"What the hell are you doing?" Daryl asked me. I raised my head to look at him.
"You can't tell if someone is trying to catch rain water in their mouth?" I playfully snapped, and I leaned my head back with my tongue hanging out of my open mouth. The rain was pouring a bit harder, so along the way back to the group, I started to catch the rain in my mouth. "You should try it," I smiled to Daryl. He raised his hand and shook his head.
"Nah, I'd rather not," Daryl said. I sighed and straightened myself.
"Killjoy," I sputtered. Daryl shot me a look, and I protruded my lower lip with narrowed eyes. The wind picked up and made my bangs wave like a wild octopus. I tugged them down with my hands like a drawstring hat.
We were walking for a bit longer until we heard thunder that sounded close. "We should hurry. That storm is coming pretty quick," Daryl said. I nodded, and the both of us began to run in the rain. It was fun, the rain rinsing off the layer of dirt off of my face. When we arrived at the plaza, it was raining harder but not as bad as last night. I saw someone in the parking lot of the community center, and they yelled something. It looked like Maggie. Within a few seconds, Rick and Carol ran out of the doors. Daryl and I quickened our pace, and we ran into the building, Maggie, Rick, and Carol following in and locking the doors. Michonne, Carl, Tyresse, Tara, and Glenn were in the eating area. All of them were happy to see us.
"Thank God you two are okay," Carol said with worry as she hugged Daryl, then me. Rick walked up to Daryl and patted his shoulder.
"See? I told you they would be okay," Rick said with a smile.
"You two aren't hurt, are you?" Carol asked the both of us.
"No, not me, but Rebecca hurt her hand pretty bad yesterday," Daryl answered as he looked at me. I cocked my head to the side and looked at my hands. I completely forgot that I cut my hand with my own knife when I was being attacked by a walker. The bandage that was wrapping my hand was soaking wet with water and looked like it was about to fall apart. There was a big spot of blood on it. Carol took my hand and unwrapped it a bit. She immediately pressed the bandage on my cut, making me wince a bit.
"Whoever stitched it, they broke," Carol said. "How did this happen?" She looked into my eyes.
"I was attacked by a walker. It made me drop my knife, and the blade cut my hand. Daryl stitched it up, but I guess they snapped at some point." Carol placed a hand on my shoulder, and she walked me away from Daryl and the others.
"I'll fix that up for you," she said. She sat me down in one of the chairs in the eating area, and Carl approached us with a clean rag and handed it to me. I took it and pressed it against my wound. "I'll be right back. There's a first aid kit in the kitchen." I nodded before Carol walked to the kitchen's double doors. Carl leaned against the railing beside me.
"You okay?" he asked me. I looked at him and nodded.
"Yeah, it's just a cut. I really big, deep, and severely bleeding cut," I said, "but I've experienced much worse than this." Carl patted his stomach.
"I've been shot before, but who hasn't these days," the boy said. He was right. Before the end of world happened, if a kid said that they got shot, everyone will be asking questions like that person is a soldier or a god. Nowadays, it's no big deal.
"Same here, a couple of times. Through my thigh and my shoulder. I've been grazed a few times as well," I said. Carol walked out of the kitchen holding a small kit.
"Whoa, what situation were you in to get all that damage?" Carl asked as Carol sat down beside me and placed a first aid kit on the table in front of us.
"Y'know, running from people I pissed off and not dying," I chuckled, and Carl nodded in agreement.
"Give me your hand, sweetie," Carol said, and I did so. She lifted the rag and carefully pulled out my old stitches. It was still bleeding, but not enough to have blood flowing all over the place.
"Wow, I honestly thought Daryl would've done a better job than this," Carol said under her breath so Daryl, who was still talking to Rick near the entrance, couldn't hear her.
"What makes you say that? I mean, yeah, he did suck, but still," I frowned a bit. I know she didn't mean it in a bad way, but I was curious to why she said it so quietly. Carol looked at me with sad eyes, as did Carl. I looked at both of them confusingly. "Am...Am I missing something?" I asked quietly. I knew a conversation like this would be something that Daryl shouldn't listen to. Carol cleaned up my cut with some peroxide, and she began sewing my cut properly (which was a hell of a lot better than my work).
