You Keep Me Going
Chapter 3: Fitting in
Here's chapter 3. Hope y'all like it. Reviews will be great ^^
Kthxbai -zoom-
I woke up a few hours later to a knocking on my door. I sat up slowly and noticed the pain was gone. The room was dark, and very little light entered through the curtain. "C-Come in," I said. The door opened, and Rick poked his head in.
"Good, you're still here," he said. I stood up and readjusted my glasses.
"Why would I not be?" I yawned.
"Well, none of us have seen you since your most recent fight with Daryl," the bearded man answered. "To be honest, I thought you would have been on the roof." I sputtered my lip. "Anyway, dinner is being served right now. Just come down whenever."
"Okay. Thank you," I said kindly. Rick smiled and left, leaving the door open. I grabbed my pocket knife and placed it inside the jacket I was wearing. It was a camouflage thing I found a while back. The name tag it had was Codwell. I tore it off and replaced it with Dodgers, which was my last name. When I got to the lobby, I could see the sun setting through the large windows, and heat lamps were scattered about the area, although the light from them wasn't very warm. About half of the group was present, and they were just socializing. Daryl wasn't in sight. That was good. I didn't want to see him, and I'm pretty sure he didn't want to see me. Maggie handed me a small bowl of beans.
"How are you doing?" she asked sweetly in a southern accent. I smiled.
"I'm doing alright. I just woke up." Maggie chuckled a bit.
"So did I." I said my thanks and I sat down next to Carl on the edge of the platform the eating area was on.
"Hey, Carl," I greeted.
"Hey," he said back to me. I looked at his sheriff hat. It seemed old and a little bit too big for the kid's head.
"Where did you get the hat?" I asked while taking a bite of warm beans. Carl looked at me.
"From my dad," he directed his look towards Rick, "He was a cop before all of this."
"Cool. I knew a cop."
"How did you meet him? Did you get arrested?" he chuckled. I shook my head and smirked.
"Pfft, no. When I was little, he came to where I lived to arrest an employee. I think the guy robbed a bank or something and almost got away with it," I said.
"An employee? Where did you live?"
I swallowed my beans. "An orphanage," I said. Carl's eyes sunk into a sad expression.
"Um...," he said awkwardly, "Sorry."
"What are you sorry for?" I asked.
"Well, I thought I triggered some memory or something," he said. I ate some more beans.
"Dude, it's okay. Trust me, I've told stories from the orphanage many times." I gave Carl a smile, and he let out a sigh of relief.
"Okay, good." He ate some beans. "Um, how old were you then?" I twirled the spoon between my fingers.
"I was put into the orphanage when I was eight and about twelve when this outbreak began." Carl just sighed.
"Shit, everything bad happens to everyone," he said. I saw his dad look at us when Carl cursed.
"Hey," I said, trying to sound like an old man, "you better watch your language, you young whippersnapper." I shook my fist at Carl. He laughed and pushed my fist away. We finished our food and got up to clean our bowls. We both walked over to the exercise equipment where Michonne and Glenn were. They seemed to be having a funny conversation.
"I know for a fact that I can do more chin-ups than you," Michonne said smiling. She saw both Carl and I, and she waved.
Glenn waved at us as he talked. "No you can't," he said with a confident grin. I stepped in.
"Michonne looks stronger than you dude," I said.
"See? This girl knows what's what," Michonne said patting my head and pretending to flex with one arm. She did have muscles though. Glenn walked over to a station with some bars hanging above the ground.
"How about a bet? Loser patrols tonight." Michonne shook her head.
"That bet is getting old," she smirked, "How about this?" She reached into a nearby bag and pulled out a pack of skittles. "Whoever wins takes this," Michonne said tossing the candy up and down in her hand.
"Wow, you got a bet," Glenn exclaimed. Michonne tossed me the candy.
"You guys hold that for me for when I win it," she said.
"Yeah, sure, leave two kids to watch over candy," Carl said as I placed the bag of skittles in my jacket pocket. We followed Michonne to the bars, and she and Glenn prepared themselves for the chin-up contest.
"Carl and I can count y'all," I said.
"Cool. Carl and I can share the trophy," Glenn said.
"Yeah right," Michonne said, "Let's start. Go!" The two began at an even and steady pace, and we counted fifteen so far. They started to slow down, and Glenn began to strain.
"Getting tired?" I playfully teased. Glenn looked at me, making another chin-up.
"Hell no," he rasped out.
