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Chapter 12 - Goats

A couple of days later, Tahlia had taken one of the horses out for a ride and had only been gone a short while before she came back at a gallop up to the prison, slashing wildly through the walkers in her way.

Down tinkering with his bike, Daryl saw her going hell for leather as she barreled back in the gates, tethered the horse, and sprinted down towards where he was in the vehicle bay.

He squinted up at her from his crouch next to the Triumph as she approached. "Alright?"

"Fine." she panted heavily, heading straight for the old Ford Ranger pickup. "I just... I need... goats."

Daryl wrinkled his nose. "Goats? Huh?"

"Goats! I saw some goats out there, so I came back to get the truck, grab them and bring them back here! Gotta go quick in case walkers get to them first." Tahlia swung herself into the driver's seat, then popped her head back out the door. "Any chance you'd come and help me?"

"What, ya can't catch a couple of little goats on your own?"

She shrugged, wide eyed. "I don't know! I've never tried!"

Neither had he - but surely it couldn't be that hard. He glanced around to see if there was anyone else nearby he could recruit to go with her instead, but there was no one in sight.

He sighed. "Alright. I'll help ya. Got somethin' to catch 'em with?"

Tahlia held her hands up and wiggled her fingers. "No?" she said upon seeing his massive eye roll.

"I'll get some rope." he muttered and sloped off to find a length. He soon climbed into the passenger side with a coil of rope looped over his shoulder. "'Kay, let's go."

Daryl mentally prepared himself for irritating small talk and cheery comments, so was pleasantly surprised when she did neither, and drove the 15 minutes or so in easy silence. It wasn't until after they'd driven down a narrow dirt road that eventually came to a dead end with a gate closing off a track that led up a steep hill through the woods, she spoke.

"Up there." pointed Tahlia, and the two of them vaulted the gate and started trudging up the hill.

"Walkers." warned Daryl, as the low moans sounded from a nearby clump of trees.

He fired a bolt quickly into the first, while Tahlia used her katana to whip the tops of the heads off the next two as Daryl reloaded. He quickly finished off the last one, and they carried on carefully through the trees. Daryl could easily see the goat tracks from here, so held out a hand to slow Tahlia down, and quietly they made their way through the thinning bush to the edge of a clearing. There, across the wildflowers and long grass, were three adult goats and a kid, chewing methodically, not yet noticing that they had company.

"Lemme just scope 'em out, see if they spook easy."

Daryl walked slowly towards the animals, watching them carefully to try and predict any movement. They were surprisingly friendly, and came to him out of curiosity when he held out a handful of long grass towards the nearest one. Tying a length of rope around the first's neck, he beckoned for Tahlia to come and grab it, while he fixed some rope around the next two, expecting that the kid would just follow its mom.

Just then, a scratchy moan emanated from the trees, and three decaying walkers stumbled out, the noise and the smell spooking the goats.

"Woah!" Daryl tried to hold onto the billy goat as it bucked and pulled away from him, and the kid started bleating in a panic, running in circles trying to stay close to its mother.

He looped the rope of the mother goat around his foot, and threw the rope holding the billy to Tahlia, causing the animal to promptly charge at her. Ignoring Tahlia's squeal, Daryl aimed his crossbow at the first of the undead, easily taking it down, but the other two were nearly on him before he could reload. Raising the butt of his crossbow, he smashed it through the skull of the nearest walker, seeing the third right behind it and far too close for comfort, snapping its jaws hungrily. Then there was a whoosh as a knife flew through the air and embedded directly in the walker's forehead, dropping it instantly.

Daryl's eyebrows shot up as he registered what just happened. "Nice shot." he said, then glanced at Tahlia who was on her knees in the grass, rope tangled around her, one goat butting her back and another chewing on the hem of her top. The comical sight took him by surprise and he couldn't help but bark out a sharp laugh.

"Even more impressive when you see what I'm dealing with over here, huh?" she grinned, then gave him an imploring look. "But please help me."

Daryl rolled his eyes but couldn't quite keep the smile from twitching at his lips as he came over to untangle her. "And you were thinkin' of doin' this on your own."

They led the goats back down to the truck, but it was hard work getting them on to the back. They were heavy and stubborn, and bleated indignantly at being heaved and shoved up onto the flatbed. As Tahlia passed the kid up to Daryl, she shut the tail gate while he secured the rope around each goat to the bar on the top of the cab, then knelt down to check the loops around their necks.

"You're gonna have to stay up there, you know." she informed him.

"Me? Why?"

"To keep them from falling off! One of us has to keep an eye on them."

"I ain't doin' it, you do it!"

"You're stronger, and they clearly like you waaaay better -" Tahlia stifled a giggle as one of the goats tried to nibble on Daryl's hair, "- so... it should be you." She quickly dove into the driver's seat, slamming the door and gunning the engine.

"Goddammit!" cursed Daryl in irritation, as he resignedly settled himself in the middle of the animals.

The bumps on the way back were a lot less forgiving in the back of the truck, and Tahlia could hear Daryl's enraged swearing over the roar of the engine as he bounced around, the goats frequently stumbling into him and bleating in his ear. When they arrived back inside the prison gate, Tahlia emerged to open the tailgate, biting back a smile at the black look on Daryl's face.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" she asked cheerily, as he tossed her the rope holding the billy goat. Tahlia tugged, but the animal fixed her with a cantankerous look and braced himself against her efforts.

