets and pillows and sleeping bags in front of the fireplace and then disappeared to one of the bedrooms for he didn't know what reason.

Now, as he set the black iron poker back in its holder, she emerged into the living room. "Holy shit, Miss Murphy!"

Carol smiled. "Well, you said to wear something sexy."

He'd been joking, mostly. "Where the hell you get that?" There were strap thingies, attached to the black stockings that went halfway up her thigh, and then to the top of her red silk panties. He didn't know what the fuck those things were called, but he knew he'd like taking them off one by one. He might leave that lacy red bra on, though.

"I have my sources," she told him as she made her way over to stand by the fire, the soft flames illuminating her form.

He smiled as he slid close and tilted her head up for a kiss.

[*]

"Put it out," Carol, naked, murmured in Daryl's arms. Even the bra had come off eventually, toward the end of their love play. "It's too hot."

Daryl crawled naked on his hands and knees to the fire and dampened it before returning to their love nest. "Yer the one wanted it."

"Because I like to see you. But I think I might be out soon." She yawned as she settled her head on his chest. "I had a good time tonight. We should do it more often. It's so quiet here. This must have been a good spot to survive."

"Still is," he murmured sleepily as he toyed with the hair at the back of her neck.

"I bet Beth and Dixon are going to come here at some point," she said.

He snorted. "Come here."

"You're like a thirteen-year-old boy sometimes," she murmured, but she chuckled.

"They already got a fuck spot. In that cave in Prehistoric Kingdom."

"How do you know that?" Carol asked. "Did he tell you?"

"Nah. Chased a squirrel in there and saw the set-up."

"Did you get the squirrel?"

"Squirrely fucker got away."

There were a few more light kisses, some quiet murmurs, and then both were asleep.


June 5
7:15 AM
The Sanctuary

Gavin awoke to the sound of Dianne dressing in the living room. He rolled of bed, yanked on his boxers and pants and walked out. She was already strapping on her quiver. "Where are you headed?" he asked. "You're shift doesn't start for a couple hours."

"I told Randy I'd give him an archery lesson before I went on shift. Your guards should know how to use more than guns. We won't be able to reload forever."

"Well, let me at least make you some breakfast first." He walked over to the cabinet and opened it to pull down the cereal and instant coffee crystals. It was the best he had to offer at the moment.

"No time. Said I'd be in the yard at 7:30. Besides, I don't do breakfast. It's inefficient. I just eat a large lunch."

"Inefficient," he murmured as he shook some Apple Jacks into a bowl. All the cereal in the world would probably be stale within the next two months. Most of it already was. "So…last night?" he asked.

"What about it?"

"You enjoy yourself?"

"I think you have enough deductive skills to conclude I did," she told him as she swung her bow on her back.

He turned and leaned back against the counter. "Relieved now? Since you don't have to wonder if we did or not anymore?"

"It has taken a weight off my mind." Her hand was on the doorknob now.

Before she could turn the knob, he said, "Dinner? Here? Six?" He waved to his bowl. "I promise I'll come up with something better than Apple Jacks."

"Sure," Dianne replied as she slipped out the door, and he wondered if last night was just a one-time thing for her. He'd have to ask at dinner. She'd probably tell him, bluntly, if it was. He wouldn't be averse to a repeat himself.


8:30 AM
Dixon's Cabin

Carol was dressed in her jeans and a white tank top and making coffee when Daryl awoke, having slept later than was usual for him. He stood, pulled on his pants without any underwear, and was rubbing his eyes when he came into the little kitchen. "Happened to your get-up?" he asked.

She glanced back at him as she pressed down the grounds in the French press. "It's still scattered all over the floor where you left it after you took it off me. Why? You didn't think I was going to put it back on to make you breakfast, did you?"

He shrugged. "Be hot."

"Would it satisfy your French maid fantasy?"

"They got maids like that in France?" he asked. "Shiiit."

She laughed. "I need to be back by one to call Gavin on the radio, tell him we agreed to the trade. It's about an hour home on that bike of yours, so…I thought after breakfast we'd go on a little nature hike?"

"Nature hike? Sounds like somethin' rich ass city folk do."

"Well, I didn't ask to go glamping."

"Fuck's glamping?"

"I don't get out of the gates often enough," Carol told him. "I could probably use some walker slaying practice."

"Just slew a shit ton of walkers in Atlanta."

"I meant with my knife. I was using a rifle. And I knew they were coming. I need to practice my alertness in the woods. And you said there's a pretty, clean stream back there." She smiled and batted her eyelids. "You could wash my back."

He smiled. "A'ight then." Daryl took two mugs down from a cabinet. Dixon hadn't bothered to pack his dishes, with all the ones at Fun Kingdom. "Take m'girl on a nature walk."

