Alexandria
Before he was out of bed, Rick could tell it was going to be the kind of day where the heat and the humidity were going to be oppressive. He leaned over and switched on the fan he kept next to the bed, grateful for the electricity and concerned at the same time that his people were getting too used to it. The blankets were feeling oddly heavy, and he looked down and realized part of the reason why he was so hot was that Beth had kicked them off in her sleep and they were doubled up on top of him. He pulled the sheet out, untangling it from the blanket, and then tossed the blanket down by the foot of the bed and covered them both up with the sheet.
The first night he had slept in all his clothes, with even his boots on and laced up. Everyone had, everyone except RickyJo. She had gone right up and slept in the room she had picked out. If they are coming to kill me then I am dying comfortable. That woman could be a real pain in the ass sometimes. But other times she made a valid point. These people were weak and very unprepared for the attack from another group that would inevitably happen, but they had no plans to hurt or kill him or any of the members of his group.
Beth was still asleep, her breathing slow and even. Her hair had come loose from the elastic she usually tied it up in at night and it was spread out all around her head in a wild curly tangle. He pulled her close, touching her face where it had been scarred from her stay at the hospital. Those people had gotten exactly what they deserved. He wondered how the wards were doing by themselves now that they had the run of the place. That day had been the day they got Beth back but it had also been the day that he finally started considering Merle a viable part of the group and not just someone to be tolerated because he was associated with Daryl and RickyJo. If he hadn't come up with the idea to have Noah allow himself to be recaptured, the wards would not have been ready for the attack and Beth might have been caught in the crossfire and killed.
Rick still wondered about all the time that Beth had spent alone with Daryl after the prison fell. She had assured him multiple times that nothing sexual had happened between them, but there was always that nagging doubt in his mind. Daryl had been a complete wreck after RickyJo had left with his brother, just like Rick had been after Lori had left him for Shane. And Beth had been so kind and compassionate. Since she had been gone, Rick could see something had changed in her. And he hoped it was just her sobering experience at the hospital, and not anything to do with the time she spent with Daryl. The old Beth never would have appoved of him and Carol stealing those guns. In fact, he wasn't sure if he was even going to tell her he was planning to do it, until she overheard them and then offered to help. After they freed her from the hospital, it took Rick a few days to notice the change in her. She had become a woman since he saw her last. And while sometimes he missed the sweet hopeful girl that he had fallen in love with, having a partner instead of a dependant was he something felt he could easily get used to.
And if he had to have a partner, he could not have picked a more attractive one. Even Lori in her youth could not hold a candle to Beth. And when he married Lori, he had thought she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Lately, Beth had taken to sleeping in his extra tshirts. And there was something about her in the big loose white shirts that fell just low enough to cover her hips that drove him crazy. He slid his hand up under the one she ahd on now and started rubbing her back in slow soft circles. She had already been hovering on the egde of sleep, and the gentle touch on her back pulled her out of the pleasing dreams she had been having. Beth rolled over onto her back and wrapped her arms around Rick, pulling him close and kissing him. He kept his hand under her shirt, rubbing her stomach. He was moving down to kiss her neck when she started laughing.
"Does that tickle?," he asked her.
"No," she told him, "we have an audience." He popped his head up to follow her gaze and then started laughing himself. Judith was standing up, gripping the side of her playpen and staring at them with her big blue baby eyes. When she saw they were looking at her, she clapped her hands in delight.
"I can take her down to RickyJo and come back," Beth offered. Rick thought about her offer. Lingering in bed with Beth always sounded like a good idea. But then he remembered about the guns and needing to talk to RickyJo. Since they got to Alexandria, RickyJo had been bitching daily to anyone that was willing to listen about how mad she was at these people for taking her gun. Her major complaint seeemed to be that she had her own gun since she was ten and it was complete crap that she wasn't allowed to have one. His personal favorite comment had been the one about Deanna and how she was completely unamerican. Abraham had laughed so hard at that his face had turned almost as red as his hair.
"No," Rick said regetfully, "I will go. I need to give her that gun anyway." Beth laughed. When Carol had stole guns for them, she had snagged an extra one for RickyJo. If giving this to her doesn't shut her up, I am going to slap her in the mouth with it. Beth had not been sure if Carol was serious or joking, but it had been funny either way. Carol might be good at killing sick people but if it came to a scrap, RickyJo would mop the floor with her. The only woman in the group that would have a chance against RickyJo in a physical fight would be Michonne. It was probably a good thing that the two of them got along, though it had been a little dicey there for a minute when RickyJo had thought there was something going on between Michonne and Daryl.
