Chapter 45
Alexandria
"Hi. I'm Deanna Monroe."
"Kate." She replied, shaking the woman's outstretched hand. She followed her into the living room and looked around in awe. It was like the houses she used to see in magazines with beautiful furnishings and impressive interior design. Handsome wool rugs covered the hardwood flooring and there were built-in shelves that stretched to the ceilings, lined with dozens of books. The room was bright and airy and Kate didn't realize why that struck her as odd, until she realized there weren't any bars or pieces of wood nailed across the windows. She had been transported back in time.
"You have a beautiful home." She said, looking around uneasily and taking it all in.
"Thank you. Although, I can't take credit for it," The woman said, smiling broadly. "It looked like this when I arrived. I do quite like it though. Please, have a seat."
Kate looked at the tufted chair Deanna had motioned to. The fabric was pretty and looked expensive. She looked down at her jeans and realized they were so dirty they weren't even blue anymore.
"I shouldn't." She said, suddenly embarrassed about what she was wearing for the first time in a long time. "I'm filthy."
She wiped uselessly at the back of her pants.
"I don't mind. I really don't." Deanna said, crossing to a small video camera set up on a tripod behind her black leather sofa. "Do you mind if I film this?"
Kate sat gingerly on the edge of the chair, trying to touch as little of it as possible.
"Sure. What's it for?"
"We are all about transparency here. Our people have access to these tapes and are free to watch them if they'd like to learn more about who we let in. I have a series of questions I ask all new recruits and I might have more depending on where the conversation takes us. Feel free to ask me any questions you might have too."
Kate nodded. The woman was very direct. The kind of woman who would've been described as a spitfire when she was young, before she was old enough to know she would rather not be called that anymore. She was petite, probably in her 60's, with shoulder length reddish-brown hair that stopped sensibly at her shoulders. Dressed in slacks and a button up blouse with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, there was a no nonsense air about her. She radiated confidence, Kate just wasn't sure yet if she'd earned it.
"Would you like a glass of water?" The woman asked hospitably, picking up a pitcher and pouring herself half a glass. Kate could hear the clink of ice cubes. She'd almost forgotten such a sound existed.
"Yes. Please." Kate said. The day before yesterday she was hoping to find a puddle of mud she could drink out of and now she was being handed a glass of clean, cold water.
"So Kate." Deanna said, crossing her legs and resting her folded hands on top of them. "How long have you been part of Rick's group?"
"Since the beginning." She sipped the water, noticing while she did that her fingernails were packed with dirt and her hands left smudges on the clean glass. She curved her fingers in an attempt to hide it.
"And how was it that you found them?"
"Um, a group of us met on a highway trying to get into Atlanta and when we couldn't get into the city, we ended up meeting up with some other survivors at this quarry. That's where some of us met, including Rick."
"Were you with family or friends?"
Kate shook her head.
"No. I was actually alone. I was trying to get to Atlanta before they closed down the airports so I could get home."
"So where is home then?'
The first thing that popped into Kate's head was the prison. The blue and yellow flowered curtains hanging in the door of their cell, the quilt on their bed, the garden where she and Rick and Carl spent so many hours.
She took another sip of water hoping to dissolve the lump that had started to form in her throat.
"I used to live in California. That's where my family is...was...I don't really know."
Deanna pulled her lips in sympathetically. "Not knowing about your family. That must be so difficult. I'm sorry."
Kate nodded. At this point there was so much to be sorry for.
"I was a congressperson. Ohio, 15th district. I was also trying to get back to our home state with my family when we ended up here. My husband Reg and I have two grown sons, Aiden and Spencer. Thankfully we were all together when it happened. It must be so difficult to be without family in a world like this."
"It was really hard at first, honestly, it still is. But this group has become my family. I have a husband now, and Rick and his kids, Maggie, Glenn, Beth, Michonne...I love all of them."
"You have a husband?" She said, leaning forward, clearly intrigued. "You met him after then?"
"Yes. He was at the quarry in the beginning too."