"You're good, Glenn, but let's see if you can hold your grip," Michonne said with a grin. Hanging from one hand, she used her other hand to tickle Glenn's ribcage.
"H-Hey!" he flinched and fell. Michonne dropped and laughed. "No cheating."
"We never established any rules about cheating," I chuckled. "I counted twenty-five!" Carl placed his hands on his hips.
"Twenty-three," he said. Michonne threw her arms up and did a victory dance, and I high-fived her. I took out the skittles and hand them to her. She opened it and poured a little out for me and herself.
"Come on, you guys. You know me well enough that I share my sweets," she said as she held the bag out to the boys. She poured them some, and we divided the rest amongst ourselves.
"I cannot remember the last time I had skittles," Glenn said, his breath smelling like fruit.
"Michonne is a master at finding candy for reason," Carl said to me. The woman chuckled.
"I wouldn't say master. You're pretty good at sniffing out good stuff as well," Michonne said at Carl, who just smiled and shook his head.
"I just find knick-knacks," I said, popping a skittle in my mouth. "If y'all want to see them, we'll have to trek to my house."
"That sounds fun," Glenn said.
"Speaking of which, we saw that doll you gave Daryl. It was adorable," Michonne said. "You gotta make me one of those."
"Thanks," I responded, "and I have some more at the house." I rummaged the skittles in my hand. "How long have you guys been here?" I asked. Carl adjusted his hat.
"A few days."
"Do you think you'll be staying here long?" I asked.
"Maybe. As long as we have fuel for the generator, we're set," Glenn said.
"Which we're running low on," Carl pointed out.
"Did you guys check the cars outside for fuel?" I asked, finishing off my candy.
"Most of them were dry. We cleaned the rest out when we got here," Michonne said, "but there's still a lot cars in the plaza."
"Plus, there's gas stations all over the place in this area," Glenn said. "I think until we're completely out, we'll just stay here."
"Okay then," I replied. There was a short silence.
"Hey, Becca," Carl called out.
"Yeah?"
"How many chin-ups can you do," he smirked.
"Oh, god, not this again," Glenn said.
"I don't know," I answered, "Probably one."
"Maybe you guys should have a contest," Michonne suggested as she nudged me with her elbow. I looked at Carl with a competitive smirk, and he gave me the same look.
"Yeah, let's see who sucks more," he said.
"You're on," I said. We ran to the bars and jumped up to grab them. Michonne and Glenn crossed their arms and smiled as they watched Carl and I embarrass ourselves. We both did about five until he resulted in kicking our legs for leverage. I built up some form of arm strength from pulling myself over ledges and climbing things, but apparently, doing that didn't give me the strength to win a chin-up contest.
"Agh, this sucks!" Carl blurted out.
"Whoever makes one more is the winner of the Junior Chin-Up Contest," I strained. Both of us bent and released our arms, but none of us were able to make that last one. Glenn walked over to Carl. He grabbed Carl's legs.
"No rules you said," Glenn said as he lifted Carl so he could do a chin-up. Carl jumped down and threw his arms up.
"Yeah! Boys rule!" he shouted and fist bumped Glenn. I got down and rubbed my red hands.
"Damn it," I laughed. Michonne laughed as she tipped Carl's hat.
"Congrats, little dude," she said. I looked at the group, who were looking at us and smiling.
I couldn't believe it. I was in a group for the first time in a long time. They weren't jerks or distant or abusive. They were a community. All of the other groups I was in were either mean to each other or mean to me, especially since I was a kid...and a girl. But everyone here was being nice. I was gaining their trust, and, hopefully, they were gaining mine. After what I did, Rick and his group still brought me in. I smiled at the fact.
I saw Daryl walking down the stairs. He was yawning and his hair was all over the place. Man, everyone was sleeping. He was talking to Maggie as she handed him his bowl of food, and she pointed at me. Daryl looked at me slightly before walking to the wall he was leaning on earlier and started to eat. I directed my attention elsewhere.
"Hey, are you okay, Becca?" Glenn asked me. I looked at him and nodded.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I said.
"Don't get too worked up on Daryl," he said quietly so the acoustics of the lobby wouldn't catch his voice, "He was a real tough person to get along with." I sputtered my lip as Michonne and Carl agreed with his statement.
"Believe me, I know," I said. The four of us walked to the eating area to meet up with the others. Along the way, Beth and Carol came down with Judith in Carol's arms. I was the first to greet them.
