A/N So, this chapter mostly just fun before shit starts getting serious again. I know there hasn't been much character interaction between Sam/Daryl and the other people in the group, (other than Carol) I might try to work on that a little. But I hope everyone enjoys it. I love that I'm still getting new followers, and please, if you get a second, just send a quick review, I love to know what you all think of the story so far! Much loves 3
Sam wakes early in the morning, the sun is barely starting to come up. Today is the day they release Randall. Some of the group is still against the decision, mostly Shane and Andrea. In face, Shane seemed a little too eager to kill him, instead of looking at the other options. Sam thinks back to the story Shane told everyone about Otis and decides to go find Daryl. Luckily he isn't too far away.
"Hey," she sits on the ground next to him "can I ask you something?"
"Depends on what it is." he says.
"A few weeks ago, when Shane was talking about Otis, you were the only one that seemed not to buy it."
"Yeah?"
"Why not?"
"He came back with his own gun, and a dead mans gun. Wasn't too tough to figure out.
"Couldn't he have gone back for Otis' gun? If his was out of ammo?" she asks.
Daryl shakes his head "In that little fairy tale he told y'all, Otis covered him so he could make it to the truck, Shane ain't stupid, he wouldn't go back when he's got a chance to get out."
"Do you think he's dangerous?" Sam asks, worried.
"Not to everyone. There's only two people, well I guess three now, that he wants."
"Lori and Carl."
"And the baby. He's only got it out for Rick, but don't put yourself in his way. I don't think he'd care who you are."
"Should we tell Rick, or someone? Warn them about Shane?"
"Nah. Most of them already suspect, and whoever doesn't, doesn't wanna know."
After a long pause, Sam arches her back, stretching. "So, what do you do up this early?"
Daryl watches her with a raised eyebrow "Nice change of topic. An I dunno, stuff. Go into the woods an get some huntin done. Clean my weapons. Stuff I have to do later anyway."
"I'm so sick of chores," she whines with a mischievous look "wanna play hooky today? Come on, it'll be fun."
"An do what?" Daryl asks, chuckling at her enthusiasm.
"I don't remember the last time I went swimming. There's plenty of water around here, in the woods." she talks excitedly "Are any of those creeks deep enough to swim in?"
"I didn't really check. But the pond by the old farm house had a dock, so it's gotta be decent, right? Couldn't tell ya what the water's like, but at least it's something."
Sam smiles "You're swimming too, right?"
"I don't really swim."
"But you know how, right?" she has to ask, he nods "Well, maybe Dale will let us borrow some of his fishing stuff and you can catch dinner."
The temperature climbs, the tree cover helps a little, but by the time they reach the pond, Sam's tank top is clinging to her damp body. A breeze, as they exit the woods, catches the cooler air off the water. She lifts her hair off her neck, cooling herself. The wind makes small ripples in the water, the whole thing looks like a painting.
"This place is great." she says, making her way over to the dock, "It doesn't even look like there's too many weeds. I can't wait to go in."
She sits back and starts unlacing her boots. As soon as her boots are off she quickly sheds her shirt and pants until she is just in her bra and panties and jumps into the water, noticing, with a slight frown, how Daryl has avoided looking in her direction the whole time she was undressing.
Daryl hears the splash and looks at the ripples spreading from where she jumped in, waiting for her to resurface. He searches the water for her, but the glare from the sun keeps him from seeing much farther than where she jumped in. She finally breaks the surface almost half way across the pond.
"Oh my god. Daryl, this water is amazing. You have to come in." she starts swimming back to the dock.
"I'm good." he says, watching the water shimmer as she moves though it at a lazy pace.
She stops off to the side of the dock, staring at him, pouting "You're no fun. Make me go swimming all by myself." she playfully splashes water towards him, not quite reaching him, but tiny droplets land on her clothes "Oh crap. Oops."
"Would you rather be doing chores?" he asks.
"Not even a little bit." she laughs, floating on her back "So what was it like growing up down here?"
"Same as 'nywhere, I guess," he answers, caught a little off guard by the question "Why?"
"Well, I grew up in the city, I mean my parents tried to do outdoorsy stuff a much as they could, we went camping a few times. But it wasn't the same."
"Ain't much different. 's not like we all got shacks in the middle of the woods or nothing." his good mood starts to darken a little "It ain't like the movies neither. Not everyone's nice."
"I know that." she changes direction "What was it like growing up in a neighbor hood? Were there a lot of kids your age?"
"Couple of em. More of 'em were Merle's age. Didn't want no kid brother hanging around. Specially after Merle went to juvi a few times. Nobody wanted us around after that."
"Must be nice to live so close to so much woods though."
"Yeah. It was a nice escape." he doesn't bother going into detail about how true that statement is.
"Sometimes I really miss being a little kid," Sam says, pausing "but not so much anymore. I wouldn't wanna be a kid dealing with this. But kids adapt faster than us, so I don't know."
Sam notices the silence from Daryl, and decides to try a new tactic. She swims to the end of the dock and pretends to try and lift herself out of the water.
"I can't get enough leverage. Can you help me out?" she extends her hand to him and braces herself, knees bent on the bottom of the dock.
He grabs her wrist and before he can pull her up, she yanks his arm and he topples into the pond. Sam bursts out laughing and grinning ear to ear when he surfaces, scowling at her.
"What the fuck? Now my knife's all wet an my boots are gonna take forever to dry." he complains. He opens his mouth to continue, but she splashes him and fills it with water. "Git yer ass over here."
"What are you gonna do? Spank me?" she squeals and kicks away, splashing him with more water.
He lunges for her, trying to grab her ankle before she kicks away again. She dives under the water and disappears. He can feel the water swirl around him, but he can't catch her. She comes up behind him, pushing down on his shoulders and dunking him under water. They chase each other around the pond for a while, splashing and dunking whenever they get the chance, until the water is full of little waves.
Sam lies on the dock, still in her lingerie, basking in the sun and the wonderful feeling of cleanliness, while Daryl is sitting next to her, trying to wring out his clothes as much as he can without taking off anything other than his boots and socks.
Sam glances over at him, "You know, you could get more water out of them if you took the clothes off…"
"Shut up." he quips back "Sides, wasn't today your day for laundry? Could always have you wash them anyway."
"No," Sam sticks her tongue out at him "we skipped chores today, remember?"
Daryl glances at the sky "We should probably start heading back."
When they get back to camp they are mostly dry, with the exception of Daryl's boots. Without asking, Sam builds up the fire so he can dry his boots quicker.
Carol approaches Sam not long after they get back "Oh good. I was starting to worry about you two."
"Sorry I skipped out" she says, looking down "I just couldn't do chores this morning. I hope you didn't get stuck picking up my slack."
"Don't worry about it. I'm actually relieved you're taking a day off, both of you by the looks of it. Everyone deserves a day to rest and recharge." Carol pats her shoulder "But it's been an … interesting day here."