Rick got up and pulled his pants on over his boxers. Beth started making little whiny puppy noises, which he knew meant come back to bed. He leaned down and gave her a lingering kiss, then stood up and picked up his daughter. He knew she was really Shane's, but she was still Carl's sister and Rick had been coming to think of her more and more as his. He knew it would make Shane happy to know that Rick was looking after Judith. Judith hugged his neck and gave him a sloppy baby kiss on the cheek. RickyJo had been teaching the babies to give kisses, and while MJ would only hand his out to her, Merle, or occasionally Abraham, Judith handed hers out to everyone.
RickyJo was feeling lazy. Merle had gotten up a while ago and left with Abraham. She had thought about getting up and then decided to laze around a while, playing and cuddling with her son. Also, she was avoiding Daryl. There was a soft knock at her door that she was hoping wasn't him. She heard Rick's voice and got up to fling the door open.
"I have someone here that would like to see you," he told her, holding Judith out for her to take. RickyJo snatched her up and pulled her shirt down so she could start feeding her. She went to shut the door but Rick stopped her. "I have something else for you too," he said. Then he reached behind his back and pulled out a gun. RickyJo looked at it but didn't take it.
"Did you snag that or did Deanna say you could have it?," RickyJo asked. She thought since Rick was some kind of cop, maybe he had control of the guns now.
"Carol snagged it," he said. RickyJo cracked a big smile. Then to his surprise she grabbed his arm and pulled him inside the room, kicking the door shut behind him. Rick felt a little awkward, being in her room alone with her, with the door shut. And she really wasn't wearing any clothes either, just a big shirt and some little cotton shorts that were so short the underside of her ass was showing. She walked over to her dresser and opened the top drawer, then stepped back so he could have a look. Well he would be goddamned if there weren't two guns in there and a ton of extra clips and ammunition. How long had she had those?
"Had them since the morning after we got here," she said. Rick looked at her in disbelief.
"You have been complaining every day about not having a gun," he told her. She laughed.
"Yeah, because otherwise everyone would know I already had one," she told him. RickyJo always had a way of explaining things that made you feel like the biggest idiot on earth for not already knowing what she was telling you.
"Merle know about this?," he asked.
"Yeah," she said in the same tone, the tone that said you Rick are a fucking dumbass, "who do you think helped me steal them." Now he was laughing. He had to know how they pulled that off.
"How did he help you?," Rick asked. She smiled so big he wasn't sure if he wanted to know after all. What the hell had the two of them been up to. RickyJo was so much more well behaved when she had Daryl to reign her in. She and Shane had done some crazy things, but Shane had been more predictable than Merle.
"He distracted that Olivia girl," RickyJo said. Rick could tell she was having a hard time even saying that without laughing.
"Distracted?," he asked. What the hell did she mean by that. He hoped Merle hadn't hurt or threatened that girl. That could really cause problems for them if Deanna found out. RickyJo could tell by the look on Rick's face what he was thinking.
"He didn't fucking hurt her," she announced indignantly.
"What did he do then?" RickyJo had her big cat ate the canary smile on again.
"He hit on her," she said. Now she couldn't stop herself from laughing while she tried to tell the rest. This was a good one and she had been waiting to tell someone. "He thought she would be all creeped out but she was totally DTF. He had to make out with her." Now Rick was laughing a little. But there was something he didn't understand.
"Whats DTF?," he asked her.
"You don't know what DTF means?," RickyJo asked him, "Aren't you dating a twelve year old?" Now she was really going, laughing at the story about Merle and the look on Rick's face. He was too easy to get a rise out of, it almost took the fun out of it. She took pity on him and decided to answer his question. "It means Down To Fuck honey," she said. Now he felt a little stupid for not figuring it out. RickyJo touched him lightly on the arm. "You know I am just teasing about you and Beth," she said, "I think you make a great couple."
"I know," he said. Really he had not known. He was a little sensitve about Beth's age and was a little paranoid that people might not approve of the relationship. RickyJo could see his feelings might actually be a little hurt, which had not been her intention. She had only been teasing.
"You know there is a bigger age difference between me and Merle than there is between you and Beth," she told him. Actually it was only one more year, but she thought that might make Rick feel better, which it did. He was also surprised. Not only about what she had told him, but that her and Beth had clearly talked about this already.
"How old are you?," he asked. He knew RickyJo looked young, but with all the degrees and crap she had, he had assumed she was older than she looked.
"Twenty nine," she said. He thought she was a bit older than that. Then he thought about the rest of what she had just said.
