Ginger Tea

Sarah

By far, the best thing about being on the boat was the fact that they had power. The yacht had ample battery to sail at a leisurely pace while everyone in the group got to enjoy the luxuries of hot showers and a full set of kitchen appliance. Sarah felt so lucky that they happened to meet up with such a kind and well-to-do fellow such as Scott.

One positive side effect of the zombie apocalypse had been the chance for Sarah to work on her tan. In the city, she never went tanning in the common UV beds. Her fear of germs was one restriction; who knew if they really sanitized the beds after every use? Also, due to her medical training, something that put her at such a high risk of cancer seemed counterintuitive. So until the plane went down and the four of them started traveling by foot, she had been pale as a ghost. Now she sported bronzed features that would make the other doctors she worked with gape in envy.

It was day two of the journey by sea, and Sarah laid out on one of the several neon-colored deck chairs, looking up at the seagulls flying in circles above the boat. She had been fortunate enough to score one of the bikinis that Scott had stored away for future guests.

Sarah smiled on the inside whenever Daryl looked over at her, his eyes tracing her body. She knew she was driving him crazy in anticipation to get off the boat, and she liked it. At the same time, however, she couldn't help but to feel badly for him. He'd been seasick ever since they left the dock and it didn't appear to be getting any better. So while she at least was able to enjoy the sun and ocean scenery, he mostly hid inside the cabin.

"Ew," Rosalyn commented as he leaned over the side of the boat and heaved, though nothing came up. Sarah gave her discouraging glare and got up from the lounge chair. She'd filled in Rosalyn about everything that happened between her and Daryl, but Rose was back to acting rude to him, probably due to her dislike of his older brother.

Sarah walked over to him and placed her small hand on his muscular shoulder. "Come on Daryl, let's go downstairs. You'll feel better when you can't see the ocean."

"Why the hell did I ever agree to this?" he closed his eyes and rubbed his temples before reluctantly following her to the downstairs cabin.

A mess of sleeping bags beheld them. There were three bedrooms on the boat. Lori and Rick gained the first room because they were married. Glenn and Maggie got the next room because they were the only other legitimate couple, though Sarah couldn't look at them in the same way after their near encounter on the beach only a few nights before. The group insisted that Scott should inhabit the captain's quarters, since he had taken it upon himself to offer his house and boat for the group's purpose. He was reluctant at first, not wanting to appear rude, but eventually complied.

That left Merle, Sarah, Daryl, Marco, T-Dog, Rosalyn, and Carl to stretch out their sleeping bags in the main living area, where they were all packed in like sardines.

Sarah walked Daryl to his sleeping bag and told him to lie down. He followed her directions and rested his head. "Good," she said. "I'll be right back; I'm going to fix you something to drink that'll make you feel much better."

She walked to the kitchen and put some water on the stove to make a ginger tea, which she remembered as an ancient remedy for motion-sickness. Sarah delighted in the role of caregiver. Obviously, as a doctor, she had liked being a caregiver too; but it felt different to treat someone that she was attracted to and was at least somewhat emotionally invested in. It gave her a good feeling, one of importance, like she wasn't completely useless to the survival of the group. She wasn't going around killing walkers, but hey, if anyone needed an herbal or even prescription remedy, Sarah was there to save the day.

Sarah returned to him and knelt on her knees at his side. She handed him the mug and told him to drink it all.

After one sip, he made a face and looked up at her. "What the hell, are y'all trying to make me more sick?"

"It's ginger, and it'll help. Just drink it. I've heard the stories about you and your survival. You can eat a raw squirrel and dig around in a zombie's stomach, but not drink a glass of hot tea? Damn, Daryl, you really are a piece of work." She smiled at him.

He gave her an "oh whatever" look and propped himself up to drink the rest of the tea in one gulp, obviously not finding the fact that she was teasing him amusing. He groaned and said "I'm gonna be sick again."

"No you aren't. Just lay back down, your body needs to get used to the swaying of the boat. It's nice and calm, see?" she added as he tilted his head back and rested it on his pillow.

"Well don't describe it, that only makes it worse," he sighed.

Sarah looked around to make sure that no one else was downstairs with them. She leaned down and kissed him, tasting the ginger on his breath.

"Feeling like shit isn't the only reason I can't wait to get off this damn thing," he said. He looked up at her for a moment and then closed his eyes, resting his head once more.

"I'm excited too," she said. Each minute that they got closer to Cambridge made Sarah's body want his more and more. It was plain torturous at night, with their sleeping bags pressed up against each other. Sometimes when the cabin was pitch black, he would slip his hand inside her sleeping bag and feel her up. Now, in the middle of the day and plain view of the stairs, she had to resist climbing on top of him and making love. When such thoughts entered her mind, Sarah decided it was best to get herself out of such a tempting situation. She told him she was going back upstairs to join the others and gave him one last kiss before doing so.

