Relapsing Withdrawal

First Arc: Act Five

The sound of water splashing never sounded so refreshing. He'd never thought he'd ever take water for granted but fuck, he did now. Thank goodness that there was a working water supply on the way to Macon. In the middle of what felt like nowhere in some jackass' backyard, he stood holding the working hose.

The water, no doubt cold as shit, sprayed onto Rye's filthy hands. The younger woman released a physical shiver and yelp as she moved her palms together in her best attempt to clean off all of the rotting mush she'd trashed her hands with when helping with Duck.

Had he thanked her yet? For helping him save his son from the two Walkers that tried to chew his face off? Of course not, he hadn't had much of a chance to do anything yet but drive anyway. He also had Lee to thank for smashing that zombie's head in; without that, Duck might have an irreversible wound.

Well, since he hadn't yet, might as well now right?

"Rye?"

The female flinched at the sound of his voice and whipped her head up to face him. A set of wide brown eyes stared back at him through a shield of glass, which had probably gotten a scratch or two from what happened a half hour ago. Her lips parted and for a moment, she tilted her head to one side.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for helping me…with Duck back there." He said while Rye went on rinsing her hands the best she could without any kind of soap.

"Of course." Her chin dipped, eyes moving away from him. "I'm just sorry I hesitated at all."

"No." He shook his head. "You went after Duck without even thinking and I gotta say, I really appreciate that. Thinkin' of a kid first, that's what being an adult, a woman is all about. And I'm going to say the same thing to Lee when I have the chance."

"I wish we had better results with what happened." Her right hand stroked her left palm.

"Tell me about it."

"Okay," Rye pulled back and away from the water. "I think I'm done. Without soap this is as good as it's gonna get."

"Oh," He proceeded to twist the metal cap on the hose, shutting it down for the time being.

"I'm glad we found this place." She stood up straight and gave her two hands a firm shake, allowing the excess water to fly off her fingers. "We were able to restock on water and I got to clean up. Can't ask for much more."

Sure they could. They could ask for a lot more. But was that being selfish? To ask for more when they had just been through a trauma? And while Kenny wasn't a spiritual or even religious man, asking for God to intervene and help out just seemed so… out of his league or even childish.

Wishful thinking, I guess.

His son was alive that had to be proof enough that someone of a higher power was looking out for him. His son lived while Hershel's…didn't. Oh geez, what would he do if something ever happened to Duck. No. He couldn't think like that, he just couldn't. If something ever happened to his son it would absolutely crush him. Destroy him in an instant.

Duck wasn't a child that was planned by any means. But that didn't mean he loved the kid he titled 'dumb as a bag of hammers', any less. He loved every livin' hair on that child's head.

"We aren't going to make another stop until we get to Macon," He changed the subject to lessen the awkward silence that floated between them. "So if you want something out here, you best get it now."

"How are we on gas?" Rye rubbed the back of her hands against her shirt.

"Not good." No point in lying.

"Shit."

Did that worry her? Crap, he didn't want to worry her, especially when there were times when she seemed so…delicate. Then again she deserved to know, it wasn't like he could keep it a secret for very much longer.

The older man watched as the former secretary let out a sigh through her nose. Her eyes half lidded she lifted her freshly cleaned hand to her forehead and pushed back the long locks that hand fallen in front of her round cheeks. She drew her hand from the top of her scalp all the way behind her head and only came to a stop when her fingers touched her nape.

What was it about the younger female that made him worry so much? There were times, in the short time in knowing one another that he wanted to treat her like a child because she was young but she proved herself wise in many other ways. Much wiser than her baby sister, she seemed to have a hidden strength that only shone through when times got tough. And he admired that.

"I promise."

When he first came across the sisterly duo on the road they both seemed so fragile and yet Heather seemed to hold on to some strange sense of pride. When he pulled over and asked if they needed help or just a ride, Heather was first to tell him to 'go away', sticking to her guns that they were fine on their own. She just appeared so visibly shaken and yet still so angry; stuck on the fact that they needed no one nor anyone else's help.

