Chapter 8
One Month Later:
Desiree was growing anxious. Not only had the weather dipped 30 degrees in the past month, but she was tired of running from place to place. They never stayed in one location more than a week and the group was a complete mess. Rick was not the man that she had first met. He was cold and withdrawn from the rest group. He and Lori had hardly spoken to each other since the night Shane and Andrea died and the biters destroyed the farm.
She mainly kept to herself or stayed by Daryl, now and then engaging in a conversation with Glenn or Carol or Maggie. She could see that everyone was losing weight, and felt helpless in the situation. There weren't as many animals around to hunt for and all they could rely on was scavaging houses and buildings for food.
They hardly made it to December, and they were already weak and miserable. Most nights, everyone just huddled around the fire. No one talked, they just sat there. They were all tired, hungry, and cold. The one upside to the winter was the biters were slower than how they used to be. Hershel thought that the cold weather was literally freezing them, making them much clumsier and slower.
It was mid-December when they packed up their stuff in an old office building they were currently hiding in. Carl was helping Lori to the car while everyone else hauled the few cans that were found in the office kitchen.
She took down a walker that was creeping behind the truck and stabbed it with her knife in the forehead. "All clear," She said wiping her now bloody hands onto her jeans. Everyone hopped into the cars. Glenn, Maggie, Hershel, and Beth were in the Hyundai. Lori, Carl, Rick, Carol, and T-Dogg were in Hershel's truck, and Daryl and Desiree were in the truck with his motorcycle in the back.
They didn't say much to each other, besides the occasional comment or two. They drove for almost 5 hours before driving into a small town. Rick's truck, which was in front of theirs, motioned with his hand to pull up next to him. Desiree rolled down her window.
"There should be a couple grocery stores around; we're going to go check them out. And Glenn and Maggie are going to go look for guns; you should probably go with them." Desiree nodded and rolled up the window. "Still bothers me, you know…" She mumbled as they drove along the abandoned streets. "What?" Daryl asked, looking over at her. "Having someone constantly telling you what to do and what not to do… Just pisses me off."
He smirked and dropped the conversation, knowing that it wasn't headed anywhere good. They found Maggie and Glenn in front of a gun shop. "What are you guys doing here?" Glenn asked. "Well hello to you too..." Desiree said as she hopped out of the car.
"Maggie and I were going to do this on our own…" He said quietly. "But Rick told us to-" Daryl cut her off by putting his hand on her shoulder. "They don't want us there because they're gonna do it…" He said, not trying to be discreet about it at all. "Oh," Desiree answered, laughing, "I guess we'll go look somewhere else then," She said with a wink. Glenn and Maggie looked very uncomfortable standing there.
"Have fun," She said with a wave, before turning around to Daryl. The couple ran inside and locked the door. "Let's try down this road…" He said, pointing down a side road off the main street. "You see that?" She asked pointing to of the buildings down the road. They jogged down the street until they came up to an opening on their right. "A motel!" Desiree exclaimed with a smile. "It would be nice to sleep on a bed for once." Daryl mumbled, walking up the long, crescent shaped driveway.
She made sure her pistol and knife were in place before aiming her crossbow at the door. "Ready?" He asked, and she nodded in return. They both quietly snuck into the main lobby. As Daryl looked into the gym and pool room, Desiree put a broom that she found in the janitor's closet into the handles of the stairwell door to make sure no stray biters could get through.
"Desiree!" Daryl whispered to her across the hall. She ran to the door and looked inside. Around 10 zombies were all shuffling around the restaurant. Daryl shot one, hitting in perfectly in the eye. "One," He said as he reloaded his crossbow. "What?" She asked as she shot another one. The remaining biters slowly began noticing them and stumbled their way to the pair.
"I'm keeping track of how many I can take down. Make sure I can still take down more than you." "A challenge," She said with a grin, "I like it." With that she shot one and stabbed another with her knife, throwing it onto a nearby table. "3," She said, grinning at Daryl.
Daryl smirked and took out his knife, throwing it at one that must have been the bell hop at the motel. "Quit showing off," She laughed, reloading her crossbow once again. They continued to shoot and stabb the zombies, and when they were all dead both counted 5 kills each. "I'll beat you next time," He said as he cleaned his knife with a napkin from one of the tables.
"Let's clear out the bedrooms. Then we can go get everybody and bring them over here," Desiree said grabbing a ring of keys from a drawer in the front desk. None of the rooms had biters, but there were a couple dead bodies. "Lucky bastards…" Daryl said as they dragged them out the back into the parking lot, "Probably had no idea what was going on." "Yah… Makes me wonder… is it better to be dead and peaceful or alive and suffering…" Desiree mumbled as she threw a lighter onto the pile of dead bodies.
They watched as they lit up in flames. They consumed the bodies and finally died down, leaving nothing but ash. "I'll go get the group if you just want to stay here…" Daryl said as they walked back into the motel. "Okay…" She said plopping down in one of the large, overstuffed couches that were positioned in the lobby. "Be right back," He said walking back out the front door.
She was actually pretty happy with the day so far, it was much more pleasant than most of the others recently. She sat there patiently waiting for the group to come. As she waited, her mind began to wander. First, she thought about the group in general. She pretty much fit right in now and it caused her to wonder if she chose the right path. That staying with the group was the right decision.
She then thought about Daryl. The way his blue eyes crinkled when he smiled that rare smile of his. That leather vest with the wings on it. His shaggy, disheveled brown hair. She couldn't stop thinking about him. She snapped out of it when she saw the cars coming up the driveway.
She went out to greet everyone and helped unload the cars. "Great find!" Lori said, as she got out of the car holding her now rather large belly. "Thanks," She said with a small smile. "Desiree, show everyone to their rooms, we'll get the rest of the supplies. She nodded obediently and helped the girls and Carl inside.
There were 6 rooms on the floor of the motel. 3 on each side of the hallway. Rick and Carl shared one. Carol and Lori shared another. Glenn and Maggie got their own room, even with the stares Hershel sent their way. Beth and Hershel got another; leaving T-Dogg, Daryl, and Desiree were left with the remaining two rooms.
"Well…" T-Dogg said clapping his hands together, "I haven't been able to have my own room since I left my apartment in Atlanta and would love some time alone." "Ummm... I guess…?" Desiree answered slowly.
"Awesome! Thank's Ya'll!" He said running into the room. Awkwardly, they headed to 'their' room. She could feel the stares boring into her back and when she turned around before walking into the room, she could have sworn she saw Carol and Lori wink at her. Blushing, she walked in and closed the door quickly behind her. She could just imagine the conversations people were having about them right then.
Not that she didn't mind the thought of the two of them… you know. But she wasn't sure where she stood with Daryl. She wasn't sure if he liked her back, or if he just saw her as a friend. She couldn't believe she was thinking like that! That kind of thought process was for a normal type of world, this was a whole other ball game. This was the kind of world where you acted first, and thought later. She tried to remember that as she turned to face him.