"Should we tell her?" I heard Carl, addressing Carol. She nodded, keeping her focus on my hand.
"Tell me what?" I whispered. I looked at Daryl, who was still at the entrance. His back was toward us now. "Is there something I have to know?"
"Sort of, but just to keep you up to date," Carol said. She finished up the stitching, and she wrapped a fresh gauze around my hand and wiped the place clean of my blood.
"Is it about Daryl?" I asked. They both nodded. Carol got up.
"Let me just say this: Daryl had to stitch himself up every now and then when he was a kid because of his dad." Her eyes and expression said it all. I frowned, and I nodded. I looked at Daryl. I couldn't believe anyone would do something so cruel to their own child. I got up, holding my arm. Carol placed a hand on my shoulder. "It's okay now," she said so sweetly that I felt better. She looked at the man. "He's strong." I smiled.
"I know he is." I wanted to change the subject. I took off my bag. "Daryl and I found some food. Not a lot, but some." I said the sentence aloud, and Daryl turned to look at me. We all waved a bit. He and Rick started walking to us, Daryl arriving first.
"Yeah, we found quite a bit of food," he said. "I'm gonna go hunting in a bit to find some more meat."
"You sure you're going to find game in the woods with this storm coming, Daryl?" Rick asked.
"Eh, I got time. I'll at least bring back some squirrels," he said while he removed his bag and slammed it on the table.
"Want me to come with? You can teach me to hunt with that compound I found the other day," I said. I know he preferred to be alone, but I wanted to be with him when the storm arrives.
"I don't know, kid. I'm afraid the thunder will make you run away," Daryl scoffed with a smirk. I pushed him a bit.
"I won't," I laughed. Rick, Carol, and Carl exchanged confused glances.
"What?" Rick asked. Daryl crossed his arms.
"Lil' Bec is scared of thunder. She was all jumpy last night," he said, still giving that weird smile. I huffed and stomped my foot.
"I wasn't that jumpy," I groaned.
"Yeah, you were." Carol was holding back a laugh.
"Well," I did a heroic pose, with my hands bent to my hips and chest out like Superman, "I won't this time." Daryl shook his head.
"I find that hard to believe," he said, and I slouched. "Grab your bow. We're leaving soon." Wait, did he just say yes? This guy just said I could go with him. I must be dreaming.
"You two bring your findings into the kitchen. I'll fix you something to eat before you leave again," Carol said. Daryl and I nodded and we brought the food in the kitchen. Carol was heating up some beans on the gas stove when Daryl left. I walked up beside the woman.
"Need any help?" I asked kindly. She smiled.
"No, not at the moment. You can serve when it's ready," she said.
"Okay," I said and leaned against the counter.
"I'm glad you and Daryl are getting along," Carol said as she stood beside me. "He's normally not so open towards newcomers."
"But he brought me here. Sure I broke in, but still." Carol shrugged.
"He told us he only brought you here to redeem yourself about your hatred towards groups." I shot her a look.
"I never told him I hated groups!" Carol flinched at my sudden outburst, and I retracted. "I just had very bad experiences with them..."
"Well, I want to let you know that we won't do anything to hurt you," Carol said. I smiled.
"And I won't do anything to you any of you guys either." The two of us were silent for a bit as the kitchen smelled of beans. It smelled good. I didn't realize how hungry I was. I skipped breakfast yesterday like a moron, so I didn't eat anything the whole day.
"What about you guys?" I asked. Carol looked up from the pot she was stirring.
"What do you mean?"
"How was Daryl when you met him?"
"Well, in the beginning, he was kind of a dick." I chuckled. "But after a certain point, he opened up to us." I hopped up on the counter and supported my weight on my arms behind me.
"How long was he with y'all?" Carol sighed.
