Chapter 5

Janis woke to Glenn pulling the zip closed on the tent. Groaning she turned over in her sleeping bag. She had always hated camping, the moisture that had formed on the inside of the tent was dripping down, making the tent feel hotter than it already was. The sun shone brightly through the material of the tent, giving everything in sight a sickly green glow.

Following Glenn out of the tent she stretched in the morning sun. Lifting her arms over her head, T-Dog smiled at her from the back of his car, sorting through supplies. Stretching further, Janis felt her t-shirt ride up over the waistband of her shorts, relishing the feeling of sun on her stomach.

"Mornin' T!" she yanwed

"G'morning missy...you comin' into the city today to get Dixon back." Janis liked T-Dog. He was realistic and always made her laugh.

"That the plan? Is Daryl back?"

"Not yet, still hunting. Even Dale hasn't seen him." Janis nodded, heading over to the RV she saw Carol ringing out Ricks police uniform.

"You eaten?"

"Yeah...there's coffee, it might be cold."

"Sounds good...ya need some help?"

"Just gonna let this dry, I'm fine sweetie."

Janis climbed into the RV, grabbing the now cold pan of coffee, she carefully poured what was left into a mug. Jumping down the last step, standing on her toes she put the coffee on the highest rung of the ladder she could. Climbing past it, being extra careful not to knock it off she got to the roof of the RV. Picking the mug back up she turned to Dale.

"Morning!"

"How'd you sleep?"

"Good? I guess?" Dale laughed, placing the binoculars back over his eyes and scanned the area. "What about you?"

"I got my time."

"Enough?" Dale ignored her "Seen anything?" Janis asked, sitting down next to Dale and taking a sip from her mug. It was cold and bitter and Janis loved it.

"You mean Daryl or Walkers?"

"Either? Both would mean bad news at the moment."

He nodded. They were silent as Dale continued to carefully search the area through his binoculars. They sat there till Janis finished her coffee, asking Dale if he needed anything before she left, he just smiled and shook his head.

Back down on the ground everyone was working hard. Janis got breakfast ready for the people who hadn't eaten yet. If she didn't force him, Glenn wouldn't eat. He'd always make some excuse, to ensure everyone ate before him. Grabbing one of the tins of fruit and a cereal bar she made her way over to Glenn who was admiring his new car.

"Catch." Glenn didn't look up and the can hit him in the stomach.

"She's beautiful." He said, not even reacting to the impact.

"She?"

"Yeah..."

"You know they're gonna rip her apart." Janis said, opening the cereal bar, taking a bite before handing it to Glenn.

"Huh?" He took the bar, taking a bite, still staring wistfully at the dodge challenger.

"It's not practical. It has four seats...barely. No storage room...RV needs new parts, bad on mileage, loud...I could go on."

"But...but..."

Glenn looked at Janis now, she could see real hurt in his eyes, they flickered over all the vehicles in the quarry, landing last on Janis' truck.

"Hey now...don't bring Leonard into this. I can sleep in him, hell, four of us could. He's being used as storage. He pulls his weight." Janis' looked fondly at her beat up Ford Ranger, she'd loved it for years and it had proved the perfect vehicle for surviving an apocalypse.

Glenn ignored her, deciding to take his can of peaches into the red car and eat in there instead.

Janis walked away, leaving Glenn to enjoy the last few hours with his car. She grabbed her and Glenns washing, asking around to see if there was anything else she could take. No one had a lot, most people took care of their own. Popping her head into the Dixon's tent she saw the two sides. Daryl's clothes thrown haphazardly into one corner while Merles were folded neatly in stacks. Grabbing whatever looked dirty, Janis threw them in the bucket and headed to the lake.

Shane was there, his back turned to Janis as she approached the lake. Scrubbing hard at the t-shirt in his hands.

"Morning!" Janis shouted, dropping the clothing to the floor in front of the waters edge.

She saw Shane jump, dropping his t-shirt, swearing loudly as he whipped round.

"Jesus...Janis. You scared the shit outta me."

"Sorry...you okay?"

"Yeah...yeah just wasn't payin' attention."

"Shane not on high alert..that's a new one." Janis studied Shane as he stood, shirtless in the lake. His chest rising and falling quickly as his breathing went back to normal. Shane was always on high alert, he put everyone in the groups safety above his own and treated Carl as his own. Looking at him now, he was unarmed and on his own.

"You said always go to the quarry in pairs."

"Needed a wash."

"Right."

Janis left him to it, wading into the lake just far enough to fill the bucket with water she took it to the edge of the lake. Taking the soap she started to scrub out the stains. Janis was sure she'd become an expert at removing dirt and blood from Jeans now. Every time she finished washing an item she layed it out on the rocks to dry.

While she was doing this Shane still stood in the lake, occasionally making a splash before going back to scrubbing his one t-shirt.

Janis soon finished, letting the clothes dry for ten minutes she sat out in the sun, being careful not to face Shane as he had his mid morning breakdown.

It was only 20 minutes before she heard Shane exiting the lake. Without even saying a word he grabbed her bucket, turning to fill it from the lake and walking off, towards camp, still silent. Checking the clothes, which were mostly dry Janis followed him, joining the camp in time to hear Shane tell Carol to boil the water before usage.

Glenn wandered over to her, a solemn look on his face.

"They rip it apart?" He nodded.

"Completely?"

"All the bits that matter. Rick said I could get a new one."

"I'm sure we will Glenn..." She was cut off by the screams of Sophia and Carl echoing through the camp.