You Keep Me Going
Chapter 6: Thunder, Lightening, and Dreams
Oh my gosh, Becca is in a building alone with Daryl. What's going to happen?!
Enjoy! Reviews would be awesome! Kthxbai~
The building Daryl and I were trapped in was dark from no sunlight, and a bunch of walkers were outside, and making a run for it in the hard rain means catching our death.
"I guess we'll be staying here for a while," Daryl said as he sat in a booth of the restaurant away from the windows. We closed the blinds on the windows to reduce the risk of walkers spotting us. An occasional flash of white would shine through the openings of the blinds. I was spinning on a stool at the bar.
"How long do you think the storm will be here?" Daryl shurgged.
"Can't really say. It's pretty windy, so it should pass soon," he answered. Another loud clap of thunder boomed, and I nearly fell off the stool. Daryl chuckled at my misery. "Man, you're a pussy." I huffed and hopped off.
"I'm not a pussy! I just hate thunder like this!" I whispered yelled.
"Whatever you say, Becca." Daryl opened his bag and took out a few cans of food he probably found at the store. He found a lot more than I did. I sat down across from him, and I took out my inventory. I counted four cans of beans, four cans of soup, one can of peaches, and two large cans of some pasta all together.
"Let's hope the others found more than we did," I said quietly.
"Yeah, let's hope so." He slumped into his bench and closed his eyes. "If I fall asleep, wake me up when the storm passes."
"Okay." I took out the small puzzle I found earlier and opened it. The smell of cardboard hit my nose, and I began shuffling through the box for some starter pieces that will fit.
"Where'd you get that?" I heard Daryl say. I fitted a few pieces together. The picture seemed to be part of one of the swirly lollipops on the cover.
"At the store," I answered. Daryl took the lid of the box.
"Shit, with all those colors, it's confusing," he said before tossing the lid back on the table.
"But it's also time consuming." I pushed the other half of the box that was filled with puzzle pieces towards Daryl side of the table. "Wanna help?" It was silent until I saw Daryl's hand take a small handful of puzzle pieces. He picked out the ones that were the same color, and he already made a small picture of a Hershey Kiss. I got most of the end pieces to complete the frame, and the Hershey Kiss Daryl made fitted in the corner of the frame. Lightening flashed the room a bright white, along with thunder, and I flinched. I tried to hold back a shriek, but a squeaky whimper came out.
"Kid, you gotta get over these fears," Daryl said as he shuffled through the puzzle pieces.
"It's not a fear! I just don't like thunder," I said. Another flash of lightning and thunder. "Or lightening..." I placed some more pieces to the swirly lollipop. Damn, I wanted candy at the moment, and doing a puzzle of candy wasn't helping, but doing it with Daryl was sort of fun. About an hour passed, and the rain was still pouring. The wind picked up and it made the windows shake. Daryl put away the cans of food we found in the kitchen so we wouldn't be tempted to eat all of it. The puzzle was halfway done. The picture of sweets was the only bright thing in this hellhole at the moment. Daryl stopped and leaned back, letting his head fall.
"I'm gonna take a nap. This shit is boring," he said as he got up and walked to the darker side of the restaraunt. He laid down on one of those long benches in the waiting area, and he covered his eyes with his forearm to block more light.
"Sweet dreams," I said, and Daryl grunted in response. He must have been really tired due to boredom, because I heard his light snoring a few minutes later. I was almost done with the puzzle, about a quarter left to do. I took a break and walked around the place. I looked out a window through the blinds and watched the rain hit the ground. Walkers were everywhere, and the storm didn't look like it would pass anytime soon, despite the wind. I was staring at the sky when I saw a streak of lightening fly across the dark clouds, followed by thunder. I flinched, but I didn't make a sound this time. I got down from the window, and I sunk to the ground, bringing my knees to my chest.