"How old is Merle?," he asked her, trying to do the math in his head.
"Old enough to know better," she quipped. Rick smiled and turned to head back to his own room. RickyJo took Judith and headed back to bed to lay down and finish feeding her. When Rick got into the doorway she called to him. She guessed since the cat was out of the bag she might as well tell the whole truth.
"By the way," she said casually, "Sammie and Carl already have guns too." Rick shook his head. There was nothing he could do except laugh. He shut the door and headed back to his room to see if Beth was still waiting for him in bed.
RickyJo was still feeding Juidth when she heard lots of loud noises coming from outside on the street. It sounded like someone driving a large truck or some kind of tractor. She flung out of bed and threw on some clothes, then grabbed the babies and headed outside. When she hit the porch and saw what was on the street, her eyes flew open. She had asked for some dirt and she guessed she had got what she asked for. What she had in mind was a few bags of potting soil, and this was a pile taller than she was and twice as wide. She could see Jessie across the street was out on her porch laughing and then the woman called across to her.
"I guess we have some garden beds to build," she said. RickyJo nodded and laughed. Abraham had pulled away with the first dump truck and Tobin was backing a second one in down the street a little ways from the dirt pile. God that better not be more dirt, RickyJo thought. When the truck tipped up and dumped, it was not dirt but a huge load of bricks and concrete blocks. Then he got out of the truck and walked over with four huge rolls of chicken wire. He smiled at RickyJo and tossed them down near the steps of the porch.
"Got everything you need now?," he asked her. She nodded and thanked him, then he headed off to get back in the truck and pull away. Jessie walked over, skirting the giant dirt pile, and came up on the porch. She reached over and relieved RickyJo of one of the babies. The women just stood there staring at the giant piles, trying to take it all in. They had all the supplies, now all they needed was a few more sets of hands. This was going to be a lot of work.
"Lets do your front yard first," RickyJo suggested. Jessie nodded.
"I will go get the shovels and the wheelbarrow," she said. RickyJo nodded. No time like the present, they might as well get started.
A few hours and many loads of dirt later, the girls decided to break for lunch. Beth had brought one of the playpens down from inside and had pulled it over into a shady area of the yard. Judith and MJ were inside of it napping, their little fingers crusted with dirt and mud from all the fun they had helping with the garden. Jessie's sons had even come over and done a little work. The younger one was showing a lot of interest so RickyJo told him they would put another bed in his yard that he could be responsible for.
They were all sitting on the back porch, eating the meal Carol had made for them and making conversation when RickyJo was suddenly up on her feet shushing everyone up. It was that noise again. She thought she heard a horse outside the walls the day before, but now she was sure. Setting her plate down, she asked Beth to keep an eye on the babies and then bolted towards the wall. The other girls were yelling at her to stop. She didn't even have a gun on her. Jessie watched in disbelief as the woman ignored them and scaled the wall like a monkey. Then she swung her long legs over the top and disappeared.
Daryl had not slept well. He had no desire to see RickyJo after their fight the night before so he had gotten his bow and decided to go hunting. They could always use the meat, and it was a good excuse to be gone for most of the day. He couldn't decide if he was mad at himself or mad at her. He didn't regret having sex with her, but what happened after that had been pretty ugly. Not only was she not going to want to be with him, after last night he was going to be lucky if she would even speak to him. He was trying to think of something he could say to her to make it better, but nothing was coming to mind. She appeared to be happy with his brother. If he really loved her, maybe he ought to just leave her alone. But that's what he had done after Mexico, and it had all turned out to be a big misunderstanding. If he had talked to her then, she never would have slept with his brother in the first place. Daryl sat down and lit up a smoke. This was all making his head hurt. He heard someone behind him and in a split second he found himself on his feet pointing his bow at Aaron. Aaron put his hands up. It seemed to be the man's favorite gesture. Daryl lowered his bow and sat back down. Aaron came and sat down next to him without waiting to be invited.
"I am really sorry if I caused any problems between you and your...," he stuttered a little bit. Should he call her your brother's wife, your friend, your lady friend. "Between you and RickyJo," he finished. Daryl shrugged. There were plenty of problems between him and RickyJo, none of which had been caused by Aaron.
"Do you want to talk about it?," Aaron asked, "I'm a good listener." From what Daryl had seen the man was mostly good at running his mouth. A lot. Daryl shook his head. Aaron continued anyway. "Being in love with your brother's wife must be a tough situation to be in," he said.