"Hello," I said with a smile. The two greeted me back. I held my hand towards Judith, and she grabbed my thumb as she babbled baby stuff.
"She's so cute," I said softly. The baby looked at me with wide eyes as she continued to hold my thumb. I sighed. "How old is she?"
"About a year old now," Beth said.
"Who's the mom?" I asked. I got a sad silence in response, and I realized the idiot move I made. I slowly pulled away from Judith, who just played with her own fingers. "S-Sorry," I said looking down.
"It's okay, Becca," I heard Carol say. I looked up at her smile, and her eyes showed that everything was okay. "Lori was Rick's wife," she said quietly, "She died when she gave birth to Judith."
"I'm sorry," I said. Beth took my hand.
"You don't need to be sorry," she said kindly. She chuckled a bit. "Did you know that her name wasn't Judith at first?" I smiled a bit, and she let go of my hand.
"What was her name then?" Beth looked at Daryl, who was looking at us.
"Lil' Ass Kicker," she said. Carol rolled her eyes as I laughed. I assumed Daryl gave the baby that name, because Beth said it aloud and he shook his head.
"That's an awesome name," I complemented as I turned my attention to Judith. "Is she talking yet?" The two women shook their head.
"A little bit, she's just babbling away, but she is working on walking," Carol said as she shook the baby a bit. "Do you want to hold her?" I nodded and she carefully placed Judith in my arms, and she began to tug at my hair. I just laughed.
"I've never held a baby before," I said. Beth tilted her head.
"Really?" I nodded a bit.
"Yeah. Never," I said. "I've held animals like this though."
"Were they babies?" Carol asked.
"Some of them."
"Then you held a baby before," she chuckled as she took Judith. "Help me get her food ready, Beth."
"Okay. See you around, Becca," Beth said as she walked off with Carol into the kitchen. I was just standing in my spot now. I looked around to see what else I could do. I glanced over at Daryl, who was still leaning on his wall. He seemed to be shuffling the food in his bowl with his spoon. I began walking towards him, and the world around me grew silent and slow. The only things that seemed to be in regular motion were me and him. I stopped in front of him. He looked up a bit and our eyes met for a second before he lowered his head again. I stood still for a minute. I walked beside him and leaned against the wall and crossed my legs like he was. I just stared at my almost destroyed shoes.
"How are you?" I asked quietly. Daryl put a small amount of beans in his mouth.
"Alright," he said. There was a silence between us. I started to get used to it. That seemed to be our chemistry. I looked at his messy hair, then back at my feet.
"Did you have a nice nap?"
"Yeah."
"That's good."
…
"How's your head?" I looked at him. He was looking at me. His eyes were still dull. They began to mix with his appearance, so they didn't stand out as much the first time I saw them.
"Okay. I fell asleep, so the pain went away." He nodded his head and returned to eating. The world was still silent. I looked around. Tara and Mullet Guy (I know his name was Eugene, but Mullet Guy sounded better) came down the stairs. They were talking, but I couldn't hear them. They didn't even see me. I looked over to Rick, who was talking to Michonne and Carl with a confused face. No one seemed to see me or Daryl. He was the hardest to get to, after all. He probably formed some isolation bubble wherever he goes, and whoever gets sucked into it is isolated from the world as well. The only thing that changed was the lighting in the lobby. Like I said earlier, it was getting darker more quickly.
"Sorry I pushed ya," Daryl finally said. I glanced over to him, who was still looking at his bowl.
"It's okay," I said quietly, "I kind of deserved it." I looked towards the windows. The sky was starting to shift from a dark orange to the dark blue of the night. I heard Daryl scoff.
"Yeah, you kinda did." I just let out a breath of air.
"So," I saw him look at me through the corner of my eye, "you think I can redeem myself of whatever the hell you brought me here for?" Daryl finished off his beans.
"Maybe," he said, "Do you think you can?" I nodded my head a bit.
"You're not gonna steal from us or kill us in the end?"
"Yeah. I'm not gonna do that."
"Do you think we're gonna hurt you?" I looked at him.
"Unless I do something stupid, then no." I forced out a small smile.
"Good." He stood up straight and walked away to the kitchen. As he was leaving, the world wasn't silent anymore, and things were back in motion. I decided to start walking around the first floor of the building. I followed some wires into the gymnasium, where a few heat lamps were lit up, and a low hum from the generator made my ears buzz. The place seemed clean and the smell of rotting bodies was bare. I picked up a nearby basketball and shot it to a hoop. It got stuck in that tiny space between the hoop and the backboard, and I lowered my shoulders.