"What's his name? I haven't interviewed him yet, have I?"
"No, not yet. His name is Daryl."
"So you got married? In the middle of all this?" She said incredulously.
She shook her head. "We weren't the only ones. Maggie and Glenn did too."
"Fascinating. I love it." She smiled warmly. "Civilization finds a way, even in the midst of chaos. I look forward to someday hearing all about it. So when you lived in California, what did you do?"
"I worked for a small company that printed things. I ran the office, did the books. I worked there the entire time I was going to college and I loved the family I worked for so I just never left."
"What did you study?"
"Communications."
"Interesting. What do you think about being part of a community like this?"
She wondered if she should hold back, not seem so eager. She knew what Daryl would think, but then Kate imagined them all as part of a community again: fed, warm and safe. Carl and Judith with other children. A doctor to heal them when they were sick or injured. A bed to lay down in every night without being cold, hungry or bitten, she was overwhelmed by the prospect.
"I'd really love it." She said, her voice breaking mid-sentence. She put a hand to her face to try and hide the unexpected emotion. "I'm sorry. Oh God, I can't believe I'm crying. I'm sorry."
Deanna snatched a box of Kleenex off the side table and held it out to Kate. She took one and wiped her eyes and nose before crumpling the tissue tightly in her hand.
"Out there, everyday, we just try not to die. There isn't room for anything else. I'd like there to be something else."
"This is definitely 'something else'. We are a thriving community with the potential to grow. We have an infirmary, a school, social gatherings and I see so much more in our future. A return to life as we knew it before, but better because we built it."
Kate looked at her with wonder. She seemed to really believe it was possible. Kate wanted to believe it too.
"Where do you see yourself fitting in here Kate? All our residents have jobs. It is part of the way we work. What do you see yourself doing?"
"I'm happy to help however I can. Although, given the choice I think I would prefer something inside the walls. I'm a quick learner and I work hard."
"Ok." Deanna said, smiling. "That gives me a start. Final question, is there anything you want to tell me about anyone in the group? Good or bad. Anything you think I should know."
Kate took a deep breath and thought about the question.
"Honestly, we are good people. Rick is an amazing leader. He has kept us together through so much. He treated me like family from the very start."
She paused. She wanted to talk about Daryl. To apologize ahead of time if he wasn't friendly or didn't want to answer her questions, but she was afraid it was a betrayal of him.
"Anything else?" Deanna prompted. She seemed to sense she was holding something back.
Kate eyed the camera uncomfortably
"The only person I'm not really sure about is Father Gabriel. It isn't that I think he is a bad person, he's just kind of odd and he definitely hasn't been the easiest to get to know."
"Do you think he's a problem?"
"Oh, no, nothing like that." She said, shaking her head. "I just don't know him well enough to really vouch for him."
"Well, thank you, for your candor." Deanna said, although her face revealed nothing. "And thank you Kate for talking with me. It has been a pleasure getting to know you. Welcome to Alexandria."
"Thank you."
"And if you don't mind, if you could please send Daryl in next."
Kate stood to go and got halfway to the door before turning back. Deanna was fiddling with the camera behind the couch.
"We've been through a lot, I think we are all a little traumatized. I'm not sure if all of us will make the best first impressions, but we are worth it and we need this. We need this really badly."
DARYL
Daryl had been hovering near the door to Deanna's home the entire time Kate had been inside for her interview listening for any sign of trouble. Several of the group had gone before her and had returned back all in one piece, with nothing alarming to report, but still it made him nervous to even let her out of his sight in this new and strange place.
She opened the door, startled to find someone standing there. In the second before she realized it was Daryl he saw her hand go to her knife.
"Daryl, you scared me." She said with a nervous laugh.
There were tear streaks on her face, obvious because of the dirt they'd washed away as they ran down her cheeks, and he felt anger start to bubble up in the middle of his chest.
"You ok?" He asked her in a gruff whisper.
She smiled and shook her head. "I'm good."
He made a face.
"I am." She insisted. "Go, she's waiting for you."
