good thing is... i'm not dead! just under a ton of stress
i missed writing this fic so much, you guys have no idea
it pained me to put this off in favor of studying for exams
also, kinda late to it, but happy 2019! i hope a lot of good things come your way this year!
okay you can keep scrolling!
oOo
There was a knock at the door. Daryl didn't have to guess who it was, he could tell by the timidity of the sound. The door opened inch by inch until he saw her standing with her shoulders almost glued to her ears and a plate of what he assumed was his dinner in her hands. Her eyes only left the floor when she closed the door with a sock-clad foot and he shuffled to sit up against the headboard.
Daryl's mouth threatened to rip his face in half as he watched Diana suppress a nervous smile while sitting next to him. She gave him a coy sidelong look through her dark lashes, and he swallowed thickly, remembering what had happened some hours prior. He'd never been one for flowery dreams and high hopes, life had always been far too cruel on him for that kinda shit. But things felt different at her side. And she wanted him at her side.
"Yo wassup," was her greeting, so unexpected but so characteristic that a bout of laughter burst out of him. Diana chuckled along, her shoulders shaking and slowly losing their tension. But she had still put some deliberate distance between them so that no part of their bodies would touch. That had never been an issue for her before. Something was bothering her, something more than pure nerves.
Daryl had found it a miracle that she forgave him. Not only that but to know that whatever it was that he felt for Diana was actually reciprocated… It blew his mind. In all his life, he didn't remember feeling half as giddy. He had looked past the impropriety and his stupidity and had come somewhat to terms with the fact that he was crushing real bad. There was no point in denying it or naming it something it was not.
He also wanted to enjoy their bubble while he was confined to this room. He knew reality would shit on his parade as soon as he set foot out. And he had to set foot out; Sophia was still lost out there, and people were counting on him. He wasn't one to run from his problems and duties. From his feelings… hell yeah, he would, but those were known to pack a punch. But even those he was learning to confront.
Diana broke his chain of thought by gingerly placing the plate on his lap. Daryl felt her body heat as she leaned in and felt a chill on his skin as she retreated. "But really, though, how you feeling?" she asked and cracked her knuckles against her thigh. Yeah, something was on her mind.
His keen eyes looked her over; he knew she'd only spit it out once he assured her he was fine. And he was, he'd suffered through worse, although being shot at was a first. "Better," he said through a mouthful of beans he'd shoveled hastily into his mouth, "There sumn you gotta say?" He wasn't a fan of beating around the bush.
Her eyes widened, and she clasped her hands in her lap, opening and closing her mouth with no recognizable sounds coming out. In the end, she merely sighed and nodded. With one hand she massaged the other, and then spoke with measured words, "Okay, so, here's the thing, I… dunno what I'm doing."
Daryl kept a neutral face, expecting the worst and preparing for the worst. He put down the fork and nodded for her to continue, awaiting his rejection; for their pre-destined-to-fail bubble to pop. His brow furrowed at the fearful look on her face.
"There's a lot of things I haven't told you about me, I mean, obviously, ya know. And one of them is that I… I've never been with anyone… in a relationship, or- or otherwise." Diana's legs curled to her chest, and she covered her face with her hands while groaning in embarrassment. "Ugh, this is so awkward for me to talk about. Like… first, I don't even know why you want to be with me! I mean- I assume that's what you want, considering that- I mean, we kissed, so like… Is that what you want?" She uncovered half her face to look at him with her whiskey brown eyes.
Relief tasted sweet. And as much as Daryl wanted to be smooth and sweep Diana off her feet with beautiful promises, he was stumped. He was no damn poet, he didn't have that kinda charm. Add to that the shock of her confession. She felt insecure? He should be and had been the one wondering if it wasn't all just an illusion.
He swallowed thickly and focused on anything other than her fluttering lashes as she blinked expectantly at him. To answer her question, he nodded and whispered, "Hell yeah, it is."
Diana sighed as she unfurled and pivoted towards him with a leg folded under the other. Daryl almost forgot the plate on his lap, ready to topple over as he faced her, paying attention to her next words with his heart is his throat.
"Okay, bear with me, okay? This is not gonna be easy for me to say." She puffed out a breath. "I don't know what to expect from the future, I guess none of us do. I could die tomorrow, for all I know, that's just how it be sometimes. But I can tell you now that I'm not looking for some kind of fuckbuddy for the end of the world, alright? That's not my vibe."
