I take no claims for any Walking Dead themes or characters.
Here's chapter 8! Sorry about the wait, I had finals last week and I've been doing a lot of prep for the holidays. If you're ever wondering when the next chapter should be out, check my profile page and there should be some kind of update telling you when it should be out. Thank you for the reviews! They mean so much to me; please please review! :)
The air came out from Daryl Dixon's mouth in barely visible clouds as he exhaled in the dark of the night. It was starting to get cold and his muscled limbs left uncovered by the sleeveless shirt he wore started to tingle in the cool atmosphere. He flexed the muscles in his arms and squinted towards camp for a moment seeing Shane's figure stalking towards him in the shadows.
Shane held his shotgun by his side, his brows low and his shoulders hunched as if he were about to pounce if one word was said to him. Ignoring the usual odd behavior of the man, Daryl walked right past him without giving him a second glance. He lowered his weapon when he hiked into the central area they had created with the cars and made his way over to his pickup.
Rick Grimes was on top of the camper with Dale's binoculars in hand. He sat on a sun chair with a warm blanket wrapped around him, trying to protect himself from the blowing wind. Through the binoculars the entire area was in view. He proceeded to watch the perimeter, thinking about how they had been lucky so far. No walkers had been spotted, probably because they hadn't been making much sound. If there were any in the area they were probably swarming Hershel's farmhouse from the uproar of gunfire. Rick cocked an eyebrow at the thought, a small amount of guilt seeping into his stomach. Hugging the blanket closer to his body, he watched as Shane walked into the trees and disappeared from view.
Standing at the end of the bed of his truck, Daryl looked inside at the girl he had in his care. Eve lay gracefully over the blankets, the covers pulled down below her stomach and her shirt slightly pulled up and exposing her flat stomach. She shivered when a slight breeze blew by them and sighed softly. Eve's auburn tresses laid around her head like a halo, a few falling over her shoulders and resting over her round breasts. Daryl watched the girl for a few moments before placing his crossbow on the side of the truck bed, jumping up quietly and sitting down next to her, careful not to make any noise that would have woken her up. He lifted the blankets and slid underneath next to her, adjusting them so she was fully covered and protected from the night chill. In her slumber, Eve held the top of the blankets closer to her face as she unconsciously sought warmth.
Daryl lay on his side next to Eve, staring at her petite frame and face. Her full pink lips were slightly parted as she breathed. She glowed under the light of the moon. Daryl thought she was beautiful. He stayed still when he felt her move in her sleep, turning so that she faced him. Once Eve felt the warmth radiating from his body, she scooted over and softly grabbed his arm, nuzzling her face into it. Daryl felt the infinitesimal amount of strength in the delicate fingers clutching his arm, knowing that he could snap them if he held them too tightly. It amazed him that something so beautiful could be so breakable at the same time.
Daryl turned to lay flat on his back. Following his movement, Eve rested her head on his strong chest and placed her arm over his torso, holding herself to him. With a protective arm, he held her waist close to him and shut his eyes, feeling the sensuality of her feminine body pressing against his. They fell asleep together in the back of his pickup truck, all thoughts of any prospective danger behind them.
At dawn, when the sun started to peek over the hills, the camp started to stir from their sleep. The long, uncut grass had sparkling dew on its tips, slightly frozen from the night before though the sun was melting it quickly. Shane and Rick were still awake making sure nothing approached the camp, clutching their guns by their sides. Dale was the first to exit his Winnebago, stretching his old bones and waving to Rick on top of the camper. The older man proceeded to start up the fire before climbing the metal ladder attached to the back of the vehicle.
"You tired, Rick?" Dale stood next to the man wrapped in the warm blanket, both of them speaking in quiet tones as not to disturb the others.
Giving a tight smile, Rick shrugged. "I don't even know if I remember what a good night's rest feels like... Maybe that night back at the CDC was the closest."
Dale smiled and nodded, "Sounds about right." The two men stared off in the distance at the rising sun for a few moments before Dale crossed his arms and turned back to Rick, staring into his eyes. "We're running out of supplies, Rick."
Any semblance of a smile on Rick's face disappeared. He tapped his foot a few times and turned his head away from Dale for a second before replying, "Yep. I know, Dale."
Dale brushed his hand over his bearded face. "It's getting cold, too. We'll need things besides food and bullets; heavy jackets, boots, blankets, maybe a place to stay-"
Rick cut him off, "I know, Dale."
Dale noticed the dark circles under Rick's eyes and the shadow of a beard coming in over his jaw. Dale held his hands behind his back and nodded before affixing his hat to his head and making his way back down to the fire.