"So long. We were in a camp outside of Atlanta a few years back so we could warn people not to go in, since the quarantine zone there got overrun with walkers. One day, Daryl and his brother showed up, and they joined us. They hunted and gave us food." Carol shook the pot again. "He's one of the reasons we survived for so long." I looked at my feet, which were rocking back and forth.
"He has a brother?" I asked. I don't recall seeing anyone with any similar features to Daryl or anybody addressing themselves as Daryl's brother, but Carol looked at me with those sad eyes again.
"His name was Merle...," she said. I could tell what she was going to say next. I lifted my hand.
"I...I get it...," I said. I assumed he was dead.
"But, to make you feel any better, he sees Rick as his brother. He has a family, so he has a whole bunch of kin now." I smiled, and I did feel better. Carol got out two small bowls and placed a decent amount of beans in each. I jumped from the counter, and I carefully took the bowls. The heat was already conducting through the bowls, but it felt nice against my cold hands.
"Thank you," I said. She smiled, and I left.
"Oh wait," I heard Carol say. I stopped and turned to see her holding up two spoons. I cleared my throat and lifted my chin.
"I knew they were missing," I said with a failed straight face. Carol laughed and placed the spoons in the bowls. I said my thanks again, and walked into the eating area. Daryl wasn't back yet from whatever he was doing. I sat down at a table and started to eat my food. The beans were really good. Each one is like a little piece of meat, and I could feel their warmth running down my throat and landing in my stomach.
"Hey, Becca," I heard a voice. I looked up to find Glenn standing beside the table.
"Hey there," I said. "How's it goin'?"
"Alright. How's your hand?" he asked. I raised my hand and wiggled my fingers.
"All fixed, thanks to Carol." I swallowed another spoon of beans. "She's really nice." Glenn nodded.
"She is. She really cares for us. Carol's one of the reasons we survived this long." He pulled up a chair and sat beside me. "So, you scared of thunder?" He asked with a dumb smile on his face. I rolled my eyes.
"Yeah. It's more like a PTSD thing," I admitted.
"I'm sorry about that. Hey," he nudged my knee with his, "I'm not a big fan of thunder either. It's like someone constantly sneaking up behind you, and you know they're there, but you don't when they will scare you." I sputtered my lip.
"Tell me about. If thunder was a human, I would hit him, but I think his screams will be a clap of thunder, and I'll just end up running away into a corner." Glenn and I laughed at our (mostly mine) fear. It was nice to be with someone who had the same dislike as I do, so both of us could make fun of it. I saw Daryl walking from the exercising area. He saw me, and I waved. He approached and nodded towards Glenn.
"What were y'all laughin' about?" he asked as he took his bowl and leaned against the railing.
"Just laughing about thunder," I answered. Daryl gave me a nod.
"Laughin' your fear in the face. That's how you get rid of them," he said, pointing his spoon at me. I narrowed my eyes. The way he said those words sounded unsettling. I didn't know what Daryl's fears could have been, but I felt uncomfortable about how he got rid of them, if he had any left.
"Yeah, well, I think for someone like me, it will take a lot more laughing at thunder metaphors to get rid of my problem." Daryl finished his beans quickly. He set the empty bowl on the table.
"Whatever. You can deal with them however you want." I stood up and took our dishes.
"I'll put these away, and we can go," I said. Daryl nodded and made his way towards the entrance. Glenn stood up and took the dishes.
"I'll take these back. You go ahead," Glenn said with a grin.
"Thanks, dude," I said before he walked off. I ran to the gym to find Beth trying out the compound bow. I must have caught her by surprise, because she flinched and shot the arrow, making it miss the target completely. "Shit, I'm sorry," I said, almost thinking she would've shot me instead. She lowered the weapon and let out a sigh of relief.
"It's okay." I walked beside her and looked at the arrows already in the target. They looked like shots I could have made.
"Did you do those?" I asked. She nodded.
"Yeah. My daddy used to have one of these, and I would shoot it every now and then." She laid the weapon on the floor and moved her hands in little circles, each full rotation making a small quiet pop. "Have you used this?"
