"You think you're so tough," Verlaine lightly snarled, standing still in place and placing her hands on her hips. "How 'bout a little competition, between us two girls. How does that sound?"
Daryl shook his head. "Aw, hell. Here it goes."
"I suppose there would be something in it for the winning person?" I asked.
"I keep your boyfriends crossbow," she menacingly answered. I whistled impressively.
"What if I win? By the rate you're going, you better be getting me a small island."
"That pretty sniper rifle you saw up there," she said, watching my face with pleasure as my cocky smile grew.
"Hey, Ayden. Can we have a moment... Privately?"
Daryl called, grabbing my arm before I could retaliate.
"What the hell do you think you're?" He demanded to know, in a whisper so low I could barely hear it.
"I have to do this," I replied harshly and hushed, looking at Verlaine just in case she knew what we were saying.
"For what?" he asked, also glancing at Verlaine..
"I want that rifle," I replied confidently, "I'll do my best."
I gave him a romantic peck and grabbed him in a reassuring hug, whispering you know me in his ear. You know me. I can do this.
"Deal," Daryl reluctantly told Verlaine, the same cockiness shown in her as in me.
"But wait a second, you said the place was swarmed with Walkers," I realized.
"Oh, I forgot to mention I'd risk going up there and getting it," she added, bending down and stretching her hamstrings. I also started to stretch my legs.
"It sounds like there's more risk involved on your side for my winnings," I suspiciously commented.
"I figured you'd think it's fair," Verlaine questioned, "I suggested something that isn't yours and probably of sentimental value. To make it even, I threw in a little extra."
"Alright, you gotta deal as long as I get to go with you up there," I said as we shook hands on it.
"You gotta deal," she smiled overconfidently. I was going to ice her ass. "Is there gonna be, like, an obstacle course or something?"
"No, here's what we're gonna do," she annotated, coming closer to me. Her threatening tone was gone, replaced by a serious and maybe even friendly one. "Run to the city and find a souvenir to prove you were there. Come back here and whoever gets here first, wins."
"How do I know you're not gonna skip out on me? Have this thing rigged or something?"
She raised her right hand and stood up straight. "By the power of my control, I, Verlaine Aideen Dubatin hereby consent my trust and if I should go against this event, shall 100 Walkers feast on my living body."
"Well, then," I said, not fully but much more convinced, "let's do this shit."
"Are you ready?" Jimmy called, who was acting as our waving flag chick similar but what I hoped was manlier then what's seen at street racing competitions.
"Wait, that's not fair," I said after seeing Verlaine take out a silenced Beretta, very similar to mine.
"Here," Daryl said, unslinging his crossbow and handing it over, "if this is its last moments with me, I want it to be used for something."
"It will remain yours, I promise," I whispered in his ear.
"What about you?" he worriedly said. I raised the crossbow and shook it.
"I got this," I laughed and hugged him once more. Verlaine huffed impatiently.
Before getting into starting position, I snugly slung the crossbow over my shoulder so the strap went vertically over my chest. Even though it would rattle when I ran, the chains on Verlaine's pants would be fair enough or maybe even louder.
"On your mark," Jimmy singsonged, forcing myself to look at the kid and raise my eyebrows before getting into standard crouching position. "Get set."
"Good luck," Verlaine snickered just as Jimmy took a deep breath.
"Go!" he yelled, sending Verlaine and I running off into the forest clearing.
Damn, she was fast. We were side to side for the most part, but our speeds fluctuated immensely. Verlaine was ahead at first, but as we hit the first street along the way to the city, I grew farther and farther ahead. If I were to guess, she was better at running on ground than pavement, the exact opposite of me.
Once we got to the city, we split paths. She went down south to a suburban part of the city and I went straight to the tourist popular shopping outlets. Other than the advantage of fewer Walkers, I would never pick a suburb. My way was faster, more accessible, and was damned if it didn't have a little Georgia gift shop.
"Shit!" I squealed as I rounded a buildings corner, Walkers spread out everywhere and fairly close to my position. As quickly as I could, which was pretty slow on account of my intermediate crossbow skills, I unslung it and readied an arrow. By the time I finished setting it, I could have drop kicked at least twenty Walkers that were quickening their pace towards me. This already was getting tedious and annoying.
There were more Geeks than there were arrows to kill them with. I shot the nearest Walker, and figuring I didn't have enough time to reload and shoot another; I reslung it over my shoulder and readied my knife. Until I had much better skills at the bow, I'd be leaving it alone. I yanked the bow out of its skull and started hacking off heads.
I cut through the crowd of Walkers pretty quick, aiming mostly for the neck or the lower part of the skull. By the time I was running for the next block, blood dripped from my hands and patches of crimson blotted my clothes.
"Someone ran into a little trouble! Try to tone down those war cries, it attracts them!" I heard Verlaine yell, following a very faint laugh. I wondered how she could yell that loud, but then again, I didn't know where she was. She could know a shortcut. That's when I realized: she probably knew Atlanta just as well as Glenn.
I still assumed she didn't for the sake of my optimism.