Slowly the camp started to wake up, and Daryl was among the first. The sunbeams sliced through the tree limbs of the nearby forest, levitating straight towards his eyes. He always was an early riser, even now so more than ever. It was hard for him to get to a full state of relaxation knowing a horde of walkers could jump in and massacre everyone at any moment. In the beginning he didn't give a shit about anyone of these people, some of them he still didn't. Daryl had a hard time connecting emotionally to other people but for some reason Eve was able to get past all that. As soon as he heard her voice in that shack he was overcome with some kind of emotion, he was really sure what. After losing Merle he wasn't really sure how to feel; upset, happy, depressed, relieved? Merle was a few things to Daryl. He was his brother, he was a funny motherfucker, and he was a real goddamn son of a bitch. This tiny girl next to him was one thing; pure. It gave him a reason to continue, he deliberated. He would take care of her.
Sliding out from the makeshift bed in the back of the truck, Daryl grabbed his crossbow and jumped out from the end. He immediately spotted Rick and Dale talking on the top of the camper in hushed tones but ignored it and walked around the side of the vehicle. Gently grabbing the blanket he shifted when getting out, Daryl re-tucked in the girl, observed the area around her to make sure nothing was nearby, then proceeded to open the passenger side door and grab a new shirt from inside. Daryl switched tops and looked up at the top of the camper again, giving a curt wave to Rick before marching into the shade of the trees for the morning to see if he could hunt any small game for their meals.
Later, holding her hands over her head, Eve scrunched her nose and stretched her whole body for a second, waking her body from a full night's rest. She opened her pale blue eyes and looked around her. Daryl was nowhere in sight, but she could sense that he had been here.
Even though they had only known each other for a short while, Eve felt bonded to this man. In the back of her mind she knew that he had slept next to her. It made her stomach twist and made a soft blush come to her cheeks. Sharing a bed with him in any other situation would have been odd and uncomfortable, but in this world things were different. She almost felt like she had to hold herself back from acting on her feelings, but knew she would follow his lead. Eve felt herself becoming attached to Daryl more and more every minute.
Eve sat up in the truck bed, looking around the camp as best as she could. She squinted her eyes slightly to get a better look at the people in the distance. It looked like mostly everyone was awake and gathered around the fire eating breakfast. Gently slipping out from the truck, Eve hopped over to the fire and sat down next to Dale.
The old man smiled when he saw Eve approaching. Once she sat down he spoke, "Well good morning there, Eve. Just the girl I wanted to see!" He slapped his hands on the top of his thighs for emphasis.
Eve lifted her eyebrows in surprise, "Why is that?"
Dale nodded and got up from his camping chair, quickly walking inside the camper and coming back out after a few moments with what Eve could identify as some kind of bag.
Carol was standing by the pot hanging over the fire, expressionless. Ladling out some of the food, she poured it into a bowl and handed it to Eve without saying a word. Eve gave a small, gracious smile. "Thank you, ma'am." After passing the bowl over, Carol took her own and walked away from the group, holding herself and lost in thought.
Dale walked back over and sat down again, gazing at the lost woman walking the edges of the camp. A solemn look overcame him while observing Carol. He slightly leaned over to Eve and whispered to her, "She'll pull through…" Dale tightened the hat on his head before sitting up straight and holding the bag back out to the girl. "Here are those prescriptions I promised. I figured it would be something to keep you busy, if you wanted."
Eve fingered the plastic grocery bag filled with pill bottles. There were at least two dozen different kinds of medicine in there but she could already identify most of them without even taking them out of the bag. The girl smiled. "Thank you, Dale. I'll get on this right away."
Dale returned the smile and nodded before turning back to his food.
Lori and Carl sat opposite her, talking to each other and laughing.
"It was like a sticky lake! I thought I was going to drown!" Lori threw her hands out in emphasis, a large grin on her face.
Carl sat next to her with his arms crossed and a slight blush on his cheeks, holding himself back from laughter. "Shut up, mom!"
Lori was teasing Carl about how he had slept the whole night with his mouth open, drooling so much that Lori had to swat him away from her. Carl was laughing so hard he almost choked on his breakfast. His lost friend was still at the back of his mind, but laughter was one of the best coping mechanisms they had out here.
Glenn sat with them by the fire, cackling at Lori's story. "Oh my god, that's freaking hilarious."
