Chapter 5 - Lauren

Silently we made our way down the dirt drive. I could tell that even the caretaker my dad had hired hadn't even been here. This road hadn't been used in months if not years. When we were about halfway down the drive, Daryl signaled that we were going into the woods. I nodded my head in agreement. Why let anyone know we were coming? On the off chance that there were indeed people at the cabins, we needed our arrival to be a surprise. I never would have thought of that before the outbreak. I learned so much in the last eighteen months in order to stay alive.

I followed close behind Daryl, his crossbow up and ready for anything. The sounds of forest life surrounded us. The birds chirping, squirrels jumping from tree to tree and unknown creatures scurrying through the brush was all I heard. There was no sign or sound of walkers, so far.

I could see it getting lighter up ahead and I knew that would be clearing where the houses stood. We made our way to the edge of the brush and stayed crouched down out of sight. I was looking for anything out of place to tell me that people were there or even had been there. Nothing jumped out at me. The shutters were still closed tightly as we always did with them when the cabins were unoccupied. There weren't any chairs on the wrap around porch and the door to the storage shed was closed tight. All I saw were lots of branches littering the yard, like a storm and come through and no one cleaned up after it. It looked deserted and that was perfect.

"What do you think?" I whispered.

"It looks abandoned. No one's been there in a long time."

"That's exactly what I thought. Wanna go check it out?" I asked.

"Shit yeah."

Slowly we emerged from the forest's edge. Our weapons were up and ready. As we approached the main cabin nothing happened. No one called out, or fired at us and walkers never materialized. It was quiet yet very eerie at the same time.

"These your cabins?" Daryl asked.

"Technically they belong to our family, but yet. These are them."

"You call these cabins?" He looked at me like he didn't believe these were them. "These ain't cabin's they are fucking huge. A cabin is a one room shack in the woods."

"Well sue me. These are technically log cabins, aren't they? They just happen to be well …larger than some…most." They were bigger than the average home. I couldn't help it if my family had money.

The two buildings had a log cabin design that had been improved upon over the years. The walls were stronger than a normal house and could withstand time, weather and I'm guessing even walkers and bullets.

"Damn," Daryl muttered taking in the grandeur of the main house . "How do you suggest we get inside?"

I looked at the front door which was a solid oak door, then I made a show of it looking at the shuttered windows and I put an exaggerated perplexed look on my face. "Well?" he asked.

"Hmmm," I said pretending to be in deep though. "I know! How about using a key!" I smiled at Daryl as he looked at me like I was crazy.

"You've been carrying a key around for this place this whole time? Yeah, right."

"No, I'm not carrying around the keys, but I know where they are. My dad always kept an extra set hidden just in case. And this certainly qualifies as a 'just in case' moment. Let me look for them." I walked over to the wooden front steps and counted five steps up from the bottom. Reaching through the bushes and under that step, I felt through a mass of disgusting cobwebs that took everything for me to keep my control. Walkers I can handle, spiders scare me to death. I knew I had to keep a brave face on in front of Daryl. Can't have him thinking I'm a squeamish little girl, when I actuality am when it comes to anything with eight legs.

I felt for the key box on the inside of the step and found it. It easily popped opened it and I looked for the keys. Hallelujah! There they were. Triumphantly I showed them to Daryl. "Would you do the honors?" I asked handing the keys to him.

He took the keys out of my hand and we walked up the steps to the wrap around porch. Leaves and branches littered the decking that was covered in a fine dust. Our footprints were easily visible. The view from there was always breathtaking with the lake right out in front of us and the Appalachian Mountains in the background. This however was not the time to be enjoying the sights. Daryl put the key in the lock and turned to look at me. "Ready?"

I nodded back that I was. We were on full alert, not knowing what we would encounter inside. Daryl turned the door knob and we entered quietly. We scanned the room quickly looking for any sign of people or walkers. We saw none in the great room and then did a methodical search of all of the rooms, both upstairs and down. We found nothing.

Meeting back in the great room I was able to finally relax. "It looks secure Daryl, right? What do you think? Could we all live here?" I looked at him with every ounce of hope I could muster. I needed this… he needed this… the whole family needed this.

"It's a possibility. A good one. We just need to do more reconnaissance first. But you done good." He gave me one of his side smirks that as usual had me melting me into jelly.

Luckily there was a sofa behind me and I plopped down on it. Plumes of dust rose up and as I waved my hands around trying to clear the air, I looked up and saw the huge antler chandelier above. Lights! I jumped up and ran over to the light switch. "Cross your fingers," I told him.

"What the fuck for," he replied.

"For this." I flipped the switch and the room filled with light. "Oh my God !" I shouted. The solar panels still work! The house has electricity. Do you know what that means Daryl? Cooked meals… a cold refrigerator and HOT SHOWERS!"

As I danced a silly victory dance I could see Daryl smiling. That made me the happiest. Daryl didn't smile often, hell none of us really did, but it seems he was loosening up. Maybe for the first time after the disaster at Alexandria our lives had hope.