"Suhweet," I whispered as I rounded another corner and took a look into a dainty gift shop; only a few Walkers slithered inside. As a bonus, an unused axe sat in it's place in one of those red fire boxes perched on the wall.
I crept cautiously to the entrance door, scanning the handle to see if it was locked. It was. Of course, trying to make my life harder.
I took out my knife and bent down, slowly sliding it into the slit of the door and trying to find the thing that I had to push to release the lock. I just really, really hoped this thing wasn't rigged to an alarm.
Click! The lock shot open as I grabbed the handle to take advantage of the click to cover the noise of a turning door knob. Successful, so far.
I creaked the door open, peeking only my head in to see if the Walkers received notice of my appearance. They hadn't yet.
A floorboard creaked slightly as my weight shifted to the foot that I snuck into the doorway, putting me on edge as the nearest walker slowly turned and faced me. I swallowed hard as it growled and walked toward the door. I lunged toward it, sticking my knife in back of the skull.
Before I could dismember the second one, a petite figure blurred past me and shot the creature, first playfully slapping the top of my head.
"You little shit," I yelled at Verlaine, snatching the first keychain that colorfully displayed Georgia that was in my reach. In my peripherals, I saw Verlaine grab a Georgia decorated shotglass. Breakable, I thought, smiling as I stuck my foot out as she ran by.
Her reflexes were quick. She stumbled over my leg for a few seconds and right away, she placed both feet on the floor and ran out the door without a word.
"Verlaine!" I called, standing up from my crouching position, although I didn't know how I got there in the first place. I ran after her and as quickly as she righted herself from falling, I caught up to her. Verlaine was holding the glass carefully, wrapping her fingers around it as she pumped her arms.
I attempted to swat it out of her hands. In return, I got a swat to the face.
"That's cheating!" she yelled as we both ran towards the forest, aiming for the clearing we started out on.
"Do ya know what else is cheating? You knowing every nook and cranny of Atlanta!" I yelled back, turning to look at her annoyed expression turn into penitence.
"I safely assumed the same to you," she angrily spat, pulling the tripping maneuver I just had done. I dodged it delicately.
"Why? Gimme one good reason why you think this is not the first time I ever entered the city!"
"How would you know this isn't ours? Did the Asian boy ever tell you about the sniper?" she yelled , weakened, panting hard as she furrowed her eyebrows. Verlaine just gave herself away, I slyly thought, a smile spreading across my face. That and the fact my legs weren't tired the slightest.
"So not only do you have Atlanta on the back of your hand, you deliberately knew I never came with Glenn and set this up for your advantage?" I astonishingly asked, shaking my head as I watched the clearing get bigger and bigger.
"You're right," she dejectedly stated, not only slowing her pace down greatly but stopping altogether and resting her hands on her knees, "it's not fair."
I halted right away, turning back responsively and facing the purple haired girl that I thought was so much like me.
"Come on," I encouragingly said, hesitating my steps just in case she was misleading me. "At least finish."
"No," she heaved her breaths in and out, concerning me slightly as she started wheezing, "you win. The rifle is yours."
I took a cautious step forward, reaching my hand out to touch her shoulder.
"Putting your hands on your knees actually constructs your airways, even though it feels like it works. Try putting your hands on your head."
She stood up straight and did what I suggested. The wheezing went away immediately.
"Thanks," she coughed, resting her hands as the air came back to her.
"If it were my crossbow, I would tell you we could do a fair trade," I commented as we slowly made our way back. Deceit still lingered in the back of my head.
"No. I said who won could keep it. This is me officially withdrawing from the competition. And don't worry about me running ahead of you, I haven't the slightest drop of willpower in me left."
I chuckled as I helped her up the hill, placing my hand on her ribcage to steady her.
"You didn't run out of energy because I found out your secret," I stated curiously. "Why did you agree to a race that you knew you couldn't win?"
"Egotism," she laughed lifelessly, "a horrible curse that runs in my family."
"Oh, we're pretty close matched."
"Fuck that! If I didn't know that shortcut I woulda passed out before I hit the gift shop."
We got to the top of the hill, not expecting two confused faces and one angry one staring back at us. I bet you can guess which face belongs to the angry one.
"One of you best be quittin'," Daryl said, looking at us like we were bitten.
"I am," Verlaine sighed, lifting a weak hand.
Daryl looked relieved at first, and then as he looked at me, a proud smirk escaped.
I giggled gleefully and ran into his inviting arms, snuggling into his dirt caked neck as he swung me around a bit.
"Okay," Thrash threatened, pointing a finger at Verlaine and inching closer, "why did you let her win?"
"She didn't," I said, looking at Verlaine and smiling, "she thought I was the one who couldn't do it."
"Well," Jimmy said, clapping his hands, "guess Verlaine has to hand over the rifle then, huh?"
"It's not that easy. I- we still have to go get it," Verlaine commented, nodding her head towards me as if she was validating our agreement.
"If you're goin', I'm goin'," Daryl threw out, directly aimed at me.
"Yeah, ditto," Thrash said, but to Verlaine.
"I don't want to do the same thing you did to me," Daryl bluntly put. My mouth fell open just as Verlaine curiously glanced at us.