I didn't like thunderstorms like this for a reason. When I lost Jenny, it was raining like this. Walkers were ripping her open, and soldiers were taking out everyone in the orphanage. I didn't know why at the time, (probably to take out the risk of bringing in infected people) but I remembered how scared I was when I ran outside in the rain, when I was running from the undead and the soldiers. I remembered when I got shot in the leg by one of them. I was only twelve when it all happened. It happened too quickly. I lost everything. I wanted to die long after that day. I wanted to die when I gave up hope after being with the dickheads I called groups. I did make a couple of friends, but they only ended up dead. Sometimes it was my fault. The other times...well, they walked into their own death. In the many months I was alone in that house, the only thing I trusted was Ella. As a cat, she didn't do anything, except bite me, but I always let that slide. Now, I was with people I trusted, and at this very moment, I was with someone I can consider a friend.
But Daryl is also a douchebag at times, so that friend status could change.
I looked at Daryl, who was sleeping on the bench, his forearm still covering his eyes. He looked so peaceful, which was odd, because he has that menacing look on him. I stood up and walked over to the table with the almost finished puzzle on it. I sat down and slowly fitted pieces together. Another large amount of time passed, and I didn't really make much progress on the puzzle. I rested my head on my hand, and I started to drift off to sleep. Daryl was right- this was boring, but I wanted to finish the puzzle. The goal was keeping me awake. Well, that and the thunder and lightening flashes. I used my free hand to finish up the puzzle, and I just stared at the picture when it was done. It didn't look as bright as the cover did. Actually, when I looked at the picture on the box, it didn't look cheery either. It grew dull to fit in with the rest of the ambiance. I took out my notebook and a pencil from my bag and opened the notebook to a blank page. I just drew a few doodles of animals and funny drawings of a cartoon me doing dumb stuff. One of them was a drawing of me with a goofy smile holding an arm that looked rotten. It was captioned "Need a hand?" to a walker with one arm. It was a particular walker I came across. It was a young man with messy black hair, and it had one eye. There was a large decaying bite wound on his right shoulder. When I started drawing it, I made him wear a sweater that said 'Staying Alive', like the song, out of irony. (I also named him Lewis. Don't ask why!)
I grew tired after a while, and I rested my head on the table. My eyelids grew heavy, and I was shutting down (to sleep, not die). I stared at Daryl, whose back was facing me now. The last thing I saw were his wings, and I fell asleep.
Daryl's P.O.V
I woke up to the sound of rain and thunder. I sat up and rubbed my neck. I must have been sleeping in an awkward position, because it was hurting like hell. I scanned the restaurant. It was dark, smelly, cold, and quiet, with the exception of the rain and the snarling of the walkers that were outside. I stood up and stretched my shoulders around. I rubbed my eyes, and once my vision cleared up, I saw Rebecca slouching over the table with the finished puzzle and an open notebook, her head tucked in crossed arms. I walked up to her and nudged her.
"Becca?" I called. She shuffled and mumbled something before she turned her head the other way. She was asleep. I looked at the page the notebook was on, and it had little drawings on it. I didn't know she draws, I thought. They were pretty good. It looked like that Japanese crap that I would see every now and then before this outbreak started. I recalled Merle bringing in an Asian girl, and she was wearing a shirt of a young girl with the words Sailor Moon on it. The cartoon girl had large sparkling eyes and ridiculously long blonde hair. She was also wearing an insanely short skirt. The Asian girl started talking about the show before Merle discovered she was annoying and tossed her out. I was never really interested in stuff like that. I saw them belonging to little girls, like Rebecca. One drawing, however, caught my eye in an unpleasant way. It looked like a drawing of Rebecca talking to a walker with one arm. It looked mad as Cartoon Rebecca said "Need a hand?" She had a stupid smile on her face as she held an arm. I grunted angrily and closed the notebook as the picture reminded me of Merle. I remembered how angry I was at Rick and T-Dog when they left him handcuffed to a roof of a building and how fucking pissed of I was when we got there only to find him gone and his right hand there instead. I remembered when I saw Merle as a walker. I remembered how I killed him, how I cried. But I should have said that 'need a hand' thing to him when he was still alive. I bet he would beaten the crap out of me. There was a clap of thunder that shook the building, and Rebecca made a quiet whimper. I shook my head.