"You gotta be kidding me." Still wanting to shoot a basketball, I searched for another ball. I opened up two large doors that led into a large supply closet most gyms had. I stepped inside and tried to look for a basketball in the darkness of the closet. When my eyes adjusted to the light, I found one of those large blocks with an archery target on it. It looked new, and it felt firm as I rubbed my fingers against it. I moved some clutter and dragged the block out on its rusty wheels to see if there was any more junk behind it. I looked around the closet more and found a compound bow. I picked it up, and I could tell it was mostly for kids like me. It was light, and I could easily hold it up with one arm. I remembered when I went to a summer camp before my dad died. One of the activity directors taught me how to shoot a bow. It was a traditional bow, like the one Robin Hood used. I sucked of course. I never hit the middle, but it was a good experience. I pulled the drawstring back on the compound bow. It was hard, but it wasn't used a lot. I found some arrows on a shelf, and I walked out of the closet to set up the equipment I just found, ignoring that I was supposed to be looking for a basketball.
I pushed the target against the wall of the gym, and I walked to the point between the target and the center of the gym, so about thirty-five feet. I loaded an arrow, stood the proper stance, and pulled back. My arms shook a bit as I tried to aim. I let go, and the arrow pierced the white part of the target. I wasn't even close to the colored part. I almost missed the whole thing.
"Damn it," I muttered, and I loaded and pulled back another arrow. I adjusted the sightings along the target. I held my breath so my arms wouldn't shake as much, and I fired. The arrow whistled through the musty air and it struck between the center and the outer ring of the target. I smiled a bit as I loaded another arrow. I stood still for a moment before holding the bow up and pull the arrow back. I really concentrated on this one. I held my breath and focused my eye on the sightings and the target, so everything else around me became a blur. I let go with a grunt, and the arrow hit the middle. Not the bull's eye, but the ring just before the bull's eye. It was probably a lucky shot, but it was a major victory for me. I pumped the air with my fist as I made whooping sounds. I felt the adrenaline running through me now. I had to shoot one more. I loaded the last arrow I brought and pulled it back. I wanted to hit the center of the target. I was in the zone. I focused so much that I disconnected my hearing. Everything was silent, and everything but the sightings and the target was blurry. I held by breath. My arms hurt, but they were steady. I was going to make this. A second before I released the drawstring, an arrow flew in from behind me. It hit dead center, but its sudden appearance made me flinch, and my arrow hit the wall, breaking it into two pieces. I quickly turned and grunted in frustration. "Damn it! You messed me up," I barked at Daryl, who was a few feet away from me.
"You're a fast learner on that thing," Daryl smirked. He was holding his crossbow over his shoulder like he just won something.
"For someone like me, it's just luck," I scoffed as I made my way towards the target, and Daryl walked beside me.
"Luck or not, it could save your life," he said. I pulled out my arrows.
"Have you ever used a bow like this?" I asked as he pulled his arrow out.
"Yeah, but I prefer this baby," Daryl answered. He reloaded his crossbow.
"Hey, now you have more arrows," I said as I handed him my arrows, "There could be more in the supply closet." He took them and examined them.
"These could work," he said, "but they're kiddie ones. Not sure how long they'll last." He placed them on top of the target block. "Maybe you should keep them for your bow." I leaned the compound bow against the wall.
"Eh, it's not my cup of tea," I said.
"Okay then." Daryl looked up at the windows in the gym. I looked at them too, and I saw the night and its stars. The heat lamps were our only light, and they shone the room poorly. "We should head back to the lobby," I heard him say. I turned.
"Yeah, we should." Daryl nodded his head a bit before walking, but then he stopped. He looked at me.
"Have you ever shot one of these before?" Daryl asked, addressing his weapon. I shook my head.
"No, but isn't it no different than a rifle?" I asked. Daryl bobbed his head from side to side.
"Sort of. Have you shot a rifle before?" I nodded. I stole a rifle from one of my groups and I had that for a while. Let's just say that someone threw it over a bridge a long time ago. "C'mere then." I stood beside him, and we faced the target. He handed me the crossbow. "Hold it like a rifle." I held it like he said, but it felt awkward.
"I can't line anything," I said. I felt a bit embarrassed. I knew how to hold a rifle, but I couldn't hold Daryl's crossbow correctly. It was heavy and had the same build as a rifle, but I couldn't hold it, and my head wasn't resting on the end of it like it should.
