The Georgian heat was taking its toll on Riley. The small outdoor thermometer on the RV was showing the temperature at eighty-six degrees, but it felt more like one hundred due to the mugginess.
Riley used her shirt to wipe away the sweat from her forehead as she peeled the potatoes for that nights dinner.
She was sitting at the picnic table with Jacqui and Lori's kid, Carl.
Though she was accustomed to the sweltering heat of the middle east, she wasn't use to the heavy humidity of the south.
Looking at Jacqui who didn't seem bothered by the heat, Riley shrugged, she had probably gotten so used to the humidity that she didn't even notice it anymore.
"You okay?" Jacqui had noticed Riley's wondering eyes.
"Just the humidity getting to me. Wondering how the hell you don't even looked phased by it." Riley emphasized her point by taking the collar of her t-shirt and blowing down her shirt.
"Weren't you in Iraq? Isn't it hot over there?"
"It's hot as hell over there, but it's dry heat. None of this stuffiness shit." Jacqui's eyes widened and motioned to Carl, who only laughed at the vulgar word. He had taken a liking to the soldier, to the abhorrence of his mother.
Jacqui chuckled, "you can always take a dip in the pond. Though, you may have a couple people watchin." Jacqui made a point of nodding her head towards Ed, who, instead of helping around camp, was busy smoking.
Riley hummed in response, and finished with the potatoes. She was dressed in a pair of knee length cut off shorts, a thin cotton shirt, and a baseball cap, and yet she was still sweating heavily.
Carl took the moment to speak up, "Riley? Um.. what's your tattoo of?"
"Which one, buddy?" Carl pointed to the tattoo on her left shoulder.
Riley looked at the ink on her left bicep. It was a tattoo of the word Aéquitas with the phrase '...for thee my lord, for thee.' written underneath it.
"This one? It's from my brother and my favorite movie, 'Boondock Saints'. He has the matching tattoo on his bicep."
The young boy smiled, "That's so cool. Can I see more? Please?" Riley laughed at his excitement, "Sure."
...
It was a few hours till sunset when Riley walked to her tent and grabbed a pair of ripped jeans, a clean shirt, and a change of underwear. She also made sure she had a bar of soap, and her trusty knife with her.
She walked down to the body of water, taking notice of Lori, Carol, and Morales' wife, Miranda doing laundry in the shallows. They always seemed to be doing that damned laundry.
She found a spot that was semi-secluded from any peeping toms nearby and was quick to remove her sweaty clothes.
Leaving her underwear on, Riley went into the water and was surprised to find the water was warm. She waded into the water till it covered her breasts and began rubbing the soap over her dirt crusted body. She bit her lip as she washed her back, the soap biting into old wounds. Many had healed, but she could still feel several bruises scattering her back.
Riley gingerly traced some of the scars on her right shoulder. Though she couldn't see them, she could imagine the angry pink marks marring her skin.
The bite of her fingernails digging into her palm snapped her out of the fog of the past. She held the dogtags that had her information engraved on the metal. She wasn't sure what she was doing. The world was overrun with the living dead, and she was busy crying about the past.
Riley quickly dunked her head under the water to rid herself of her thoughts, and proceeded to scrub her chestnut hair with the soap. It was nowhere near as good as having shampoo, but it would have to work.
Feeling cleaner then before, Riley rung her hair out, and plaited it into a braid. She slowly made her way to shore. Changing into the clean pair of boyshort underwear and clasping the bra behind her back with some pain, Riley heard footsteps approaching.
Shane emerged from the bend as Riley was buttoning her pants. Riley slipped on her boots and tied them.
"Hey there."
He walked close to her. He didn't even try to be subtle as his eyes drank in her shirtless form.
Riley crossed her arms over her chest to provide a little extra coverage. She noticed he was standing between her and her clothes.
And more importantly, he was between her and her knife.
Riley immediately realized her mistake. She should never have come here alone.
"Do you always watch women bathing, or am I just lucky?" She wishes she could sound more forceful in the moment, but he caught her off guard.
Shane lifted his hands in a sign of surrender, "there's no need to be so harsh." He moved closer toward her in a slow, stride. He looked like a predator going in for the kill. "We're all friends here. And since everyone's busy 'round camp, we got some quality time to get to know each other."
Riley felt the spark of anger light deep in her belly.
"You mean like how you spend quality time with Lori in the woods?"
Riley had seen the two of them sneaking off together. They weren't even trying to hide it.
Shane gave a grin and stepped closer, "she's like dinner, but you're the dessert."
Riley was scanning her options, but she realizes that in such close proximity, there was nothing she could use as a weapon. Her options were limited.
He was dangerously close now. "Sometime's I like to have my dessert before dinner. How 'bout it, girly?" He grins, as if she was actually considering his sick proposition. "Whaddaya say we have some fun? Ya gotta learn to enjoy life."
He placed a hand on her arm.
The second he steps in range, Riley acts quickly to hit him, to inflict any kind of pain that would distract him long enough for her to escape into the trees. She delivered a sharp punch to his cheek.
Riley had never ben a screamer. The way she always saw it, screaming was a show of weakness. A sign of defeat.
And though she had years of training in defending herself from enemies, Shane had just enough experience under his belt, too.
Shane was quick to regain his balance with a hateful look in his eye. A bruise was already forming where the blow landed.
"Ya gonna regret that."
Before he could make a move, Riley brought her knee up in a swift motion, catching him in the gut, and swept his legs out from underneath him.
She placed a boot on his chest and watched as he wheezed, "You touch me again, you won't get your hand back, you understand me?"
She grabbed her shirt and knife, and disappeared into the trees.
Pulling the top over her head, Riley attached the knife's sheath to her belt. She would be damned if she'd get caught without it again.
As the adrenaline slowly faded, Riley became aware of the throbbing in her knuckles. They were sore, and the skin over three of her knuckles had broken, letting blood freely ooze down her fingers.
With a tisk, Riley pressed the hem of her shirt to try and slow the bleeding.
"The hell ya doin out here?"
Riley turned quickly, hand on the handle of the knife, when she saw Daryl lowering his crossbow and bitting his thumb.
"Jesus, do you live out here?" She didn't even hear him approach and that slightly worried her.
He walked up to her, taking notice of her busted knuckles. "Get inna fight with the laundry?" His words were mocking, but his tone was serious.
"Funny. No, I actually punched that asshole Shane." Though she hated to admit it, he was rather cute. She had always had a thing for guys with nice, muscular arms.
The corners of Daryl's mouth rose, "bout time someone did."
"Lemmie see. I think I have somein' to bind em for ya." He dug his hands in his pockets as she held out her hand. Finding a small roll of gauze, Daryl gently held her injured hand in his larger one. Riley could feel the numerous callouses on his palms and wondered what he used to do to gain so many. Maybe he was some type of manual laborer. "Why're you helping me? We didn't exactly end on the best note the other day." She didn't mean for her words to sound so skeptical, but she knew well enough that looks can be deceiving.
"Figured anyone who could beat up Merle like tha ain't bad in my book."
Riley gave a small snort of laughter in response.
As Daryl wrapped her knuckles in bandages, Riley noticed the string of dead squirrels hanging from his belt. "Coming back from huntin?"
"Yep." He tied the bandages off and pulled his hand away.
"Thanks." Riley flexed her hand a couple times to loosen the bindings.
"Don' mention it." Side stepping her, Daryl readjusted the crossbow slug against his shoulder, and headed deeper into the woods.