Hey all!
Thankfully, I've had some free time the past few days and managed to type up this chapter. Hopefully it's not as horrible as my judgemental mind makes it out to be, but it's hard to tell lol. Well, I am posting it so obviously there must be something I like about it haha
A warm thank you to leafygreen16, xXFallenSakuraXx, Bubbles90, Khrystaline, SabakuNoGaara426, Supernatural Aurora, Sharin Cole, Zinthree, WheresMyBones, kmreece, and shadowbella987 for following/favouriting the story. Like I've said, the support means so much to me and drives me to continue posting more content. You guys are seriously the best.
As for reviews,
devoncarman: welp, the first night at the C.D.C. has been written and published. Nothing too crazy happens, but things are revealed and discussed, which causes stronger bonds to be made. I didn't want to make everyone feel super out of character regarding their drunken states, but hopefully the interactions made enough sense. Not much regarding Scarlett's bad thoughts in this chapter, but more moments with Daryl lolol hope you enjoy! :D
djmegamouth: I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks for the review.
Well, that's enough of my blabbering. I hope this chapter turned out okay and met expectations. It didn't turn out as I had planned it to, but I feel like (once again) this is more realistic in terms of staying true to character personalities and such.
Hope you enjoy~
She didn't waste a second as she marched inside the facility, everyone else cautiously following her in. Digging a hand into her belt, Scarlett pulled out her Colt as Rick joined her by her side, anxiously looking around for any sight of people. The silence of the place hit them like a freight train, the sound of their shuffling feet being the only thing to disrupt it.
"Hello?" Rick called out to their empty surroundings, receiving no answer from the white walls that greeted them.
The place was huge; Scarlett was blown away by it. They were only in the front area of the building too, so she couldn't imagine what the rest of the place was like. Different tones of whites and greys covered every surface in sight, the only thing that didn't match the main colours being the C.D.C. emblem that was plastered to the large wall that they'd seen upon entry to the facility.
The sound of a gun being loaded had everyone snapping their attention to one of the nearby doorways. Scarlett immediately spotted a man dressed in a white t-shirt and grey pants, a shotgun tucked under his arm as he gazed at them. She couldn't make out his face much since he was standing in the shadows.
"Anybody infected?" The man asked, his voice echoing against the walls of the large space.
"One of our group was," Rick replied honestly, eyeing the man carefully. "He didn't make it."
A moment of silence passed as the man slowly drew closer, his worn face and sandy hair finally coming into view.
"Why are you here? What do you want?" The man asked quickly, demanding answers.
"A chance."
"That's asking an awful lot these days."
"I know."
Scarlett could practically see the gears turning in the man's head as he attempted to figure out what to do. Letting about a dozen, possibly infected people in to a facility that was otherwise spotless was a huge risk on his part, so she could understand the hesitation, but things were different now and this place was their only hope.
"You all submit to a blood test," the man finally spoke up. "That's the price of admission."
Scarlett caught Rick glancing over at her, to which she gave him a brisk nod.
"We can do that." The former sheriff replied.
Lowering his gun, the man looked around at all the new faces in front of him, a sharp exhale leaving his mouth.
"You got stuff to bring in, you do it now." He stated, approaching the open doors as the rest of the group rushed outside to grab their things.
Throwing whatever they could over their shoulders and ducking back into the C.D.C., the glass doors were shut behind them. It was a good thing that they'd opened up to the group in the first place, the sight of walkers beginning to shuffle about outside only fueling the thought that if they'd had to wait any longer, the majority of them would have been walker food by the end of the night.
"Vi, seal the main entrance," the man in white spoke into the keypad of what Scarlett could only assume to be the security system. "Kill the power up here."
With his simple command, the metal shutters that had kept them locked out rolled down once again to block out their view of the outside world. Scarlett let out a huff of relief.
The group followed the man, who introduced himself as Dr. Edwin Jenner, towards a set of elevators. Stepping inside, Scarlett hugged her pack to her chest as everyone got into the rather large elevator. While the place was quite big, it still didn't keep her from being squished in between Glenn and Daryl on their journey down.