But Rye. Rye was the one who insisted that they take the ride and perhaps actually trusting someone other than one another. While she seemed so quiet and even naïve, she took hold of Heather's shoulders and talked to her. She was able to tame the so-called 'wild beast' and got her to relax enough to the point of having a civil conversation.

Rye carried herself like a real adult, so unlike her sister. Another thing to admire. She knew how to take care of her family and family was what was most important. So in one instance he wanted to have her around to keep the peace but at the same time he almost wanted to protect her. From what? Shit, Walkers for one but hell what else?

Does it matter right now?

Another verbal sigh made him focus on the outside world rather than his inside. He looked on at Rye as she clenched her jaw tight. Maybe a habit she picked up when dealing with stress? Not a good one anyway. She moved her hands together in front of her torso, hands cupping and fingers intertwining. Where had he seen this pose and face before?

Oh. That's right. Just moments before Shawn…

When she wanted to tell him and Katjaa something? It seemed like she was pretty serious about it when she had the time to think about it but their conversation had been cut short. Should he bring up the subject again? Might as well, they were alone at the moment. Maybe what she had to say was something private? She did after all; wait until Lee and Heather had left the area to speak up.

"So Rye, what was it you wanted to talk about? Before…you know." He said, of course darting around the subject of Shawn's death.

"Oh, that." Her eyes remained on some other object rather than him. "Don't worry about it, okay?"

His brow arched. "Is it important? Or was it important?"

"Well it is but…" She sunk her teeth into her bottom lip. "I just don't feel much like talking about it right now."

"Is this about you or your sister?"

She hesitated.

"Because I can't imagine a reason why you wouldn't fill me in on what's going on with you two." He pushed his point forward.

"We'll talk later, okay? Right now things are pretty raw."

He pouted. This wasn't anything life threatening, was it? Because if it was something simple, it could be worked out. Now if they were hiding something really important, it might require a bit of talking about. What could be that serious he wasn't sure but hell; anything could be dangerous right now.

But he couldn't force her to talk if she wasn't ready. He just had to be at the helm when she was.

XoXoX

"Are we ready to take off?" Kenny said, shutting his end of the truck door after taking his seat as driver.

"I'd say so." Lee answered. "Head count is clear."

He adjusted himself in the back of the small pickup with Clem, Rye and Heather in tow. While Duck, Katjaa sat up front with Kenny, the small family of three was only a small open window away while they drove down the abandoned streets.

"Alright, here we go." With a twist of his keys, the capped man revved the engine which happened to sound on the dry side once it started.

Kenny had mentioned that they were getting low on gas; they probably had just enough to make it to Macon. Then they'd be on foot after that. And that was a scary thought. Ugh, just thinking about that made his stomach twist. Even a verbal rumble that made him place his right hand to his gut.

"You didn't have any time to eat that granola bar, did you?"

Lee blanched. He gazed up, hand still over his vibrating torso, only to see Heather looking back at him. She stared back at him with a set of daggers that made him almost grimace. With was with that glare?

"Nah," He shook his head. "Don't have much of an appetite after what happened."

"Things went south so fast," Heather's mean look vanished from her features. "You only had a chance to swallow the pills before, well…you know."

"Yep." Did he have to talk about this right now? Things were still too fresh to discuss it.

"You should eat one now." She continued on regardless of what he was thinking, "You might save yourself half a stomach ache if you do."

"Uh," Just the thought of smelling the oats and chocolate combination made the bile in his stomach travel up his throat. "I'm still not feelin' it. Maybe a little later. Saving food isn't always a bad idea."

Her cheek twitched, the look of rage washing over her face all at once. "Just eat the stupid bar; you and Clem have the last ones you know. So just get it done and over with. I don't want to see it again, got it?"

Whoa. "Are you…feeling okay, Heather?" Where did all this come from all of a sudden?

"I'm fine."

"Heather." From the right side of the truck, Rye perked up.

"What?"

"Relax."

"What's going on back there?" Kenny called from up front, the speed of the car slowing to about five miles an hour. Was he worried about the sisters fighting?

"Nothing!" Rye called out.

"You know telling me to relax doesn't help." Heather released a rather low hiss even though she was speaking to her sister. "It just makes me madder."

