It was a quick meal with this Daryl Dixon and his brother Merle. I had zero trust in them, particularly the Merle one. He kept staring at me, making kissy-faces or winking when he caught me casting a glance in his direction. My stomach was in knots with the unease, the time at Window-Knocker and Friend's house still too fresh in my memory. Em seemed oblivious to it, but then again, she had her nose down to the ground simply trying to avoid any sort of notice from either man. An uneasy silence, I just wanted to finish eating and get gone. I could sense Em wanted the same, her moment of bravery long forgotten.
After a while, Merle stood and walked away, disclosing his need to take a piss. Daryl sat there, giving me sideways glances, almost looking like he was embarrassed by Merle's words. I looked over Daryl's shoulders into the dark where Merle had disappeared. Slowly bringing my attention back to Daryl, I stood up, tossing the bones of the squirrel I had been eating into the bushes.
"No offense, Daryl? But, uh, I think me 'n Em are gonna get gone while we can."
I could hear the breath Em let out, relief-filled and more than overdue by the look on her face. Daryl stood, acting like he was going to stop us, but I did not give him the chance. I grabbed Em's arm and we disappeared in the opposite direction from where Merle had gone. I looked back once, and saw Daryl staring after us. He looked like a lost puppy. Too bad I had no charitable bones left in my body. With Em by my side, we made our slow way deeper into the woods, the dark swallowing us on our journey to find somewhere safe to sleep.
Only once, Em piped up.
"Do you think we should go back? It could've—"
I cut her off. "Don't even go there. Two men? Alone? Hell no, it isn't safer."
With that, she and I descended into silence once again, finding a tree that seemed like a good spot for the night.
Weeks had passed. Em and I had finally made our way back to her original camp. Staking it out for a few days, we managed to retrieve most of her belongings that she wanted. With that done, we left, retracing our steps back in the direction we came from. Together, we had gotten pretty good at catching food. With traps and occasional actual hunting, we were not yet starving, which was nice. Our days were mostly quiet, avoiding the roaming dead, searching for food and water, or searching for safe places to rest our heads.
It had become an easy existence for the most part. Em never asked too many questions about me or my past and I avoided asking those sorts of questions of her. Most of our conversations centered on things of little consequence. I did eventually tell her I had been a nurse, which went a long way with her trusting me through each time I had to bandage her up. Em was nothing if not a klutz, but I adored that fact about her. It made me feel needed and gave me something to focus on. Each time she fell or stumbled, each time something happened to her and I could put my skills to good use, I felt a little more whole. I could never tell her, but after a while, I could tell she saw it. Still, Em never commented on it, which sat just fine with me.
Time went by in a never ending cycle of daylight and darkness. Slowly getting braver and more secure in my hunting abilities and tracking, in my survival self-training, I kept me and Em moving longer, closer to dark, until we were able to keep moving as long as we needed. No flashlights, everything at night depended on moonlight and clouds, even the tree canopy. I got some of my best hunting done right after the sun went down, when opossums and raccoons were more likely to be out, moving around. On one of these nights, following the sounds of something rutting around in the detritus of the woods, I caught the sight of firelight up ahead. Em hissed and whispered for us to stop and leave back the way we came, but curiosity got the better of me.
"Please, Caryn. Let's just go." Her voice was a plea, but I had always been too stubborn to listen.
"Oh, come one, Em. Maybe they're like those two guys were. They got food 'n they're willin' to share it with us."
I watched Em as she rolled her head around her shoulders, her own inner struggle with listening and following me or trusting her own gut instincts. In the end, she followed me. We walked slowly, keeping our steps as quiet as possible. The trees thinned out ahead and I could see more than one fire, even a house off in the distance. Both Em and I froze at the sight, still hidden in the trees. I looked at her and she looked at me, both of us not quite believing what we were seeing. Not only were there two fires, but there were people moving about, even someone sitting on top of an RV.
"Should we go?" It came out in a hushed whisper, looking at the first signs of civilization I had seen in who knew how long.
"I think we should leave." Em's own whispered voice, I could hear the tremble of fear from her.
"The hell you two doin' 'ere?"
It was that voice. What was his name? Daryl. I swallowed hard and slowly turned my head to see the tip of his crossbow pointed straight at me. His eyes shined from the reflected firelight and I could see him clenching and unclenching his teeth, the tick of his jaw moving in time with my own heartbeat.
"We were just leaving." It was the only thing I could think of to say.
I watched him raise his bow up, a loud sigh coming from him. Frustration? I had no idea. He shook his head at me, and I could see his eyes darting back and forth from me to Em to the fires beyond us.
"No ya ain't. Yer comin' with me."
With a slight lift of his chin, he pointed towards the fire and practically marched me and Em towards the camp we had just been admiring. With his crossbow in his hand, I did not really find room to argue. Instead, I put my bravest face on and went, hoping above hope that with how I acted, I could encourage Em to follow along. My plan was that as soon as no one was paying attention, she and I would make our escape back into the safety and darkness of the woods.
The going was slow, the tall grass hiding dips and rivets that both Em and I stumbled through. Making our way closer, we had to climb through a barbed wire fence before we could get any closer. The smell of horses hit me and I looked to my left to see a few standing around eating grass, their tails swishing in the night air. The voices of the people at the camp carried to me and I could hear men and women, even a child – a boy. If I could have cried, I probably would have. The myriad of emotions that hit me confused the hell out of me. I had very nearly come to the conclusion that I would never see this many people alive and more or less, thriving.
Daryl was still behind us, but as we crossed the dirt road, or maybe it was a driveway, he stepped between us and walked ahead. His long strides were difficult to keep up with, but by now, I had to see what else there was here.
"Yo, Rick."
That was all it took to have several people stand up and come jogging towards the edge of their camp, to the circle of vehicles that looked like a wagon circle in the dark. A few men and two women came towards Daryl, looking past him to see me and Em. I looked over at Em and pleaded silently with my eyes for her to stay by my side. An imperceptible nod from her was all it took for me to know she and I were on the same page.
I could hear Daryl explaining why he returned to the farm with two women. "Met 'em few weeks back with Merle, 'fore we was at the quarry. Think they been 'lone all this time, though. They ain't got no more with 'em now 'n they did when they lef' me 'n Merle then."
Hushed voices, whispers, but no one was looking at me or at Em like we were food, which seemed to be a big plus in my book. One of the men, the one I thought was this Rick that Daryl had called to finally nodded to Daryl and looked at me and Em again. I watched him slowly walk towards us, his head lowered, his eyes on the ground as if he were lost in thought. Just a few steps and he stood before me and Em and finally looked up at us. The moment his eyes met mine, I could feel him sizing me up and for whatever reason, I seemed to pass some inner test he had. A quick nod of his head and he held his hand out for a shake.
"Welcome to the farm, Miss. I'm Rick. Rick Grimes. I don't speak for the people up at the house, but I do for these folks out here." He looked back towards the circle of people that stood back there which included Daryl. "You're welcome to stay the night, get some food in your bellies. In the mornin' we'll figure out what to do from there. How's that?"
Yup, tears…almost. At least there should have been, anyway. Instead, all I could muster was a stuttered Thank You.
"This is the Greenes' Farm." Rick's voice broke through the fog that had suddenly come over me as I stood there. "Come on; let's get you two situated for the night."
A farm. The Greene Farm.
Interesting.