"Yeah. Actually, I'm here to get it."
"What for?" Beth asked in her soft southern accent. I picked up the weapon.
"I'm going with Daryl. He's gonna teach me how to hunt," I smiled. She jutted her chin upwards and followed me to retrieve the arrows.
"I've hunted with him a couple of times. It was mostly on how to track," she said.
"I'm not a tracker. I just let my gut tell me where to go," I stated. The compound bow didn't have any holder for the arrows.
"There's a quiver in the closet over there. I'll get it," Beth said. She disappeared into the supply closet I got the weapon from, and I heard stuff being moved around. I walked to the doorway.
"How long have you known him?" I asked while shuffling my weight on my feet. Beth came out with a cheap looking quiver, and she handed it to me.
"Daryl? Um, a couple of years." She answered. I placed the arrows in the quiver and placed the strap over my shoulder. "He's really complicated sometimes." I scoffed.
"I agree with you completely." Beth and I headed out of the gym into the lobby.
"Where were you and Daryl last night? I was really worried." I readjusted the strap.
"We were held up in a restaurant. A bunch of walkers came out of nowhere, so we couldn't leave until this morning."
"Was he a pain?" I raised my hand to my chin.
"Um...actually, no...," I said. "He wasn't."
"Really?" Beth said with surprise in her soft voice. "When I was alone with Daryl for the first time, he was nothing but a quiet ass." I laughed in my thoughts as I recalled myself mentally calling him that when I first met Daryl.
"What did you guys do? Being stuck a place with him had to make you beg for something fun to do."
"We did a puzzle together for a while," I answered.
"You guys had a puzzle?"
"Mhmm. I picked up one on the run. I still have it. It's in my bag. Being the killjoy he is, he left it alone 'cause it was boring."
"I like puzzles. What was the picture?"
"Candy."
"Oh, cool. What else did you snag?" We arrived at the lobby. Daryl must have been outside waiting for me.
"Well, Daryl got a My Melody doll for me," I said quietly. Beth stifled a laugh.
"Aw, that's mighty sweet of him," Beth said with a smile. "Well, I need to check on Judith. You have fun with the hunt."
"I will," I said, and she headed toward the stairs as I made my way to the entrance. I'm glad she didn't ask if anything happened. Even if she did, I wasn't going to tell about my nightmares and how Daryl calmed me down. I walked outside into the light rain to find Daryl leaning against the car he was working on yesterday, smoking a cigarette. He saw me and rubbed the cigarette out on the pavement. He grabbed his crossbow and a coil of rope of the top of a car and walked to me.
"You ready?" I smiled and nodded. He grunted, and we started to walk to the woods that was beside the community center. We walked a good distance, and we stopped in a random spot. I heard a rustle and nearly snapped my neck when I looked up one of the trees. Right there, nibbling on a green pine cone like a corn on the cob, was a squirrel. It was young and had large eyes. Daryl lifted his crossbow up and shot the squirrel down in a flash. Daryl walked over to it and picked it up. Blood was running down the arrow and stained the dead leaves on the ground. They little guy had a lot of blood to lose. Daryl wrapped a portion of the rope around the squirrel's neck. He pulled the arrow from it's head, and he handed me the carcass.
"Got one down," I said. Daryl looked at the tree the squirrel was previously in.
"There'll be a bunch," Daryl said as he reloaded his weapon. I saw something moving in the distance. I looked over Daryl's side and saw a couple of bunnies hopping away. Daryl looked in that direction. "How stealthy are you?"
"Well, I snuck into your base, so pretty damn stealthy." Daryl made his casual groan and took the squirrel from me.
"Let's see if you can catch those," Daryl said pointing in the direction of the bunnies. I've never hunted before, let alone following some bunnies for food. I used to chase them when I was little, and they would spot me a mile away and run out of my sight. I loaded an arrow in my weapon.
"You gonna watch me?" I asked, looking at Daryl.
