Only a handful of undead had slowly weaved on and off the paved road. Even fewer had come within twenty feet of the house. Sammy watched all night, deciding to let Daryl and Merle have some decent sleep for once, knowing she could sleep in a vehicle. She rubbed her eyes as the sun's rays peeked into the house, her exhaustion would be pretty clear to the Dixon brothers, but she didn't care.
She moved from her spot by the window, cracking her neck and groaning when her knees popped as she came around the couch to nudge Daryl awake. Placing her hand on his shoulder, she hesitantly shook him, half wanting him to sleep more and half wanting to figure out what their plan really was.
The younger Dixon jolted awake, brushing her hand from his shoulder from reflex before sitting up. He rubbed his eyes tiredly before looking around the room and noticing the morning light peeking through the tops of the curtains. "Merle took a shift?"
Sammy shook her head, "No, I let both of you sleep through the night. You haven't had a decent night's rest since everything started." She moved away from him, deciding to head into the kitchen to make some tea for the brothers and grab a can of sweet fruit for each of them. She came back into the living room and set down the mugs in her hands followed by the cans under her arms. "Breakfast. Come eat."
"Ya should have woken one of us up." Daryl chided her.
"After what happened in the bathroom, it's not very likely I'll be getting good sleep, so it's not a big deal. Plus, I can sleep in a vehicle." Sammy took a big bite from her can of overly sweet pears. "Speaking of," She started with her mouthful, "If were leaving mine here, what's our second vehicle?"
Daryl finished what was in his can before responding to her, eyeing the mug of tea with disgust. "I'm getting a small truck."
"How is that happening with the three of us?" At the grimace Daryl made combined with not looking her in the eye, she put together the pieces. "You're not leaving me here." If she didn't already know her psyche, she might have passed off the idea as perfectly fine. But, since she did know her emotional state was on the border of having a mental breakdown, she wasn't about to get separated from a few of the only people she had left in this world.
Both brothers should have known she wouldn't be left behind, at least not without a fight. "Sam—"
"No! I'm not okay here, Daryl. I can't be on my own, I'm not ready for that!" Combing her fingers through her greasy hair, she pulled at the strands in frustration.
"Ya ain't got no choice. Darylina ain't drivin' my motorcycle 'less I'm dead." Merle slurred from the entryway into the living room. "Pack up, little brother, I'm goin' for a piss." He pushed off from the open wall, taking the few steps toward the bathroom.
Sammy was angry as she watched Daryl do as he was told, not bothering to help him gather a few of his things. Instead, she slurped the contents of her can until Merle and Daryl both left. She set the can on the table once she was finished and hurriedly locked the front door, barely hearing the loud rumbling of Merle's motorcycle in the distance.
She went around the rest of the house, checking the windows were locked and the curtains drawn, and even jiggled the back doorknob. Once she was satisfied, she went back to her post by the window in the living room, peeking out the window.
There wasn't anything as far as Sammy could see, no movement from Walkers, no cars driving by, and no signs of people on foot. She was trying to gather the courage to go back into the bathroom and attempt to wash her hair or even use the back bathroom, but she wasn't feeling very trusting.
Feeling uncomfortable in the silent house, Sammy busied herself for a moment by closing all the doors. She did end up going into the master bathroom and finding some shampoo and conditioner, but quickly opted to washing herself in the kitchen rather than the bathroom. Once all the doors were shut, she took the toiletries into the kitchen, setting them by the sink before turning on the water. It ran cold for a minute before turning warm. Dunking her head under the water, she lathered her hair in the water before starting to wash her locks with shampoo. Once finished, she moved on to conditioner as quick as she could before rinsing her hair and drying it with a kitchen towel hanging from the oven.
She had found a few wash rags in a small linen closet by one of the bedrooms and was currently using one to wash up her arms. Looking at the state of her clothes, she stripped out of the filth covered fabric, regretfully ripping at the holes in her shirt to peel it off and not have to re-wash her hair. Once stripped, she continued washing her body, trying to be fast in case the brothers came back sooner than she figured.
It hadn't taken her too long and she felt refreshed once she was fully washed. She had to take another trip to the little closet to grab a blanket as a towel for her body. She was currently pacing up and down the hallway toward the bedrooms and back to the front door, trying to gather the courage to enter one of the rooms to find clothes. She had clothes in her truck, but she wasn't courageous enough to go outside in nothing but a blanket.