"Hm. Hold on." He took the crossbow and shifted the stock to a smaller length. Wow, I should have thought of that,I thought as my I.Q. lowered a bit. He handed it back to me. "Better?" he asked as he crossed his arms. I held it up, and my head rested on the stock of the weapon.
"A lot better," I smiled.
"Okay then. I guess you're right. It's no different from a rifle, but try and shoot it." I readjusted myself so I could line up the weapon with the target better. I steadied my arms and pulled the trigger. I nearly fell back, because there was a big kick to it. Daryl caught me and chuckled at my failure as he pointed out where the arrow went. The arrow was at the corner of the target block.
"Damn it," I blurted out again. Daryl took the crossbow from me again.
"You're lucky that didn't hit the wall," he said. He stood the weapon upright, and he stepped on the handle at the end. He pulled the drawstring back with a grunt, and he loaded another arrow. He handed it back to me, and he held my shoulders so I wouldn't fall back again. I aimed carefully, and I fired. I would have fallen back if Daryl wasn't holding my ground. The arrow was near the center. I took a step forward and looked at Daryl.
"Was that good?" I said as I lowered the crossbow. He nodded.
"Yeah." He smirked. "How good of a shot are you without those on your face?" he said as he pointed at my glasses. I shrugged my shoulders.
"Probably bad," I said. I clasped my glasses with my fingers. "I'm not finding out right now." Daryl chuckled and shook his head.
"Maybe it'll be best to know how to shoot without those. Just in case." I let go.
"Yeah. Maybe." I heard echoing footsteps, and I turned to the entrance to find Carol poking her head in the gym.
"I thought I heard voices in here," she smiled. "Anyway, Rick says it's lights out."
"Thanks, Carol. We'll be up in a bit," Daryl said kindly. She walked towards us. She noticed the new weapon in my hands.
"Are you teaching her to shoot?" Carol asked.
"Yeah. I caught her shooting that compound over there." He pointed to the weapon that was leaning against the wall beside the target block. "She's getting there for a first-timer. I could use a new hunting buddy," he said as he nudged me with his elbow. I sputtered my lip and gave the man his crossbow back. Carol just laughed.
"Alrighty then," she said. "Goodnight you guys." She waved before she left the gym.
"Come on, let's go," Daryl said. He retrieved his arrows, and we both walked out of the gym. The lobby was dark, with the exception of the lamps. Glenn was sitting in the eating area and was cleaning up his assault rifle, and I ran over to him.
"Hey, Becca," Glenn smiled. He finished up and took his rifle as he stood up. "You going to bed?"
"Yeah. Are you?" Glenn shook his head.
"Nope. I'm on watch tonight."
"Aw. Well, goodnight then," I smiled.
"Goodnight, kid," Glenn said and ruffled my hair. I turned to see that Daryl was already going up the stairs. I caught up with him and was walking behind him.
"You didn't wait for me," I said, pretending to sound sad. He glanced at me once we were walking into the second floor hallway.
"Was I supposed to?"
"No, but I don't want to walk to my room alone." We stopped at my door.
"Don't tell me you want to be tucked in too?" he retorted. I opened my door.
"Oh, hell no," I exclaimed.
"Alright then. G'night Becca," Daryl said, tipping his head. I half smiled.
"Goodnight, Daryl." He walked a few doors down into a room and closed the door. It could have been the lighting, but his eyes seemed to return to the way I saw them before. They were blue again, and they were glistening gently.
I entered my dark room and closed the door, making it even darker. I could tell Ella was still sleeping, because I could hear her snoring. And it was loud. "Really, Ella, you're still asleep?" I got nothing in response. I guided myself to my bags and pulled out my matchbox. I pulled out a match and struck it. I lit up some candles, and the room soon smelled like peaches. The candles must have been scented. Ella was in the same spot as I left her. I removed my jacket and tossed it to the side before sitting on the couch. I took out my pocket knife and flipped the blade out. It looked cleaner than the last time I took it out. I glided my finger along the blade carefully. It was definitely sharper. I could tell by the feel of it. I retracted the blade and placed the knife on the table. I took off my glasses and placed them beside the knife. I lied down and closed my eyes.
It's been two hours since lights out. I tried to go to sleep, but I wasn't able to due to the nap I took earlier today. I got up, put on my glasses, and walked out the door into the dark hallway of the building.
To be continued…