Daryl huffed, he didn't owe this woman anything.
"Please be nice and, Daryl, leave the possum."
Daryl dropped it on the porch without comment and walked inside Deanna's house. A woman's voice called from the kitchen.
"I'll be out in a minute. Have a seat."
Daryl looked around uneasily at the large leather couch and the fancy chairs and decided he'd rather not. The coffee table was covered with books, smelly candles and a dish filled with rocks. He took a handful and examined them, a habit he'd gotten into back at the prison when he was searching for limestone for Mr. Richard's gravemarker. These were all polished and decorative and he let them fall from his hand back into the dish with a loud clatter just as Deanna came around the corner with a pitcherful of water and a new glass.
She stopped in her tracks, clearly dumbfounded.
"Daryl?" She said doubtfully.
"Ya." He said, standing up to his full height. His crossbow was on his back and on the front of his pants his sheathed knife hung. He was covered from head to toe in dirt, blood and grime and his shaggy hair hung in greasy strands in front of his eyes.
She put on a smile and walked forward purposefully.
"Your Kate's husband?"
She said it in a way that made it seem debatable and it pissed him off.
"That's right." He snarled, narrowing his eyes at this woman living safely in her fancy home.
"It's so nice to meet you." She said reaching forward to shake his hand. "Your wife is lovely."
He nodded, looking her up and down distrustfully, before sticking out his hand reluctantly and shaking her's.
She circled the couch and stood next to a video camera and as she worked on it she said casually, "I'm filming all the interviews, if you don't mind."
"And if I do?"
She looked up at him surprised.
"Do you?"
"Guess not."
She came back around and sat on the black couch and gave him her full attention. He paced in front of her, eyeing the place nervously.
"You're welcome to sit Daryl, I won't bite."
"Ya, I'm alright." He said.
"So how long have you been part of Rick's group?"
He looked at her resentfully. She waited.
"Some of us met up at the beginning."
"Did you know anyone from before?"
"My brother. He ain't with us anymore."
"Did he die?"
Daryl nodded.
"I'm sorry to hear that. What did you do before this Daryl?"
"What did I do?"
"Yes, for a living?"
"What's it matter?" He said spitefully.
"We all have things we are good at. We can all benefit this community. I'm just trying to see where you will fit in."
He scoffed and eyed her angrily.
"Daryl, do you want to be here?"
The question caught him off guard. The answer was complicated. In all honesty the moment the rat-faced man at the gate slammed it shut behind them, everything in Daryl wanted to run. To rip it back open and tear into the woods. Take his chances with the walkers. But he belonged wherever Kate was and right now she was convinced this was the right move.
"I want to be with my wife and my wife wants to be here"
"Is that the only reason?"
"The boy and the baby deserve to have a roof over their heads."
Deanna shook her head in understanding.
"Fair enough. Thank you for being honest with me."
Daryl nodded curtly. "We done?"
"Sure Daryl." She said simply. "Could you please send Maggie in?"
Daryl found Kate sitting on the brick wall outside of Deanna's house with Glenn, Maggie and Beth. When he walked out so soon after going in they seemed surprised.
"Maggie, you're up." He grumbled, leaning down and grabbing his possum by the tail.
"Do you want us to wait for you?" Kate asked Glenn and Beth as Maggie hopped up and headed up the white painted steps to Deanna's door.
"Nah. Go ahead, I'm good." Glenn answered. "Beth, you can go check out the houses with them if you want."
"I think I'll wait for Maggie too."
"Ok" Kate replied. "See you guys over there."
Kate and Daryl walked together around the corner and headed up the long street lined with luxury homes on one side and a pond on the other.
"What houses?" Daryl asked.
"Our houses, I guess. Carol came back to let us know they gave us the two at the end of this street."
"They're lettin' us have two houses?" He said skeptically. "Just givin' 'em to us."
"Ya. Carol thinks it's weird too."
"This whole fucking place is weird." He said, looking around suspiciously at the houses they were passing with their wide, wrap-around porches and brightly painted doors.