Merle didn't even ask about his brother when Sarah reached the surface. He was too busy getting wasted off of Scott's impressive bar stock and eye-raping the bikini-clad Rosalyn every chance he got, to her disdain.

Finally, she got fed up. "Do you need something, Merle?"

"I can think of a few things I want," he said suggestively, giving her a cocky smirk. Sarah shook her head; he would never learn. How hard was it to get the fact that she was a feminist and didn't simply bow to the wishes of men? Apparently, it was fairly difficult in Merle's case. Sarah was glad that his ignorance didn't appear to be genetic—Daryl never displayed the same possessive male tendencies that Merle did, not that they were an actual couple or anything.

Rick and Lori were busy talking to Scott at the front of the yacht. In her mind, Sarah referred to them as the "Power Triad", those with all the authority. Rick and Scott called the major shots and Lori, as Rick's wife, distributed the chores to the other women. Well, besides Rosalyn because she refused to do any housecleaning or cooking. The chores assigned to her had to be strictly survival related, such as gathering supplies. Sarah didn't mind the delegation, however, she just found it somewhat amusing.

Glenn napped in the sun while Maggie chatted with Rosalyn, mostly about their past lives. Sarah heard Rose mention something about how they should have legalized marijuana a long time ago, not that it mattered anymore anyways. Maggie looked offended and sharply disagreed with her on the subject.

T-Dog was leaning against the rail and looking out over the ocean with a serene look on his face. Sarah was about to ask where Marco was when his voice appeared behind her. "This whole thing reminds me of spring break fourteen years ago."

It felt like an eternity had passed since their high school days. Things had been so simple then…The trip really was a good one: they had flown to the Caribbean, courtesy of Sarah's parents, who paid for four tickets and expected Sarah, Rose, Josh (Rose's boyfriend at the time), and Rose's little sister Emily to go on the trip. Sarah and Rosalyn had never intended Emily to go; it was just their way of getting an extra ticket for Marco, who Sarah was forbidden to spend time with.

So Sarah, Rose, Marco, and Josh spent six days of paradise on a cruise; it was also the point where Sarah lost her virginity to him, something she regretted every day since. Marco was a good enough guy, but he'd always considered taking her virginity as some sort of personal achievement or claim over her, like a territory bearing a new country's flag.

"It was probably the best spring break we ever went on," he said, gazing at her warmly. She noticed that his face had finally healed from his previous brawl with Daryl. He put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her in as they both looked out to the sea. "You know, if our flight would have ever made it to Florida, I would have asked you to go steady with me again. Just one last time and I would have made it worth it to you."

"You know I would have said no," she smiled sadly. Marco was her best friend, but she had given him way too many chances in the love department. All he did was let her down eventually. In the beginning, whenever they got back together, it was always wonderful: he'd buy her flowers, compliment her constantly, and make her feel like the most special woman in the world. It usually took about two months for things to start going downhill again and they'd start arguing. He'd broken her trust numerous times, but each time she fell back in love with him, or at least the idea of him as he was whenever they first started dating, though that always seemed to be an illusion. When Sarah thought about it, she didn't even know who Marco really was. Was he the one who cherished her or was he the one that broke her heart again and again? Too often, she couldn't decide and instead of pondering on it, it became easier and nearly habit to give him a second chance. This time, however, she wouldn't give in. She had Daryl to focus her energy on now; until that point, she always put Marco first.

"I don't believe you." He smiled at her with a nearly inexplicable air of confidence. She hated it when he was overly cocky. His arm over her shoulder felt suffocating and unwanted all of a sudden.

"Well, it doesn't matter now, does it?" she pointed out. "We never got to Florida. Guess it wasn't meant to be."

"You're honestly giving that hick another chance before me?" He laughed to himself in apparent disbelief. "I thought I'd never see the damn day."

"I thought you didn't care and that you just wanted me to be happy," Sarah said, repeating out his words from just a few days before. "What happened to that?'

"Well of course I do. I just know you'd be happier with me." Marco squeezed her shoulder.

She removed his arm and said "I'm never getting back together with you Marco, you know that last time was the last straw with you. And if you don't believe that, there's else I can say to convince you."

He looked hurt for a moment, but quickly recovered and walked away toward Rose. She watched him sit down, and as she did, Merle caught her eye with a suspicious glare. Great, now Daryl's brother probably thought there was something going on between them too.

