Alexandria
Kim was still a little scared. Of these new people and of the men that had held her captive. She also couldn't remember the last time she had her period and that scared her too. What would these people do to her if she was pregnant and they found out her baby belonged the one of the wolves. And who would take care of her. Right now she was staying in the same room as Sammie. They had two beds, but she had been so afraid, Sammie had let her sleep in bed with her at night. The night before, Sammie's boyfriend had snuck in after everyone was asleep and they had gone in the other bed and rolled around with each other under the covers. From the sounds of it, they had been doing more than kissing. But after they were done, he snuck back out and Sammie got back into bed with Kim.
"You don't have to sleep with me if you don't want," Kim had told her. Sammie snuggled in and hugged her.
"Its okay," she said, "I used to have a sister and we slept in each others beds all the time." Sammie really didn't mind. She knew Kim was scared and it was kind of comfy having someone to sleep with, since she wasn't allowed to share a room with Carl yet. They had tried moving their stuff into the same room, but Carl's dad had told them no. He said they were too young and needed to have their own space. Sammie thought about pointing out the fact that she wasn't much younger than his girlfriend, but decided to keep her mouth shut. She liked Beth and didn't want to hurt her feelings.
Now Sammie was up and dressed. She was going with some of the other young people to pick green beans and squash, and maybe ride the horse around a little. And she was encouraging Kim to come with them. Kim had been too scared to leave the house, and Sammie thought it would do her good to get out.
"What if they try to grab us while we are out there?," Kim asked. Sammie held up her bow and then picked up her gun, which was in a holster on the dresser.
"Thats why we go packing," she said, "I am a good shot too, and so is Carl. Don't worry so much, Rick said after that meeting they had that it was fine to go outside as long as we are going in a group." Kim nodded. She decided she couldn't hide in here forever. Then she got up and started getting dressed.
"I wasn't going to stay inside forever," she insisted, "just until the wolves got caught." Sammie laughed and it made Kim laugh a little too. Sammie knew from what happened with the governor that catching the wolves might not happen for a while. They couldn't just stop living until then.
Downstairs, Cassie, Duane and Desiree were over from next door and Duane was cooking up waffles in a few electric waffle makers they had plugged in on the counter. Carl and Noah were helping him. And it looked like they were not doing that bad of a job. It smelled good at least. RickyJo came over from next door, shadowed closely by Daryl. She handed a jar of jam to Duane, who seemed to be in charge of the kitchen project.
"Heat that up with a little water and you can use it as syrup," she told him. Duane smiled and thanked her. She turned to head back out and slammed into Daryl, who was standing about an inch behind her.
"Goddamn it Daryl," she cursed. Daryl and Merle had both been up her fucking ass since that meeting when they said no one could go anywhere alone. She was only going next door, it was two fucking yards away. She was sure he could have watched her from the porch next door, instead of being all up in her space. Or better yet, let Jessica come with her like she had offered to do. They headed back out the door, buming into each other again. Sammie and Cassie laughed at them
"She has to lock the bathroom door," Cassie told Sammie, "or he will be trying to come up in there while she is showering." Cassie knew her Aunt Ricky was trying to be patient, but she could tell the woman was about to snap. Personally, Cassie thought it was all pretty funny. Her Aunt Ricky liked both of her Uncles, and now she had them, up in her fucking business twenty four seven. Driving her fucking crazy and following her everywhere. Every time she even stood up, they were like two prarie dogs. Where are you going? What are you doing? Let me go with you. When people went out to search for the wolves, only one of them would go, so the other one could stay home and babysit her.
Once RickyJo was outside, she took a deep breath and walked over to check on her herb garden. She pulled a few weeds and rubbed one of the leaves on her lemon balm plant, smelling it. Soon the plant would be big enough that they could cut some off to make iced tea without killing it. Daryl was looking around, keeping his eyes on the wall and the trees beyond.
"Time to go back in," he told her.
"Go ahead," she said, "I will be right there." He looked at her like she was crazy and made no move to leave. There was no way he was leaving RickyJo outside alone, and he really didn't like her being out here even if he was with her. Now he was so close, he was blocking the light, making it so she couldn't see her plants. "I know you want to watch me," RickyJo said, "but can't you see me from a little further away?"
"Why am I standing too close?," Daryl asked her. He got closer, so his body was touching hers. "How about now?" Then he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her close. "I can see ya real good from right here." She couldn't help but laugh. Daryl was driving her a little crazy, but she knew he was just trying to keep her safe. And in the back of her mind, she also knew he was a little afraid that she and Merle might take off again, like they did after the governor attacked her. She popped a mint leaf into her mouth, sucking on it.
"You know I would never leave like that again?," she asked him. Daryl didn't want to talk about that, he really didn't even like to think about it. That had been the worst time in his life. He hugged her tight, crushing her with his arms so hard she could barely breathe. When Daryl had gone out with the search party the day before, all he could think about was that they were going to be gone when he got back. "I'm sorry about what happened before," she whispered into his ear, kissing him softly behind it. She really meant it too, she had not been in her right mind when she had taken off like that. And she had dragged Merle into doing it with her and almost gotten them both killed. Alexandria was her home now, and no one was going to make her run. Daryl put his finger under her chin, tipping her face up so he could kiss her mouth. She smelled like mint.