Daryl was shocked at her choice of words and attitude, but admired her boldness and nodded along, encouraging her to keep talking.
"I barely… I barely have any control over my life as it is. I need…" She paused, thinking, her eyes swishing back and forth as if she was reading from an invisible script. "I need to do things at my own pace between us, at least in the beginning. Please understand that."
Daryl didn't need to think twice. He nodded with conviction and took her hand, gauging her reaction. He swallowed back the lump in his throat when she squeezed his hand with her thin, warm fingers. "You set the pace, I follow." He knew this mattered to her. And her requests were always so undemanding, it was such a pleasure to make her happy. He would harvest the moon straight from the sky if she would ever wish it if only to see her smile. "I ain't got no problem with that."
Diana's other hand cupped his jaw, and her thumb caressed his stubbled cheek. Her touch sparked under his skin, setting parts of him on fire, and his eyes jumped subconsciously to her smiling lips.
He saw her tongue sweep over her bottom lip and felt a flush creep up his neck. He begged her to put him out of his misery in his innermost thoughts and hoped his face didn't betray him. He wasn't looking to fuck up and disrespect her wishes-
"I really wanna…" Diana let go of his hand with a squeeze and held his face between her hands, her fingers grazing the bandage around his head on the way. "I really like your stupid dorky face," she whispered, her eyes taking in his features.
Before Daryl could process or even question her declaration, she inched closer on the bed. Her knees almost knocked the plate off his lap, and Daryl cursed the damn thing, distractedly putting it off to the side.
Diana's warmth made it seem like the room had been freezing cold until now. One of his hands grazed over the length over her forearm to grasp her wrist, his thumb caressing the skin there. His other hand found the underside of her knee, stretching her leg onto his lap, and at that moment Daryl was glad he had the bedsheet to cover his lower half. He really oughta stop, he was only torturing himself.
His thought was left halfway as Diana took the hint. The wrong, but oh so right hint. She let go of his face and held onto the headboard to swing her leg over him and straddle him, thankfully with enough distance that she wasn't yet aware of the condition that had befallen him.
Her lidded eyes never left his as her hands came to rest lightly on either side of his neck, and Daryl half forgot how to inhale, feeling the fire spread from his abdomen to the rest of his body. Something inside him trembled as he fought to reign over a more primal nature. His hands awoke from shocked despondency to slide over Diana's thick thighs, longing to feel her honey brown skin under his fingertips, and they rested at her hips, just below her jean's waistline.
If he closed his eyes, he could vividly remember her backlit figure in the dark, the curves under her shirt, the citrusy scent from her hair, how prettily she had called his name. His fingers squeezed her soft flesh at the same time hers did on the back of his head, pulling at the roots of his hair. The pain mixed with the pleasure forced a low groan from the back of his throat.
The sound must have encouraged her; before Daryl could blink, Diana had brought her chest flush to his, their parted lips nearly touching, arms snaking around him as she sat heavily on top of his situation. His entire body stiffened, and he held his breath when he saw her eyes widen. Shit.
Diana jerked backward and off him, almost falling off the side of the bed in her haste, but Daryl stabilized her by the arm. She covered her face with her hands and whined into them, "Oh my God, what am I doing?" She put them down just as quickly and gave him an earnest look. "Okay, just so we're clear, I'm not usually that… forward, alright? Ah fuck, and right after I said I wanted to take things slow, the fuck is wrong with me? I didn't mean to like uh- tease you or anything, I'm so so so sorry."
Daryl cleared his throat and nodded in understanding, feeling somewhat lightheaded. He needed to collect himself before attempting verbal communication. He straightened himself, feeling the stitches on his side pulling at the skin uncomfortably and suppressed a grimace. "Ain't a thing. Don't worry 'bout it. We doin' things your way."
"Thank you, and again, so sorry." Diana stood up and began retreating, pointing at the door with a thumb. "I'mma leave now, you just… finish dinner and uh-" she gestured in his general direction. "-whatever else you got goin' on there, buddy pal."