"Doctors always go around packing heat like that?" Daryl asked, breaking the silence as Scarlett fought back a smile at the comment.
"There were plenty left lying around," Jenner replied with half a smile. "I familiarized myself. But you look harmless enough."
They'd gone through hell was what they looked like.
"Except you," he continued, looking down at Carl with a large smile to which the boy looked away shyly. "I'll have to keep my eye on you."
Continuing to descend further down into the earth, the elevator finally came to a stop. Dr. Jenner was the first one out, turning left as a white hallway greeted the rest of them, with multiple rooms leading off of it. Scarlett unconsciously fell into place beside Andrea as she looked around at their surrounding. She noticed that at the end of the hallway they were currently walking down remained a much larger room that had no lights on.
"Are we underground?" Carol asked all of a sudden.
"Are you claustrophobic?" Jenner replied with another question.
"A little."
"Try not to think about it."
Finally reaching the end of the hallway, the group was greeted by darkness until the doctor spoke up once again.
"Vi, bring up the lights in the big room."
On command, the lights came to life all around them, revealing a walkway that lead down into a ring of computers and other machines Scarlett couldn't name. A screen could be found on the far wall as if for presentations, which she found interesting. There was also a large clock that blinked red numbers as if it were counting down a timer. Counting down to what, she didn't know.
She also noticed that there was nobody else in the room beside Jenner.
"Welcome to Zone 5." The doctor announced, continuing down the walkway towards the circle of computers as everyone followed him.
"Where is everybody?" Rick questioned. "The other doctors, the staff?"
"I'm it." Jenner replied, to which Scarlett raised her eyebrows in surprise.
"What about the person you were speaking with?" Lori asked. "Vi?"
"Vi, say hello to our guests. Tell them welcome."
An automated voice rang over the speakers above them only a second later.
"Hello guests," it greeted them. "Welcome."
"I'm all that's left," Jenner clarified. "I'm sorry."
Scarlett tried her best to hide her frown as she let Jenner's words roll around in her head. The place was spotless, so it wasn't like the walkers had gotten into the building and killed everyone off. She supposed a lot of people took off when things got bad, which didn't make her feel any better. If all those qualified and intelligent people gave up on looking how to stop the infection, what did that say in terms of their odds overall? It only left a stale taste in her mouth.
Taking the silence from the group as a sign to move on, Jenner led them to a different room in order to get everyone's blood tested. It was easy to see nobody wanted to go first, which in itself made Scarlett laugh internally. They'd faced the worst of the worst outside, and suddenly everyone was scared of needles? With a slow exhale, the former paramedic dropped her bag and took a seat in front of Jenner.
"Brave." The doctor muttered under his breath as he readied the needle. Scarlett couldn't tell if the man was mocking her or genuine with his words, ultimately deciding to not give Jenner a response.
Cutting off the circulation in her arm with the quick tie of a band, Scarlett opted to stare at the wall while the doctor did his thing. The soft prick of the needle entering her arm barely registered in her mind, watching from the corner of her eye as everyone sat down scattered around the room. Nobody looked thrilled to get a needle stuck in their arm, but the rare sense of security that they were currently feeling was only just sinking in, the relief and fatigue easy to spot on each one of their faces.
"Done," Jenner spoke up as he retracted the needle from her arm. "I'd recommend-"
"Lying down, yeah." She concluded, getting up and walking off to the side before dropping her things and lying flat against the floor.
One by one, everyone sat down in front of the doctor to get tested. Rick was the one to volunteer after Scarlett, which seemed to calm everyone's nerves even further. Some were more hesitant than others, but besides that there were no vocal complaints. The only one who posed any questions was Andrea, who was the very last one of the group to get blood taken from Jenner.
"What's the point? If we were infected, we'd all be running a fever." The blonde inquired, eyeing the doctor carefully.
"I've already broken every rule in the book by letting you in here. Let me just at least be careful," the man explained, taking the needle out of Andrea's arm. "All done."
Slowly getting up from her seat, Scarlett watched as Jacqui caught the unsteady blonde from falling over. Feeling dizzy after getting blood taken wasn't uncommon, but the redhead was under the assumption that it had to do with something else.