RickyJo heard two short raps on the kitchen window and she yanked away, turning back to her garden. Jessica had tried to give her a little warning, but Merle had seen them anyway.
"Helping me keep her safe does not mean sucking her fucking face," he yelled at Daryl from the porch. RickyJo sighed and headed for the porch. She wrapped her arms around Merle's waist and rested her head on his shoulder. "Don't think you can butter me up," he told her, refusing to hug her back. Seeing her hugging Daryl didn't really make him as angry as he thought it should, but he still didn't like that shit.
"Fine," she told him, "go ahead and pout, see what that gets you." She let go of him and walked inside, letting her hips sway as she walked. Daryl watched his brother turn and chase after RickyJo into the house.
"What the hell does that mean?," he was calling after her. RickyJo knew Merle was going to make a grab for her and she darted out of his reach.
"Come 'ere," he told her.
"No," she said, "you don't want to give me a hug, then fuck you." She had a little grin on her face now, and she was backing up so she could put the couch beween them. Being cooped up in this damn house was making her restless and she felt like getting some of her energy out. Daryl walked back into the house and she almost knocked him over, running through the kitchen and into the dining room. She slid Bo Duke style across the dining room table on her ass, knocking over one of the chairs as she landed. He jumped back so Merle wouldn't run him over. Daryl was worried for RickyJo for only a second, until he saw they were both laughing. She used to play like this with his brother sometimes back when they had lived at her apartment in Atlanta. To get him going she would usually grab some of the pills he sold and say she was going to flush them. Then she would give him a good chase around the apartment, jumping over the beds and running up and down the fire escape to the roof. Thinking back, Daryl should have guessed then that there was a little more than friendly feelings going on between them.
RickyJo had her hair in a bun, so she knew he was going to have a hard time catching her. She ran around the dining table a few times, laughing at Merle when he got caught up on the chair she had knocked over. Then she took off back into the kitchen and gave Daryl a hard swat on the ass as she passed by him. Jessica was sitting at the kitchen table, sorting through some dandelions and putting the greens in a bowl to be washed and laughing at them. This was going to be some quality entertainment.
"Oh hell no," Daryl remarked, rubbing at his behind. RickyJo took off up the stairs at full speed, yelling at poor Morgan who happened to have the misfortune to be coming down them at the time. He flattened himself against the wall and let her through, wondering what the hell form of hillbilly courting was going on now. She darted into Cassie's room and hid in her closet. Merle waited for Morgan to come down and then took off after her, cursing. She was fucking hiding now, and it was going to take him forever to find her. Daryl saw Morgan looking up the stairs after them with some concern.
"Its fine," Daryl told him, "they are just playing around." Morgan laughed a little. Jessica like to make him catch her sometimes too, but she usually didn't try that hard to get away. RickyJo had legs like a fucking gazelle and she moved like one too. Morgan headed into the kitchen to help Jessica, while Daryl stood at the bottom of the stairs and waited. RickyJo wanted to smack his ass, she was going to get the business. He knew her games. She was hiding in on of the rooms near the top of the stairs. Once Merle went down to their room to look for her, she was going to take off out of whatever closet she was in and run back downstairs, then make him chase her around down here some more.
Once he had refused to chase her, saying he knew she wasn't doing shit with his pills, so she had taken one out of the bottle and swallowed it down. Daryl still had no idea what she had taken, but she had been high off her ass for the rest of the day. Merle couldn't let her get fucked up alone, so of course he had tossed a pill down his gullet and then forced one on Daryl. The three of them had smoked pot on the couch and laughed themselves silly. Daryl had gone out to get some food and when he came back they had her mattress dragged out onto the floor of the living room and they were laying on it watching The Little Mermaid. We got my bed out because its bigger than yours, so there would be room for all of us. RickyJo had been having so much fun, she had forgotten about some date she had with Laney and stood her up. The woman had showed up at the apartment furious. RickyJo hid in Daryl's room and Merle had answered the door and told Laney she wasn't home.
Merle was in the upstairs hall. Instead of trying to look for RickyJo, he decided to start yelling things out to try and get her to make some noise. Want to hear a dirty joke? A guy goes to the store to buy some condoms, and the cashier asks if he wants a bag. He says no, shes not that ugly. You know why Rick likes to fuck Beth in the shower? Slick her hair back she looks even younger. RickyJo stayed in the closet and clamped her hands over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud. Why don't ni... black people like to go on cruises? Cause they already fell for that trick once. Merle listened and he swore he heard a giggle coming from their bedroom, so he took off like a bat out of hell down the hall. RickyJo got up and tried to get ready to run, but she was still laughing too hard. Morgan was downstairs too and probably heard all that. If he didn't already think they were all crazy before, now he must.