She grabbed the handle. Daryl felt his heart sink but kept quiet, ready to watch her leave. Diana lingered at the door, staring at it in contemplation. What happened next occurred in a couple of seconds: Diana marched back to the bedside, leaned over Daryl, and pecked the corner of his mouth, looking bashfully at him from under her dark lashes. It was so timid and innocent, it felt like nothing primal had ever transpired between them in the past. And it absolutely made his heart ache with adoration.
Then the door slammed, and she was gone, leaving Daryl to collect his breath, his thoughts, and prepare for a long night.
oOo
Diana leaned back against the door and looked at her outstretched hands, seeing how they shook. Her heart must've been pounding at 200 BPM by the way in raged in her chest. She was so embarrassed and yet felt the urge to walk back inside.
Her inner hoe had really jumped out in there. If she had to guess, she'd say all the years of deprivation from another person's wanting touch had been the trigger. It didn't help that Daryl had been so easily compliant and yet respectful. He took only what she gave, and she'd been drunk on that power and control.
She needed to get herself in check. A couple of deep breaths to shake out trembling in her limbs, and Diana set out through the silent house. She rounded a corner on her way out and almost ran into Hershel. She felt a blush creep onto her cheeks from knowing what she and Daryl had been doing under this stranger's roof and hoped he suspected of nothing.
She had disappeared immediately after dinner to bring Daryl his meal, after all, and now everything was too quiet to assume any of her people were still lounging around. Had they been that fast to leave or had she taken too long in there?
"Miss Lobo," Hershel greeted with a curt nod.
"Please, call me Diana."
"Very well, Diana. I assume you and your people won't be staying after your friend is well and the child is found?"
The straightforward question almost made her head spin, and she blinked rapidly in surprise. Why was he asking her this? She knew he and Rick had discussed a possible prolongation of their stay, and that it had been denied. Was he testing her in some way? Alright, time to change the subject.
"About that, I was hoping you had some time for me." She spoke, changing her tone to a more professional one. A smile accompanying it. "There's something I must discuss with you."
Although the line of his mouth was friendly enough, there was a glint of suspicion in his eyes. "Of course. Would you mind sitting with me in the drawing room?"
The first thing that went through Diana's mind was 'What the hell is a drawing room? Do people just sit around and draw?'. She flattened the furrow of her brow and nodded nonetheless, choosing to put her ignorance and curiosity aside.
The wooden floor creaked under their feet as Diana followed Hershel into a space that contained a long mahogany desk under the only window. Vast bookshelves covered the entire back wall, and a vintage looking sofa sat by the opposite wall with a matching ostentatious armchair. So, a drawing room was like a hybrid of a reading room and office? Whatever, it didn't really matter.
She waited politely for Hershel to offer her a seat, and then took the armchair in a hopefully subtle and potentially rude power move. Her mom would've had her head for that disrespect. Diana could almost see the warning glance Irene would've given her if she were present; the extent of the scolding afterward would depend on how wide her eyes and how pursed her lips were.
A dull pain spread like a cancer throughout her chest, tightening.
Hershel's voice broke through the clouds, pulling her out of the dark. "So, what is it we must discuss?" he asked as he sank into the sofa across from her. If her choice of seat offended him, it didn't show.
"Yes, uhm." She hadn't rehearsed the possible outcomes of that conversation in her head yet; she'd have to wing it. She folded her hands on her lap to stop fidgeting. "I've been made aware of something quite shocking happening on your farm. It uh- it has to do with your barn…"
Hershel's face turned red in less than two seconds, and a vein protruded on his forehead. It was almost as if Diana could see the hypertension.
"What are you saying, Miss Lobo?" His voice was tense and on the verge of something.
Diana internally flinched at the obvious use of her surname, but she didn't care. It didn't have that same effect of hearing your full name from your parents' mouths.
"I'm saying that I know about the walkers. And I wanna know what that's about." She would sit on the bit about Sophia to see if he brought it up himself. She still believed in their innocence on that aspect. "Why, Hershel?" She added some emotion to her voice, a little pinch of manipulation she hoped would work on the older man.
"Who else knows?" A dangerous question with potentially dangerous consequences.
"Rick doesn't, not yet, at least." Diana rested her hands on the plush arms of the armchair and straightened her back. "I'm not planning on keeping it from him for long. Who knows what chain of events that will unlock."
