Survivors Folly Part 3
It had been a few weeks since the group had arrived at the prison. Things seemed to be settling nicely, aside from Silas and Krystal, as per usual. Casey had completely started ignoring Krystal, and it was making her nuts. Silas continued to begrudgingly train, but not without a few slaps to the head from Rick and Daryl. Not as if they weren't needed. She had gone on a few runs with Glenn, Maggie and Daryl, and found she liked all three of them a lot. Maggie was like the sister she always wished she had had. Glenn and she would talk about video games, a common nerd interest, and things with she and Daryl were… confusing. In the last few weeks they had spent much time up in that guard tower, sharing experiences, loss, pain and the idea of healing. Hershel had told her she must be something special, because getting Daryl to open up at all, was nearly impossible. But somehow, he just did so with her.
With her medical training, she was able to be of much help as far as making sure they had all the medical supplies they could gather. Hershel and she spent much time deciding where to put things, almost setting up a clinic of sorts within the prison. He was a sweet old man and he reminded her so much of her own grandfather. While prison was usually the last place anyone would wish to be, the world wasn't the same anymore. It never would be again. Despite the gloom of the prison, it represented safety, food, medicine and a bed to sleep in. Also, family…That's what they were all becoming. And Alexis was pleased as could be. Sure, she still had her moments of sadness and melancholy, but she was getting through it much better. Carol had become a source of strength and wisdom and adoration for Cherry. An abused wife who could now handle herself, and any others who might rub her the wrong way. She was powered now by an incredible energy and willingness to stand up for herself. She was, in Alexis's mind, a heroine.
As she and Cecelia were standing watch, she saw Rick motion her down from her perch in one of the towers. He nodded to her friend and headed down to meet her brother. Placing one arm around her shoulders, he half smiled and said, in a rather proud tone of voice, "So I hear you are getting pretty good with the runs. Maggie and Glenn say you're a natural. There is an itty bitty town about twenty minutes from here. Might have been scavenged already, not sure. But I was gonna send Maggie and Glenn. But I think I would rather send you with Daryl. Maybe see how you two work together as a team. What ya say, shortcake?"
She nodded, rather shyly, "Sure…that sounds great." Rick chuckled and raised a brow. "He is gassed up and ready to take off on his bike up at the gate. Ya ever been on a motorcycle?", he asked before quickly shaking his head. "What the hell am I saying? You were wild as hell as a teenager. I am sure you been on them more than once." She laughed softly. It had been years and years since she had been on one of those things, and this one was a monstrosity of old parts. Breathing in deeply, she grabbed her backpack and her pistol, the machete concealed within the backpack. She had gotten pretty proficient with it, and it was always better to use other things than the guns as the sound tended to draw in more. And with just the two of them, not a smart choice. She hugged her brother and then mussed Carl's hair, playfully, while slowly walking down to the gate to meet up with her redneck, crossbow wielding, partner in crime.
As she walked up, he looked back over his shoulder. Perhaps he could sense her apprehension. Perhaps, it was the almost frightened way she looked at the motorcycle. He grinned and over the roar of the engine he yelled, "Don't tell me Baby Grimes is scared of a hog now. All you have to do is get on and hold on tight to me. I will do all the rest, alright? Trust me…I lived most my life on one of these things." She walked over, slowly straddling the seat behind him and wrapped her arms around him, snugly. He looked back, and laughed. "Its alright. Ya don't need no helmet. I promise I will be real careful with your delicate behind, Miss Grimes."
The engine roared to life, as Carol pulled back the gates, with Carl's help and off they were down the dirt path away from the prison. She held on so tightly, as every shake and shimmy from the engine made her fear falling on her ass off the back end of the thing. She kept her eyes closed most of the ride, her face buried in his shoulder and her arms tight around his midsection. Soon enough, the small town Rick spoke of came into view. Looking up slowly, she seen there were a few walkers shambling about, but nothing they couldn't handle between the two of them.
They came to a stop right outside of a little general store, but it was the guns and ammo store across the way that caught her interest. Any chance of any ammo or weapons being left behind was worth being checked out. Once off the bike, she slung her backpack over her shoulder and headed off in that direction. That's when she felt his hand grip her elbow and pull her back, slightly. "Nuh uh….You're sticking with me. You might be impressin' some folk, but I am still gonna keep you close by till I know you can do this without blinkin'. No worries, though. We will look in the other shop before we head back, alrighty?"
She nodded, knowing that Daryl had been doing this a lot longer than she had. Hell, from what he said, he was doing that since before the world went to pieces. He kept hold of her as he walked to the general good store, and slowly pushed open the door. The walkers hadn't seemed to notice their presence, as a building was still smoldering down the block. Looking all over inside, he came back and pulled her inside, securing the door behind them. "Looks like theres a lot in here, Missy. So I hope you got plenty of room in that sack there of your's. We are going to be everyone's heroes tonight, I tell ya now." She smiled and started looking around, gathering up all she could. While the prison had plenty of staples, they never forget that they needed to stay stocked up, especially now, with more mouths to feed, and the only thing that ever got Krystal off the idea of humping anything on two legs, was food.
Daryl had gathered quite a good bit himself, including two bottles of rum, one of Tequila and 4 bottles of wine. He smiled and winked at her as he whispered, "Tonight, we are gonna celebrate, Miss Grimes. A job well done. We are stacked to the gills here, but we can head over to the weapon shop, see what we can find. But be careful. The coast ain't clear and I can't rightly say how long they will be distracted. So come on, lets move." She couldn't have agreed more as they made their way to the door.
Once they stepped out however, they realized they weren't as undetected as they had first thought. And there were more of them than they first believed. Right now would be a horrible time to pull a gun, so she reached into her bag and pulled out her machete. She took out two of them, rather quickly, and Daryl was going through a small hoard. Heading out to help him, she mowed down five more as Daryl looked back at her, pulling one of his arrows out of another's head. "Well, alright, Miss Grimes. Way to go. Now lets get our asses over to that shop before anymore come trolling around."
They quickly made their way to the shop and as usual, Daryl went in and checked before allowing her in the door. No one wanted any surprises. They found a few guns, some ammo, a couple silencers, and one very nice, very sharp katana that was over fifty years old. How someone hadn't looted this already was beyond anyone's guess. But as soon as she picked it up, she smiled brightly. He walked over to the girl and nudged her, playfully. "Looks like ya found yourself a new toy. Sharp, too. Might do in a pinch. But we got all we gonna get out of here. So lets hit the road, make it back before sundown."
She wrapped the katana and its holster around her and he looked back for a moment, almost drinking in the sight of the young brunette. "Now that….that's sexy. You are a pure vision, Baby Grimes. But hell, ya always were." A small blush rose to her cheeks, as she grabbed her stuff and walked toward the door. She smiled softly as she whispered, "You're gonna make me feel like a schoolgirl again, Mister Dixon." Before she knew what was happening or could even process it, he had wrapped one arm around her waist, the other fisted her auburn locks, as he took her lips in a passionate and heated kiss. She didn't resist, but she couldn't say she wasn't almost shocked. Once their lips released, he looked down at her, a smirk curling his own. "Lets go, Miss Lexis. In this life I learned one thing: Seize the moment. You never know which one will be your last." She nodded, unable to form words, as her knees were still weak from the sudden kiss, but there was no time to ponder it right now. Another crowd of the dead was forming and they needed to get the hell out of Dodge.