"Why? You embarrassed or something?" he asked in a mocking tone. I blushed and looked away.
"N-No...," I said. I actually was. We started hunting less than two minutes ago, and already he wanted to see me kill something, or at least track something down. I took a breath and started walking where the bunnies ran off to. The rain picked up a bit, and the rolling thunder made a few squirrels run back to there trees. I kept my eyes out for walkers and unfamiliar people. I would look back for half a second to find Daryl following me a few feet behind. I actually forgot he was following me. I'm glad he was, because I didn't want to be alone out here.
"You know where you're goin'?" the man asked. I nodded.
"Yeah..." I sounded unsure.
"How can you tell where they've been?" I stopped.
"There's...," I looked at the forest floor, "scuffs in the dirt," I answered. The leaves all looked the same, but there were messy footprints in the mud the rain made, like someone rain their fingers in it. I looked at Daryl. "That's how you find them, right?" Daryl nodded once. I let out a little smile of relief, and I continued to follow the trail. I was trying to be as quiet as I could get. Daryl was probably a master at this, so he had hunter's feet. You could probably hear my stomping in another country. When it comes to sneaking in and out of buildings, I'm pretty quiet, but in the woods, where there are twigs and leaves and walkers to spot me and no places to hide, I'm pretty easy to spot. I stopped when I saw a bunny in a clearing. It was too busy digging holes to see me. It would look up every now and then as I got closer to eat whatever it found, but it paid no attention to me. I would stay still until it got back to digging. I was behind a tree a few feet away: probably less than double my height. I pulled back on the drawstring and lined up my sightings on the bunny's stomach. I silenced everything around me, and everything was a blur, except my target. I held my breath to steady my arms, and I released the arrow. It tore through one of the bunny's ears and pierced the ground behind it. The little critter ran, leaving some blood where it was before.
"Fuck!" I shouted. "I was so close." I walked to the arrow and pulled it from the muddy earth. I looked where the animal hopped to. There were tiny spots of dark blood here and there. I loaded my bow and quickly followed the trail, with Daryl behind me.
I am NOT going to be stood up by a bunny, I thought to myself. I already had its blood. I wanted the meat too. I didn't have to track to so far. The bunny was sitting beside a tree, quivering. It looked like it was in a lot of pain, but at the moment, I didn't care. Its ear was stained a brownish-red, and the hole looked like it stopped bleeding. Who knew that bunny ears would bleed so much. It left quite a trail for me to follow. I pulled back again and aimed at my target. Come on, I cannot miss this kill. My arms started to shake. I inhaled sharply and let go. The arrow didn't hit the stomach like I wanted it to, but it nailed the bunny on the ground by the leg. It made a cloud of dirt and splattered mud as it tried to escape.
"Nice shot," Daryl said as he got beside me. He held up his crossbow and shot the bunny in the head, ending its misery.
"I could've killed it myself y'know," I said, giving Daryl a look.
"It doesn't matter who kills the food," Daryl said. He got his arrow and loaded it. I walked up to the bunny, pulled my arrow from its foot, and picked it up. Being all stretched out, it looked about fourteen inches, from the top of the head to its toes. "It's who tracks it down." He took the bunny and wrapped the rope around its neck to add to the necklace of dead animals. I followed Daryl around as he took out squirrels. I attempted to shoot a few. I only killed four, but after missing more squirrels, Daryl said I did enough. The rain started to pour hard through the canopy of the trees, and it scared the animals back to their homes, so Daryl and I decided to head back to the group.
"Did I do well?" I asked. Daryl turned to me.
"For what?" I pointed at the bunny.
"For tracking that fuzzball down." Daryl scratched under his nose.
"Well, is this your first time hunting animals?" I nodded. "Well, for a first timer, I guess you did pretty well- for tracking the Easter Bunny." I chuckled and looked down.
"Wish I could've caught more," I said.
"Hey, you did alright. You got a bunny and a few squirrels," Daryl said. I looked at his eyes. They showed approval. "Maybe you'll do better next time." I widened my eyes.