"You do not come into my house, question and threaten me! Do you have no integrity?" Hershel's voice boomed in the room, and he leaned forward in his seat. Diana flinched visibly and pressed herself back into the cushion.
With her heart pounding in fear and anger, her first thought was 'Lay a hand on me, and I'll fucking drop you.' "I am neither questioning nor threatening you, Mr. Greene, I would appreciate if you could keep an even tone of voice when addressing me. I will offer you the same courtesy." She did her best to sound professional and not patronizing.
"Out."
Diana blinked in surprise, stunned to silence. Hershel stared at his clasped hands. So… her not-that-much-of-a-plan had backfired. Time to drop the bomb.
"I said get out."
"I know about Sophia."
A few seconds of silence passed between them before Hershel reacted. "Excuse me?" He looked at her now, wrinkled brow furrowing deep and no hint of recognition in his features.
Huh.
"The little girl we've been looking for like crazy. I know she's in your barn, I know she's one of them." She took advantage of his silence to dig further. "Your sick lil' game just became a fuckton more personal. Maybe my people would not give two shits about what you've been hiding in there, but what do you think will happen when I tell them about Sophia? Not even your best intentions will count for shit. So tell me, Hershel, why the walkers, and why Sophia?" Now, this was questioning and threatening. She didn't know what possessed her, but she was glad it did.
Hershel leaned back in the sofa, staring off to the side in contemplation. Even now, he showed no traces of a heavy conscience, just confusion. This cemented Diana's theory that Sophia had been found already turned, she just needed to understand the reason behind the collection in the barn.
"I didn't know," Hershel breathed, eyes downcast. "Otis was usually the one who brought them back."
"Blame it on the dead man." Diana regretted the words as soon as they came out, seeing Hershel's sad look and sagging shoulders. "I'm sorry."
The older man shook his head. He took a moment to collect himself, then said, "The people in the barn, they're our families, most of them."
"Your family?" Insensitive as it may sound, Diana had never thought to question any possible missing family members. She'd been too absorbed in her own grief and problems to think about others' grief and problems.
Hershel continued somberly as if she hadn't spoken, "They fell ill, one after the other. We had to stop the disease from spreading. We put them in the barn to keep them and us safe while we wait for a cure." His eyes found hers as Diana drank in his words. "Otis would walk the woods, find other sick ones and lead them away. When they wander into our property, we let them in the barn with the others, to wait."
"So, Sophia…"
"I wasn't aware. You may choose whether you believe me or not, but it's the truth, Miss Lobo."
They sat in silence, hearing the muffled chirping of crickets through the closed windows and the customary groaning of an old house.
Diana's gaze was directed out the window and into the darkness as she contemplated her next move. She felt somewhat overwhelmed with all the unexpected responsibility. What she wouldn't give for her mom's advice.
She rested her elbow on the arm of the chair and bit her thumbnail, trying not to think of the crushing weight on her shoulders. If she dwelled too much, she knew she was sure to cry.
Glenn had advised her to tell Rick straight away, that he would know what to do, and Diana had been loath to put that burden on him, but there was no other choice momentarily. All her actions had led to this.
She believed Hershel. She also needed to tell him the harsh truth they'd learned at the CDC. Now, how to sensibly convince a man that his loved ones are doomed to being undead creatures for all eternity unless you give them the peace they deserve by bashing their brains in.
Huh, that's a tough one.
"Hershel, there's something I need to tell you… About the disease."
His voice was suspiciously calm, "Rick's told me."
Diana's eyes doubled in size. "Oh, he did? About the CDC, about the- the cure?" Hershel responded with a nod, and so Diana continued, "Then you know that there's no use in waiting…"
The older man faced her with an enigmatic smile. "Your people have very little faith."
A sardonic puff of laughter escaped her. "It's not a question of faith, believe me. As much as I believe in a higher power, I can't deny the science behind the facts."
"And what facts are those?"
"Have you looked at a walker recently?" She sat at the edge of the armchair, intent on getting her point across. "Hershel, you studied medicine, you should know better than I do that the damage to their bodies is irreparable. Even if a cure or magic or divine force switched their brains back on, their organs are too zerstört- too deteriorated to ever function again. That's the physiological truth."