"Are you okay?" Jenner questioned, to which Andrea only gave a soft nod.
"She hasn't eaten in days," Jacqui explained. "None of us have."
"You wouldn't happen to have anything for us to eat, would you doctor?" Scarlett glanced over at the man for an answer.
The redhead was genuinely curious regarding the food situation, whether it was plentiful or not. The doctors who'd ran could have easily scavenged up almost everything when they left, or it could have gone untouched. She was hoping for the latter of the two situations, but she couldn't be sure when considering their recent luck.
When she met the doctor's eyes, the paramedic raised her eyebrows.
"I have some to spare."
Scarlett couldn't remember the last time she'd been drunk. There was never a point in her life where she'd gotten completely plastered, not enjoying the lack of control she had when extremely intoxicated, but she definitely had no problem with getting tipsy. And that was what she was feeling now.
The table the group sat around was covered with empty wine bottles and full glasses. Plates were cleared of food and had been discarded long ago, everyone's main focus on getting more wine into their systems. Not one face went without a smile on their lips as alcohol ran through their veins, nice food sat in their stomachs, and spirits soared high off of everyone's euphoria of finally feeling safe. It almost felt as though everything had gone back to normal and that the dead had ceased to walk around at all.
It was almost as if everyone had forgotten what laughter felt like, which was fair when there hadn't been much to laugh about lately to begin with. So, when sat around a table with their little group laughing away, Scarlett was startled by their content. Of course it made her happy to see them all blissfully drinking and smiling from ear to ear, it just wasn't something she was used to. Even before the apocalypse, she was never one to go out drinking with friends at the local bar, that wasn't her thing. She enjoyed quiet evenings, sipping away at her drink and playing Scrabble with Victoria.
She never thought she'd like being with people and being social, though she figured it had something to do with the people rather than the action itself. All she new was that things had changed and she was beaming like an idiot as she watched Glenn down another glass of wine.
"You know, in Italy, children have a little bit of wine with dinner," Dale stated, pouring a laughing Lori another glass of wine. "And in France."
"Well, when Carl is in Italy or France, he can have some then." She replied, taking a sip out of her newly filled glass.
"What's it gonna hurt? Come on." Rick chimed in, eyeing his wife. "Come on."
Scarlett let out a chuckle with everyone else as she watched the woman shake her head with a grin. Dale poured a bit of the dark red liquid into a cup for Carl to try. The boy took one careful sip before his face scrunched up in disgust and shook his head as if he were trying to get the taste out of his mouth.
"Eww!" The younger boy cried out, to which another round of laughs circled the table.
"That's my boy. That's my boy." Lori muttered as she turned to help her son.
The redhead continued to chuckle as she rubbed at her cheek, catching Glenn's eye in the process and falling into laughter once again. The guy's face was flushed, very visibly drunk off the wine. Scarlett had lost count of how many glasses her friend had drank, but she didn't really care. She was having trouble remembering how many she'd had too.
"Well, just stick to soda pop there, bud." Shane spoke up with no smile found on his face, which caught the redhead off guard.
"Not you, Glenn." Daryl said from across the table, causing both the Asian and Scarlett to turn and look at him.
"What?" Glenn questioned, a goofy look on his face that only made Scarlett snicker.
"Keep drinking, little man. I wanna see how red your face can get." He taunted.
"He seems pretty far gone as it is," The paramedic stated as she patted Glenn's shoulder, only for him to let out a little hiccup to send everyone into hysterics. "My point exactly."
"How're you not drunk, Scarlett?" Her friend whined, his speech slightly slurred.
"She always could hold her alcohol." Rick chimed in from the front end of the table, giving her a grin.
"Shhh," she hushed the man, which caused a few people to chuckle as she turned back to Glenn. "I'm drunk, I just don't show it as easily as you, my dear friend."
"Well, then you're not drunk enough."
