Chapter 7 – Lauren
"Before we get too comfortable, we still have work to do, Lauren," Daryl reminded me.
Sighing, I knew he was right, but I really wanted a hot shower so I compromised. "Let me turn on the hot water heater first and then we can figure out what needs to be done next?"
"Make it fast."
Rolling my eyes at him, I trotted down the hall way until I got to the mud room and opened the closet inside. I flipped the switch for the hot water heater and it started to hum. "Heat up fast sucker, I have a date with a hot shower," I told the machine. Instantly the image of a hot steamy shower and Daryl naked in it popped into my head. "Oh Lord," I thought to myself. "That would be just heaven."
"What would be heaven?" Daryl asked.
Shit, had I just said that out loud? Instantly my cheeks turned red as I realized I was having toes curling steamy thoughts of the man standing in front of me. "Umm… a shower… having a shower again would be great."
"Do thoughts of showers always make you blush, Lauren?" he smirked.
"Don't we have work to do," I said rushing past him. There's no way he could have known what I was thinking, no way. "What do you want to do next biker boy?"
"Let's check out the rest of the buildings, the dock and I want to see the lay of the land. We'll need to have some defenses here against walkers and I want to give Rick an idea of what to expect," he let me know. "And Lauren?" I turned to look at him. "Cut it with the biker boy shit."
"Ha! I'll see," I told him with a laugh. I then walked over to the door and took some keys off a hook. "These are the keys for the bunkhouse and the shed." I handed them to Daryl and we went out to explore.
About an hour later we had a good idea on what would make this place work for us. The bunkhouse was in as good shape as the main cabin. Both only needed a really good cleaning. I could see the wheels turning in Daryl's head on what we could do to make this place safer.
We were walking back to the cabin when Daryl said, "I think this can work for us. Since there ain't any walls to keep us safe, we'll need to come up with a plan, maybe those spikes we used at the prison gate, but I think we should all come here."
"Yay!" I said jumping up in the air. "It feels right doesn't it?"
"Yep, it does. Got a question."
"What's that?"
"What's town like? I think we need to check that out before heading back."
We walked back inside and I sat down on the sofa. I motioned for him to join me. I didn't think the dust would bother him. It didn't. "It's a typical small town with a main street that has a grocery store, hardware store, a church or two and a few other stores. Nothing special. The bigger town of Radford is about half hour away that has one of those chain grocery stores, a Target plus a whole lot more."
"Let's drive through the town before we head back."
"Okay, but please let me grab a quick shower before we head out," I begged. I could see he was about to say no. "I'll be quick. I promise. Please…pretty please." I got down on my knees giving him the best puppy dog eyes I could.
"Make it quick," was all he said.
Impulsively I kissed him on his cheek and ran upstairs to the bedroom I typically used when I stayed here. I started stripping off clothes the minute I hit the room. As I stood under the steaming hot water in the stall shower suddenly past memories of what my life used to be and my family flooded over me. God, I so missed my parents… my old life, I missed everyone. I crouched down in the corner and lay my forehead on my knees. I cried for everything and everyone that I had lost. Even after all this time, I hadn't really accepted what had happened to the world and that most likely my family were all gone. My heart finally broke as the truth ultimately hit me. I'd been surviving in a nightmare world for the past almost two years and there was no sign of it getting any better. The water from the shower ran down my face and mixed with my tears as I sobbed uncontrollably. I didn't realize that Daryl had stood outside my door listening to my cries.