"Even in your sleep, you're a pussy," I said. I looked outside. There were fewer walkers than before, but running out to go back to the group was still too risky. Rebecca kept readjusting herself. She looked like a kid who was trying to sleep during school at her desk, but she keeps fixing herself, because sleeping at a desk is uncomfortable. Rebecca turned her head again, and she had a look of pain on her face. I sighed to the fact that I'm about to baby her, and I carefully picked her up by sliding her body from the booth. I cradled her in my arms, and she rested her head on my shoulder. Her eyes opened slightly, and she looked at me.
"D-Daryl...?" she said half asleep.
"Go back to sleep, Becca. We'll be here for another while," I said softly. I brought her to the bench I was lying on and laid her down on her side.
"Okay...," she said almost inaudibly, and she closed her eyes. Another boom shook the place, and Rebecca's face tensed up.
"It's okay," I said. I walked to my bag and pulled out my wool poncho. It smelled and it was dirty, but I brought it over to Rebecca and draped it over her torso. Her face loosened up as she pulled herself closer into the poncho. Her lips moved to speak. No sound came out, but I could read her scratched up lips. Thank you... She breathed slowly as she finally fell back asleep. I looked at her face for a while. I moved some hair to the side and took off her glasses to get a better look. She still looked so sad. I really did care if she smiled. I answered to her like an asshole when she asked me if I cared, but I really did. I cared if Carl was happy. Especially Lil' Ass Kicker. In my opinion, the only one who seems happy all the time is Michonne. She always does her best to keep people happy with her occasional games and jokes. There's also Beth, but her singing could only do so much to lighten the mood. Ever since her dad died, she's been doing that a lot less, along with Maggie. I'm tired of seeing sad faces. I brought my bag over and shuffled my hand in it. I pulled out some small stuffed animal with a pink bunny hat. The tag on its leg said Hello Kitty, but I was getting knew this character wasn't the cat that little girls loved. I saw Rebecca holding it at the market earlier, but she tossed it to the side. I'd thought she'd wanted it still, so I picked it up for her.
I placed the toy in Rebecca's hands under the poncho. She looked like a little kid who was trying to get rid of a bad dream. She held the toy closer to her, and her eyebrows furrowed. I sat down beside her head and placed my hand on her forehead. It was cold. I rubbed my thumb back and forth, and Rebecca inhaled sharpely and exhaled slowly. I reached into my bag, and I pulled out the doll Rebecca made me. It was patchy and the different colors of dark fabric made it look funny. The button eyes were a bright blue color, but the fact that there wasn't a mouth was a bit unsettling. "After seeing how you looked, I put this little guy together," I heard Rebecca's voice in my head, the words she said when she gave me the doll. It did look like a piece of crap, but in the good way. The stitches were messy to give it that raggedy look, and some pieces of fluff were sticking out a bit. I wasn't sure if that feature was on purpose or not, but I still liked the way it looked and that she made it for me. I fiddled with one of the eyes as I looked at the doll longer.
Some time passed, and not a lot of things changed. The storm was still roaring and a shit ton of walkers were still outside. It was starting to turn into night, which would make things worse. I would check on Rebecca from time to time. She would mumble something every so often. None of the words made any sense. It sounded like she was drunk. Whenever the stuffed animal would fall, I would just place it back in her hands. At some point, I dismantled the puzzle and started to work on it myself. It was slow work, and it was boring. I leaned my head against the wall.