"She's not his wife," Daryl said. Aaron was about to ask another question when he saw the horse again. He had been trying to catch that stupid horse for months. Whenever he came out to hunt, he brought rope just in case. Forgetting Daryl's romantic problems for the moment, Aaron got on his feet and started moving slowly towards the animal. He felt Daryl's hand on his arm and Daryl reached over and took the rope from him. He got it into a large noose and held it in the proper way to catch the animal. Then he started trying to get close. He was talking to the horse softly, trying to calm it down and keep it still. It must have had an owner at some point. If they got it inside the walls they could probably tame it back down. And it had crossed his mind as soon as he saw it that RickyJo loved animals, especially horses. He got close enough to touch its nose when he saw some movement out of the corner of his eye.
RickyJo had been following the horse since it had been outside the wall right by the house. Now that it was distracted by Daryl, she saw the perfect opportunity to catch hold of it. She jumped out of the bush she was hiding behind and ran full speed at the horse, grabbing it's mane and pulling herself up onto its back in one fluid motion. The horse reared up, hooves in Daryl's face, nearly decapitating and castrating him simultaneously. He fell back onto his ass. The horse bucked again, but RickyJo held on, gripping the mane in her hands and squeezing tightly to the sides of the horse with her thighs. Then the horse dropped back down onto all fours and started running. Aaron watched with wide eyes and the horse took off with the woman in its back. Her hair was flying out behind her and for a moment she looked like some kind of fabled mythological creature that was half woman and half horse.
She let the horse run some of its energy out before she started trying to direct it. At first she tried using the mane, but then found guiding it with the pressure of her legs worked better. Soon they were trotting along the road, heading for the front gate. RickyJo patted the horse. Thats right, she thought, me and you are going to be good friends. Spencer saw her coming and opened the gate up as wide as it would go. Several people had tried to catch the horse before, but none had been successsful. He was impressed and gave her a little wave as she went past. RickyJo rode the horse right back to her house and around to the back yard where the girls were still standing around arguing about what they should do about her taking off. The looks on their faces were absolutely priceless.
RickyJo swung down and went to get a big bucket. She filled it with some clean water from the hose to give the horse a drink. Then she ran into the house and grabbed all the vegetables she could find, bringing them outside and offering them to her new friend. Now that he had been pet and watered and fed, the horse showed no desire to leave the yard. He had been cold and wet and hungry long enough. Unlike the bad people he had seen outside that had smelled like death and tried to hurt him, this woman had treated him kindly, just like the one that had raised him from a small foal.
With the excitement over, the girls went back to working on the garden. Beth laughed at the horse, who was now not only happy to stay with them, but was following RickyJo around like a little puppy. It even tried to walk right up the porch steps and into the house after her. And it kept coming up on the sides of her, trying to butt its head up under her arms for her to hold it. It had knocked her full wheelbarrow over twice doing this and made her curse like a sailor.
Daryl was following the horses tracks, expecting at every turn that he would find RickyJo laying there dead with her damn neck broke. When the tracks led out to the road, he couldn't follow them anymore. At Aaron's suggestion, he decided to go back to town and see if she was there. Spencer told them at the gate that she was back and Daryl rushed towards the house to check on her. When he got there, she was out in the front yard, holding MJ up so he could pet the horse. Daryl felt a sudden flush of anger, partly because she had leaped on the horse when it was so close to him, but mostly because she had put herself in danger and made him worry. She had been outside the walls, alone, with no weapon, and she had jumped onto the back a wild animal with no regard for her own safety.
"What the hell were you thinking?," he demanded loudly. RickyJo turned and cocked her hand up on her hip, looking at him like he was the dumbest man alive.
"I was thinking I wanted to catch this horse," she said. What right did Daryl have to lecture her about safety. He was the one that was talking about leaving this place and going back out on the road.
"You could have been hurt," he practically screamed at her. He didn't like her putting herself in danger, and he liked the flippant little attitude she was giving him even less. Also MJ was pointing at him and shaking his head. That fucking kid drove him crazy. RickyJo was getting as pissed as he was. Not only because he was yelling at her and thinking he could boss her around, but also because of the crap he had said to her the night before.
"What the fuck do you care if I get hurt," she yelled back, "the last time I was hurt you couldn't even be bothered to fucking speak to me." Until it came out of her mouth, she hadn't been consciously aware of how upset she still was about what happened. She had been raped and brutalized and all she had wanted at the time was someone to hold and comfort her. And Daryl had ignored her like she wasn't even there and spent all his time hunting and going out on the road with Michonne. And now he wanted to leave again. "Go ahead and fucking leave," she yelled at him, "I hope you never come back!" With that she turned and ran inside the house, leaving Daryl and the horse staring after her.