"I did to you! You left while I was sleeping," I castigated, "the least you could have done was tell me you were leaving."
"You almost shot my face off, I guess that makes us even," Daryl maliciously shouted. I let out a cry of aggravation and took an angry step away from him.
"I'm pretty sure shooting ones face off would be worse than not saying goodbye," Jimmy interjected, shrugging his shoulders when I tried to bore holes into his forehead with the lasers that were coming from my eyes.
"As much as I'd love to watch how this Dr. Phil episode turns out, we're wasting precious UV rays here," Thrash deferred. He pointed to the sun, which was a little under 60 degrees west.
"Let's get moving. We have to make a few other trips along the way, too," I said, looking at everyone before heading to the city.
"What do you mean a few stops? Have mail to drop off at the post office or something? Groceries to pick up because you're all out of eggs?" Verlaine sarcastically asked, confused.
"It's Christmas," I explained, unslinging Daryl's crossbow and handing it back to him, "We have a camp back a ways, it's supposed to be a surprise and shit."
Verlaine took the list I offered her. "Wow, you mean there's more than you both and the Asian boy?"
"Yeah! There's Carol and Jim and Jaqui-"
"Ed and Sophia and Lori," Daryl interrupted, smiling when I stuck my tongue out.
"And more," I added.
We hiked quickly down the incline, jogging to the main street before taking a sharp right.
"Wait, we're gonna leave Jimmy?" I asked, laughing and pointed in his general direction.
"He'll be fine," Thrash shrugged, "boy's obedient. He'll probably just sit on tha ground 'n listen to his iPod."
"Ya don't worry about Walkers?" Daryl asked, surprisingly friendly. I glanced at him and beamed a warm smile. In return, he bumped my waist with his and enfolded his hand in mine.
"You're playing nice," I hummed, exuberance beaming out of my fingertips as I kissed him on the cheek.
"Don't I always?" he joked, sending a kiss back.
"He knows what to do. Can't kill 'em, run the fuck away," Verlaine chuckled, glancing back to me for what felt like approval. I wrinkled my forehead and dumbstruckenly smiled.
"What was that?" Daryl whispered as Verlaine and Thrash commenced in their own conversation.
"What, that seeking approval side glance? I have no idea," I replied back, watching a slight but humorous argument unfold in front of me between Verlaine and Thrash.
"Maybe she sees you as a leader," Daryl suggested, glancing at the arguing couple ahead and smirking.
"Why? Am I the leader type?"
Daryl snorted. "I see the looks you give Dale when he calls something. Or anybody else, for that matter."
"What about Shane?"
"Shane... Not as much. You seem to have the same basic principles."
I looked to the ground and bit my lip; he was right. Most of Dale's opinions were illogical and impractical. I agreed with Shane 95% of the time. The other 5% was probably Andrea's callings.
"It's not good to have more than one leader type in the same room, forget in a group," Daryl laughed and squeezed my hand lovingly.
"D'ya really think I'm a leader?" I asked outright, turning my head slightly to peek at his expression.
"You were the one calling the shots before, right?"
"Uh, no. That was Merle," I snared, scrunching up my nose.
"But you were the one who checked the plans. You were the editor," he chuckled nostalgically. "You were the one who saved our asses from Merle's death traps."
We crossed the street, turning on one of the main streets towards downtown and right into a bunch of Walkers. Conventionally, we whipped out our weapons and started slaying body parts. I pulled out my unfavorable (for the time being) mini machete and sighed, flipping it around in my hand as everyone else's awesome weapons annihilated the flesh eating Walkers in front of me.
I stood back and looked at the slaughterhouse scene take place. Daryl was holding his own; characteristically slinging and readying bolt after bolt in a matter of seconds, making me look like a total noob compared to earlier. Thrash and Verlaine seemed to be working together; one distracted the beast before the other shot an unexpected bullet to its head. I stared down at my blade, disgruntled as I zoned out into the tattoo like design I carved on the handle.
"Ayden," Daryl said, shaking my shoulder, "Ayden?"
"What?" I drowsily answered, looking at three confused and worried faces stare into mine.
"We woulda appreciated some help back there," Thrash smiled, probably the most nice he's been to me.
"With this?" I squeaked, holding up the knife in front of his face.
"Woah, there," he said, putting his finger on the tip and gingerly pushing it down.
"Ooh, sorry," I apologized, placing it back into the thigh holster.
"We'll get ya a new Beretta," Daryl comforted, slinging his arm around my waist, "sorry you dropped your original."
"Speaking of guns," Verlaine mentioned, "How skilled are you with them?"
"Who, me?" I asked, pointing to my chest as we continued to walk down the alleyway.
"Yeah. I want to know my snipe is going to be put to good use."
"Four years in Military Efficacy Tactics and Rifle Operation. Metro. My specialty was sniping," I boasted, grinning hugely when Daryl proudly smiled back.
Thrash whistled impressively.
"Explain your philosophy," Verlaine begged melodramatically. "Enlighten me with your wisdom!"
I sighed heavily. "Patience, as you may know, is a virtue."
"Oh, come on," Thrash ragged, "That's like, the first hour of Scoping and Sniping 101. Spill the beans."
"Well..."