When she heard the familiar rumbling of Merle's motorcycle a distance away, she knew her time to make up her mind had come to an end. She threw open the closest bedroom door and immediately went for a tall dresser to the left of the bed. She couldn't tell if the room belonged to a boy or girl considering the walls were white and the bed sheets were a light tan. There were no photos on the walls or posters to show what they were interested in.
She assumed the room belonged to the little girl in the bathroom cupboard, considering the other bedroom was much larger, but once she had the drawers opened, she found mens medium sized clothes. She grabbed a dark grey graphic tee with a cat holding a long bone and the words "I found this humerus" written just below the cat. Once she pulled the shirt over her head, she didn't bother searching for underwear, knowing there wouldn't be any in her size. She also didn't know anyone who lived here and thought it was odd if she wore a strangers underwear.
By the time she secured the drawstrings on some athletic shorts she found in another drawer, she heard banging on the front door. "The hell woman! Get over 'ere an unlock this door!" Merle's voice was irritated as he pounded on the door again.
Quickly running back to the front of the house, Sammy peeked through the eye slot on the door, confirming both Dixon brothers were standing there, looking gloomy and irritable as always. Sliding back the locks, she tugged the door open wide enough for them to slip through before shutting and locking them all inside once again.
She was relieved to see both of them again, though some of her earlier irritation at being left behind hadn't faded and she let them know by not greeting them. Instead, she went into the kitchen to grab the last two cans of beans, a sleeve of broken Ritz crackers, and a couple of water bottles refilled by the sink. It had one of those fancy filters attached to it, making the water safe to drink if the tap wasn't.
She hauled the supplies into the living room, setting down the cans for the brothers and keeping the crackers to herself while tossing the waters at them. She kicked her bare feet up on the coffee table and stared at the titles on the bookshelf, eating her crackers in silence. "Take a shower?"
Moving her eyes slightly to her left, she allowed a small nod at Daryl as he peeled open his can of beans. She didn't go into detail about how scared she actually was to even use the shower, but instead let him think whatever he wanted. They all finished their food in relative silence, the only sounds coming from her wrapper of crackers and the guys tapping on their cans.
Once they were all finished, they left their trash on the table, settling in for the evening. Sammy went up to the bookshelf and actually skimmed the titles, touching the spines on the books with light brushes of the pads on her fingers. Once she saw a title she was interested in, she placed her index finger on the top of the book, pulling it loose from the shelf and carrying it to the couch. She didn't know how much she would actually read as her eyes were already blood shot and resistant to staying open. She kept herself busy for most of the day, pacing, bathing, and worrying. Now she was slumping in her spot on the couch, her exhaustion spelled out on her face.
"Sam, go sleep in one of the bedrooms." Daryl nudged her from his own spot next to her.
"No. I'm not sleeping in those rooms." She curled into herself, not looking at him as she hugged the book under her chin. Other than the fact she was untrusting that the brothers cleared out the rooms, she didn't want to be alone. She felt better being close to the Dixon's, like a child close to its mom.
Merle stood from his chair, moving towards the window, and peeking through the curtains. "Go take her in one of the rooms, make her sleep if ya gotta. I'll wake ya if I need ya for watch." They were both suspicious of Merle for volunteering as quickly as he did, but Sammy wasn't willing to put many brain cells into figuring out what he was up to.
Daryl was a bit more hesitant, staring at Merle as he motioned for them to get off the couch. Standing up, Daryl pulled Sammy with him, her protests being small whines. He didn't say anything to Merle, just gave him a pointed look and carried Sammy towards one of the bedrooms.
Daryl pulled her into the larger room, closing the door behind them. Sammy's fear of something being in the room caused her to suddenly seize up. Noticing her sudden rigidness, he backed her up against the closed door. "Sam, there's nothing in this room. I checked it myself." He backed up, going to the closet, and opened the doors, shifting through the racks of clothes on hangers to show her no one was hiding there. Daryl went around the room and checked all the spaces that could have been large enough for someone to hide in. He even checked under the bed for her.
Sammy felt her shoulders relax as the tension eased from her muscles. She let Daryl grab her hands and pull her gently over to the bed, letting him push her down on the left side, furthest from the door. "You're not leaving are you?" He had moved to the door, hand almost touching the handle as if he were going to leave her alone. She felt her fear start to crawl up her spine once again.
"Man's gotta use the toilet every now and then." He turned his head as he said it, probably rolling his eyes in slight embarrassment.
When he tuned his head back to look at her, she had her finger pointed toward the small bathroom in the room. "There's a bathroom right there." She knew the look on her face would get him to do as he was told, but not without complaints. In the moment, she didn't care about whether or not he was comfortable going in front of her, she only wanted to feel safe and secure and with Daryl out of the room, she would lose that.