Scarlett glanced over at Daryl once again, catching the soft smirk that remained on his lips. He held out one of the wine bottles to her, as if taunting her to drink more. When she cocked an eyebrow at him, his smirk only deepened. A soft chuckle left her lips as she stood up and snatched the bottle from him, bringing it to her lips and feeling the alcohol wash over her mouth as she sat back down. Cheers went up amongst the table at their little interaction as a sense of pride bubbled in her chest. It increased tenfold once she saw the impressed and pleased look on the younger Dixon's face.
Sadly, the feeling faded when she caught a glance of a very quiet Jenner sitting at the far end of the table staring off into space. The former paramedic glanced over at the Grimes family and managed to catch Rick's eye, to which she nodded her head in the doctor's direction. The man's gaze fell onto the silent man and quickly got the message, even in his drunken state.
Rick brought a knife to his wine glass, multiple rings of the glass silently demanding everyone's attention. It only took a few seconds for everyone to quiet down, to which the former sheriff's deputy stood up to address the situation.
"It seems to me that we haven't thanked our host properly." He spoke, turning his and everyone else's attention to Jenner.
"He is more than just our host." T-Dog chimed in, raising his glass as everyone followed his action.
"Hear, hear!"
"Here's to you, doc!"
"Booyah!"
Scarlett could only grin as she raised her bottle to the doctor, who appeared a bit uncomfortable with the praise. She found it a little odd, but figured that maybe he wasn't good with people or being in the spotlight.
It was only once everyone finished clinking glasses that Shane spoke up out of the blue.
"So when are you gonna tell us what the hell happened here, doc?"
The frown that reached Scarlett's face came almost immediately after Shane finished his sentence. She was almost bewildered that the man would bring up that kind of question in the middle of their celebration, but this was Shane. He'd been acting weird for days now, weirder than he did before.
"All the other doctors that were supposed to be figuring out what happened, where are they?" He continued.
Scarlett couldn't believe it.
"Really?" She asked, her tone proving just how un-amused she was by his comments, and apparently she wasn't the only one.
"We're celebrating, Shane," Rick stated, eyeing his best friend carefully. "Don't need to do this now."
"Woah, wait a second. This is why we're here, right? This was both you and Scarlett's move, supposed to find all the answers. Instead, we- we found him," Shane pointed at Jenner, chuckling with a lack of any sort of humour. "We found one man. Why?"
If she hadn't been angry before, she sure as hell was now. Scarlett didn't care as to why he was acting the way he was, she just wanted him to stop talking. Perhaps it was the alcohol running through her veins that had her temper skyrocketing, but she didn't care. She would have gone after Shane if Glenn hadn't tugged on her arm, begging her with her eyes to not make a scene even in his drunken state.
"Well, when things got bad, a lot of people just left. Went off to be with their families," Jenner explained, keeping his calm exterior. "And when things got worse, when the military cordon got overrun, the rest bolted."
"Every last one?" Shane inquired, causing Scarlett's jaw to clench.
"No, many couldn't face walking out the door," the doctor continued. "They…opted out. There was a rash of suicides. That was a bad time."
"You didn't leave," Andrea spoke up. "Why?"
"I just kept working, hoping to do some good."
Everyone remained quiet for a few moments, taking in all the things Jenner had said. It was just like Scarlett thought; almost everyone had got up and left while others had ended their own lives. If things were so horrible that even some of the most brilliant doctors had "opted out", it made their situation a whole lot worse than she had thought.
"Dude, you are such a buzz-kill." Glenn stated, his cheery tone from earlier nowhere in sight.
Catching on to the gloomy atmosphere that had fallen over the group after Shane's comments, Jenner got up and informed them to follow him to where they would be spending the night. Going through a few more corridors, Scarlett helped to steady Glenn as they walked the halls. She was secretly using her friend's weight to keep herself from falling over as well, but she didn't feel that bad up on her feet. She still had a bottle of wine clenched in her fist when they reached the rooms, and she wasn't even the only one.
"Most of the facility is powered down, including housing, so you'll have to make do here," the doctor stated. "The couches are comfortable, but there are cots in storage if you like."
Jenner came to a stop at the end of the hall and turned to look at the group.
"There's a rec room down the hall that you kids might enjoy. Just don't plug in the video games, okay? Or anything that draws power. The same applies – if you shower, go easy on the hot water."