"I'm gonna hunt with you again?"
"I said I needed a new hunting buddy," Daryl smirked. I smiled.
"I can't wait then," I said, huffing out a raspy cough at the end. Daryl placed a firm hand on my shoulder.
"You okay?" I cleared my throat of whatever was in it. It felt itchy.
"Yeah. I think I swallowed some saliva," I said. I turned my head into my arm and coughed.
"You sure-" I stepped away.
"Yeah. It'll pass," I said more clearly. The hunter looked at me with dull eyes. I literally saw them change from their normal bright blue to a depressing shade.
"Okay then..." We were at the edge of the woods when Daryl said something. "There's a nice blotch of mud for you to play in," Daryl said, pointing to a clear spot of wet dirt. I looked at the spot confused until I remembered the conversation Daryl and I had the other night. I shook my head.
"Nah, maybe some other time," I said, clearing my throat again. Daryl walked over to the mud puddle, and I had no choice but to follow him. He flung his crossbow onto his back and crouched to placed his hand in the mud.
"I used to play in the mud a lot when I was a kid. I got the name Pig Boy because of it." I snickered, and Daryl looked at me with a smirk.
"That's cute."
"Says the girl who don't like pet names." I sighed and rolled my eyes. I knelt down and fiddled with the mud between my fingers. It was warm because of the rain, and it felt like I was playing with poop. Ew...
"No one called you Mud Slug?" There was a short silence.
"No. I don't think so."
"Good, because I'm gonna start calling you that."
"Girl, you better not," Daryl scowled. He grabbed some mud and smeared it across the side of my face. I gasped and let my mouth hang open. I splashed some pooled up water, and mud, onto Daryl's face. He stood up and tugged at my ponytail to make me stand up. "Alright, let's head in before one of us starts killin' each other." I nodded with a smile and we headed towards the building. We entered the building at the peak of the storm. The raindrops were hard and the wind was fierce. Both of us were dripping wet.
"Oh my god, you guys are soaked," Maggie said, half chuckling, as she approached Daryl and I. I saw Beth from the balcony of the second floor, and she ran down the hallway after seeing how we looked. We put our weapons on a nearby table.
"We got a little wet. No biggy," Daryl said. He slammed the garment of carcasses on the table. "Becca and I found some food." I looked at what we caught. I counted a dozen squirrels and my prize bunny. Beth came running down the stairs with two towels, and she handed them to me and Daryl.
"How did it go?" Beth asked me. I wiped my glasses dry and shook my wet head in the towel.
"Pretty good," I said. I started to tap my arms with the towel. "I got a bunny and some squirrels." I looked to the pile of animals on the table.
"Nice job," she smiled, "That's a big one." Carol and Rick came to greet us. Carol nearly fell over laughing when she saw the state of us.
"You guys looked like you had fun," Rick said. I took my hair band out and threw it away in a nearby trashcan.
"Yeah. Killing food, getting caught in the rain, and playin' in the mud was grand," I chuckled. A burning feeling moved up my throat, and I turned away from my friends and coughed harshly. A hand grabbed my arm and turned me to face him. It was Daryl, and he pushed my wet bangs back to feel my forehead. He switched to the back of his hand.
"I think you caught something, kid," he said as he pulled away.
"For being in the rain for ten minutes?" I said. My voice was raspy, I could hear it, but I didn't feel sick.
"More like an hour," Carol said as she felt my forehead. "You do feel a bit warm." I shook my head in denial and moved her hand.
"But I'm fine! I don't-"
"Rebecca," Rick said. He walked up to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "We can't have anyone sick right now. I'm not sayin' you are sick, but if any one else gets sick, it'll be hell for all of us. We are extremely low on medicine, and it's getting harder to find more these days." I looked at everyone else, all of them with serious looks. I stopped at Daryl, who frowned the most. "You just gotta take it easy," Rick finished before letting his hand fall. I sighed.
"Okay. If you guys say I'm 'warm', then I am." I backed away and coughed again.