Kate ignored him. "How'd your interview go?"
Daryl shook his head in frustration. "What the fuck was that all about?"
"She just wants to get to know us." Kate explained. "We had questions for the people we took in at the prison too."
"Three fucking questions, Kate. Not an on-camera interview. And we sure as hell didn't take people's guns from them."
"They let you keep your crossbow Daryl." She said and he could tell he was exasperating her, but he couldn't control himself. "Speaking of taking our guns, what was Carol doing? Why was she acting like an idiot in front of Deanna and Olivia?"
Daryl shrugged. "How the hell do I know?" He said, scanning their surroundings, one hand at his chest, looping around the strap of his crossbow and the other holding tightly to the bare tail of the dead possum.
"It just makes me nervous when she starts acting funny. You know what happened last time we were worried about her."
"Carol makes you nervous?" He said in disbelief. "We are locked behind walls in this strange place, they've taken our guns and people are staring at us right now through their blinds and you're nervous about Carol?"
"If they're staring it's probably because you're carrying a dead animal down their street. Why did you even bring that thing in?"
"I ain't eatin' dog again if I can help it."
"Aaron said they had food, Daryl."
"And they're just gonna give us that too?"
As they neared the end of the street, they could see Carl's hat poking up over the railing of the gray house on the corner. He was entertaining Judith and the baby was babbling happily in her big brother's arms.
Daryl sat on the steps and plunked the possum down in front of him.
"You aren't going inside with me?" Kate asked, surprised.
"I'm good." He grunted without looking at her. He pulled his knife out and plunged it into the possum's belly.
"Oh don't do that right here." She pleaded.
He reached in and pulled its guts out, plopping them on the porch.
She sighed and walked inside.
KATE
"Watch this." Michonne said from the kitchen as soon as Kate walked into the house. She turned the kitchen faucet on and a stream of clean water poured out into the sink. "Isn't it amazing?" Michonne's face lit up with a smile Kate hadn't seen in a long time.
"I can't believe this place." Kate said, walking around the living room and running her hand over the shelves of books and decorative pieces and stopping to look at the picture that hung over the fireplace. "Whoever lived in these houses before sure knew how to decorate."
"The refrigerator works too." Michonne said. "Someone came by from the pantry and dropped off some stuff for us."
The sound of water rushing through pipes caught Kate's attention.
"Do the toilets flush?" She asked, her eyes wide with shock.
Michonne smiled and nodded. She unscrewed a jar of peaches and stabbed at the top one with a fork.
"Want one?"
Kate nodded eagerly.
"Do we know who's staying in which house yet?" She asked.
"I don't think so," Michonne started, but stopped at the sound of someone on the stairs.
"We are all staying here tonight." Rick answered, walking into the kitchen with his beard shaved completely off.
Both women grinned.
"Wow, Rick, looking good!" Kate teased, wiping peach juice off her chin.
"I've never seen your face before." Michonne exclaimed.
"Ya, ya." Rick said, waving off their compliments, his face turning a faint shade of pink. "Hey Kate, do you think you could give me a haircut?"
She was still smiling goofily at him, but she shook her head.
"Sure, if I can find some scissors."
After a short search, a pair of regular kitchen scissors was the best she could do, but since everything she knew about cutting hair had been learned in the prison she didn't think better ones were going to make the difference in the type of haircut Rick was about to get.
Sitting down in the kitchen she ran a comb through his wet hair.
"I can't believe you got a shower. You smell like soap and I smell like a rotting corpse. Was there hot water?"
"I'm afraid if I tell you, you won't finish my haircut."
"Hot showers" Kate squealed. "I want to cry."
"Well, don't get too excited. I'm still not sure about this place."
Kate sobered. "I know. Daryl isn't either." She held a lock of his hair off his scalp and made her first cut. "I want to be careful too, I know we need to be sure, but I have a good feeling about it."
Rick took a deep breath. "We'll see."