Scarlett almost fell over at the mention of having a hot shower, turning to look at Glenn in amazement before they both looked back at the rest of the group.
"Hot water?" He muttered, a huge smile splitting over his face.
"That's what the man said." T-Dog chuckled, the smiles quickly returning to everyone's faces at the new information.
Without much hesitation, everyone shuffled into their respected rooms. Scarlett grabbed a room at the end of the hall, immediately collapsing on the couch located in the corner. It was so much more comfortable than the sleeping bag she'd been using back at camp, and she was sure everyone thought the same. In all honesty, she could have easily fallen asleep on the couch in that instant, but the thought of having a warm shower was too good to pass up. Tossing her things on the sofa, Scarlett made a break for the bathroom. While it was relatively small, it was still large enough to have a shower in it, along with the toilet and sink. Quickly stripping the clothes of her body, Scarlett turned the faucet and stepped under the warm water. She almost started to cry at the feeling, as if someone had wrapped a blanket of pure comfort around her aching body. Hearing the muffled cheers and yells of content coming from the rooms beside her only made the redhead's smile widen.
They'd gotten lucky. Extremely lucky. What were the chances that Jenner had stayed behind and not bolted like the rest had? That he had seen them on the cameras and decided to let them in even though it was against everything he was taught? That he had given them food and wine and let them stay there? It was almost too good to be true.
Stepping out of the shower, Scarlett cleaned herself off with a towel she'd found in one of the cupboards. She used her fingers to brush through her red locks before throwing on a large white t-shirt that hung off her shoulder and some comfy grey sweatpants that she'd also found in the room.
For a while, she debated on whether or not to leave the room in search of the others or just to simply stay in her own room. She figured the majority of the group was drunk beyond belief, most likely passed out or on the verge of passing out. Scarlett thought about going down to the rec room to see the kids, but ultimately decided to stay put.
Laying her head back on the couch and staring at the ceiling with her bottle of wine still in hand, Scarlett let her mind wander. There was something about Jenner that bothered her. She couldn't rationalize while the wine clouded her mind, but she figured if she felt that way that there was a reason behind it. Maybe it was the look on his face while he'd told the group about what happened to the other doctors, or the way he was acting around them, Scarlett wasn't sure. She could only sense that he was hiding something, which again, she couldn't be sure of, but her gut was screaming at her to find something wrong with their situation while her mind was telling her that they were completely safe. She didn't know which one to believe, either too drunk or too tired to figure it out. It was when she saw cartoon representations of her gut and brain having an argument behind her closed eyes that she shook her head and sat up.
She really should go to bed.
Taking a quick sip of her wine, Scarlett jumped at the sound of two sharp knocks on her door. She immediately reached for Stella, even though they were in a safe environment, but she figured she could never be too careful. Placing the wine bottle on the coffee table and getting up from the couch, the redhead slowly approached the door and threw it open.
She was a little surprised, and she was sure it was evident all over her face. The former paramedic had been expecting either Rick or Glenn to come knocking on her door, but instead came face to face with Daryl.
He stared at her in amusement, most likely because she had Stella swung over her shoulder in case of an intruder.
"Gonna beat me up?" He questioned.
"Depends on what you want." She replied seriously, but the man cracked a small smile.
"Can I use your shower? Mine isn't working."
The request was odd, Scarlett couldn't argue with that. If it were any other guy, Scarlett would have taken it as an attempt to make a move on her and she would've told him to beat it, but this was different. Daryl didn't seem like the type to lie about these kinds of things. From what she knew about him, he didn't like interacting with others, so if he were to lie about something that involved him talking with anyone, he wouldn't have done it.
Daryl apparently caught on to what she was thinking and rolled his eyes.
"You think I'm lying?" He asked, a scoff leaving his lips.
"No," she answered calmly. "It's just that my thought process is a lot slower when I'm drinking."
"I can tell."
She narrowed her eyes at him.
"You wanna use my shower or not?"
"Yeah."
"Than drop the attitude, Dixon," she rolled her eyes as he chuckled, failing at hiding her own smile. "Come on in."