"I wonder how everyone else is doing?" I asked to the air. I hope Rick and the others made it back before the storm, but if they didn't, I hope they're surviving alright. I moved my eyes a bit to have them stop on Rebecca's notebook. On the cover was the word SKETCHBOOK in sharpie. I looked at Rebecca, who was still sleeping, then back at the book. I took it and opened it to the first page. It had rough sketches of different doll designs. Some of them looked familiar. I recalled looking at some of them when I first got into Rebecca's house. They were displayed on the kitchen counter, and the one I was holding before Rebecca knocked me out with a bat had a creepy frown on it. It reminded me of a clown. I turned the page to find more doll sketches and some more drawings. As I turned the pages, I couldn't help but smile a bit. One of the pictures made me laugh (not really laugh). It was a comic with a walker with its stomach sliced open, and guts were pouring out. Beside it was Cartoon Rebecca holding a blood-dripping ax with another stupid smile. It was captioned "You can't kill me. You don't have the guts." The panel below it had the walker tearing Cartoon Rebecca apart. It was sad, but it had that comedic irony. The joke was awful, but seeing how the scene was drawn was kind of funny. Even the walker looked unamused.
"Daryl...," I heard a soft voice. I put the notebook down, and I turned to look at Rebecca.
"Yeah?" But she was still asleep. She looked scared. I got up and came over to her. I knelt beside her and placed my hand on her forehead, rubbing my thumb. Her mouth quivered, and she pulled the poncho closer to her face.
"No...," Rebecca rasped.
"Rebecca?" I shook her shoulder a bit. She flinched and looked like she was about to cry. She mumbled more and began to hyperventilate. I got on both knees. "Rebecca?! Rebecca, wake up!" I tapped my hand on her cheek, and she quickly shot up screaming on the bench, breathing sharply and tears now pouring from her eyes. I sat in front of her, cupping her face in my hands to calm her down.
Becca's P.O.V
Gunshots. Screaming. Thunder. Yelling. More gunshots. Pleads for help. I woke up on my bunk bed from that noise. I sat up and rubbed my eyes to register more. I put on my glasses and stood up.
"No! Please d-," a woman's voice screamed before she was silenced after multiple sounds of guns going off. I looked out the window, and military trucks were parked outside the orphanage. Some soldiers were killing people. A monster was eating someone before it got shot in the head. I flinched as I saw a flash of lightening and a clap of thunder. I threw on a jacket, slipped on my galoshes, and ran into the hallway. I turned a corner and stopped immediately. A monster turned to me from a mangled body of one of my caretakers and growled. It stood up and ran towards me.
"Stay away from me!" I yelled at the monster. It's eyes were white, and it was all bloody. It lunged at me, but I dodged it, making it fall to the ground. I continued running, but the mangled caretaker grabbed my leg, making me fall. The care taker was snarling as it pulled my leg closer to his mouth by the boot.
"No! Get away!" I screamed, kicking the monster in the mouth. The other one got up and turned to me. I started to back away, but the caretaker's grip was too strong. I looked around until I found a blood stained pocket knife beside the caretaker. I remembered it belonging to him. He failed trying to save himself with it. I grabbed it and jammed it in the man's head. It stopped moving, and I slipped my leg out from his hands. I stood up and continued to run from the other monster. I ran down the stairs into the next floor of bedrooms.
"Somebody help!" I heard an all too familiar voice.
"Jenny!" I opened all of the doors until I found Jenny. She was on the ground pushing away one monster, but the other one was ripping her open.
"Rebecca!" She turned to me, and the walker she was pushing away leaned down and tore a piece of flesh from her shoulder. She screamed as blood pooled on the floor.
"No!" I ran in and pushed the monster that was at her stomach to the side. I stomped in its mouth, and the head imploded. I lunged at the other one and shoved the knife in its eye, and it fell on its back. I dropped the knife and hovered over Jenny's side. The sight of her made me want to throw up. There was a large hole where her abdomen was supposed to be.
"Rebecca, I'm scared," Jenny choked on blood and tears. I was pressing down on her wound on her abdomen.
"You're going to be fine! I'm not letting you go!" I yelled, tears forming in the corner of my eyes. I turned my head towards the door of the room. "Someone help! Please, help me!" Jenny screamed in pain, and she clasped her open stomach with her hand,
"It hurts!" she cried. I yelled more into the hallway, hoping someone would hear. I turned to Jenny.