"You might even take your wife," she teased.

The mugs clinked down on the counter. "Don't like it when I call you m'girl?"

"No, I like it. I like all your names for me. Pookie." She smiled teasingly, daring him to grumble about her pet name for him.

He didn't disappoint. "Got to stop sayin' that one in front of other people," he muttered as he poured their coffee.


6:15 PM
The Sanctuary

Maybe Dianne had forgotten about their dinner plan. Gavin had only seen her in passing twice today. She was busy filling in for DJ on guard and then helping Gina with something. He'd think she was avoiding him if he didn't know she liked to keep busy. She'd told him once the busier she was, the less she had to think about the state of the world she was living in. That was one way to deal with the dead walking about, the people they'd lost.

He was about to go walk out on the balcony to have a look down at the factory floor when she came in. She took one look of the bottle of wine between the real plates and silverware he'd put down on the table and said, "Oh, you meant dinner."

"It's ready in the crock pot. Real pork. From one of Hilltop's pigs we got in trade. Barbecue. And I've got - "

"- Can I get a raincheck?" Dianne interrupted. "Ezekiel just radioed me. I have to go now." She grabbed her backpack as she said it, unzipped, and began stuffing some things inside. "I'll send DJ back to you when I get there."

"Now? What..why?"

She sighed. "Daniel and Jerry were out on a supply run, and they got jumped by some group of bandits. They took Jerry, and they're holding him for ransom until Daniel brings them three chickens. I have to go back tonight to get debriefed. Daniel is supposed to meet them early tomorrow afternoon at a deginated spot, and Ezekiel wants me there with him to handle it."

"You're going to pay the ransom?" Gavin asked doubtfully. "You know, once you have paid him the dane-geld – "

"- You never get rid of the Dane," she interrupted. "I know. Even if I hadn't read Kipling, I'd know. You taught me that, didn't you?" She leveled her eyes at him in a way that was partially accusing, partially teasing.

Gavin bit his bottom lip. "Yeah," he murmurred. "Sorry about that. But that's why I know it's not a good idea to meet their demands. You're really going to pay the ransom?"

"Ezekiel always favors the path of peace."

"And you?" he asked.

"I'll do what Ezekiel wants. But if the exchange should grow heated and necessitate a violent action, I won't hesitate to carry it out. And I'll also make damn sure our people don't get jumped on the road a second time."

"Want me to go with you?"

"You have too much to do here."

"Then at least take DJ. Don't send him back here. He's my best man. Use him."

"I appreciate that, but without me or him here - "

"- I'll manage.I'll switch up the shifts, work some extra myself. I'll figure it out. Use DJ. Don't go with just Daniel."

She nodded. "I appreciate that." And now, for the first time since talking about it, she actually looked worried. "They better not hurt Jerry. As much as he gets on my nerves sometimes, if there's anyone in this world who least deserves a bad turn - it's him."

"If they were going to hurt him, they would have done it on the road. They want the ransom, right?"

"Yeah. And I doubt they have the numbers to confront us. They claimed to be from a larger camp, but Daniel said there were only three men who jumped them."

"They let just three men get the drop on them?" Gavin asked doubtfully.

"Jerry can get chatty." She moved her hand open and closed in a talking gesture.

"Let me at least pack some of this food to-go."

"Barbecue's too messy to eat while driving. But I'll take that unopened bottle of wine."

He handed her the wine, and she shoved it in her backpack as he said, "I'm wondering if maybe that Savior we banished is behind this. Or Jose, who left on his own when we took him off the council and fined him. DJ will recognize them, if so, He may be helpful in the negotiations."

"Good thought."

"Radio me when you get in to the Kingdom to let me know you're safe, and again after this ransom shakes out. Let me know what happened."

She smiled every so slightly. "You've never asked me to radio I was safely back at the Kingdom before."

"You'll be traveling after sunset," he said, as though that were the reason for the change. "And, hey, uh…if this works out and Ezekiel can spare you, next week you want to join me for a trip to Richmond? I got our Georgia friends to agree to me to trade for insulin. We're meeting at the Richmon battlefield. Wednesday."

"I can't wait to tell Tina that. Sure, I'll be your shotgun. They seem friendly, but you should never do a trade like that alone. How many are they sending?"

"Carol said to look for three teenage boys, two white, one black."

"They're sending teenagers all that distance?"

"Carol didn't seem concerned. They must be capable enough."

Dianne shook her head. "I don't think I'd trust Benjamin with a mission like that. Not yet." She swung her pack on her shoulder and opened the door.

"Be safe!" he called after her, but she was already halfway down the balcony. The door swung shut slowly on its own. Gavin looked at the two empty plates on the table and sighed.