Walking back into the room and hearing the door shut behind them, Scarlett sat herself back down on the couch as Daryl went into the bathroom and closed the door. The question didn't hit her until she'd heard the shower turn on; why had he asked her and not someone else? He couldn't have known this was her room, could he? Maybe he had knocked on other doors and had gotten no answer. Or had he come specifically to use her shower? She probably was the most friendly with him, but still.
She shook her head. She was reading too much into the situation and needed to calm down. Coming up with useless answers that weren't from the source was a waste of time and would only get her more worked up. Scarlett figured she'd just ask him when he got out of the shower.
Every time she tried to think of something else, her thoughts would just go back to Daryl. It was stupid, and she was overanalyzing her overanalyzing to the point that she was driving herself crazy. Taking another sip from her bottle proved to be useless in stopping her thoughts about the younger Dixon. They weren't bad or anything, they were just curious questions that she would like answers to. Did he think of her as a friend, or someone he could come to if he needed something? That seemed self-explanatory, considering that he was currently using her shower. Did he dislike her? She was pretty much the only one he would talk to more than once in a day. Why did she care about all of this in the first place?
A soft groan left her lips as she place her head in her hands. This was why she didn't get drunk often; she liked having control over her actions and thoughts. Plus, she was going to have a killer hangover tomorrow, which she was not looking forward to.
Just as she had registered that the shower had turned off, more loud knocks came from the door to her room. Scarlett let out a sigh, wondering who wanted what now. Grabbing her bottle this time instead of her bat, the redhead approached the door and threw it open.
Looking uneasy and extremely tense, Shane stood tapping his foot against the ground as his eyes met hers. Scarlett immediately frowned and her mood turned sour as she stared at the man.
"What do you want?" She demanded, eyeing the man carefully.
"Well that's no way to treat a friend, now is it?" He asked oddly, an edgy chuckle leaving his mouth.
"I'm treating you like this because you were an asshole at dinner," she replied, narrowing her eyes. "I was just about to sleep, this better be good."
"I'm sorry for asking questions that both you and Rick should have been asking when we got here," Shane replied harshly, showing Scarlett more of his unhinged state that she'd seen glances of before. "You're the ones that wanted to come here, not me. This is on you two."
"Boohoo, we found a safe place to stay. Those comments could have waited till morning, Shane, and you know it."
Before Shane could give her an even angrier reply, the door of Scarlett's bathroom opened and out walked Daryl, clothed in similar attire to her; a white shirt and grey sweatpants.
"What the hell's goin' on?" He asked, approaching the two of them.
"Oh, good job, Holloway. You're screwing the redneck. Real classy." Shane spat at her.
Scarlett gaped at Shane in bewilderment.
"How does him using my shower translate to the two of us sleeping together?" She demanded, eyes wide by the man's comment.
"You know what? Do what you want, I don't care," Shane scoffed, sneering at the two of them and completely bypassing her words. "I need you to clean up the cuts on my neck."
Scarlett knew what he was talking about; she'd seen them the moment she'd opened the door. Three long scratches, one on his jaw and two on his neck that were red and angry. They were fresh and it was almost like someone had attacked him.
Or perhaps the other way around.
"Let me get this straight," she laughed dryly. "You come here making accusations and insult me only to demand I clean up your cuts?"
Shane didn't respond.
"Go fuck yourself, Walsh."
Scarlett grabbed ahold of the door and attempted to close it, only for the man to stick his foot in the way to stop it.
"Holloway, come on-"
"Go ask Jenner for some rubbing alcohol and a band aide. Maybe see if he can pull your head out of your ass too."
"For fuck's sake-"
"You heard her. Get the hell out of here."
The door had been thrown open and Scarlett had never seen so much fear in Shane's eyes before. Scarlett only caught a glimpse of Daryl from the corner of her eye, but man did he look pissed. The younger Dixon had practically growled at the other man, and the redhead had never been gladder to befriend him.
With one last scowl, Shane turned and marched down the hallway. Scarlett closed the door with a soft click and let out a sigh. Shane always had a knack for getting under her skin, but this was just ridiculous.
