Red River Blue
Chapter 61
Harley snatched the piece of paper from Rick's hand. She turned it around in her own, looking at the back of it to see if there were any further clues to who left the water in the middle of the road for them. They were all practically dying of thirst. But afraid to drink. This might be a trap or a trick.
"It might be poisoned or drugged," Rick said. Eugene stepped forward, grabbing a bottle and twisting the top off. Abraham smacked it from his hands with a lot more force than necessary. He was well past drunk and still drinking.
"Still got that pocket watch?," Merle asked, looking at Glenn. Glenn nodded, looking nervously between Merle and the bottles of water as he pulled the watch from his pocket. Merle cast a warning glance at Abraham. If he tried smacking at him like he just did to Eugene, Merle would beat his fucking ass. He twisted the top off one of the gallon sized jugs before lifting it up off the ground.
"Time me for fifteen minutes," Merle instructed, "If I'm not dead or passed out then it's safe to drink." Glenn flipped the watch open and nodded that he was ready. River's eyes were wide and scared but she didn't try to stop Merle when he lifted the bottle to his mouth. It was Wren that started screaming at the top of her lungs.
"NOOOOOO DADDY!," the girl shrieked at the top of her lungs, rushing at the man and pulling the bottle down and away from his mouth. Tyrese moved forward, taking the bottle from him. Not like Abraham had done to Eugene, but much more gently. The large man glanced down at Wren, who was now hugging her father tightly around his waist. Then before he could think twice about it, Tyrese tipped the bottle up and started chugging.
"Do the timer thing," Tyrese told Glenn once he lowered the large jug from his lips. "In fifteen minutes we can make a bottle for Judith."
Since there was nothing to do but wait, they all sat down in the road. Less than five minutes had passed when Daryl and Carol came flying out of the road looking ready for war. Daryl glanced around at the group. They certainly didn't look like they were being attacked.
"I heard screaming," Daryl said.
"It was just Wren," Harley announced, "...screaming her fool head off again for no fuckin' reason." Daryl glanced at the younger of the two girls, snorting out his irritation before he plopped down on the ground next to them. Wren always picked a fine time to start up with her bullshit.
"Daddy was going to drink that bad water," Wren said, defending her bloody murder shrieking and pointing towards the large collection of full water bottles sitting in the middle of the road. Rick explained to Daryl that they found the water sitting there with a cryptic note.
"Eight more minutes," Glenn announced. Daryl gestured to his brother, motioning for the man to slide him one of the gallon jugs. Daryl pulled the cap off and smelled the water. It smelled fine to him. And it looked clean. And while he couldn't speak for others, Daryl knew if he had any drugs left at the end of the world he would take them himself before he slipped them into random bottles of water for strangers to take. And to drug all that water it would take a LOT of drugs.
"Smells okay to me," Daryl announced, tipping the jug up and getting a healthy swig. Merle grunted, looking at River and gesturing towards Daryl. No one threw a damn fit when Daryl took a sip. "Tastes fine too."
Daryl took another sip before he handed the bottle over to Carol. She shrugged and tipped it up, gulping until there was water running down the sides of her mouth.
"Give it fuckin' here," Merle cursed. He gave Wren a pointed glance. One that said you better not scream like that again. "If I get date raped I hope she's hot," Merle announced, taking a large swig of water. When he set the heavy jug back down on the pavement it started to rain.
When the light refreshing rain started to turn into a downpour, they headed for the barn Daryl and Carol found. Since no one that drank the gifted water had suffered any ill effects from it, it was declared safe for consumption. Rick handed Judith off to Tyrese so he could give the girl her bottle. When she finished drinking, Tyrese leaned back on a big pile of hay and closed his eyes. Judith was already fast asleep against his chest.
"Daddy, can you fix this?," Wren asked, shoving the half busted old music box that Carl found for her earlier directly into her father's face. Merle was halfway to sleep with River's head in his lap.
"Can't fix nothin' with only one hand honey," Merle grumbled, "...got no use for that thing anyway, just toss it out," Daryl motioned Wren over to him, reaching for the small box. She smiled, assuming that meant that her uncle was agreeing to try and get the music box working. Then Wren scurried back over towards her parents. She stretched out next to her mother, snuggling in closer when River wrapped her arms around her. She slept the entire night through, not even waking up when the small herd of walkers tried to push in and people had to barricade the barn doors shut.
"It had some grit in the gears," Daryl told her, handing the music box back. Wren wound it up and opened it, overjoyed when she heard the tinkling of music and saw the little ballerina turning in a circle.
Wren hurried outside, eager to show Carl that the music box was working. But when she sat down next to him and opened the lid, nothing happened. She shook the box around, but it didn't help. Finally Wren tossed it on the ground near her feet, the lid still hanging open. They both laughed a little. Carl glanced around, making sure that Daryl and Merle weren't watching them. Then he put his arm around Wren's shoulders and kissed her.
"Hi."
The voice was unfamiliar and had both of them on their feet with their guns out in seconds. Carl moved his body, placing himself between Wren and the extremely clean man that was approaching them slowly with his hands up.
"My name's Aaron," he said, "I'd like to talk to whoever is in charge. One of your dads maybe. I'm a friend."
"You left the water?," Wren asked.
"What do you want?," Carl spit at the man before he could answer Wren's question.
"I have good news for you," Aaron promised. He took one more careful step in their direction. Then the music box started playing.