Hey, readers, I'm back! Sorry it took me so long to update but life has been crazy busy lately and my mind has been in a million different places!
Funny story: today my brother and I went target shooting on my farm and we were using his handguns (he's a cop) and we were shooting at a human figure target. Well, naturally I started thinking "If this target were a zombie..." so I started aiming for the head. I empty my clip and go to reload and I find my brother just staring at me in disbelief and he goes "How did you do that!" I looked at the target and all six of my shots had hit dead center in the head within a two inch radius. I am completely confident in my zombie killing skills now.
Also, I'm buying a crossbow within the next two months to take up a hobby no one else in my family has tried. Excited, SO excited!
Anyway...on with the story!
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Daryl was long gone the next morning when Carol woke up. The emptiness of the space behind her where he had remained the entire night felt wrong and she sighed heavily as she rolled onto her back to look up at the ceiling of the tent. Yep, this was Daryl's tent alright. The mesh rack in the dome of the tent held spare bow strings, a container of beeswax, a collection of feathers that Carol assumed would be used for his homemade arrows, a box of bullets, the keys to his motorcycle and a fairly dirty rag.
Carol smiled up at the collection of items that were important to Daryl Dixon and finally made herself get up and unzip the tent to start another long day of surviving in the world gone to Hell.
But this morning looked like anything but Hell on Earth. The sun was shining bright but there was a delightfully cool breeze blowing and there was laughter all around the camp. Sophia and Carl were sitting in the middle of the tent circle with Lori who was showing them how to weave baskets, the kids seemed to actually being enjoying it too. Carol was glad of that, the kids needed jobs like that to feel like they were adding something to the group. T-Dog, Shane and Rick were about to head out with Herschel to help fix some of the fence lines. Andrea sat on the RV, eyes scanning the fields as she watched for danger. Glenn, Maggie and Beth were hauling water from the well to the house because today was bath day for a few people (they had a rotating schedule set up for baths and Carol felt herself wishing it was her turn today). Jimmy was chopping wood off towards the house while Dale loaded it into a wheelbarrow to take to the pile.
But Daryl was nowhere to be seen. Hunting, of course.
Carol stepped slowly out of the tent, suddenly realizing people might notice who's tent she was emerging from and start assuming things.
"Mom! Come look at this!" Sophia's voice was so excited and Carol was glad for the distraction as she examined Sophia's slightly lopsided, yet well done basket. She felt Lori's gaze burning into her but she didn't meet her eyes.
"Great job, honey!" Carol told her daughter, handing the basket back. "We can use it this afternoon. I think we should look for berries and mushrooms, how about you?"
Carl and Sophia both looked delighted with that idea.
"Can I come too!" Carl asked, glancing at Lori for permission.
Lori looked a little unsure.
"Well...is there going to be anyone with a weapon going along?" she asked. Carol had to admit, she hadn't thought of that.
"I'm sure Daryl would go," she found herself blurting out, "He'd be the best to help us find edible things in the woods anyway."
Lori's smile made Carol wish she had never said that, the woman looked absolutely smug like she had just won a long-standing bet.
"You're absolutely right," he stated, "He's very handy, isn't he?"
Carol met her gaze finally and blushed.
"I'll explain later," she promised her friend, she didn't feel like explaining anything with the kids right there.
"You'd better," Lori said with a wink.
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Daryl found himself wondering vaguely what day it was exactly because the air was feeling different and he could feel in his bones that the seasons were about to change soon. Was it officially autumn yet? He wasn't sure, but he knew one thing...winter was coming eventually.
Winter was something he knew wasn't on the minds of most of the group, but it was plaguing him now as he stood in the forest looking up at the leaves. Yep...there was just a speck of orange on the top of that tree. Damn, winter meant less game, less plant life, and colder temperatures. At least they were in the south...they had that going for them. But it could still get well below freezing at times and Daryl knew they weren't prepared for that.
Fur. They needed fur. And food that would keep for long periods of time. They needed more blankets. They needed warmer clothes. They needed to get their butts in gear and get serious about prepping!
Daryl curled his lip in disgust. Honestly, if they would spend less time arguing about which direction to go next and more time living in the here and now, things would be going a lot smoother. Sure, finding Sophia had been a huge lift in spirits, but the moral was going down again due to Shane and Rick arguing over Fort Benning and Nebraska. Daryl thought Nebraska was a good idea, keep moving north-west until they reached Montana or Wyoming where there was less of a population to begin with...but no one had asked and he had no desire to get in the middle of the issue.
Thunk!
Daryl loved the sound of an arrow hitting home. He let a smile grace his face as he picked up the squirrel on the end of the bolt. He added it to the string of small game on his back and continued on his way. As good as it felt to be having a successful small game day, he really wanted something with a little more...well MORE. More meat. More fur. Maybe he would even try his hand at making lamp oil out of deer fat if he found one.
God must have heard his musings because Daryl spotted movement to his right and he crouched down as he aimed in that direction. Out of the bushes a wild boar came grunting and snuffling and Daryl took a silent breath to steady himself, an injured boar could be extremely dangerous. The boar turned to look straight at him and he didn't hesitate for a second. The bolt hit right between the boar's eyes and it dropped like a stone.