"I know it does, Jenny. You'll be fine," I cried. "Someone fucking help!" The rain and thunder from outside was scaring me and Jenny more. She reached up and grabbed my shoulder.
"I-I don't want to die, Rebecca!" she sobbed.
"You're not going to die!" Jenny turned her head to cough blood out. I wiped away the rest with my hand."You're not going to die!" I got on my knees, but Jenny grabbed my hand to pull me down.
"Don't go!" she yelled. I wiped my eyes from sweat and tears.
"I'm not going anywhere. I'm not leaving you!" I heard snarling and a monster was coming in from the hallway. I left Jenny's side and grabbed my weapon. I approached the monster and I stabbed it in the heart. It fell back with me falling on top of it. I pulled out the knife from its chest and repeatedly stabbed the chest. "Why aren't you dying?!" I yelled. I blindly stabbed it more until I reached the head, but I kept stabbing it until Jenny called my name.
"Rebecca!" she coughed. I turned and quickly crawled over to her.
"I'm getting you out of here," I said. I put the knife away and tried to pick her up, but she screamed.
"You can't! There are people shooting everyone! Thomas and Ms. Dukley are dead, along with everyone else," she said. "And the monsters will get you!"
"No they won't. They won't get us! I'm getting you out of here!" Jenny cried.
"I said you can't!" Her voice was breaking, and her pupils were so wide you'd think that her eye color was black. "I can't...go," she said quietly. I shook my head in denial.
"We will get out here. We'll leave and find a family, and we can become sisters like you wanted," I said. She flinched as thunder shook the room.
"No...," she mumbled. Her pain-ridden face slowly faded as her head turned to the side. Her eyes closed halfway, and she let out a small wisp of air. It was silent.
"Jenny?" I called out, shaking her a bit. "Jenny? Jenny!" I sobbed. "No! Jenny! NOOOO!" I yelled. I continued calling her name. I felled over her and cried. I held her dead body close as I cried harder and harder. She was only six. She was taken into the orphanage as a baby, she told me. She never had a real family. I was all she had. I was supposed to be her sister. She was too young to be suffering like this, and she was too young to die...
"Hey! Who's there?!" a voice hollered out. I sat up to find a soldier approaching me with a pistol pointing at my head. I held Jenny's body closer to my chest.
"No! You can't kill me!" I yelled angrily. "You didn't have to kill any of us! We were clean!" The man shook his head.
"I'm sorry, kid," the man said solemnly. He readied the gun, and he was about to pull the trigger. Think quickly, Rebecca!
"Behind you!" I pointed to the door behind him. He quickly turned, expecting a monster to be there. Instead, there was nothing. I took out my knife, and I jumped onto his back. I hooked my arm around his neck and shoved the blade in his throat. The gun went off as he dropped it, making my ears ring, and we both fell. I got up and grabbed the gun, and I ran into the hallway, leaving the man to bleed to death. I darted my way into the lobby, and out the front door into the storm.
"Hey!" a man yelled. I gasped and ducked behind the bushes that decorated the border of the orphanage. I quickly ran, trying to ignore the scrapping and cutting of the branches. I exited the bushes through the back of the building. There were no soldiers back here. "She went this way!" I ran to the fence and started to climb, but I fell when a bullet when through my thigh. I fell on my back to find a soldier looking at me. He pointed his rifle at my face. I rolled right before he pulled the trigger. My ears felt like mush, but I raised the pistol in my hand and fired. The man fell to the ground with a hole right between his eyes. I stood up, screaming at the pain, and I climbed the fence. I landed on the other side, and I kept on running in the rain. When I knew I was far enough, I fell to the ground and cried...
Something was waking me up from my memory. I was too tired to register what was happening, but I knew I was being picked up. I felt my head rest on someone's shoulder as I was cradled in arms. I opened my eyes slightly, and I saw Daryl.
"D-Daryl...?" I called out.
