Audrey hadn't slept a bit all night. She hated to admit it, even to herself, but she was scared. If her theory of too many people in one place had been right and Atlanta wasn't safe, where the hell could they go? What was the use of having freedom if you couldn't even live long enough to experience it?
The morning light was already beginning to peer in the window of the living room. She picked nervously at the peeling paint on the window sill, she wanted to get up, but she didn't want to wake up the boys who were sleeping mere inches from her. Merle was snoring loudly, but Daryl was completely silent. She turned her head so that she could see him, his features were relaxed and she watched the gentle rise and fall of his chest. How could he be so calm when she hadn't been able to close her eyes for any other reason than to blink.
"What are you doin' up?" Daryl's whispering voice startled her, causing her to hit her elbow off the wall, loudly. Merle stirred in his sleep, so much for not waking them up. Audrey grumbled and pushed herself out of her sleeping bag which lay on the floor in the far corner of the living room.
"I couldn't sleep," she mumbled, "it's too damn hot in here." She wasn't completely lying. The Georgia heat had been almost unbearable.
"Shit," Daryl grumbled, opening his eyes and sitting up. He sighed and then turned his attention to a half-awake Merle and ignoring Audrey's response, "You were supposed to keep watch Merle."
"She just said she was up all night. Get your panties out of a twist baby brother." Merle spoke in a groggy voice, it was obvious he'd been asleep for awhile. He began to slowly pull himself off of the ground, groaning in discomfort. A sleeping bag was no where near enough padding for a wooden floor.
Audrey shook her head at the disheveled man who was now on his hands and knees trying push himself up off of the floor. She couldn't help but laugh at the scene before she headed towards the bathroom. The toilet was hooked up to a well on the property so it still worked, but before she could get through the door Merle ran up behind her and pushed her out of the way so that he could use the toilet first. He slammed the door in her face and locked it. "Merle!" Audrey started banging wildly on the door, she felt as if her bladder might explode. She heard him laughing on the other side and she began hitting the door harder. "You bastard!" Unable to wait for him to finish, Audrey burst out the front door and made her way around the side of the house so she could relieve herself. Merle was such a child, but she couldn't deny that it was still slightly funny.
Once finished, she started pulling her pants up, but her frustration made the task impossibly difficult. Cursing Merle's immaturity under her breath, she fiddled with the button on her pants. With her head down and her attention on the tricky little button, she heard a deep throaty groan a few feet away. Assuming it was just Merle being a pig, she ignored the sound of approaching footsteps. He could be so obnoxious sometimes. She tried to ignore the grunts being emitted from his mouth, but when she saw the feet on the ground in front of her she realized it wasn't one of the boys. She was positive they'd never be caught wearing blue converse sneakers.
Her head shot up and she was staring eye to eye with a walker that was only about two feet away from her and it had a disgusting snarl on its face. "Fuck!" She screamed and tried pushing the corpse away, but it discarded her efforts and lunged forward, pushing her to the ground. "Shit!" She screamed even louder this time, kicking at its face and panicking as it clawed at her legs. She could see the hunger in its eyes. This thing wasn't thinking about anything other than food, whoever it used to be was gone. She scolded herself for not having her knife with her, once again.
The corpse got ahold of her ankle and dragged her towards its salivating mouth. She was sure she was going to die and she let out one final scream filled with frustration. The end of the world had just begun and she was already dying. She closed her eyes and prepared herself for the excruciating pain, but all she felt was the thump of its forehead against her leg. Slowly, she willed herself to open her eyes and look down at the dead creature with an arrow sticking straight through the side of its head. She let out a sigh of relief.
"Gotta be more careful." Audrey looked up to see Daryl standing by the corner of the house, crossbow in hand. She let out a nervous chuckle and pulled herself to her feet. Her button was still undone so she casually began to fiddle with the circular piece of metal once again until it was finally hooked through her jeans.
"I need new fucking pants," she mumbled, embarrassed by her lack of attention to the dangerous world around them.
"Jesus Roxy, you ain't supposed to feed the animals." Merle chuckled at his own, shitty joke and Audrey swore under her breath before pushing past the two men to get back inside where she found the sleeping bags and supplies already packed up and set by the door. She gathered as much as she could in her arms and tossed it into the back of the truck.
"Let me help," Daryl said, stopping her before she had the chance to grab the rest of the supplies on the floor. He picked up the two heaviest backpacks and left the remaining sleeping bag for her.
"My baby brother is being a gentleman," Merle scoffed and forced a laugh, "how sweet." Audrey rolled her eyes and shot her middle finger up at him as she made her way to the passenger side door of the truck. "When and where, Roxy?" He laughed again.
She turned back to Merle before opening the door, shooting him a devilish grin, "In your dreams, grandpa."
Merle narrowed his eyes and smirked, "Watch it, you ain't no high class hussy, you're just as low down as me sweetcheeks."
She shrugged, "Maybe, but at least you had to pay to see me, that's pretty high class for us don't you think?"
Merle shook his head with a smile and headed off towards his bike. She knew how to stand her ground which was one reason Merle had always gone to see her at the club. He loved to test her boundaries and keep her resilient attitude going strong. She was like a little sister to him in many ways and he almost felt proud knowing that her tough personality was a part of his doing.
