The first night in new place was always scary, even I know that. Since Em and I did not have a tent, just our belongings we carried on our back, there was some discussion over where to let us sleep. I did not care, really. Hell, I had been sleeping out under the stars since the beginning, why change that now? When I offered that suggestion to Rick, he had the nerve to look at me and let out the faintest laugh. If I had not been so intent on reading the people around me, I probably would have missed it. As it was, all I could do was arch a brow and fold my arms over my chest, staring at him in mock challenge. No one was going to tell me what I could or could not do, not Rick, not Daryl, no one.

"Seriously? Rick, I've been out in the woods for how long? And, now you're gonna try to tell me I can't sleep if it's not in a tent?"

My head canted to the side, waiting for an argument. And, boy did I get it. I ended up with not only Rick and Daryl in my face, but some other guy, dark hair and a big nose, all in my face telling me they were not about to let two women sleep under a tree when their heads were resting on shitty pillows in crappy tents. If they had to suffer, so did me and Em.

If their argument did not elicit a laugh from me, I probably would have argued right back, but as it was, it was everything I could do not to snort and hug myself to keep from shaking with the laugh that was dying to get out. It also helped that I had Em behind me, asking to sleep inside a tent for once, away from the bugs and creepy-crawlies that always seemed to plague her at night.

A disgruntled sigh from me, followed by the slightest of nods, we then had to figure out which tent Em and I would be taking over. The new guy, who I managed to catch his name while he was talking to Daryl, Shane offered to let us use his tent at least for the night.

"I got watch for most o' the night, so it ain't like I'm gonna be usin' it."

He shrugged as he finished his case for letting me and Em use his tent. At this point, I did not care. They had fed us, which was more food than I had eaten in any single meal for I don't-know-how-long, and I was quickly growing more and more tired.

Rick and Daryl finally both looked at me and Em, I guess waiting for us to make the deciding vote. Like I really cared.

"If it's got room for us both, it'll work. I ain't askin' for no hotel treatment or anything."

I hid a yawn behind my fist, Daryl catching the action and looking at me again. I could almost swear I saw pity, maybe compassion, in his eyes and on his features, but as quickly as it was there, it was gone. Not that I needed pity or anything, especially from a pain in the ass redneck that put me in this situation of dealing with grown men forcing me to sleep in ratty, stinky old tents.

Finally, with that all set, Shane led me and Em towards his tent on the edge of the small grouping. He unzipped the flap and pulled it back. In a grand gesture that would have been sweet had the situation been any sort of normal, he swept his hand across the entrance.

"Welcome to m' humble abode, ladies."

I rolled my eyes so hard, it actually hurt, but I did chuckle at him. I let Em crawl in first, giving her the choice of deciding where she would sleep. The tent was big enough for two, but it had only one sleeping bag set up, which I encouraged her to use. I watched as she wrinkled her nose and started laying out her own blankets in the available, empty side of the tent. Great, make me sleep on the guy's sleeping bag. How many times had he jacked off in there? This was going to be royally disgusting, and I knew it.

Shane laughed quietly at Em and turned to me before he left. He pointed over towards the RV, which was only about twenty feet from the tent, and the umbrella and chair up on the roof. I had seen someone sitting up there before, and it must have been Shane because the seat was now empty.

"I'll be up there. Y'all hear anythin', just holler."

I watched him swagger away, a slight bounce to his step. For the life of me, I had no idea why a grown man would walk like that, but it did make his ass look really good, even in the semi-dark of the camp. Shane disappeared around the back of the RV so I turned to climb into the tent.

Em was pretty much set up, sitting on her blankets as she stuffed stuff she did not need back into her bag. We were quiet, which was usual for us, but I could sense something weighing on her.

"What is it?"

Sitting down on Shane's sleeping bag, I glanced at his pillow. My lip curled up and my nose wrinkled in complete disgust as I reached out to poke the pillow with my finger. At least it was not moving, that had to say something. Still, it was a stranger's pillow and that meant I was in no rush to use it or even smell it.

"I just think we need to leave before we get comfortable here or they decide to turn us into

a meal. They could be cannibals for all we know. None of them even talked to us while we sat at the fire with them."

Tucking my legs beneath me, I hung my head, staring at the seams of my jeans while Em spoke. She was right. We really did not know them. But, they had talked, just not to us, like she said.

"You're right." I lifted my head to stare at her in the dark, or at least where I thought she was. I could barely see. "We'll leave in the mornin', okay?"

I could hear her nod her head before she mumbled a "yes" and laid down. The sound of her moving, getting as comfortable as she could, signaled it was time for me to do the same. I pushed Shane's pillow aside and lay down, tucking my hands back behind my head so I could stare up at the tent's ceiling.