The purse of Hershel's mouth showed his distaste for her argument, but he didn't counter it.
Diana's voice softened as she delivered the end to her lecture, "Administration of an antidote of any kind would have to occur pre exitus. Once they resuscitate… there's nothing left to do but let them go." All too recent memories gripped at her and refused to be pushed away. Her silence was full of remorse. Hershel didn't question nor comment, and both shared a moment of mourning.
"Now, you may choose whether to believe me or not, but it's the truth," she took his previous words and turned them against him.
"And what is it you expect me to do with your truth?"
Diana shrugged, exhausted and ready to retire to her tent. "That's up to you, Hershel. I already did my part." She pushed herself to stand on aching legs and nodded a goodnight, leaving him to ponder her words.
oOo
Diana walked out into the cool midnight air and inhaled the scent of earth deeply. She looked towards their camp and saw the glow of lanterns and shadows crossing the settlement.
She was too tired to confront yet another person about this issue. And Rick wouldn't let her off easy, he would want to know details and would want to handle matters straight away. As selfish as it sounded, Diana just wanted to sleep. Sophia wouldn't get any deader.
She crossed the darkness and entered the camp, bidding goodnight to whoever she passed by.
It was dead silent in her and the kids' tent, although both were wide awake. Felix was curled on his side, back to Alice, paging through one of the books Glenn had scavenged for Diana, looking at the medical pictures. Alice was on her belly, and at first sight, Diana thought she might be doodling in her sketchbook. Upon closer inspection, she saw the girl flip through her polaroid pictures, pausing for a long time on one she had taken of mom and dad.
When she noticed her sister looming at the entrance, Alice jammed that photo inside her sketchbook and slammed it close before hastily gathering the others into their small stack and snapping an elastic band around them.
Felix was less dramatic; he simply looked over his shoulder with glassy eyes and returned to his activity. He worried her at dinner with how little he had eaten, but she summed it up to grief.
Diana plopped down onto her less than ideal sleeping bag with crisscrossed legs. "I talked to Hershel."
That made Alice stop rummaging through her bag and Felix to roll onto his other side to face her.
Alice said it first, "And?"
Diana shrugged. "It's their family in the barn, apparently. It's like I told you, they think the walkers are sick, and they're waiting for a cure. I feel sorry for them."
"That doesn't have anything to do with Sophia unless her last name is Greene. And quelle surprise, it's not. So, what was the old man's shitty excuse for her being there?"
Diana wanted to admonish Alice's skepticism but didn't want to spark another rageful tirade. It would also be very hypocritical of her. "He told me Otis and Co. would put trespassing walkers in the barn, for the same reason as the others. He didn't know Sophia was one of them. I believe him."
"I can't belieeeve how naïve you can be!" Alice hissed, clenching her fists in front of her as if to refrain for lashing out.
In her tired crankiness, Diana's tolerance snapped. Her spine straightened as she faced her little sister, returning to their native tongue, "Don't dare talk to me like that! Be grateful you don't have to put up with half the shit I do! I'm way in over my head and getting barked at from every side no matter what I do, I just need- I need you guys to stand by me! At least you." She felt a hollow in her chest with no tears left to cry.
Alice did what she does best whenever she catches scent of any emotional affair; she avoided it. She gathered some of her things, stood, and left without a word.
If there was one thing Diana hated, it was being ignored, especially during a disagreement. Alice knew this, it was another thing they had in common.
Diana scrambled to a stand and stormed after her. "Where do you think you're going?"
Alice's reaction was less explosive than Diana expected. "RV," she said with a voice devoid of feeling, back still turned. Diana couldn't tell if it was better or worse than having her yell at her.
"Why?"
Alice's shoulders remained tense. Diana waited, already guessing the answer would be something unsatisfactory, unnecessarily rebellious and very à la Alice, in the lines of 'none of your business' or 'telling you would defeat the purpose of the escape itself'.
"To think."
oOo
Diana woke up to the sound of gunshots. Startled and disoriented, she outstretched her arms to feel for Felix and Alice and found them missing. With sleep still clinging to her eyes and muddling her brain, she stumbled out of the tent barefoot, heart pounding in distress.
What she found outside confused her even more; nothing. No chaos, no walkers, just fewer survivors walking around camp than usual. Diana saw Carol, Lori, Dale; none of them seemed to be worried about the incessant gunshots in the distance.