"The hot water should be back by now," Carol said. She looked at Daryl and I. "You two take a shower before you really catch a cold." Hot water. Oh my god. Maybe I am sick, and I'm starting to hear things. It's been a while since I've been cleaned and even longer for being in contact with hot water from a shower. Maggie pointed in the direction of the hallway toward the gym.
"The woman's locker room is just over there. There should be some soap and shampoo somewhere in there." I looked passed her. I nodded.
"Thanks," I said with a weak smile. Fuck, I really was coming down with something. Or maybe they're just telling me nonsense, and it's getting into my head. I noticed my bag was still in the eating area, so I grabbed it and made my way to my room. I pulled out a loose black t-shirt, some pale blue jeans, and, of course, underwear from my bag. I quickly ran downstairs into the woman's locker room. The lights were already on, but only a few fixtures, and no one was in there. There were rows of beige-colored lockers and benches between the rows. There were bathroom stalls and sinks with mirrors on the walls across the way. I walked to one of the benches and picked up a bottle of green apple shampoo and a bar of soap. I walked further and turned a corner to find shower stalls with vinyl curtains. Oh thank goodness, they're individual stalls. I placed my clean clothes on a hook, along with my mostly dry towel. I stepped in the cleanest stall closest to the hook, placed the cleaning stuff on the floor, and I closed the curtains. I took of my clothes and tossed them onto the floor outside the stall (I left my glasses on, because that's how I do). I turned the knob for the shower to a warm setting, but I nearly fell when ice cold water smacked my chest. I pressed my back against the wall to further my distance between the icy water of death. I soon felt the water turn warm, and I relaxed myself. I stepped under the shower and let the water cover me. I wanted to turn up the temperature a bit more, but I didn't want to use up all the water or take too long. I quickly cleaned my hair and skin. It felt so good to rinse of all of this gunk. I turned the water up and let the steam fog up my glasses. It felt sooooo good. I took a breath of the hot air, and my throat felt like it was reborn. I turned off the water, and I poked my head from the curtain. No one was around. I scampered to my towel and wrapped it around me. I dried off what I can, and I slid on my underwear and bra before letting the towel drop. I quickly put on my shirt and pants and started to dry my hair. I draped the towel over my shoulders, and I grabbed my dirty/wet clothes. I made my way out of the locker room and followed the hallway into the lobby when I bumped into Maggie.
"Oh, hey. You feelin' better?" she asked sweetly with a smile. I smiled back and nodded. "That's good. I was gonna check on ya and take your clothes." She took my pile from my arms.
"Thank you guys so much for the hot water and everything," I said happily. Maggie just chuckled.
"You're welcome," she said. "You weren't in there for long. Everything okay?"
"Yeah," I nodded, "I just didn't want to used up the stuff. I really didn't need much time."
"Well, thank you for your consideration, Becca."
"You're welcome," I said. We parted separate ways and I entered the lobby. I didn't see anyone, which was strange, and also very unsettling. I looked out the upper windows, and the sky was dark, and it was raining hard. I walked slowly to the stairs. The only noise I heard was the slapping my bare feet made on the ground and the rain. I was heading up when I heard a door creaking open. I peeked over the railing to see where it came from, and I saw Daryl walking out of a hallway. He was wearing torn up pants and a sleeveless undershirt. He was rubbing the towel on his head, so he didn't see me. The last time I saw him dressed like this was at the pool. He uncovered his face, and he gave me a stern look.
"The hell you starin' at, girl?" Daryl barked. I flinched.
"N-Nothing," I said awkwardly. I started to walk up the stairs, but Daryl stopped me.
"How you feelin'?" he said as he walked up beside me.
"My throat doesn't feel itchy anymore," I said rubbing my neck.
"That's good. I don't want anyone getting sick on me." He started walking up and I followed behind. A loud clap of thunder shook the windows and I yelped. I clutched onto the railing and I looked at the windows. I was expecting a comment from Daryl about my reaction, but I heard nothing. I turned and he was gone. He must have gotten sick of me being a baby and left. I walked to my room and rummaged around in my bag to pull out another hairband. My hair was still a bit damp, so I wore it like a bracelet. I laid my towel on one of the chairs in my room, and I sat on the couch. I rummaged through my bag, wondering if I brought the item I was looking for.
