"What the hell are you doing here?" he hissed, not dropping his crossbow. "How are you still alive? How did you get here?"
I laughed to myself, unable to answer the question. What was I gonna say, 'I took a little stroll into town and rode a bike the rest of the way?'
"Answer me or I'll tell everyone that you're here, spying on us all!" he said, his once-steady shot wavering. I watched as he trembled.
"Where's Merle?" I asked, ignoring his questions. I was scared as much as he was, but I wanted to play it cool.
"I don't know yet. He went with the others to Atlanta, should'a come back in that car with the asian boy. He probably took off when they all got here."
"So if he's not here right now, why are you trying to act all tough?" I laughed. I couldn't help it, I was being rude again but I just thought his act was so pathetic at times.
"You gotta be now, 'aint ya? Zombies running round the place and whatnot." he explained, finally lowering his crossbow.
"I guess so. Say, you haven't got any space in camp for me have you? It looks like a nice little set-up, and I've been on my own for quite a while now. You can only get so far with a bicycle and a shovel before you get got."
"I wouldn't know. Not my place to ask. But why d'you wanna stay here anyway? We're all strangers, 'cept me and Merle. And even we aint the nicest of people to stick around with."
"Better than nothing." I shrugged. He didn't understand - I really wanted to stay, I just didn't know how to make it happen and wasn't brave enough to sort it out myself.
"Look darlin', you seem to have managed up until now. If you come into this group, you're gonna need to help us out. And we got a couple of folks here that um, they're gonna want some specific help. Merle included."
"I'm a big girl, I can stand up for myself."
"I can see. So why don't you stand up for yourself somewhere else huh?"
"What is your problem?" I was getting angry. "Why don't you want me here?"
"Because it's weird! It's crazy! How have you even manged? You're just one of those pretty girls who got lucky in life and now you're even luckier after life's gone!"
I glared at him. He'd made it clear - I wasn't welcome here. And even if I was welcome here, he wouldn't let me be here.
"Get lost." he said to me, turning to walk away. I glared at him until he was gone, and then continued to glare at him even after he'd left. I was alone. Again.