After that moment, Sarah was nervous every time Merle went downstairs, in fear that he would tell Daryl something misleading about Sarah and Marco. She could understand why it might look suspicious from an outsider, but Marco and Sarah knew each other as deeply as two people could, and a friendly arm around the shoulder wasn't a big deal to them. All she could think of him now was as a brother, and she hoped Daryl would understand that if Merle did end up saying something.

Sarah went downstairs to check on Daryl again, feeling more apprehensive with each passing step.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, laying down next to him on the floor. His eyes were closed, but she figured he wasn't asleep and was just resting his eyes. When she began talking, he opened them and looked at her. He seemed docile enough, so Sarah doubted Merle said anything to him.

"Little better. Can't believe that shitty drink worked."

"Oh, want another glass?"

"No," he said shortly, though he seemed to be in better spirits. "Think I'll wait as long as possible for that hell."

"I still can't believe you're complaining so much! It's really not that bad."

He gave her an incredulous look. "And y'all have tasted it?"

"I used to drink tea all the time," she laughed when he made a face. "Anyways, I'm glad you're feeling better. I think Scott's going to get a game of poker going tonight, so you should come up to the deck with us later."

"We'll see," he said, giving her a noncommittal shrug.

He leaned over to her and kissed her lips slowly. "Thanks for helpin' me out today."

"Don't mention it. Oh! I wanted to talk to you about Merle…he keeps making advances to Rosalyn, and she's getting pretty fed up. I was wondering if you could say a few words to him about it…?" Sarah hoped that he wouldn't be offended by the fact that she brought up the subject; fortunately, he showed no signs of it.

"Like anything I'd say would make a damn bit of difference," Daryl scoffed. "It's best just to let him learn the hard way; let him get a slap in the face or the cold shoulder, then he'll quit."

"Well that shouldn't take too long, I'm pretty sure Rosalyn is on the brink with it all. She hates it when guys are too forward. Being on the boat doesn't help because we're all forced to be together all the time. When we get to the labs, things will be better."

Daryl nodded and told her he was going back to sleep. She watched him after he closed his eyes, though she felt a little creepy doing so. His hair was shaggy and fell in front of his face; she decided that she would offer to cut it for him when they got to shore. She watched as his breathing became steadier, a signal that meant his brain had switched from producing beta waves to alpha waves.

After a while, she went back up to the deck. The adults were all talking in a big group on one end of the boat. Carl was sitting on the tip of the other end, his feet dangling precariously over. She wanted to avoid talking to Marco and Rosalyn at the moment, so she approached the child that she was becoming very fond of. Sarah had always loved being around children; in some ways, they were wiser than most adults that she knew.

"Don't fall in," she said as she walked up behind him. Sarah hoped she didn't scare him and make him fall off in surprise.

Fortunately, he didn't take alarm in hearing her voice. "I won't! I'm being careful."

"Good, because I bet there are lots of hungry sharks down there."

"Shark attacks are rumors…they usually just eat other fish."

Sarah was often impressed at Carl's knowledge of the animal kingdom. "What kind of fish?"

"It depends on the shark, but pretty much anything smaller than they are." He gave her a know-it-all look.

"What's your favorite animal, Carl?" she asked, climbing on the end of the ship and sitting down next to him.

"Dolphins. They're super smart, even have a brain the size of a human's!" Suddenly he looked at her with wonder. "You're a scientist, did you ever research animals?"

It was refreshing to Sarah to see such pursuit of knowledge in an individual, and to find someone who actually seemed to value learning. "No," she admitted, hoping she wasn't disappointing him too much. "That was Hershel's field; he was a veterinarian. He probably didn't do research on animals, but he took care of them for other people. I do the same thing, except with humans. Sometimes I research too."

"Like for the cure?"

"Yes, like for the cure," she nodded.

The two had been so preoccupied in their conversation that they failed to notice the billowing black clouds that the wind was blowing their way, from the south. In alarm, Sarah ran across the deck to Scott and pointed. "We're about to have a problem. They look like storm clouds."

In confirmation to her statement, the sky let loose a thunderous tremor. The wind noticeably picked up. Nervously, she asked Scott "The boat will be able to handle it, right?"

"Well, I've never had it in a storm before…I don't think it'll fall apart or anything. We might get blown off course though…"

"Oh, that's reassuring!" Lori threw her hands up in exasperation "You've never driven this in a storm? It might not fall apart?"

Scott was about to answer when Rick interjected. "Everyone, just stay calm. We're going to be fine. You should all go below deck until it passes. Scott and I will handle things up here."

As soon as they got below deck, violent waves began to rock the boat, and Daryl jolted awake. "What the hell-?"

"A storm," Sarah said.

"Oh, perfect."