At his side, Clementine reached out and took hold of his shirt sleeve. Lee jumped a bit before looking down to see the smaller girl with a look of worry written all over her face. Was she nervous about Rye and Heather arguing? Did sibling confrontation worry her? Heh, then again she was an only child by the looks of everything. She just wasn't used to the way siblings 'argued' with one another. Hell, he knew from experience with his own little brother that younger siblings could get rather annoying.

"Everything's okay Clem." He reassured her, for a moment placing his own hand over hers.

"Don't worry about Hea," Rye leaned forward, getting a good look at the smallest female of the group. "She's just grumpy."

At the far side of the pickup the collage-age girl remained silent, her arms crossed over her bust.

"If you want to eat that granola bar, go ahead." Lee said directing a smile at the eight-year old. "We even have some water to wash it down with thanks to that stop we made."

"One of those water bottles is mine." Heather piped up once again, throwing another glare at everyone within sight. "I don't want anyone touching it."

"You're gonna hafta share that water, you know." Kenny, overhearing what the girl had said, retorted in a rather aggressive tone. "We all worked hard enough to get it."

"I don't have to share shit."

"Heather!" Rye barked, even the shyest of the group finally breaking. "Stop."

What was with this all of a sudden? Was Heather really that upset over what happened? Of course while Shawn's sudden death was shocking and hurtful for everyone in the group, it didn't really explain the sudden possession over a bottle of water. And taking it out on Clementine, the one person who was the most defenseless, was not something he was going to stand for.

"You're gonna have to kill me if you want it." She growled, reaching out to her trusty backpack and holding it tight against her chest.

"Why are you acting like this?" Lee's brows furrowed. "You were so helpful before with the painkillers and now you're treating this water like it's the last you'll ever get. What's wrong?"

"Just leave me alone." Her fingers gripped the canvas bag.

He could do that. Just as long as she didn't turn her sights on Clem. Although he was sure that this wasn't something that was in Heather's nature, something had to be bugging her. Sure, he'd known her a totally of five or so hours but someone so willing to help with medicine and food couldn't be all that bad. Maybe she was just putting up a front to hide the fact that she was really scared? No telling, just yet.

Before the school teacher could really think too much about it, a half an hour ticked away. Things were silent for the most part that was until the sound of Heather clearing her throat made everyone in the truck bed flinch. Lee gazed up to see the young woman with her eyes darted off in some other direction, almost as if she didn't make any noise to begin with.

Before anyone could say anything in general the girl, who he assumed was in college, spoke out. "I'm sorry."

Sorry? About the little tiff she'd had a half hour earlier? Hm. That was a rather quick change of mood, even for a young person.

Even though the sudden mood swings made him nervous as hell, Lee shot her a smile. "It's okay. We're all a bit upset right now. No worries, Heather."

She shut her eyes for a moment and appeared to hold a breath. Was wasn't going to cry was she? This, above everything else, wasn't really something that warranted tears. So why get so upset? It had to be all this business with Shawn dying.

Right?

"Are you okay Heather?" The tiny squeaky tone that so fit Clementine made Lee smile further. "Do you want my granola bar?"

Said girl released the air she held in her lungs in the form of a sigh and allowed her eyes to reopen. Finally moving her field of vision toward someone in the group, Clem to be exact, she flashed the smaller girl a tiny smirk.

"Thanks kiddo but you eat it. I'm not hungry."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. You're still growing you know," Heather's voice trembled as if she were to burst into tears at any given moment. "You need it a lot more than I do."

"We'll find more food soon." Rye joined the conversation, her tone so much more stable than her sibling's. "Then we'll all eat 'till we pop, okay?"

"Okay but if you get hungry, you can have it okay? I'm going to save it until we really need it." Clementine held both hands close to her chest.

"I appreciate that." Heather hummed, the smirk on her face growing into a full blown smile.

That was more like it. He knew there was a gentle kid inside the young woman who sat at the far end of the truck bed. Lee watched as the hold Heather held so tight on the backpack loosened, until her hands became free of the bag. At least she was relaxed for the time being.

Act End.