Between the Thorns

Chapter 39

Daryl was barely hugging the edge of sleep when a soft knock on their door woke him the rest of the way up. He shifted his body away from Jean, smiling softly as she mirrored his movements with her body, snuggling back into his side and wrapping her arm around him more tightly. He pressed a soft kiss into her sleep rumpled hair. Her slim leg slid up higher as she hiked it over his thigh, softly bucking her hips against him. The heat was radiating off her core. And since they'd both fallen asleep naked the night before, he could feel the small patch of hair on her mound pressing against his thigh.

After knocking softly a second time, Gavin eased the door open, sticking his head into the room. Daryl pulled the blankets up, making sure Jean's body was covered before he gestured to Gavin, granting him permission to enter.

"Somethin' wrong?," Daryl asked. He knew Gavin well enough by now to know that the man wouldn't be poking into his bedroom early in the morning unless he actually needed something.

"Everything's fine," Gavin assured him. "We've gotta make our drop at the Sanctuary today. You're going. And you're not coming back here after. Negan wants you for something else." Daryl scrubbed the rest of the sleep from his eyes, nodding to indicate he understood. "I wasn't sure if you wanted to take Jean and the girls back to the Sanctuary or leave them here. Truck leaves in an hour."

"Thanks fer the heads up," Daryl said, gripping Gavin's hand and giving it a brief shake before the man retreated from his room.

"Time ta wake up," Daryl whispered, rubbing his hand over the soft skin of Jean's back. She whined in protest, her hand ghosting down over his stomach to rub at his growing erection. She wrapped her fingers around him, tugging at the base of his dick. Her hips bucked against him again. But this time her movements seemed more purposeful. Daryl groaned, the sound a low rumble in his throat.

"Gotta talk to ya about somethin'," he whispered halfheartedly, not really wanting her to stop her from stroking her hand up and down the length of his dick. Her hand was warm and her touch was just rough enough without crossing the line into painful. Daryl enjoyed her ministrations for another minute before he gently pushed her hand away and shifted his body under the covers. Settling between her hips, he thrust inside her. She was still slick from the love they made the night before, helping him to slide inside her tight slit without hurting her. Jean spread her legs eagerly for him, still half asleep as she hummed her soft moans of pleasure into his neck. Her orgasm didn't come on in a hard pounding explosion like it usually did. Instead, it came in slow waves that radiated through her entire body. Daryl came with a slightly louder groan that he tried to muffle by burying his face into her hair. When he rolled off, Jean turned, tucking herself back into his side.

"Good morning," Jean murmured. From the way she was snuggling into him with her sleepy head on his chest, Daryl knew she had every intent of going directly back to sleep. He rubbed his hand over her back again, jostling her body slightly.

"Gotta talk to ya," he said. Jean let out a small sweet groan of protest before she finally blinked her eyes open.

"It's okay," she said, trailing her finger over his chest and down his side. "I like waking up to you inside me." Daryl smiled. He wasn't really worried about that. After all the ways he'd had her, Daryl was quite sure that half asleep or not, consent was clearly implied between the two of them at this point.

"Not that," he said, brushing Jean's hair back away from her face. "I gotta go on a run. Don't know fer how long. Gotta know if ya wanna stay here or go back to yer apartment."

"What do you think?," Jean asked. She trusted Daryl's judgment. More now than she had before she came to the outpost with him.

"I think without me around, you'd be safer back at the apartment," Daryl admitted. He knew Gavin would keep an eye on Jean and the girls. But the outpost still wasn't as secure as the Sanctuary. He'd feel better with them there. Especially after what happened with the tribute pickup the day before.

"Okay," Jean said. "Let's go back to sleep." Daryl hugged her against him, wishing that they could do as she suggested and sleep the rest of the morning away. But he doubted that would go over well with the man in charge. No one made Negan wait.

"Can't," Daryl said. "Convoy leaves in an hour and ya gotta be on it." Jean let out one more small groan of protest before she reluctantly climbed out of bed and pulled her clothes on. She woke the girls and had them get their things packed back up. When the convoy was ready to go, they were already inside one of the big trucks. Lily leaned into Daryl, resting her sleepy head on his shoulder.

Wherever Negan was taking him, the man was in a hurry to get there. Because Daryl barely had time to carry Jean's things back to the apartment for her before he was being rushed back down through the factory halls and into one of the large armored trucks. It irritated Daryl slightly, not being told where they were going or what the plan was. But that was Negan's way. No one ever knew the full plan except for him. He might explain what they were doing to Daryl. Or he might not. Daryl supposed that it didn't really matter either way, since he would be expected to go along with whatever the man had planned whether he liked it or not. Negan really wasn't much different from Rick. Rick just liked to put a bow on his bullshit and pretend it was a present.

When the truck finally began to slow down, Daryl glanced out the window. It appeared that they were pulling into some sort of large junkyard or garbage dump. Daryl furrowed his brows, deciding from the smell that it must be the latter of the two. There was a wall around the place that appeared to have been constructed from refuse found in the dump. People can't really be living in this filthy dump, Daryl thought to himself. He wasn't picky about his living quarters. But even he would object to residing in such a smelly disgusting place. The saviors unloaded from their large trucks, falling into line behind Negan and Regina as they approached a large steel gate.