I do not know when I feel asleep, but I awoke to the sound of something scratching at the tent's entrance. The sun had started to rise, the faint light creating a dark purple-gray color inside the tent. Turning, I saw that Em was gone, her blankets looked like she had just left. Part of me hoped the sound I was hearing was her coming back, but another part of me was more than afraid that it was one of those things just outside the tent.

If it was one of those things, surely that Shane guy would see it, right? Just as I sat up, reaching for my machete that was within an arm's reach from my side, the zipper to the entrance finally lifted. That told me it was not one of those dead things, they would not open a zipper. Nope, it was Shane. Exhausted, he stumbled into the tent, landing on his knees just inside the flaps.

I stared at him as if he were completely insane. He had said for me and Em to use his tent and now he was coming in? What the hell was his problem? I was about to ask him, more likely yell at him, when he pretty much collapsed on top of me. He hugged my thigh to the side of his head like it was a pillow, making me freeze in absolute panic. The last man who had touched me had all but killed me. I was not even shaking, I was completely frozen except for the rapidly increasing rise and fall of my chest as I was breathing faster and faster, nearly gasping in fright.

"Shane? Please. Shane…"

My voice was a high-pitched whisper as I tried to push him off me. Stubborn ass opened his eyes and stared up at me. The next thing I knew, he had crawled up my body and stretched out beside me, reaching for his pillow to lay his head on.

If I had a knife in my hand, I would be able to geld him right where he lay and he would never be this forward with a complete stranger again. As it was, I lay there, trembling in fright, waiting for him to loosen his grasp on me so I could wriggle out of the tent and to freedom.

Minutes passed, no Em. I was half counting on her to come in and save me, but it did not happen. Instead, I had Shane snoring in my ear while he slept. I could hear voices outside the tent, even that of Em as she was talking to someone, another woman, out there. I wanted to shout for her to come save me, but my voice died in my throat when I suddenly felt someone's giant paw on my breast.

If I had a knife, he would be gelded and then missing a damn hand. I seethed quietly, shifting and rolling, trying to dislodge him. Then, I could tell he had woken up. His whole body went rigid and his breathing stopped, which also meant the snoring stopped, thankfully.

I turned my head enough to look over at him and caught him staring at me with those large, dark brown eyes of his. A combination of concern and confusion was in those depths and then shock as his gaze slid down to where his hand was still resting.

"S- sorry."

He lifted his hand up like he had just removed it from a trap and rolled back away from me. I sat up like a spring had sprung beneath me and scrambled off the sleeping bag and out of the tent. I did not look back, not at the tent and not at the sound of Em. Her ass had left me there, alone, to be mauled by that brute of a man!

Okay, well, maybe not exactly, but my mind was racing, flashing back to those days I could remember in that house with those two assholes that had nearly killed me.

I kept walking, until I found a tree that was far enough away from the tents and the camp that I could not be heard as I retched and vomited up everything that had been in my stomach. Collapsing to my knees, hand scraping against the bark of the old oak, there were still no tears as I tried to calm myself down, to force those memories back into the box and lock them away again.

I finally managed to sit on my butt, back to the tree as I started to pick the pieces of bark out of my hand. It gave me something to focus on, to channel my energy into so that I did not think about anything else. I did not even hear Shane walk up behind me, but I was all too aware of him as he crouched down at my side. From my peripheral vision, I could see him wipe his hands over his face, hanging his head as he searched for something to say.

"I… I'm sorry. I didn't mean…"

He let out a big sigh, hanging his head back down for a few seconds before raising it back up to look at me. I probably looked like shit to him, bags under my eyes, hair all knotted from lack of hygiene, everything, but he did not mention it or look at me like he noticed it.

"I was exhausted. I didn't know what I was doin'. Please don't think I just force myself on women."

The corner of his mouth curled up in a crooked, shy smile.

"Gimme another chance? Sounds cheesy as fu- hell. Pardon m' French."

I bit my lips to keep from smiling at that, giving him the slightest shrug of my shoulder as I looked away, again focusing on my hand to continue pulling the last bits of bark out of the scrapes there.

"One more. Then, I want a divorce."

I joked, looking back at him once my hand was cleaned out as best as I could get it. Shane winked at me and rose to his feet. Ducking his head down as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Ya make a hard bargain, but I c'n deal with 'at." He nodded a couple of times. "A'ight, then. I'll leave ya 'lone."

He gave me one last crooked smile before leaving, walking back towards the camp. Left alone, I finally let out the sigh that had been burning in my lungs since Shane had shown up. At least I could joke with him. That was definitely a plus.