"Well, do me a favor." She said, lining up the next lock of hair between her fingers and giving it a few unpracticed snips. "Can I at least get a shower in before you decide we have to go."
That night the group, freshly showered (with the exception of Daryl), set up camp in the living room of the house on the corner with the yellow door. Even those of them that were feeling positive about Alexandria had grown more cautious as the sun went down. The night made them vulnerable and they felt like targets, in their assigned house with dozens of windows and their guns locked up in the armoury.
Daryl had parked himself in front of a window, staring intently outside, his crossbow leaning on the wall next to him. She knew he wouldn't sleep all night and his mood would only be worse tomorrow.
Deanna had stopped by to see how they were settling in and acted surprised when she found them all together. She said it was 'smart' and Kate wondered if she was being patronizing or if she really thought so. Rick was the only one who spoke to her, although she spoke to him and also addressed them all as a group. It felt to Kate a lot like when the principal would come into the classroom to talk to a teacher. They were all relieved when she left.
"I wonder what jobs we'll all get." Kate whispered quietly to Daryl as they sat together by the window after most the others dropped off to sleep.
Pulling his eyes away from the darkness outside, he looked at her. His face remained expressionless, but in his eyes she saw a sadness that made her heart ache.
"What job are they gonna give a man like me?"
"Daryl," She started, reaching out to take his hand in her's. "There are about a million things you can do."
"What can I do? Fix motorcycles? Does that seem like somethin' they need Kate?"
He'd gone from vulnerable to defensive in record time.
"Or maybe hunt? Oh wait, you said they had plenty of food."
She sighed. "That's not fair. Of course they need meat. Just maybe not possum."
He pulled his hand away from her and looked back out the window.
"Daryl, you're more capable than all of us."
"Not inside these fences I ain't."
The smell of coffee and pancakes greeted Kate as she sat up and stretched in the early morning light of the living room. Standing in the kitchen, dressed in a white collared shirt and a blue cardigan, Carol flipped a pancake onto a plate.
"Who's ready to eat?" She called out.
Carl moved eagerly towards the kitchen.
"Do I smell coffee?" Michonne asked from her spot on the floor.
"You sure do." Carol said. "And there will be plenty more pancakes."
The rest of the group, in various stages of waking, stretched and groaned and made conversation about the quality of their sleep. Daryl, of course, was nowhere to be found. He always woke before the rest of them and was too antsy to stay still for too long. She imagined he wouldn't have gone far though, not willing to leave them all there asleep and vulnerable.
She got up and shuffled towards the front door.
"Daryl is already parked on the porch again." Carol said to Kate, taking her eyes off the stove just long enough to shoot her a disapproving look. "Tell him breakfast is ready."
Just as Carol had said he sat on the porch, his bow leaning against the railing next to him, looking irritable.
"Good Morning, how'd you sleep?"
"I didn't."
"I didn't think so." She sighed. "Well, breakfast is ready."
"You go ahead."
"You sure?"
He nodded. Reluctantly she headed back inside and slid onto one of the metal bar stools at the kitchen island. Carol plopped a plateful of pancakes in front of her.
"Is he coming?" She asked, her lips pursed impatiently together.
"Maybe later." She said, focusing on cutting the pancakes into little wedges so Carol wouldn't get the impression she wanted to have a conversation about Daryl.
"Maybe you could talk him into getting a shower today and putting some clean clothes on. I grabbed some stuff I thought would fit him from Olivia."
"I'm not going to talk him into anything Carol." She said irritably.
"I just think it's important we keep up appearances for now."
"What does that mean?" Carl asked around a mouthful of pancakes.
Michonne moved into the kitchen and started opening cabinets in search of the coffee cups.
"It means, we play their game."
Michonne rolled her eyes behind Carol's head before holding up a second coffee cup to Kate.
Kate nodded and Michonne put the mug in front of her and filled it up with the pot in her other hand.
"So what's the plan today?" Glenn asked from the dining room table.
"They told us to explore." Said Rick. "So let's explore."
