Chapter 3
The group continued as usual, but that didn't mean they kept a close watch on the new comers. All of the people that were there before had been close together waiting in the line to get into Atlanta. They didn't know each other before then, but they were able to trust each other and Shane had suggested the quarry. The brothers were more what they were worried about and they wanted to know more about the girl they were with. Was she there by force? How did she know them? They weren't able to ask the day before since the girl turned in as soon as her tent was up. She looked like she hadn't slept in days.
Johanna moaned a second before she opened her eyes to be greeted by the bright blue tent wall. She stretched and rubbed her nose. Dried mucus came with it and she gagged a little. She rinsed out her eyes of the dried tears in the corners and rubbed her entire face to try and make herself seem at least approachable. She reached into her bag and pulled out a Merlotte's (the restaurant) t-shirt and some tan shorts. She slipped on some Converse and brushed her hair out. She took a deep breath, and prepared herself for interrogation.
The sun greeted her painfully and she quickly shielded her eyes. She heard a dark chuckle and turned to see Merle next to her tent.
"Ass." She snapped.
"Come on, Bunny!" He chuckled and smacked her back. She rolled her eyes and pulled half of her hair back.
"Where's Daryl?"
"Still sleepin'." He replied. "I think they're still checkin' us out from yesterday."
"Not surprised. You seemed a little too chipper yesterday." Merle just smirked and shrugged, making Johanna furrow her brows at him.
"Just thankful that's all." He replied.
"What's goin' on?" Daryl asked and rubbed one of his eyes. Johanna leaned over to fix a couple pieces of hair that were sticking up in the air, but he flinched away and she backed off.
"You alright?" she asked.
"What're you doin'?"
"Just tryin' to fix your hair is all." She replied and he nodded. "Just talkin' about the camp."
"Just be careful. You start to get a bad feelin' you tell one of us." Daryl instructed her before he grabbed Merle to talk to him. She shook her head at them. Something was going on and she knew in her gut they were planning something.
"Johanna!" A voice called. She turned to find Amy jogging towards her. "How are you?"
"Um, I'm okay." She replied warily.
"Would you mind helping us with some laundry?"
"Can I wash ours from yesterday?" She asked and Amy chuckled.
"Yeah, it's no problem! Meet us down by the lake, alright?"
"Sure thing." Johanna went back into her tent to grab the clothes from yesterday. She went over to the tent the brothers shared and called them out. "Need us to wash some clothes?"
"Nah." Daryl replied and walked back inside.
"Well, Johanna, thanks for offerin'." She mumbled and walked down towards the lake. She saw all the women gathered around and sat down next to Amy. The lake was a gorgeous shade of blue that she thought wouldn't last. She had seen it before, and it was just as beautiful as it was before. All she wanted to do was to go to the highest point of the cliff and dive straight in. "Dixons passed on this one." The women nodded and Johanna looked around. "Where are the guys?"
"They're working on other things." Lori replied. "They check on the cars, check the area, y'know just make sure we're ready to go." Johanna nodded as she grabbed a shirt and began cleaning it.
"So, what did you do before all this? We know it was something medical." Jacqui began.
"Well, y'all didn't let me finish. I'm kind of in the medical field."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Andrea asked. Johanna chuckled and pushed some strands of hair out of her face as she scrubbed a shirt.
"I'm a pathologist." She explained and the women were silent. She looked up from the shirt and at the women. They were just staring at her and Johanna's heart sank. "Does that mean I have to leave?"
"What? No! Of course not, honey!" Jacqui chuckled.
"It's just…why?" Amy asked and Andrea pushed her. Johanna laughed and shook her head.
"I always liked learning about the body, I just didn't like people all that much. So I got a scholarship, paid for my apartment and shit, and found a residency at a hospital. It's actually not as bad as you think and is a relatively sanitary job if you can believe it."
"You have a stronger stomach than me then." Lori commented and the women laughed.
"What about y'all?" Johanna asked.
"Stay-at-home mom." She answered.
"Same." Carol replied quietly.
"Lawyer." Andrea said next.
"College!" Amy piped up and Johanna laughed. She already liked Amy more than anyone.
"City zonin' department." Jacqui answered. "But you probably have the most interestin' job outta all of us. Workin' 'round dead people and all."
"Well, it might help me negotiate now." She replied and they chuckled.
"So, are you related to the Dixons in some way?" Lori asked and Johanna shook her head.
"Only family I had was my brother." He would've loved the rock quarry. He would've thought it was so peaceful, the perfect place to unwind.
"What happened to him?" Carol asked and Johanna narrowed her eyes at the pair of jeans she was washing. Carol looked at the other women but they figured out what had happened.
"He, uh, didn't make it. I don't want to talk about it if that's alright."
"Of course." Jacqui cooed.
"So…are you Merle's girlfriend or something?" Amy asked and Johanna accidentally dropped the jeans into the lake.
"What? No! He's older than my brother!" Johanna replied and the women laughed hysterically. "No, no, no, no, no…no."
"I just…I heard him call you Bunny this morning."