"C'mon, where the hell are you?" I moved some more junk to the side, and I sighed with relief as I pulled out my Gameboy Color. It was purple, and you could see the inside of it, so you could see all of the gadgets within. Someone from one of my previous groups gave it to me as a birthday present. He was one of the nice people I met. He never told me his real name, but people called him Cannon. I've only found a few games for it, but I treasured it. Right now, Hamtaro: Ham-Hams Unite was in the slot. I turned on the Gameboy, and I smiled when I heard that little jingle when it turned on. The screen changed to the Nintendo copyright thing, and then it changed to the sound of Hamtaro's theme song. I turned the volume up, and I started to mumble some lyrics. I loved the show when I was little. The last time I watched it was on a tape about a year after I fled the orphanage. I came across a house that still had electricity in it. There was a VCR in the living room, and it still worked. I found a Hamtaro tape, and I watched it. I haven't watched any form of TV since. I selected "Continue" on the screen, and I was playing as Hamtaro in the Sky Gardens. I forgot who I was suppose to look for. It's been a while since I last played it. I know I didn't find Sandy or Stan yet, the twin hamsters. I went to the clubhouse to see the chart that told me who was there. The only Ham-hams who weren't there were Jingle, Stan, and Sandy. I remembered how to get Jingle, because I've beaten the game before. That was a long time ago though. I was always stuck on getting Stan and Sandy back. To me, they're the boss battle of this game. I went back to the school to bargain for the bottle in the shop for tea. The music was bright and cheery, and it made me mostly forget about the storm. The thunder still made my spine shiver, but the music calmed me down.
I heard footsteps, and I looked at my open doorway. I saw Daryl walk by, but then he returned to poke his head. He looked at the Gameboy in my hands and squinted his eyes.
"Okay, so that creepy music is coming from that," he sighed as he walked in. "Thought I was going crazy." I turned down the volume a bit. "The hell are you playin'?" he asked as he leaned to see the screen.
"Hamtaro," I said happily.
"That weird Japanese rat?" he said. I looked at him with a stern face, and I scrunched my lips. He knew damn well he was a hamster. He only said that Hamtaro was a rat just to annoy me.
"Yeah," I said sarcastically, and I went back to my game. I just got the bottle back from Panda. Daryl sat down beside me. Is he actually watching me play? Kinda strange... He smelled like Irish Spring. It made my nose feel funny.
"What's the point of this game?" he asked. I gave the bottle of tea to the Ham-ham that was blocking my way to Jingle.
"I'm supposed to bring all of the Ham-hams back to the clubhouse so Boss could show them the thing he was working on," I said.
"Ham-hams?" Daryl sounded like he was going to throw up after saying that. I nodded.
"Yeah. That's what Hamtaro and the others call other hamsters." I finished persuading Jingle to come with me. We entered his room in the clubhouse and started playing his song he's supposedly writing. I handed the console to Daryl. "You wanna play? It's really cute," I said. He shook his head.
"No thank you," Daryl said as he pushed the Gameboy back to me. "I would be caught dead playin' that shit." I put the console on the table, the music still playing like a music box, and I looked through my bag. I found my Pokemon Red game, and I showed it to Daryl.
"How about this?" His eyes widened a bit, and he took the game from my fingers. He looked at the picture of Charzard that was on the card.
"Man, I have not seen something like this for a long time," Daryl chuckled as he placed the game next to the Gameboy. "But, no, I don't wanna play." He leaned back on the couch and let out a breath of air. I picked up the Gameboy and continued playing.
"So, you just gonna crash here?" I heard him scoff.
"Not with that creepy ass music playing." I sputtered my lip and turned up the volume more. Daryl scoffed, and he leaned forward and continued watching me play.
To be continued...