Eventually, she remembered that Alice had gone to sleep in the RV last night, and Felix had probably already left for breakfast. Although, judging by the sun's position above the horizon, lunchtime was likely closer than breakfast; she had overslept big time. To be honest, those extra hours had been of no use, she was still tired as fuck. And hungry.
Diana changed clothes, adding the dirty ones to the laundry pile she had yet to wash – she wondered if she could push that task onto someone else –, and put on her sneakers. Her quest for food was pretty high on her list, but first, she had to know whose stupidity she had to admonish.
Dale was the one to give her an answer; Rick and Shane had gathered some volunteers and improvised a shooting range, where they were teaching the others how to properly use a gun and training their aim.
When Diana heard that, she felt like tearing her hair out. She stalked off in the direction Dale pointed, by the edge of the Greene property, near the fence, too damn close to the barn.
The sun beat down on her, and she was sweating buckets by the time she arrived, partly stress-induced.
The first thing she noticed upon arrival, besides the obvious line-up of dumbasses shooting like crazy at objects placed on each fence post, was- "Carl?" The boy sat on a wooden box in the shade of a nearby tree, his father's hat too large on his head, a water canteen clasped in both hands, and apple slices on a napkin sitting on his lap. His eyes tore away from the scene and fixed on her as she strayed off the path towards him.
"Hey, Diana," he greeted with a small smile, his sunken eyes a stark contrast to his pale skin.
Diana kneeled by his side and put a hand to his cool cheek. "Carl," she breathed in worry, "What are you doing outside?"
"I came here with my dad," he said simply, adjusting the slipping hat. "Hershel said I have to get out of bed to get better sooner. You're a nurse, you pro'bly know that."
Diana sighed, and her shoulders sagged. She took Carl's hand and asked, "Do you feel better?"
Carl shrugged, his smile dropping, his fingers squeezing hers. "I'm just really tired. And I wanna find Sophia as quickly as possible."
Diana nodded curtly and swallowed around the lump in her throat, avoiding his sad blue eyes. "I know, bud. Do you- does it hurt anywhere?"
"It did when I woke up this morning, but mom got me something from Hershel."
Despite the dark undereyes and Carl's almost sickly pallor, Hershel had had the right idea in getting the boy out of bed; some sun and fresh air wouldn't do him any harm. Diana nodded at him and squeezed his hand back. "Good, but you know you gotta drink a lot of water and eat a bunch to get back to kicking ass, right?"
Carl cracked a smile.
"Yeah, I ain't kidding. I learned that in nursing school, bud. So, you better listen to me and stuff these apple slices in your mouth straight away if you don't wanna know what trouble tastes like."
She got a tiny snicker out of him before they got interrupted.
"Diana, good to see you're well rested." Now, who was so blatantly lying?
Diana let go of Carl's hand and stood to face Rick as he sauntered his way down to them. Oooh, where to even begin with this guy.
She glanced down at Carl and asked, "So, Hershel gave him the green light, huh?"
"Seems like it," Rick said as he tipped the brim of the sheriff's hat on his son's head, making the boy's hesitant smile grow. "Fever's down, and everything seemed stabilized."
Diana nodded pensively. That was good news. Maybe less good news was the fact that they were one step closer to being kicked out of the farm. The look Rick gave her told her he was thinking along the same lines.
It was out of their hands, though, Hershel refused to be persuaded.
"Also, completely different topic now, but what the fork is happening over here?" she whispered, aware of Carl's presence. She grabbed Rick by the upper arm and led him away from the tree and out of his son's earshot. "Whose ingenious idea was this?"
Rick coked his head and frowned at her. "We have guns but not enough people who know how to use 'em. And we have enough spare ammo for some rounds of target practice. We need people to be prepared, to be able to defend themselves. I don't see the problem with that."
"Yeah, okay, except you forget the part where a huge herd of walkers passed by us in the interstate not that far away from here and those guns sound infernal."
"There a problem?"
Diana inhaled sharply in irritation at the voice calling out to them. She turned to see Shane leave his resting band of gunslingers behind as he joined her and Rick. "Yes. There is a problem. There's an idiot in our midst, and I'm tryna figure out who it is."