Without a word, Daryl moved into the little bathroom, though his face gave away his irritation. He didn't take as long as Sammy thought he would and came out of the bathroom quickly, only going to sit on the floor at the end of the bed. "Daryl…"
"What, Sam?" He sounded exasperated with her which made her hesitate. She had wanted him to lay closer to her, maybe even hold her so she wouldn't have terrible dreams. Deep down, she knew he wasn't that kind of guy as much as she wished he was, but even if he just sat closer to her, she might feel that much better and go to sleep.
Instead of admitting that she wanted him closer, she asked another question. "Are we moving on soon? Now that you have another vehicle?" Her voice was quiet, hugging a pillow close to her chest as she still sat in the spot Daryl placed her.
"Once we get your truck covered. Probably day after tomorrow." She should have known he would give a small answer. Merle was the talker of the two remaining Dixons and Daryl had always been quiet and observing. "Sleep, Sam."
"I can't." Her voice was small and quiet, but he still heard her. In the next moment, she found herself laying down under the blankets, and Daryl next to her on top of the same blankets. She was facing him, giving him a little smile while he averted his eyes, trying to look anywhere but at her.
"Sleep, Sam." He repeated.
"Where will we go after tomorrow?" She wasn't ready to sleep, doing her best to ask questions as a final effort to stay awake.
He humored her, noticing her eyes closing. "There's a spot Merle used to take me hunting. A quarry with lots of deer. We'll go there first." She hummed in response, feeling content and safe. "Sleep, Sam." He whispered, finally sweeping his eyes over her face. She felt his gaze on her as she slipped into a deep sleep, losing the battle against her exhaustion.
Sammy felt a burning sensation on her right shoulder as it grew from a slight itch to an intense burning. Her fingers were a little bloody from her severe scratching, her nails stained a deep black and red from the wound. She wanted to scream as she kept scratching, feeling tears leak from her eyes in frustration from the pain. She hurried to the little bathroom in the room, not caring if her scrambling woke up Daryl.
Turning on the light, she threw open the medicine cabinet door, shifting through all the unfamiliar pill bottles on the small shelves. She read each one, not knowing what each prescription was for. "No Tylenol or Ibuprofen?" She growled out her discomfort, suddenly not recognizing her own voice.
Sammy's voice wasn't that low, not even when she mocked Daryl or Merle. She looked at her hands, only seeing the blood as she gently closed the medicine cabinet. She dragged her eyes to the mirror, choking back a sob as she looked at her pale skin. Her eyes were sunken in, red and black tears in the corners of her eyes. Her teeth were once white and pristine but now they were yellow and chipped horribly as if she had been chewing on metal. Her lips were as pale as her skin and torn like she bit into them herself. She brought her fingers up to her cheeks to touch them, peeling it off in small strips, red streaks dripping down to her chin and falling as small droplets onto her tattered shirt. She tried to ask her reflection what happened, but only growls and grunts answered her as she snapped her teeth.
Daryl appeared next to her, rubbing at his eyes tiredly. "What're ya doin?"
Her fingers moved on their own, grasping his wrists as fast as they could. He gave little protest as she tried to tell him to run away and not trust her. She knew what was going to happen, but he wasn't understanding her growls as attempts to get him to kill her. How could he just let her bite him? How couldn't he see what she had turned into?
She watched herself in slow motion as she brought his wrist to her lips, almost kissing the inside veins before she sunk her teeth into his flesh. He didn't call for her to stop, he didn't yell at her like she was expecting him to, instead he wrapped his other arm around her, under her breasts in a hug as she pulled her head back, ripping his flesh off his arm as she slowly chewed.
Sammy jolted herself from her dream, feeling something heavy holding onto her around her waist. She flipped over, meeting Daryl's sleeping face, causing her to instantly relax. Even with him beside her, she had a horrible dream. She didn't know if they would ever stop at this point, no matter how safe she felt.
She placed her hand on Daryl's arm, trying to bring herself some comfort by smoothing circles into the hair on his arm with two of her fingers. He stirred slightly but didn't wake up at her light touch. She soaked up the intimacy with him, being comforted by him even as he slept. She didn't know if Merle had come and gotten him in the night for a shift and she wasn't going to ask, but either way, she was grateful to wake up with him by her side, and even holding her.
