Naughtygirlx, thank you so much! That's probably one of the best reviews I've had so far:D:D
VanillaKisses96, Yeah, I think she feels very protective in a motherly way about him, but still likes just being his friend. (& I was trying to make it sound like he was saying her shooting was awesome, but yes he is still such a kid! :)
***Alright y'all, my heart is broken over the tragedy of it I just want to say that I'm sure all of our thoughts and prayers are with thefamilies and children that are involved in the Conneticut school shooting yesterday. God bless them.
Rick is already waiting for us at the barn. I slide out of the saddle and jog over to help Carl get off without breaking anything.
"How was it?" Rick asks as Carl runs over to him.
"Dad, you won't believe this," he starts excitedly, "two walkers came out the woods toward the fence, and Rose shot them clean in the head. THROUGH the fence!" Carl hadn't even finished the sentence before Rick looks at me with a fearful gleam in his eyes.
"Well, I was gonna break that to you a little more eloquently," I say, eyeing Carl, "but it was only two, and I'm gonna actually need help getting them away from the fence pretty soon. Need to burn them." I finish darkly.
"I'll help." I hear Daryl's husky southern accent say from behind. "Just keep the horses saddled, and me and Glenn can go get them taken care of."
I look back at him, "No, I'm going." I say matter-of-factly, "I have to show you where I burn them at anyways and get my arrows back." I add before turning back to Rick and Carl.
"We're fine." I say with a reassuring smile to both of them, my eyes resting on Rick's for a little longer. "Y'all get back to the house, today's wash day!" I add, giving Carl a small nudge before turning around and jumping up onto Raven's back once again.
"Come on old man." I say to Daryl with a playful tone in my voice, "we're burnin' daylight."
He just grunts as he climbs into the saddle, giving Chenoa a stern nudge to get her moving enough to catch up with me.
It's a short, quiet ride to the gate and to where the walkers were laying, arrows still protruding from their skulls. I look at them with fear and disgust, and yet there is always a sadness when I see whoever the poor souls might have been before they were..this.
-You can't torture yourself over who they used to be, they're at peace now that's what matters. I tell myself, pushing away the sadness I had felt for them.
"We'll tie them to the horn of your saddle and Chenoa will pull them. " I say, jumping down from Raven's back and grabbing my lasso.
"Then why'd you need help?" He asked, annoyance lined his voice, "Sounds like you've got it handled." He added, also sliding off his saddle and hitting the ground with a small thud.
"Raven doesn't pull worth a damn..I didn't wanna come out here alone. You volunteered, remember?" I say, looking at him square in the eyes for a moment before he looks away.
"Yeah, cause I thought you needed help, not for the company." He replies without even a glance as he takes my lasso and begins tying the walkers feet up
.
"You know, you don't always have to put on that whole bad boy, redneck act." I say, watching him move lithely as he maneuvers the rope to get a good hold on the ankles.
"Yeah? Who says I'm actin'?" He stands and looks back at me.
"Well..You can't always be in a bad mood." I reply, returning his look.
"Hell, ain't like we got much to be happy about, wouldn't you agree?"
"You could be a little happy, or better yet, a little grateful for the roof you have over your head now," I say, starting to become annoyed with him, "Or the food, the clean clothes, fresh water. Safety." Now I'm glaring, and he's giving it right back.
"You might've made it this long, but don't fool yourself girl, there ain't no place in this world 'safe' anymore. Not even your precious farm." He says walking towards me, with anger and sadness in his deep voice. I say nothing as I stare into his eyes defiantly, only turning away when I'm sure the hurt he inflicted is becoming too noticeable. I climb back into my saddle, nudging Raven toward the very back of the land where I have burned the few walkers I've killed before. I feel angry and sad at what Daryl had said to me, he had no right to be that cruel.
I can't help but for my mind to linger on his words as we ride to the burn pit in silence. But I no longer feel angry, only saddened by the hard truth he had given me.
I begin to hum an old lullaby my grandmother used to sing to my brother and I. It's a soft, whimsical melody that carries a vibrant happy tune with a soft kind of sorrow interlaced throughout it. I go on for a few minutes before the memories it brings back become too much and I have to stop. By this time, Daryl is riding along side me as he carefully listened to my humming.
"I'm sorry about back there," he begins uneasily, "you've done good here by yourself." He pauses a moment before adding, "A lot better than most would have been capable of."
"It's fine really." I say quietly. "I needed to hear the truth, the reality of how the world is now."
He doesn't say anything else for the rest of the ride through the sun warmed pastures. Even when we make it to the pit, we quietly drag the bodies over, placing dry kindling underneath them. After pouring lighter fluid over them, I light a small book of matches and throw it into the fluid. The blaze engulfs the wood and bodies, warming my face as I squint into the brightness of it. Daryl turns away first, walking back to saddle up but he doesn't move away from me. He just waits as I stand by the flames a minute longer, praying that these souls were finally free and at peace.
I climb onto Raven's back when I feel the wind pick up, watching the smoke curl and contort into the sky before I begin to lead her in the direction of the house,
"Are you.. Alright?" I stop as I hear Daryl ask, and uncertain kind of awkwardness.
-He cares. My thoughts can't help but to echo throughout my mind, radiating a warm feeling over my body.
"Fine.. Just been a long mornin'." I reply, turning in my saddle to look at him.
"You know, you ain't always gotta put on that whole tough girl act." He says, mocking what I had said to him earlier, but with only seriousness in his eyes, which I notice for the first time are a deep blue. We stare at each other for a couple more seconds, my head starting to swim with the flood of feelings the look in his eyes gives me. I'm able to look away and come back with a devious smirk, finally breaking the intensity,
"Oh yeah? Well who says I'm actin'?" I ask in an overly exaggerated innocent voice, mocking his own answer. This time he even cracks a tiny smile with his usual grunt of a laugh.
-Ha! Chalk one up for Rose. I think to myself,with a smile coming to my lips, as we begin our long journey back to the farm-house.