"Do we know who's going to be in what house?" Rosita asked.
"I think we should stay together again in here tonight, but if some of you want to split everyone into the two houses, that's fine by me."
Kate swallowed the last of her pancakes and stacked three more on her plate and covered them with syrup. Walking back to the porch she handed it to Daryl. When she returned to the kitchen with his empty plate those who hadn't already left to explore were around the kitchen island discussing which house everyone would be in.
"Kate, we're putting you and Daryl in the attic loft in this house." Maggie informed her, a pen in her hand and a spiral notebook in front of her. "Rick and Judith are going into the master bedroom, Carl in the room next to them."
"I'll take the single bed." Carol volunteered.
"I don't mind." Michonne said.
"I think I'd prefer it." Carol countered.
"Ok." Michonne shrugged. "I won't argue."
"Perfect." Maggie said. "Rick, Judith, Carl, Michonne, Carol, Kate and Daryl in this house."
She scribbled something out in her notebook.
"It actually works out well with Gabriel not being with us." Maggie mused. "The other house has four rooms and four beds. Glenn and I will take the one with the Jack and Jill bathroom, Beth can have the adjoining room."
"That works for us." Rosita said. "I'm going to go over there now and take a shower"
"I'm coming too sweetheart." Abraham announced, following her out of the house.
"What exactly happened with Gabriel?" Kate asked, curious.
"Apparently he asked Deanna if there was a spot where he could live alone." Rick explained.
"They have places like that here?" Beth asked.
"They've converted some of the townhouses into small apartments for people who come in alone."
"I don't like that he told her he didn't want to be with us." Carol worried.
"I don't know if it was like that." Rick said. "I think it was more about being by himself. Think about it, he's a priest. He lived in that church alone for years. I can't pretend he's warmed to any of us, but I don't think it was personal."
After her one and only real conversation with Gabriel, Kate wasn't so sure.
Rick stood from the table. "Let's go explore." He said, cuffing Carl gently on the back of the head. "Keep your eyes open." He said to the rest of them. "We can't let our guard down yet."
They stood, clearing their dishes and making their way to the porch. Filing out in groups of 2 or 3. Kate heard Carol getting after Daryl about a shower and she stayed inside, rinsing the syrup off the plates, reluctant to get in the middle of that fight.
Rick wandered back in a few minutes later.
"Forget something?" Kate asked over her shoulder as she finished drying a plate and placed it back in the cabinet.
"Is he ok?" He asked, nodding towards Daryl.
"He's uneasy."
"Well, I think we all are." Rick said.
She lowered her voice. "I think he's feeling a little out of place too."
Rick made a sympathetic face. "I'll try and talk to him."
DARYL
The group had all gone and only he and Kate remained. She appeared in the doorway and watched him for a minute as he fiddled with his bow.
"I'm going to take a shower." She announced.
"Again?" He said, not taking his eyes off the task at hand. She'd just taken one yesterday. He'd sat on the floor outside the downstairs bathroom, guarding the door, and he was sure it was the longest shower in the history of man.
"I'd take five a day if I thought I could." She laughed. "Do you think you could sit in the bedroom while I do? I would feel safer."
"Alright." He said, getting to his feet and following her back into the house and up the first flight of stairs.
"We're goin' upstairs this time?" He asked. He hadn't made it past the first floor yet.
"They gave us the attic loft. I want to start using our own bathroom"
"Who's they?" He muttered, looking around at the pictures that hung on the walls.
"Relax, Maggie and Carol were figuring it all out."
They reached the landing and she pointed to each bedroom on the 2nd floor and told him who would be in each before heading to the narrow steps that led to the loft in the attic.
The space wasn't as well put together as the rest of the house. It looked like the owners had just started to piece it together when the world fell apart. The roof sloped low on either side of the triangle shaped room and a queen sized mattress was pushed up against the slanting ceiling made up with white sheets and a mustard yellow bedspread. There was a dresser pushed up against one side of the room and various pictures sat leaning against the walls here and there waiting for someone to hang them.