She took a few deep breaths and came out, peeking down the hall and making sure Merle wasn't close enough to grab her. She heard him cursing in their room. MJ had been in there making noise, not her. She got to the top of the stairs and waited for him to get a look at her before she ran. When he came out of their bedroom she lifted up her shirt to flash him and then took off down the steps. She was heading for the front door, to make him chase her around the outside of the house and then back in and around the table again. But she skidded to a stop on the last step, trying to decide between running back up and jumping the rail and taking off down the hall towards the kitchen. Her moment of indecision gave Daryl the chance to dart in a grab her by the waist. He flung her over his shoulder, holding her legs so she couldn't kick at him and then gave her a hard smack on her ass.
"You are a fucking cheater," she hollered, "this is not fair. Put me down right now!" There was a knock at the door. Rick had come over to get whoever was going out with him today to look for those men and check to make sure they were not too close to the town. Daryl swung the door open with RickyJo still over his shoulder. She craned her neck over, her face getting red from being upside down. Seeing who it was she started yelling again. "Good! I need the police, I am being assaulted!" Daryl smacked her again.
"Shuddup," he told her.
"Ouch," she yelped like it really hurt even though it didn't and she had wacked him a lot harder than that. Then she said a little more seriously, "this is making me sick to my stomach, I think you better put me down." He set her down quickly and she shoved him into Merle, who was standing behind him, then she darted out on the porch to hide behind Rick.
"That was a dirty fucking trick," Daryl informed her.
"You were being a cheater first," RickyJo said. She could tell Rick was looking uncomfortable so she decided to mess with him a little. "I think you better arrest him," she told Rick, "he touched me in my naughty place." Rick was not sure he wanted to be drawn into whatever game was going on over here, but he decided to go along with it for now. At least it was more fun that sitting around at his house watching everyone be miserable. He switched into full cop mode.
"Alright mham, which one of these men are you saying put his hands on you?," he asked her.
"Which one do you think?," she asked, pointing at Merle and Daryl in an accusatory fashion, "it was both of 'em." Rick was trying to keep a straight face, but that was more then even he could take he he gripped the frame of the door, laughing into his arm. He could hear Jessica and Morgan laughing in the kitchen. Then RickyJo tensed up, pressing her legs together and then took off running into the house.
"Out of my way, gotta pee," she announced. Daryl got out of her way quickly and she darted up the stairs for the bathroom. Rick gained control of himself, wiping the water out of his eyes.
"Okay, who is going with me?," Rick asked. He didn't need to explain where, they had already decided at that meeting that they needed to search the area surrounding the town every day. Daryl and Merle pointed at each other.
"He is," they both said in unison. Rick tried to supress another grin. The day before they had both been chomping at the bit to go with him, now suddenly they both wanted to stay here. It wasn't hard to figure out why.
Kim knelt down, picking another handful of beans and tossing them in the bucket she was sharing with Noah. It was a good thing Spencer thought to get the big buckets out of his garage, there was no way all this would fit into the mixing bowls they had taken from the kitchen. No one had been out here in a few days and the green beans and squash had gone crazy. Plus there were cherry tomatoes, peppers and onions and a lot of other stuff that Kim wasn't sure the names of.
At first, she had been afraid to be out here, even though they were still inside the walls. Every noise she heard made her jump out of her skin. But not she was starting to feel a little more relaxed. It was a nice day out and looking for food in the garden was actually kind of fun. Some people seemed to be doing more eating than gathering, especially Duane and Carl, who were over by the cherry tomatoes.
"Hey," Sammie yelled at them, "don't eat all those, RickyJo said if we got enough, she would make us puttanesca later." Kim winkled up her nose and spoke quietly to Noah.
"Whats a pooteska?," she asked.
"Italian for fancy spagetti," he told her. She smiled at him, which made his cheeks feel hot. "I think she puts anchovies and olives in it," Noah explained, "sounds weird but its really good."
"Anything is better than nothing," Kim remarked. Even when she had still been with her family, they had gone to bed hungry a lot since the beginning of the outbreak. And once she had been picked up by the wolves, they hadn't bothered to feed her much until Jared took an interest in her and even then they hadn't had a lot to go around. Unlike most of the people here, she knew how desperate those men were, and thats why she was sure they were coming back. The people here ate at least two square meals a day and usually found things to snack on for lunch too. And she was grateful, especially since she knew the baby that she thought was inside her needed food and vitamins to grow. She hadn't told anyone about the baby yet, but she was thinking about confiding in Sammie.
Sammie watched Kim. She had felt a little bad about talking her into coming out here when she had known she was afraid, but now she could see she had done the right thing. Kim was smiling with Noah and she had stopped jumping everytime the wind blew. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail except for the bangs Jessica had cut her to hide the cuts on her forehead, and they had found her some clothes that fit, which had been a bit of a challenge since she was tall and very very thin. But even just a few days of good eating had already put some color back into her cheeks. And it looked like Noah had a crush on her. He kept looking at her while they were working and then looking down, his face getting red. Guess the theory of Noah being gay had not been a very good one. Maybe he really was just polite. Kim noticed Sammie was watching her, so Sammie smiled and waved at her. Then she went back to her work.