She dragged her fingers lightly up and down his arm, abandoning the circles in favor of touching more of him. She had dreamed of something like this before the undead started walking. She thought her and Daryl would eventually start dating, once she was done playing guys for money, but she had also enjoyed being single and playing games. Daryl had commitment issues just like she did, but for completely different reasons. Sammy knew most things about Daryl and Merle, but some childhood trauma had followed them, and they stashed that can of worms high up where no one could reach.
Of course, Sammy wanted to pry. She tried manipulating his feelings a few times to get him to share, but after she grew feelings for Daryl, she backed off. If he wanted to share with her, he would.
She thought of the time she went with Daryl to join up with his dad on a hunting trip. She had met Daryl's father a handful of times before with small greetings of hello's but never full conversations. So, this hunting trip was a bigger thing for everyone.
Sammy learned rather quickly on that hunting trip, that even though some welcomed her, Daryl's father thought her place was with the other women – back home in the kitchen. When she voiced her opinions and told him differently, he taught her a lesson with his belt he thought she should have learned from her own daddy.
Daryl took her home immediately after, both silent on the way back except for his mumbled apologies. She didn't speak to him for a few days after, though he tried getting her to at least say hello. It wasn't until he started throwing small pebbles at her window, three in exchange for three knocks, that she started talking to him again. He would sneak into her room at night and just stay with her at the foot of her bed.
They never discussed the long scars on her back, and she kept them a secret for a long time until she was in her last year of high school. She used to tell fabricated stories to her boyfriends about how she got the scars and enjoyed the attention she received from them. It wasn't long after that, that she started leading all kinds of guys along, just to get at the cash in their wallets.
A movement to her left pulled her from memory lane as Daryl shifted his head to snuggle a little closer into her touch. Sammy instantly thought it was cute and continued her soft touches up his exposed arms, going no further than the top of his arm. She knew his dad gave him his own wounds, but Daryl had never shown her. He was the opposite of her confidence, choosing to shy away and hide his scars. She'd told him before how manly they were, but he never agreed with her.
"What're ya doin'?" came his mumbled and deeply groggy voice from the pillow. She turned her head to give him a smile, continuing her touching as he stared at her with one eye.
She answered his question with a question of her own, "You don't like it?" She stopped, her fingers hovering over his skin.
"Didn't say that." He admitted, a hint of pink barely touching his cheeks, causing Sammy to giggle and continue her tickling touches. Daryl just watched her as she slid her fingers up and down his arm softly, not saying anything while she went on for a few minutes. She was sure they both didn't want the moment to end, but her fingers began to cramp.
Sammy cleared her throat, sitting up and stretching her arms above her head. "I think it's time to relieve Merle. Did he come get you last night?"
Daryl sighed, sitting up with her. "No. You?" She shook her head.
"I didn't think him that nice, honestly. I thought he would have woken one of us for sure." She put her feet on the floor and picked herself up from the bed, her back cracking slightly as she stood. She carried herself over to the small bathroom, doing her own check to make sure nothing had snuck in while they were sleeping, and did her business.
Daryl had slipped out of the room just as she finished in the bathroom, and she quickly followed behind him. The door to the next bedroom was closed along with the bathroom in the hallway. When they both entered the living room, Merle wasn't around. His chair, the couch, and their makeshift post by the window were all vacant. Sammy quickly took up the spot by the window with Daryl coming up behind her.
They both pulled the curtain back a little and as soon as they did, Daryl dropped his hand over Sammy's mouth. Pressing their face against the window was a Walker. It was a woman with unkempt hair and rotten teeth. Her clothes were barely hanging on to her shoulders and a garbage bag somehow got hooked around her wrist, dragging the few contents it had left behind her.
A few others had made it up to the house during the night, something Merle should have woken them for, but didn't. Sammy tapped Daryl's hand to let him know she wouldn't scream, and he slowly released her as she carefully put the curtain back in place. "Where is Merle?" She whispered to Daryl. He nodded his head toward the hallway where the kitchen was. She assumed he was trying to give his brother the benefit of the doubt, hoping he was trying to get them all breakfast, but both knew Merle didn't operate like that.
They moved carefully, now knowing Walkers were closer to the house, and peered into the kitchen. Empty.
"Try the other bedroom." Daryl told her, taking a quick peek into the bathroom as they passed it.
"He has to be in there. There's no way he'd be outside without telling one of us, right?" The other bedroom door creaked open slowly as they popped their heads in. There, laying across the bed, snoring loudly, was Merle.
Daryl barged in the rest of the way making the door thump against the wall in his anger. "Merle! Get the hell up!" He brought his right hand clear across his brothers face, expecting an angry outburst, but he only gurgled before letting out another loud snore.