Shane's brow raised in puzzlement, and he looked to his best pal for clarification.
"Diana thinks the sound might attract that horde we saw yesterday," Rick simplified.
"Think I didn't take that into consideration? The woods surrounding the farm are expansive. Even if the horde was within range, the shots will echo all over the forest and disperse the sound. They wouldn't be able to pinpoint us." Diana didn't know what was worse: his idiocy or the confidence with which he'd spouted it.
She joined her hands and pressed them against her pursed lips while taking a deep breath to calm herself. Was anyone truly paying attention to what they were up against? The walkers might be walking, starving carcasses, but their patterns were predictable. It was only a matter of observation.
Diana smacked her lips and pointed her joined hands at Officer Dum Dum. "Shane, riddle me this. Do you know why that horde formed?" He didn't humor her, so she continued her monologue. "Let me tell you. A walker follows its basic instincts, as we've observed so far. If something smells or sounds or moves like food, they will chase it.
"One can make the basic assumption that something attracted some walkers to get on the interstate and start walking in that something's vague direction and presumably more joined it on pure herd instinct. Another thing we know is that walkers are slow-"
"Where the hell you going with this?" Shane interrupted, glaring at her.
"Stick with me, alright, ouve aqui. You hinted so yourself that they might be within hearing range, and because guns are loud and you're basically broadcasting that sound throughout the whole fucking area, they will change course and go into the woods, towards us. We also don't know how many have been wondering in the forest already, or how many more errant walkers have stumbled upon that nice lil' herd and joined it simply because it's instinct!"
"The chances they find the farm are almost none." He sounded ever so sure, and it grated Diana's nerves. He huffed out sardonically and looked to Rick for backing.
Rick locked eyes with Diana for a moment, squinting against the high sun, and then looked over his shoulder at the tree line, apprehension in his features.
"Rick, you kiddin' me? What she's saying makes no sense. The noise will spread out, we talked about this."
Diana's jaw was almost too tense to speak. "What did I say about herd instinct? It doesn't matter that they can't pinpoint the sound, they will simply keep walking until they find something. And that something will be us."
Rick and Shane stared each other down in what seemed to be a telepathic battle of will. In the end, Rick nodded towards the resting group and said, "Call it off. We'll find another way."
"You can't be serious, brother."
Diana rolled her eyes until they hurt and crossed her arms over her chest.
Rick rested a calming hand on Shane's shoulder, but it had the opposite effect. He shrugged him off and stalked away. Diana almost felt bad for the look of hurtful anger on his face, but mostly, it had pleased her to see him brought down a peg like that. Was she a bad person for that?
Rick looked miserable, one hand on his hip and the other rubbing his brow in defeat. Now him, she felt sorry for. She wouldn't apologize, though. Her antagonism had been directed at Shane, who was well deserving of it for many reasons. Not her fault that Shane's temper was so bad that he couldn't take some mocking words from her, and that it subsequently resulted in an additional strain in his and Rick's relationship.
Completely unrelated.
As if remembering only now, Rick looked back at his son, and Diana followed his gaze. The boy had his head hanging low, the brim of the hat covered the upper half of his face, and he was chewing on an apple slice.
"Rick, what's going on?" Andrea called out.
Rick raised a hand for her to wait a moment, to which Andrea responded with crossed arms and a pissy posture. "Can you take him back to Lori?" he asked of Diana while gesturing at Carl. His eyes searched hers for some sympathy.
Diana nodded with a whispered 'sure'. And she still needed to tell him about the barn… Shit, she wouldn't blame him if he resented her for ruining his life. All she had to bring him were bad news.
"Diana!"
Alarms rang off in her mind when she heard Alice cry out. She didn't know on what foot they had left things off the night before, it all had ended very strangely. But Alice would not come running for her in such a tizzy if it wasn't about something so important that it would make her forgo all petty fights.
Her legs went numb.
She and Rick watched Alice run up to them as the target practice group slowly joined in morbid curiosity.
"Couldn't meet me halfway?" Alice panted, then pointed to the farmhouse.
Diana interrupted, heart dropping to the pit of her stomach. "Is it Felix?"
Alice nodded with a grimace while catching her breath. "It started again."
sweet baby moses
please drop a review, i'm desperate for attention
i love you!