"We're havin' bacon t'night, ya'll," he said triumphantly as he pulled the arrow from the boar's skull. He hogtied (no pun intended) the pig's feet together and hefted it onto his shoulders. Time to head back with his prize. Carol was going to be proud of him.
Where the Hell did THAT thought come from?
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"Well would you look at that!" Andrea said suddenly from her spot on the RV, she was looking through binoculars towards the woods.
Carol stopped scrubbing the shirt she was washing and looked over her shoulder towards the direction Andrea was pointing. She couldn't see anything unusual.
"Looks like our hunter had a good morning," Andrea commented. That made Carol stand up and let the shirt drop into the basin of water. "We'll be eating high on the hog tonight, that's all I have to say!"
Carol walked over the the back of the RV and waited for him to come into her view. When he did, she smiled broadly and started walking out in the field to meet him.
As she approached he looked up from beneath his burden and grinned like a madman. Carol felt her breath catch. There's that smile again!
"Daryl, is that a...?"
"Wild boar," Daryl finished her question, "Sure is!"
Carol suddenly got Andrea's joke about eating "high on the hog" and she laughed slightly.
"Somethin' funny?" Daryl asked, looking confused.
"Just something Andrea said earlier...never mind, can I help you carry anything?"
Daryl took a deep breath and hefted the boar off his shoulders and let it drop. He ran the back of his hand across his forehead and let out a sigh. Carol smiled at the way his hair clung to his head from the sweat he had accumulated from carrying his burden and she waited for him to show her what to take off his hands. He unslung his crossbow from his back and handed it to her.
"It's diggin' into my back from the weight of that dang boar," he said, handing it to her. Carol took the weapon with a sense of reverence, the weight of it felt good in her hands and she automatically lifted it up to "aim" at a distant haybale. Daryl was looking at her with an odd expression on his face.
"I've always been afraid of guns and things," Carol mumbled as she lowered the bow.
"Can't be that way in this world," Daryl stated, matter-of-factly. "You, uh, you wanna learn?"
Carol was taken aback by his offer and looked at him in surprise. But he didn't look like he was joking so she nodded mutely.
"Well then, let me know when you're ready," Daryl grabbed the boar by the legs and hefted it onto his shoulders again. Carol felt her breath catch at the way the muscles in his arms flexed from the weight...damn, he was strong.
Carol trailed along behind him, gingerly holding the crossbow in front of her so as not to bump it or scratch it or anything. Every once in a while she caught him looking back at her with an amused expression.
"It ain't gonna bite ya, ya know," he said.
Carol nodded, but she put an arm through the strap and let it hang on her back like she had seen him carry it. She wondered how it looked on her...did she look even a tiny bit dangerous like he did when he had it slung on his back? She doubted it.
"Um...Daryl, I wanted to say thank you for what you did last night..." she began, nervous about his reaction. But before he could say anything, Carl and Sophia came charging across the field, squealing and laughing.
"Is that a pig?"
"Look at the size of it!"
"Are we eating that tonight?"
"What's it gonna taste like?"
"Where did you shoot it?"
Carol smiled at the children's excitement, but she noticed the look of annoyance on Daryl's face and she walked ahead of him to stop the children in their tracks.
"Hey, you two do me a favor," she said, giving Daryl a wink to let him know she recognized his discomfort, "Run back and ask Herschel or Jimmy if they have any rope to string up this pig."
The kids nodded excitedly, eager to help in any way they could. Carol watched them run back to camp with a smile.
When they reached the camp with the boar, Shane had already tied ropes from a tree to string up the boar. He and Daryl actually talked to eachother in a friendly manner as they started butchering the boar. Lori and Carol were taking the strips and chunks of pork and washing them then passed them off to T-Dog and Glenn who were hanging them on long, thick sticks to hang over the fire. It would take a long time to cook through with how thick the cuts were.
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Funny how butchering a pig can be a really fun event. Carol was kind of disappointed when the meat was all cut and the group began to disband to their own things. Daryl grabbed the rope full of small animals he had bagged and went off to the edge of the field to clean them. Carol found herself following behind him, crossbow in hand.
She sat down in the grass next to him and just watched in silence as he skinned and cleaned the squirrels and rabbit. He didn't even look at her the whole time, but somehow she didn't mind. She wasn't the type of woman who needed to talk all the time, silence was sometimes just as meaningful as any words.
Daryl made quick work of his job and stood up suddenly, Carol followed his lead.
"Carol..." she heard him say quietly as he gently took the crossbow from her hands.
"Yes?"
He raised his eyes to meet hers and she found herself paralyzed. She had never really looked closely at his eyes before, but now she noticed how beautiful they were. There were the color of those little blue weed flowers that used to grow alongside her porch at her old house and there was so much emotion in them that she had failed to notice before. But at this moment, the emotion in them was unreadable as he stared directly at her.
"You're welcome."
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Back on track! Hope I'm doing it justice :D