It was hot here at the top of the house and Daryl crossed the room to see if opening the windows would cool the room down.
On the wall opposite the dresser a dividing wall came halfway across, revealing a large bathroom and as Daryl worked to open the windows he heard Kate turn the water on in the shower.
Sitting on the bed he picked his crossbow up and started to work on it again.
He heard Kate groan happily and he couldn't help but smile. She had said many times how much she had missed scalding hot showers.
He looked up at the bathroom and from his spot on the bed could see the vanity and two sinks. A large mirror hung above them and it had just started to fog up with steam when he caught a glimpse of Kate's naked body in the reflection. She stood under the stream of water, her eyes closed and her head tipped back so the hot water could wash the soap out of her hair.
He shifted uncomfortably on the bed as his body reacted to her's and he watched her until the steam stole her away. He stood then, the crossbow forgotten on the edge of the bed, and made his way to the bathroom, shedding his vest as he went and pulling the tattered black shirt off his back.
Working on his belt buckle he entered the bathroom and Kate grinned.
"Took you long enough." She teased.
His pants dropped to the floor and he stepped into the shower, the hot water stinging his skin as he pulled her naked body against his. His hands were dirty against her clean, wet skin and rivulets of muddy water dripped down her hips. He kissed her hard as she gripped his face in her hands.
She released his mouth, but didn't pull out of his hold. Reaching behind him she grabbed the bar of soap and he let her wash him, enjoying the feel of her touch on his skin. He let his hands and mouth roam as she did, taking his time reacquainting himself with every part of her body, listening to the little gasps escaping from her chest as he distracted her from her task
Clean and wet and unable to control himself any longer, Daryl turned off the water and reached out of the shower to grab the largest bath towel he'd ever seen off a hook on the wall. He wrapped it around both of them and kissed her again, walking her to the bed as she clung to his shoulders. He tossed the towel on the ground and pushed her down gently on the bed. She looked up at him expectantly. He lowered himself onto the bed and found his place between her legs.
Kate
Daryl slept peacefully in the bed and she laid next to him, his clean, warm skin pressed comfortingly against hers. She hoped with all her heart that they would be in this place long enough to call it home. He needed it as much as she did, whether he realized it or not.
The house had been quiet for at least an hour when she heard voices rise up from the front porch and drift through the open windows in the attic. The front door opened and closed and she wondered who had returned and what they had discovered about this new place. She hoped it was good. She rose from the mattress and walked naked to the bathroom, picking up their discarded clothes as she went. She slipped back into the new clothes she had been given by Olivia, who seemed to be the the keeper of all the supplies. The jeans fit surprisingly well, which was more than she could say for the bra. It was much lacier and impractical than anything she'd had since they'd been on the farm and the cups were smaller than they needed to be, but it wasn't bad for the end of the world. The t-shirt Olivia had given her was soft and green. It said, "Chicago" across it in faded white letters, and even though she'd never been to the windy city, it beat the torn and bloody tank top that she had thrown away yesterday. She wadded Daryl's dirty clothes in a ball and considered tossing them out, but decided that was a decision for Daryl to make. His vest had a splatter of blood across the front of it and she leaned over the bathroom sink and worked at it with a wet washcloth. She didn't hear Daryl leave the bed and when he leaned his firm body against the back of her's, dipping down to kiss the back of her neck it startled her. Turning in his arms she admonished him for scaring her, but she wasn't really mad. He gave her a long, lustful kiss.
"They're back." She warned. "At least some of them."
He gave a disappointed sigh, dropping his head to her shoulder.
"Carol left clothes for you on the dresser this morning. You should get dressed."
They emerged from the attic clean and dressed in strange clothes. Daryl was wearing dark jeans and a black button down that he immediately ripped the sleeves off.
"It's 90 fucking degrees out there." He had told her as she teased him and then he contradicted himself by adding his leather vest on top of it.
They found the living area of the house empty, except for Rick, who stood in the living room with a glass of water in his hand looking out the window at the glimpse of steel wall outside the house.