"Oh that? He's been callin' me that for as long as I can remember. He and my brother were pretty tight so he's known me for a while but I didn't get to know them until I was seventeen. I think he's been callin' me that since I was a baby." Johanna explained.
"What about Daryl then? He's closer to your age. Are y'all dating?" Andrea asked and Johanna shook her head again.
"No. I think I know what y'all are tryin' to find out and I wish you would just ask. They took me in because my brother asked them to. So they did." Johanna explained in the abridged version of their story.
"You just don't seem like the type of girl to know guys like them. They seem pretty rough." Lori replied and Johanna nodded understandingly.
"From where I'm from, you get to know a lot of people. Yeah, they're rough but they're good guys." She said but kept thinking back to Merle's unusual behavior. "Again, I've known them for a while and my brother trusted them."
"So, how did you get to know them?" Amy asked and wrung out the jeans that Johanna had dropped into the water.
"I was a waitress at a bar for a while when I was a teen and during the summers of college to get some extra money to pay the bills. They were one of the usuals and we just kept touch." She explained.
"Well, we're glad y'all are here. It'll be nice havin' someone who knows how to stich people up and a hunter around. And another mechanic while we're at it." Lori interjected with a small smile.
XXXXXXX
"Merle-"
"Did ya at least think about it?" Merle asked as they sat in their tent.
"I did, I jus' don't know."
"It'll be super easy! They won't know what hit them!" The older Dixon snickered. "'Sides, we gotta look after ourselves. Same as before, lil' brother."
"What about Jo?"
"She'll come with us, of course." Merle relaxed in his cot and Daryl shook his head.
"Ya thank she'll come with us after we steal all their shit?" Daryl asked and Merle shrugged.
"She can stay here then."
"We promised Ben we'd look after her." Daryl defended.
"Well, Ben ain't here." Merle replied as he stretched.
"Ass."
"Watchu say, boy?" Merle sat up.
"Ya heard me." Daryl snarled. "We doin' this, Johanna won't come with us." Merle shook his head and ran a hand over his head.
"She's probably gettin' real cozy with them right now doin' all that damn women's work."
"Ben was our friend."
"Look, y'know I'm all eat up about Ben. I'm jus' thankin' about what he would want us to do. He'd really want us to survive. 'Sides, I thank ya just wanna get yer dick wet, little brother." Merle smirked. "Young lil' thang like her always churned yer butter."
"Ain't like that, Merle!" Daryl defended. Daryl wanted to throw something across the obnoxiously pale tent. Or throw something at Merle.
"It's her or us! We cain't keep her around, she'll get us killed and ya know it!" Merle replied.
"She can defend herself Merle!"
"She can defend herself from getting' her lil' ass pinched, not bein' killed by those geeks out there." Daryl shook his head and gritted his teeth together. "C'mon, Darlina, yer getting' soft on me. It's all about survival now." Daryl grunted in response and walked out of the tent with his crossbow slung over his shoulder. He heard laughing coming from the pond and walked over to the edge of the hill where he saw Johanna smiling with some of the women. That black woman, Jacqui, reached over and grabbed her shoulder lovingly and with a warm smile.
"Can we help?" Shane asked and Daryl turned. This 'Deputy Dipshit' didn't scare him in the slightest.
"Jus' lookin' for Johanna. Makin' sure she's alright."
"Are you two toge-"
"No."
"Oh, alright." Shane nodded and ran a hand through his hair. Shane looked over at his tent and sighed. "Shit." He ran over and grabbed one of his shirts before he skidded down the hill.
"Shane, wait up!" Carl yelped and ran with him. Daryl looked back at Johanna, then all the things these defenseless people had. It would be too easy to take this stuff from them. He'd dealt with harder robberies. But this wouldn't be a robbery, this would be the eminent death of all these people…and Johanna.
XXXXXXX
"Wait up!" Carl yelped and Johanna turned to see Shane and Carl running towards them. Shane halted and Carl ran into him, making her giggle.
"Something happen?" Lori asked worriedly. Shane held up his uniform with an apologetic smile.
"I forgot this." Johanna stood up and took it from him.
"I'll wash it since I messed up your system." She offered to the women. Carl looked up at her with big eyes and seemed awe struck. "Hi there, cutie!"
"H-hi!" He blushed and she turned to walk back to the lake.
"Thanks. Lori, can I talk to you for a minute." Lori nodded and stood up on her bird-like legs to walk up with Shane. Carl didn't move as he stared at Johanna. The woman snickered and Shane pulled Carl away with a chuckle of his own.
"Looks like Carl has a new crush." Andrea commented and Johanna laughed.
"He's a little too young for me. Maybe in twenty years." She replied as she began to wash the uniform.
"How old are you?" Amy asked.
"Twenty six."
"Wow, you look like you're 21!" Andrea marveled.
"Um, thanks?" Johanna chuckled. It was almost amazing how fast the group had started a system. They had only been there a day and seemed to be functioning like a well-oiled machine.
XXXXXXX
Everyone's paper plates almost couldn't stand the weight of the beans and rice. The plates were flimsy and almost didn't do the trick. Johanna almost wasn't able to balance it in her lap for fear of it ripping in half.