Up on top of the camper was Andrea. The blonde headed girl had volunteered to switch with Rick and now that she was a good shot they trusted her enough with the job. She stood straight, shoulders back, the binoculars tight against her eyes, thinking quietly to herself. Andrea constantly felt like she had to prove herself to the rest of the camp, almost like she wanted them to know she was important and wasn't just weighing them down. After Amy had died Andrea was always beating herself up. Why couldn't she have protected her? Why had she been so stupid to let Amy go by herself? Though the initial sting of Amy's death was starting to dull, she was still left with the emotions caused by her guilt and shame and was on a mission to make sure it wouldn't happen to anyone else she cared about. Andrea lifted a hand and wiped back some blonde bangs away from her face, observing every tiny movement her eyes caught around the camp, ready and willing to shoot.
"Daryl went out to hunt. Well, that's what Rick told me, at least," Lori informed Eve.
Eve nodded then went back to eating her breakfast quietly, the bag of pills resting on her lap.
Rick Grimes walked over to the group by the fire with his hands in his pockets. Lori stopped talking to Carl and watched with confusion on her face at Rick's grim appearance.
"What's up, Rick?" Lori questioned her husband.
Rick drew his lips in a thin line. "Morning, everyone." He waved lightly. Eve watched in silence, pausing her meal to observe what was going on.
Rick continued, "Last night, Shane spotted a shopping complex, out that way," he pointed behind him towards the north, "A few of us will be looking into it later and seeing what we can bring back."
Lori sighed, her face looking tense and stressed. She held Carl closer to her and waited for elaboration.
"Glenn, Daryl and I will be traveling out there today. Shane and Dale will be here, looking after the camp-"
A sharp cough from above them made everyone look up. Andrea stood on top of the camper with her arms crossed and an eyebrow cocked.
The slight humor broke the tense mood. Rick smiled and corrected himself, "Shane, Dale and Andrea will be looking after the camp. Daryl should be back soon, I presume. I haven't let him know yet, but he said he had some things he wanted to collect so I'll extend the invitation as soon as I see him. Is everyone okay with all that?"
Lori bit her lip, but nodded. Carl wanted to go with his father but already knew the answer that would be given to him if he asked. He stayed quiet by his mother's side.
Dale crossed his arms, "Sounds good, Rick. I'll look after your wife, don't you worry."
Rick nodded and tilted his hat in gratitude, walking into the camper to talk to Glenn and collect what he needed for the trip.
About an hour later Daryl strode through the trees again, a few squirrels hanging by his side, tied with hemp to the belt loops and wagging with every step he took. When he walked into the main camp he cut them with a knife and dropped them on a small table that had been placed by the fire.
Almost immediately Rick Grimes walked up to him, "We found a shopping center. You in?"
Expressionless, Daryl nodded, "Lemme' grab my shit."
Rick returned the nod, "We're heading out in a couple minutes." He then walked away to find Glenn.
Daryl walked over to his pickup and opened the door, collecting various items and packing them away on his person. He looked through the rear window and saw Eve's head while she sat in the bed of the truck, her hair shinning a dark wine red in the sunlight. Collecting the last things he needed, he shut the door quietly and walked around to the side, folding his arms over the metal side and resting his head on his hands with a slight grin. "What're ya' up to, woman?"
Eve jumped and held a hand to her beating heart. "You scared me, Daryl!"
Daryl laughed, "Yep."
Eve glared at him but couldn't help smiling as well.
Looking down, Daryl noticed what she was doing. The girl sat cross-legged on top of the blankets he had laid out last night, her posture still straight and elegant. Laid out in front and around her were many piles of different kinds of pill bottles, a piece of paper by each with different instructions written on them.
"Organizing," Eve explained simply.
Daryl nodded and smiled a tight smile before walking back around to the side door of his truck, opening it, reaching into the glove compartment, and grabbing his own bag. He walked back around and opened the freezer bag filled with his brother's pills as well as some others he had come across, dumping them into the middle of Eve's organizational project.
The bottles knocked into the carefully arranged piles. Eve gasped and lightly punched him in the shoulder, "Daryl!"
Daryl laughed a deep, amused laugh. "Here's some more to keep ya' busy while I'm gone."
Eve's expression immediately changed to concerned. As soon as Daryl saw her emotion, he spoke, "Naw, none of that, ya' hear? I'll be back later. You stay in sight of the others. No wandering off."
The girl bit her lip, but nodded, quickly immersing herself again in the prescriptions surrounding her.
"Hey," Daryl called her attention again.
Eve looked up.
"Hold out yer' hand."
Eve held out her hand and watched as he placed a small hand gun into it, the same he had given her the day before.
"If it comes out to it, ya' know what to do." Daryl stared into her ice blue eyes before squeezing her hand for a moment then letting go and walking away towards where Rick and Glenn were standing at the edge of camp.