Negan tapped his bat on the gate, the sound echoing off the metal. When the doors opened and they began to move forward, Daryl realized they were walking through a large metal shipping container that had been buried in refuse. When they emerged out the other side, they filed into an open area. It was obvious from the way things were arranged that a large group of people did in fact live in this disgusting dump. Daryl adjusted his grip on his crossbow, unsure if the dumpster people were expecting them or if a few of them were about to get the same treatment as Glenn and Abraham. The thought of that gave Daryl a chill despite the sickening heat that seemed to be radiating off the large heaps of trash.

A skinny woman with a wonky haircut stepped forward and extended her hand to Negan. When he took it, Daryl let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Whatever Negan wanted from the group, at least they weren't here to Lucille these dumpster dwellers. Negan chatted back and forth with the woman. Daryl felt like he could only understand about half of what was being said. Partly because they were talking about some deal he wasn't aware of. And partly because the woman was talking half in some sort of weird gibberish. Guns and the number twelve were mentioned a few times. Daryl was also sure he heard Rick's name mentioned a few times, which caused him a bit of concern. Not that there was anything he could do for the man now.

Negan shook the woman's hand again. Daryl hoped that meant they could leave soon. The smell of hot garbage was making him sick. And since the man next to him had pulled up his undershirt to cover his nose and mouth, Daryl guessed he wasn't the only one that was in a hurry to get out of this dump. The weird haircut woman pressed forward, walking past Negan and inserting herself between the rows of heavily armed men. Despite her lack of weapons, the soldiers were quick to move, allowing her room to pass through without getting too close to them. She stopped in front of Daryl, her eyes lingering on his arms before she turned towards Negan.

"One of the twelve?," she asked, pointing at Daryl. Negan shook his head. He promised her twelve survivors. Not twelve of his people. "One of the ten?," she suggested with a hopeful grin. One look at Negan's face and she put her hands in the air in mock surrender.

"I lay with him now?," she asked, clearly switching tactics.

"Well now that's up to him," Negan informed her with a laugh.

"You. Come with." The woman gestured for Daryl to follow her. When all he did was stare at her like she was nuts, she pulled her shirt off, displaying her small puckered breasts and making the demand for what she wanted more obvious. Daryl cringed away, taking a step back. There was no way he was going anywhere with this woman. Aside from the fact that she was not attractive to him in the slightest, she was talking like a weirdo and she smelled like hot garbage. He wouldn't fuck her if she was the last woman on earth. Which, thank god, she wasn't.

"No way lady," he announced, earning him a round of laughter from the men around him.

"Come on Daryl," Negan teased. "Haven't you ever heard of taking one for the team?"

"I don't see you volunteerin'," Daryl huffed, bringing on another round of laughter. He wouldn't usually risk talking back to Negan. But he could tell the big man was too amused with the entire situation to care about Daryl's minor indiscretion.

The woman headed back towards Negan. She stared at the man, looking him up and down a few times before she shrugged her shoulders and gestured for him to follow her. The look she gave him was like a child that asked for dessert and was offered an apple instead. It wasn't what she wanted but she was still going to eat it. Daryl had to fight back a grin and he guessed he wasn't the only one. Negan sauntered off after the woman, informing her of all the disgusting things he was about to do to her.

"You're about to get the fuck of yer life," he chirped. "I'll put it in every hole you've got!" At that comment, the woman stopped. She turned, looking Negan up and down again.

"Big talk," she said, clearly unimpressed with his banter.

"My mouth ain't the only thing that's big," he announced. Negan yanked his zipper down, whipping out his erection and shaking it at the woman. As he promised, his penis was large. But his ability to maintain an erection despite the god awful stench of the place was more impressive than the size. Daryl had no idea how he was managing it. He would rather take a bite out of the closest tin can than have sex in this dump.

It appeared that the woman was impressed enough with Negan's display. Because she led the man inside another large metal shipping container and closed the doors. A few moments later, Daryl found himself standing around awkwardly with his bow in his hands, listening to a rather loud hump session. The sounds were being amplified by the metal walls of the shipping container. And a few of his companions were unable to hold their laughter any longer.

"What in hell is going on in this fucking place," the man next to Daryl grumbled through the thin material of his t-shirt. Daryl just shook his head. The apocalypse was unpredictable. But some days were a little more unpredictable than others. And this was certainly one of those. "It fucking stinks so bad," the man added. "Whatever he's doing to that bitch I hope he does it quick." Daryl nodded his agreement to that. And thankfully, they didn't have to wait much longer before Negan came strutting back out of the shipping container. The woman did not re-emerge. But her people opened the metal doors so their group could exit. Once they climbed back into the big truck, the man driving took one sniff of Negan before jamming his hands down on the buttons that made all the windows roll down.
"Step on the gas," Negan ordered. "I need a goddamn shower."