"The church wasn't so generous on buyin' the good kind of plates." T-Dog told everyone but they all replied that the plates would suffice. Johanna smirked to herself when she remember how often Ben and she would eat red beans and rice because they didn't have that much money for anything before he joined the motorcycle gang with Merle. With him being a mechanic, all of his money really had to go towards paying the bills. With whatever he was doing with the gang, they actually had some leisure money. She really hadn't seen the brothers all day and had been spending most of her time with the people at the camp.
She really liked Dale. He had some interesting stories to tell and seemed to just be a nice man overall. She already had a soft spot for T-Dog and thought he was funny as hell. She knew Carl had a crush on her because every time she saw him, he would be staring at her with stars in her eyes. Lori had to call his attention from across camp to get him to stop staring. Carol was quiet, as well as her daughter. She already didn't like Ed as he made sure none of them got too close to the group and even went as far as to set up their own little fire while he smoked like a damn chimney. Shane seemed nice enough, she thought that maybe something was going on between him and Lori but didn't bother asking. She didn't want to pry on her first day.
Jacqui really made her feel better, even though she was still having a hard time just trying not to think of Ben. Jacqui had that warm smile a mother might have, but Johanna didn't really know much about that.
"Miss Johanna?" Carl softly asked. Johanna was pulled out of her thoughts and looked at the boy across the fire.
"What's up?"
"Um, would you mind getting those guys you came with for supper?" She smiled and nodded. She set down her plate on one of the tables and looked over at Sophia and Carol, who didn't have any food. She looked back down at her plate and picked it back up before she walked over to the Peletier's private fire.
"Here you go. I noticed y'all didn't have any and I got way too much!" She smiled at Sophia, who giggled and reached over to the plate. She side eyed Ed who glared at her with disgust.
"Thank you!" Sophia replied softly.
"Don't mention it, honey. Just remember to share that with your momma." Johanna winked and turned to see the Dixons coming towards her. Daryl glared behind her at Ed but Johanna didn't look back.
"Supper's ready."
"I can tell! I'm starvin'!" Merle yelped and grabbed a plate.
"I haven't seen y'all all day. Is everythin' alright?"
"Fine, Jo." Daryl grunted. "Don't worry about us."
"But-"
"We got it, Bunny." Merle told her with a smirk. She shook her head and grabbed another plate for herself. She looked to see Sophia and Carol digging into their plate. Johanna only gave herself a little this time around as Jacqui had piled hers high, telling her she needed some more meat to her bones. Johanna sat back down next to Amy and Andrea as she listened to Glenn tell a story about the time he and his friends tried to get into a bar when they were eighteen.
Later that night, most everyone had turned in after they cleaned up their dinner. Johanna was still at the fire, staring at the embers and the wood crackling underneath them. Someone shook her shoulder and she looked over to see Dale looking down at her.
"Do I need to leave?"
"Who did you lose?" He asked and sat down next to her.
"They didn't tell you?" She sniffed in laughter.
"I don't listen to all that gossip." She smirked a little before she answered his question.
"My brother, right before I left or Atlanta with the Dixons."
"What was his name?"
"Ben."
"What about your parents?" She just shrugged. She didn't like to talk about her mom or her dad. Especially her mom. "See, I would think you're usually an open book."
"How's that?"
"You just seem so cheerful with the others, but you close up as soon as someone asks you things that are 'too personal'."
"There are just some things I save for later, Dale." She told him. Not in an angry way, she wasn't angry at the older man in the slightest. He just wanted to get to know her better, that was all. "I'm sure you have things like that."
"I do." He nodded and fixed his fishing hat. "I don't like to talk about my wife, but I do. I guess I'm an open book as well."
"How about I'll tell you some things later? After I know everyone a little bit better?" She bargained.
"Deal." He smiled. She stood up and told him goodnight. She saw Daryl standing outside his tent while smoking a cigarette and she walked over to him.
"What the hell's goin' on with you two?"
"Whaddya mean?"
"You know what I mean, Daryl." She rolled her eyes.
"Don' need ya gettin' on my back, Jo." He shook his head and threw his cigarette to the ground before stomping on it angrily.
"Seriously, Dixon?" She replied in annoyance. "Merle's been actin' weird for the past two days and you tell me that I need to get off your back?"
"You don' trust us?"
"Not when you're actin' like this." Daryl sighed and looked at her as he picked at his nail with his fingers. That little voice at the back of his head screamed at him to let her know what Merle was planning…what they were planning. She would be able to talk them both out of it. Let them know that these were good people. She could probably get through to Merle.
"We're jus' tryin' to make sure we're gonna be alright here." He lied.
Good job, Darlina. Dad would be proud of ya.
"That's it?"
"That's it. We're just tryin' to be careful. That's all."
Jus' a lil' more and we're in the clear.
"You swear? Merle isn't going to get outta control?"
"I swear, Johanna. For God's sake get some rest." He told her and she pressed her lips together.
"Goodnight Daryl."
There we go.