"Go back to sleep, Becca. We'll be here for another while," Daryl said. He brought me over to where he was sleeping before. He laid me down on the bench. It was warm, but his body was warmer, and being in his arms made me feel safe. I rested my head on the cushion, and my eyes forced themselves to close.
"Okay," I said quietly. Thunder shook the room, and I frowned at the noise. No matter how old I am or how many storms I braved through, I'll never like the noise.
"It's okay," I heard Daryl say, his voice fading out as I was drifting off to sleep. A few seconds later, I felt a blanket being put around me. It must have belonged to Daryl, because it smelled like him. It smelled bad, but I snuggled myself into it, and I loosened up. I moved my lips to say "Thank you," but I didn't hear any noise. Everything became silent as I fell back asleep.
Yelling. I heard yelling. I heard my name.
"Rebecca!"
Who was it?
"Rebecca!" the voice sounded familiar. I opened my eyes slowly and let sound find its way into my head. "Rebecca! Wake the fuck up and run!"
Daryl?!
I shot my eyes wide open and stood up. I was in the restaurant, where Daryl put me. I looked across the room to find Daryl backing away from a herd of walkers that was piling into the room from a door.
"Sons of bitches found the door! We need to run!" Daryl said as he stabbed a close walker with his hunter's knife. He was fighting off a few more when one approached behind him.
"Behind you!" It grabbed his shoulders, and Daryl turned sharply to smack it with his crossbow. I ran to it and took it down with my knife. I took out my pistol from my bag and shot a few walkers. A few tripped over them, stalling the others.
"We need to exit through the kitchen! There's a fire escape there!" I hollered. He nodded and we ran to the kitchen doors, but the herd followed us through. I pushed myself against the door, but it wouldn't budge. "Fuck! Fuck! Fuuuck!" I yelled. I heard Daryl's crossbow go off. "It won't open!" I looked at one of the high windows. I shot the glass, and a new exit was made. "Come on! Through there!" I pointed. We ran to the window, and Daryl boosted me up. I landed on top of a dumpster on the other side. I leaned and reached my hand to him. "Come on!" Daryl fired his last arrow and dropped it when a walker smacked it out of his hands. He grabbed my hand, and I pulled as he used the wall to climb up. He suddenly yelled in pain as he fell back into the kitchen, letting go of my arm. Blood was squirting out of his leg from a bite wound. He punched the closest walker away as he stood up, but they grabbed and tore chunks of flesh from his neck and bare arms. This all happened within seconds.
"RUN! GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM HERE!" Daryl yelled as he fought of the walkers with his blade. I jumped back into the kitchen with my knife at hand. I was not going to leave him there to die like that. I took out walkers as I got beside him. I stabbed and shot until I had no more ammo. More walkers piled in, and they pushed Daryl to the ground. Tears poured from my eyes as I watched him being torn apart and hear him scream.
"NO!" I shouted. Multiple walkers pushed me against the wall, and the one in front of me tore my neck open. I screamed and stabbed and beat the walkers with all I could, but there were too many. I sank to the ground as the walkers tore me apart.
"Rebecca?! Rebecca, wake up!" I heard Daryl's voice again. I quickly sat up, screaming, crying, and gasping for air at the same time. I saw the man's eyes as he held my face in his hands. I tried to frantically look around the area, but Daryl kept me still. My glasses were off, so his face was a slight blur.
"Calm down!" he barked through clenched teeth. I stopped thrashing, and Daryl's face returned to its less menacing state. He wiped my tears away with his thumb.