"Come. On!" She pulled harder, but he was resolute and wouldn't budge.

With a glint in his eye, Daryl gave the goat a hard whack on the butt, and the billy goat bleated indignantly and launched himself off the back of the truck, jumping right over Tahlia and trying to make a run for it. Tahlia shrieked as the animal flew over top of her, and, still holding tight to the rope, fell smack onto her back and had the breath knocked out of her as she was dragged several feet through the dirt before coming to a stop.

Daryl let out a loud guffaw and slapped at his knee as she sat up and glared at him, still gasping for breath.

"That's for makin' me ride with the goats." he shot smugly.

Tahlia extended a middle finger at him, then laughed in spite of herself.

They ushered the goats down to the garden area and tethered them securely where they could graze on the long grass.

The kid was jumping around playfully at Tahlia's feet, and she knelt down to give him a scratch.

"Aww, I love this little guy!"

The animal shoved into her arm and she laughed. "I think I'm going to call you... Butter!" Tahlia grinned up at Daryl who was standing over her with his hands on his hips, a withering look on his face. "Because he likes to-"

"I get it! You're such a jackass." Then Daryl gave her a stern look. "Don't get attached to him. He's gonna end up on a plate, y'know that?"

With an appalled look at Daryl, Tahlia then turned to the kid and took his hairy little face in her hands. "Don't you listen to him, Butter. You're going to live a long and happy goaty life, with lots of delicious green grass to eat and frolic in." she told the goat in hushed tones, causing Daryl to heave a tortured sigh.

"Ok, see ya later Butter buddy. Miss you already!" Tahlia blew a kiss at the little goat as she got to her feet, then brushed her hands together, feeling pleased with their efforts. "Awesome! Thanks for your help." She glanced at Daryl, who was still frowning at her, and gave him an amicable punch on the shoulder. "Obviously, I could have done it without you, but you know... thanks anyway."

Immediately, he punched her right back. "Yeah right." he said with a half-smile, surprised to realise that he'd actually enjoyed that time with her, that the hostility he'd been harbouring towards her had long since morphed into something much softer.

"Wanna hug it out? Feels like we should hug it out."

"What? Naw!" protested Daryl, but Tahlia's arms were already around his waist. Automatically his hands shot up in the air as if in surrender, and he tensed and stood stock still, frowning.

"Not much of a hugger, are ya?" Her voice was muffled against his chest.

He rolled his eyes and lowered his arms. "That obvious?"

She released him, then studied his face. "So, is it coz you don't like hugs, or is it coz you haven't really practiced them enough?"

His frown deepened and he took a step away from her. "What? I... I dunno! Kinda question is that?!"

"Well, maybe you're a closet hugger, you just need more practice." Tahlia couldn't help but enjoy winding this surly man up.

"I ain't a hugger! But you are definitely a giant pain in the ass."

"Ok, well if you ever want to get some practice in, I am an expert." She grinned at his stony expression. "You can relax. Just teasing you. Again." she reassured him.

She knew she was probably flirting dangerously with the line of no return – as in, if she pushed too much, Daryl would either deck her, or refuse to acknowledge her ever again. But, she couldn't help it. She was facetious by nature anyway, and he was so damn prickly that it made her go into overdrive trying to lighten things up.

As they headed back up to the prison together, Daryl shot her a sideways look.

"What's ya tattoo of?"

His question caught her by surprise, and she pulled her left arm close to her body subconsciously. "What?"

He pointed to his own left arm to indicate where he'd seen it. "Saw it when the goat dragged ya down." He couldn't help but snicker again at the memory.

Tahlia gave an eye roll, but a flush rose on her cheeks. "Aw, just something I got as a teenager. Silly, really."

Daryl stopped walking, and caught her elbow, stopping her too. Turning her arm out gently, he exposed the soft pale flesh under her upper arm, revealing a picture of a woven-looking anchor with two Japanese kanji characters written vertically next to the anchor's shank.

His eyes flickered over it, then up to hers, questioning, waiting.

Tahlia shrugged bashfully, tugging her arm away from his grasp, tucking her tattoo away again. "It means 'hope' in Japanese. And then the anchor coz... you know, like hope as an anchor for the soul and all that. I was young. Thought I was being clever."

He eyed her curiously. "Hope? Hope for what?"

She gave a misty sigh. "For me? Everything. Hope that I'll always see the best in people, that good will always prevail, that there is always something more to look forward to, something beautiful around every corner. Hope for... world peace." The last bit she said with that jesting lilt and smile twitching at her mouth, but he couldn't help but think that deep down, she really meant it.

"Ya still feel like that, even in this world?"

"Yep. Permanently hopeful!" She gave an embarrassed shrug. "It's dumb. I know. But..."

His stare was intense, harbouring something she couldn't quite read, and he looked at her for a long moment before saying in a low voice, "It ain't. Not much of it 'round anymore, so you should hold on to it."

The last thing Tahlia was expecting from him was this glimpse of tenderness, and her eyebrows rose slowly in surprise. Before she could say anything else, he was already trudging back up the hill to the prison as she stared after him.

"Y'comin?" he called over his shoulder as he paused to pull a cigarette out of the crushed packet in his back pocket and light it, giving her time to catch up with him.

He took a long drag then offered it to her, again taking her by surprise, but she accepted wordlessly, and they walked back up to the courtyard in comfortable silence, quiet in the knowledge that they had just sunk a layer deeper into one another.