"How'd the exploring go?" Kate asked him as she walked into the kitchen and grabbed an apple out of the bowl on the counter and tossed it to Daryl before choosing one for herself and taking a big bite out of it.
"Fine, I guess." He said, running his hand through his newly shortened hair. "Met some neighbors, they seemed fine. Carl met some kids his age. Did you guys get out?"
"Not yet." Kate said.
"You should." He said. "Actually, Daryl, I was hoping you'd come with me."
Daryl looked at Kate.
"I'll be fine." She promised.
"Let's go then." Rick said and the two men walked out the front door just as Beth headed in.
"Hey." Kate said brightly.
"Hey. I was wonderin' if you would go over to the infirmary with me?
"Are you ok?" She asked, suddenly concerned.
"I'm fine, but Deanna mentioned the infirmary in our interview yesterday and said if I wanted to get these snake bites check out I could. Maggie is actually meetin' with her now and I really don't want to go over by myself."
"Sure." Kate agreed, grateful for something to do.
The infirmary turned out to be a house that was built along the pond just across from Deanna's townhouse. Beth and Kate, unsure if they were even at the right spot, made their way slowly to the door and knocked.
A clean cut, blonde man in his 40's opened the door wearing a blue sweater over his white collared shirt and a charming smile. He had a casual, neighborly manner about him and he invited them in while insisting it wasn't necessary to knock.
"I'm Pete Anderson." He said, shaking both of their hands. "I'm the doctor around here. You must be from the new group. There are a lot of you I hear."
"Fifteen." Kate confirmed. "That includes a baby and a teenage boy. I'm Kate.
"Hi Kate. And you are?" He asked Beth, who introduced herself quietly. Naturally shy, it always took her time to act herself in front of new people
"So what brings you two down here to see me today?"
"I was bit by a snake a few days ago. Twice actually." Beth explained, holding out her red and swollen arm for the doctor to examine.
"Ohh. You sure did." He said. "Have a seat up here."
He patted the exam table that was set up to the right of the fireplace in what was meant to be the living room.
"You can have a seat too." He said to Kate as he washed his hands in the kitchen sink. "What kind of snake was it? Do you know?"
"A copperhead."
"Ouch."
He sat down in an office chair and rolled himself over to Beth. Kate settled onto one of the mismatched bar stools at the kitchen island and watched as he took Beth's arm gently in his hands.
"Mind if I touch it?" He asked Beth.
"Go ahead."
He pressed around the wound with two fingers. Her breath hissed out between her teeth.
"Have you been running a fever, any vomiting or difficulty breathing?"
"I've been a little warm. My sister said she thought I was running a fever."
"Well, if you've got to get bit these days, I guess a snake is the way to go." He said, chuckling at his own joke. "But I'm afraid you could be developing an infection so I'm going to give you some antibiotics."
"Hey Chicago." He called to Kate over his shoulder.
"Chicago?" Kate said, confused.
"I'm sorry." He chuckled. "Because of your shirt. I'm terrible with names."
Kate laughed. She'd been wearing this shirt for 20 minutes and now she had a nickname. "It's Kate."
"Kate, yes, could you go into that cabinet there and grab me some of that gauze and the bottle on the far right. No, next shelf. Yes, that one. Perfect."
Kate brought it to him and he got to work on Beth's wound.
"So you have a teenager in your group?"
"Yes, Carl." Beth answered.
"I have a teenage boy too. Ron. I'm sure he'll be happy to have another kid around. You should send him over. Ok. There you go. That should hold you for a couple days. Try not to get it wet, but if you do, just come by again and I can redress it."
He walked back over to the cabinet and dug through some of the small white bottles, and filled a small ziploc bag with 20 white pills.
"Here you go. Take two a day, with food, for the next 10 days and come see me if your pain gets worse or you develop any new symptoms."
Beth took the bag and thanked him. He walked them to the door and waved as they stepped off the porch and rounded the pond.
"Bye Beth, feel better. See you later, Chicago."