"Daryl." Sammy had moved to the other side of the bed, checking out the assortment of items on the nightstand. The pictures and jewelry box were dumped carelessly on the ground while Merle set up his drug stash. There were all sorts of pills in a bag. "I thought he left his bag of drugs at the bar?" The same one she had saved for him before he went there, was now sitting on the nightstand.
"Motherfucker!" Daryl hit his brother in the face again, still not waking the drug addict. "Let's go. We gotta clean up after this dumbass." Daryl left his brother to ride out his fix and headed for the front door with Sammy trying to catch up.
"Wait, Daryl!" She grabbed his arm as he went to unlock the door, turning him to face her. "Be smart about this. We don't know how many are out there. Let's check all the windows and see how many we have to worry about, so we don't get snuck up on." Seeing reason within her words, Daryl agreed, going back into the living room to start there. Sammy went into the kitchen, checking the back door and the two large windows before going back into the room Merle was in.
Once all the windows were checked and Walkers counted, they deemed the door in the kitchen was better to pop out from. There were less Walkers on that side of the house, and it was easier to sneak out of since the front door creaked.
Daryl made sure he had his crossbow, mumbling at how low his bolt count was low before joining Sammy at the door. She patted her hips, making sure her own weapons were secure before nodding at him that she was ready. Daryl positioned himself to go first, holding his hand on the knob of the door while Sammy stayed behind him, pulling the blade on her left hip from its sheath.
Pushing the door open, Daryl rushed out, easily firing his first bolt into the closest Walker. Sammy followed after him, burying her own knife into the back of a head of another Walker. They took their time, going around the back of the house and working their way to the front. Daryl delivered the last bolt into the woman who had seen them through the window, killing the last of the undead.
Sammy cleaned off her knife in the grass before putting it back in the holster on her hip, putting her hands on her waist as she stopped to take a breath. "Since we're out here, should we cover my truck?" She asked as Daryl made his way over to her, cleaning off the last of his bolts. He nodded and started his way to the back of the house where her truck was already partially hidden by the trees.
Before they started pulling branches, Sammy went into the back of the truck to sort through their supplies. She decided what exactly they were bringing and what they could afford to leave behind. She pulled out her duffle bag and stuffed it full of her clothes, even putting her pillow on the top before handing it over to Daryl to put in his truck. She passed him camping supplies from her grandparents' house, making sure there was a tent and a few sleeping bags. She was grateful her grandparents didn't like sleeping on hard surfaces and packed blow up mattresses for comfort.
She grabbed a few more supplies they would need for roughing it, but left things like electric stoves and silverware behind. She didn't know if they were really going to need them, but even if they did, they could always come back. At least, that's what she told herself.
Once Daryl finished putting things in the bed of his truck, he helped Sammy to cover her army truck with a few tarps they found before they started cutting down branches and slicing some grass. Sammy put together a makeshift cover out of sticks, grass, fallen leaves, and chunks of bushes. They were quiet as they worked, both listening for any other odd sounds in the woods. Only two Walkers had come to pay them a visit and Daryl easily took them out, letting Sammy continue her cover.
They only stopped for bathroom breaks or getting some water and a quick snack from the truck and by the time they were finished, the sun had left the sky, washing out the bright blue with bright reds and oranges.
Sammy was itching for a proper shower, disliking the sticky sweat that rolled down her chest. She already needed new clothes, feeling a little sad her "humerus" shirt was stained with some Walker blood. Though, she would probably attempt to wash it, wanting to keep some kind of laughter around in the new bleak world.
"C'mon, Sam, this'll be good for now. See how it holds up durin' the night." Daryl sniffled, bringing his right arms to wipe a drop of sweat from under his nose. He nodded toward the house, trying to get her moving so he could follow behind. "Ladies first."
Warmth heated her cheeks from his comment, and she had to fan herself as she started heading back for the kitchen door. "My, my Daryl Dixon. Aren't you just the chivalrous kind?" Sammy sashayed her hips for him (even though she felt hidden and unsexy in men's athletic shorts) feeling his eyes rest on the small of her back. "See something you like?"
Daryl quickly looked away as they both entered the house, busying himself with locking the door and kicking off his boots before setting his crossbow against the kitchen wall. "Fuckin' tease, woman." He mumbled, watching her bounce down the hall toward the bigger room to shower.
I posted again! Yay! Thank you for reading!
Would anyone read a Christmas Special, if I posted one? I'm thinking about writing something but with how close Christmas is, I don't know.. So any thoughts?