"Daryl...," I stuttered. "They were taking you, a-and I wasn't doing anything, and I...I- they got me, and," I spoke rapidly until I cried more, and my words sounds like drunken gibberish. Daryl pulled me into a hug and I buried my face in his shoulder. That was the worst dream I've ever had. I did have multiple dreams where I got bit or torn open, but I knew they weren't real, because I didn't feel pain. In this nightmare, however, I felt it. I felt the walker's rotting teeth dig through my flesh and their hands tearing me open. It was horrifying…
"Shh, everything is okay," he said. He leaned over, and I felt his blanket around me. I pulled myself closer to him and let the tears fall as he stroked the back of my head. "I'm not gonna let anything happen to us. Not to you," he said, the last sentence being very faint like I wasn't supossed to hear it. I pulled back and looked at his face. Suddenly, I couldn't hear the storm. I was in his isolation bubble again. Even though I couldn't see well at the moment, his eyes were dull again, but it wasn't the dull I normally saw, when he's angry. He looked sad and worried. I couldn't imagine what my eyes looked like. They felt dry, despite all the crying I've been doing, and itchy. He reached over again, and he slid my glasses on. His face was clearer, and his eyes were definitely dull. He wiped a few more tears from my cheeks, and he gave me a small smile. I tried to force one out, but it deteriorated to a frown every time, and his smile went away. I rubbed my nose and looked to the side. My eyes narrowed as I focused on a My Melody doll that was on the floor. I leaned over and picked it up. I looked at Daryl.
"Why did you get this?" I asked quietly, my voice still sounding like a balloon releasing air in the most pathetic way possible (One. Only one way).
"I thought you wanted it. I saw you holdin' it earlier," he said, sounding unsure. I looked at the doll again, and I rubbed its eyes and tiny smile with my thumbs. I didn't bring it for a reason. It reminded me too much of Jenny. "You looked like a baby, the way you were snuggling with it under the poncho." I looked at Daryl. I couldn't be upset at him for bringing the toy. He didn't know who Jenny was. I looked at the toy again, and I gave out a small smile.
"Thank you." I used my arm to wipe my eyes and nose. I looked at him, still smiling. "I did want it, but I thought it would just be more clutter." Daryl scoffed lightly.
"Then what about the puzzle then?"
"Well, I...," I thought of nothing to counter his counter-question. "Shut up," I said. I rubbed the poncho between my fingers. It was soft and warm. I looked around the room again. It was already night time and the storm was still going on. There was a flash of lightening, and I heard a clap of thunder as the bubble went away, and I flinched. I wasn't expecting that after what just happened. I yelped and tensed my shoulders.
"You really gotta get over this," Daryl said chuckling. I shuffled uncomfortably on the bench so my back was towards the wall.
"I'm trying to," I said, getting out the remaining tears and sniffles. I readjusted the poncho over my shoulders and rested my head on Daryl's shoulder. He moved his arm so he could wrap it around my shoulder, and he rested his head on mine. I curled my legs up on the bench and snuggled further into the poncho. "Do you think this storm will be gone by tomorrow?" I felt Daryl nodding his head.
"It should be clearer at least," he said. We listened to the rain hit the building for a while.
"Do you think Rick and the others made it back to the group?" I asked while looking at him a bit.
"I'm sure they did considering that they have a car," Daryl answered. He groaned angrily. "Fuck, I should've fixed up another car." I moved my body a bit.
"I'm actually glad you didn't," I said. Daryl moved his head back so he could look at me with a raised brow.
"Why?" I smiled.
"Because I'm here with you," I answered. He grinned and shook his head, and he looked where he was before. I looked back at the carpeted floor and hugged the doll to my stomach. I closed my eyes and curled up more. I started to fall asleep, but a flash of white and thunder made me open my eyes and gasp. Daryl rubbed my shoulder roughly as he groaned. I huffed and wrapped my whole body like a burrito. Mm, burritos.
"Just don't think about it," Daryl said. I sputtered my lip.
"Dude, I don't think, period, so I should've gotten over this a long time ago."
"Why you scared of thunder? All it is is noise, and lightening is nothing if you don't see it." I rubbed my head against his shoulder a bit.