The drive had been fairly uneventful for the past two hours, Audrey had finally gotten some sleep which allowed her to regain much of her strength. They had just pulled over so that they all could 'empty the bucket' as Merle said. He had honked the horn excessively, signaling Daryl to stop. Although their plan had been to just pull over due to the fact that they could easily see one another and attract less attention, Merle had to be obnoxious and do the exact opposite of what Daryl had said.
"Come on," Audrey growled as they waited for Merle. She had an uneasy feeling and she wanted to get back on the road immediately. Merle had snuck behind the gas station, probably to get a hit of whatever drugs he had on him, but he was taking far too long and Audrey was growing extremely impatient. "I'm going to go get that bastard," she grumbled, but Daryl grabbed her arm before she could take a step. "What?" She hissed.
Daryl brought his finger to his lips, he was listening for something. Audrey strained her ears to search for the sound that Daryl heard and when she finally noticed the slight rumble of a motor in the distance she shot Daryl a look of concern. If there were others headed their way, it could be good or bad. The people could be survivors just trying to reach Atlanta, or they could be survivors with a more sinister mindset and Audrey wasn't sure she wanted to find out.
Daryl pushed her towards the truck and handed her the keys. She tried to grab ahold of Daryl and force him to stay with her, but he was already running towards the gas station in search of Merle. She made her way towards the pickup, but when she saw the RV appear a mere forty feet away from her, she knew she didn't have any time to run. She ran for the truck and ripped open the door so that she could reach the pistol hidden under Daryl's seat. She prepared herself as the RV slowed to a stop in front of her. She didn't know where the boys were, but she didn't have time to worry about that. She focused her attention on the homely old man with a hawaiian shirt and a bucket hat sitting in the driver's seat. He looked harmless and she began to lower her gun when she saw yet another face appear behind the driver. It was an asian boy around the age of nineteen or twenty she guessed. She dropped her weapon to her side as the two passengers made their way out of the RV and onto the road in front of her. Their attention was fixated on the short girl, covered in tattoos, holding a Smith & Wesson awkwardly in her hand.
"I, uh," the boy's voice was shaky, and his eyes remained glued to gun, "I'm Glenn and this is Dale." Audrey went to introduce herself, but before she could, the brothers were behind her, their weapons aimed at the two men next to the RV.
Daryl pulled her back away from them roughly and he held her protectively at his side with his arm around her waist, making her feel oddly uncomfortable. Dale spoke up, his voice filled with concern and fear, "We have nothing to hide." His words seemed forced, as if he had to choke them out of his own throat and when the RV shook gently behind the men and the brother's reacted in unison, pointing their weapons towards the open door, the old man's eyes became wide and anxious.
"Nothing to hide my ass," Merle stepped forward, towards the old man, "Who the fuck is in there?" he hissed. Dale lowered his head and tapped three times on the side of the RV. Merle looked at his brother with frustration in his eyes and Audrey's body became rigid, she was uncomfortable and scared. She tried to imagine who these men could be harboring, but Daryl's arm wrapped around her waist was making it difficult to think at all. When two young, blonde women appeared from inside she felt Daryl's arm relax around her and she took the opportunity to step away. Why was he being so protective? She pushed the thought aside and focused on the women that Merle was now ushering out of the RV so that he could get inside and ensure it was finally clear.
One woman, who looked much younger than the other stood behind the older blonde. They looked as if they could be sisters, despite the age difference. "That's Andrea," Dale motioned to the older woman, "and her sister Amy behind her." The women stepped towards Dale slowly, taking in the appearances of the three new people standing before them. Audrey tried to remain relaxed in order to seem approachable, but Merle and Daryl took away from the calm vibes she was trying to send towards the cautious women.
She took a deep breath as Merle exited the camper and nodded to Daryl to let him know it was clear. "I'm Audrey," she began introducing the shabby trio she was apart of and when she turned to Daryl and Merle she couldn't help but chuckle, "and these are my friends. Daryl and Merle."
The new group relaxed and greeted the boys with genuine smiles. "We are headed to Atlanta," Dale said to Audrey, "I'm assuming you guys are too." She nodded and the old man seemed to find relief in the fact that they weren't alone, even if the trio looked something like a redneck biker gang. "Mind if we tag along?" His voice was hopeful and she could tell these people had to be struggling alone.
"Of course not. There's safety in numbers," she smiled, knowing her father would have scolded her for saying such a thing. He had always believed people were unreliable, which was true, but in this case it was nice to know that they weren't alone. Dale offered a quiet thank you before returning to the RV with his group, leaving her to the truck with the boys.
"So," Merle said raising an eyebrow, "since when are we friends?"
"Since those people trust me more than the two terrifying hicks." Audrey laughed and managed to catch a small smile on Daryl's scruffy face.
"Hey," Merle pushed her arm roughly, "you're just as terrifying as us, looking like a biker midget and all. Besides, why do they gotta like us? We don't need to be dragging their sorry asses along with yours." She shook her head smiled at the ground. She pushed him back with a laugh before climbing into the truck.
"Let's go boys." She slammed the truck door and slouched into her seat. She couldn't help but enjoy their company. Her mind returned to the way Daryl had held her and a flood of mixed emotions rushed through her body. She wasn't sure how she felt about it, but she had liked the feeling of his strong arms around her. Stop, she scolded herself, I can't be thinking about these things, not with our lives at risk every second of the day. Daryl climbed in the cab and she turned to face out the window, she decided all she needed was some more rest and then everything would be back to normal.