"I just am. Um...astraphobia, I think that's what you call it? It's a natural thing I guess," I said awkwardly. I don't think I should tell Daryl about Jenny just yet. Now wasn't the time, but he was right about the lightening. It's nothing if you can't see. I closed my eyes and tried to enter Daryl's isolation bubble to cancel out the thunder. I felt the room shake, but I didn't here anything. Sometime passed, and Daryl's head fell limp on mine. I opened my eyes a bit and tilted my head a bit to look at him. He fell asleep and his snores sounded like a soft wind. I smiled and snuggled in more under his arm. I closed my eyes and fell asleep...with my glasses on again, damn it.
I woke up to someone shaking my shoulder, and I opened my eyes to find Daryl's blurry face. I sat up yawning and rubbing my eyes.
"Morning," he said.
"Good morning," I yawned again. He handed me my glasses, which he must've taken off, and I slid them on, blinking a few times to let my eyes adjust. I looked out a window. The sky was a bright gray and it was drizzling. The storm finally pasted, thank god.
"How'd you sleep?" I looked at Daryl, and he was giving me a cocky smile that's supposed to show that he was making fun of me about something. I raised a brow and narrowed my eyes.
"Like a bunny in a hole," I said with suspicion. "How about you?" Daryl took his poncho off of my shoulders and shoved it in his bag.
"Alright. Same as always," he said, stilling giving that weird smile. I stood up.
"What up with the look?" I asked. I liked the smirk he was giving, but it started to annoy me. He pointed at my head.
"I think you should find a mirror or something." I knew exactly what he was talking about. I could feel my messed up hair on my head. A few strands was covering part of my face.
"Oh, psh, it's just bedhead. I can say the same for you," I sneered. Now that I noticed, Daryl's hair was a bit messy. You can tell that he tried to fix it up, but it was half-assed. Even his little goatee was messy. It looked cute. I took my hair out of its messy ponytail and combed my hair with my fingers before putting it back in the hair band, leaving my bangs hanging over the sides of my face.
"You're hair reminds of me of your cat when it's down," Daryl said. I picked up My Melody and walked to my bag to place her in it.
"Why?" I chuckled.
"It's puffy. Yer ponytail's puffy, like Ella's," he answered. I knew how my hair looked most of the time. Back at my house, I used to spend hours making faces at myself in the mirror. Every time I did, I would see my hair, either looking decent or a thousand crows just flew in it, but I smiled at his compliment and bowed my head.
"Why thank you," I said. I shoved my belongings and my findings of the canned food into my bag and placed it on my back. I looked out the window and there were only a few walkers now. Nothing we couldn't handle. Daryl gathered his stuff, and we walked outside. A walker spotted me and started to limp quickly toward me. I walked over to it, my knife already in my hand. I grabbed it by the hair, pulled it down, and twisted the knife in its eye. Another walker fell when Daryl shot it with his crossbow. The rain fell on my head and cleared up my bedhead. "It's not that bad today," I said while cleaning the blood from my knife, "Should we check more stores?" Daryl looked off towards the clouds. Just over the horizon was another storm heading our way.
"Nah, I think we have enough for our part. I'll probably go huntin' before the storm gets here, see if there's any game," Daryl answered as he retrieved his arrow and reloaded it.
"Oh yeah, Michonne told me you were a hunter. She called you a squirrel man." Daryl turned with a crooked smile.
"She did, did she?" he said chuckling. An image popped into my head that made me giggle a bit. I saw Daryl sitting on a fallen log in the woods wearing a flower crown, and he was talking to woodland creatures, feeding one of them from his hand. I stifled a laugh by covering my mouth with my hand. God, I'm so glad I wasn't imagining him singing to them. Shit, I was now, and I burst out laughing. I looked at Daryl, who was giving me that 'what the fuck' face. "The hell you laughin' at?" I wiped a tear away and controlled myself.
"N-Nothing of your concern. I'll draw it out later," I said, still letting out a chuckle or two. Daryl shook his head.
"You freak me out sometimes, kid," he said. A soft thunder rumbled across the air, and we both looked in the direction it came from.
"We should head back now," I said quickly, my shoulders tensing to the oncoming storm.
"What, you scared of-"
"Yes." He groaned, and we started to walk towards the community center we called home.
To be continued...