"When I heard yelling I came out to help," Daryl spoke up. "Didn't look like you needed any though."
Scarlett couldn't help but chuckle at the comment, turning to glance at the man. He was glancing at her from the corner of his eye, almost as if he were silently asking her if she was okay.
"You scared him off, though. So thank you for that."
"You let me use your shower, was the least I could do."
"Not because you wanted to?"
"Believe me. The day that guy messes up, I'm gonna kick his ass."
"I mean, you could go after him now. He wouldn't see it coming."
"You're a bad influence."
"Only when I'm drunk."
A small smile played at the corners of his mouth as his eyes travelled down to the bottle in her hands.
"Are you gonna drink the whole bottle?" He asked.
"Lost the cork, what else am I supposed to do?" She replied with a shrug, retreating back into the room and plopping herself on the sofa. Daryl stayed near the door. "Can I ask you something?"
The man remained silent at the request, but came further into the room, to which she took as an affirmative action.
"Before Rick and I joined up with the group, was something going on with Shane and Lori?"
While she had been pretty certain about what the answer would be, Scarlett could only ask the question to someone who had been their while she hadn't. The awkward eye and the uncomfortable interactions that occurred between the two adults was something the redhead had noticed the day she'd arrived at the camp with Rick. Now, with the scratch marks on Shane's neck and face, it seemed that the person responsible was Lori, but it was out of character for the older woman to lash out physically. Scarlett could only pin it as self-defense.
She would need to speak with Lori in the morning.
"You think they were screwing?" Daryl questioned after a momentary pause.
"Yeah, something like that," she replied as she looked up at the man. "I mean, think about it. They were best friends before everything went to shit, but Shane's been nothing but hostile to Rick ever since he's been back. My guess is that Lori and Shane started a thing, thinking that Rick was dead, but now that he's back in the picture, Shane's pissed off that Lori went back to him."
"You're worried he's gonna do something stupid."
She couldn't deny it; she was a bit surprised by Daryl's insightful comment. He was on the same page as her and was keeping up with her rambling. Not that she ever thought he was slow, but he was a lot more observant than she ever would have thought.
"I think his hostility will put the group at risk, and I know Rick won't do anything because he still considers Shane his best friend."
The dark turn in conversation had the redhead sobering up, already feeling the oncoming headache approaching. Tomorrow was going to be a difficult one as it was, and now they had to deal with Shane's antagonism towards Rick.
"I'll keep an eye on him." Daryl stated, causing Scarlett to glance up at him in mild shock.
"Thanks. Honestly, thank you for everything."
"What do you mean?"
Scarlett let out a long sigh.
"I mean that even though I'm sure you'd rather be anywhere else than with this group of people, you still help out and make sure everyone's safe," she affirmed, seeing the slight surprise in his eyes. "I know you'd rather be out there looking for your brother. Trust me, I'd rather be looking for my sister, but staying together is important. Don't ever think it doesn't matter, you being here."
Scarlett closed her eyes and stifled a yawn, not bothering to check the man's reaction of her words. With her eyelids feeling heavy and her mind all clouded, she barely managed to open her eyes to look at Daryl.
"Get some sleep, Scar."
She gave him a small smile and a nod, watching through half open eyes as he left the room and closed the door behind him. It wasn't a lie, she was thankful that Daryl had stuck around and not gone off on his own. She genuinely enjoyed his company, no matter how much she denied it. In her eyes, he was a good friend who she looked forward to spending more time with.
Even though the hopeless look in Jenner's eyes would haunt her dreams, Scarlett was thankful that she had such wonderful people around her to keep her company while the world collapsed around them.
Done!
Wasn't exactly sure how to end this chapter, but decided to keep the mayhem that happens the next day for the next chapter, and then we'll be done season one! Very excited for the chapters to come, currently brainstorming plot points. Can't wait to get to the Greene farm.
As always, thank you guys so much for reading, I truly appreciate it. Feel free to leave a review, I love to hear feedback or even if you just want to say hi lol
I apologize if there are any spelling mistakes, sometimes my eyes pass over them without really registering the error.
Hope you're all doing well and I'll see you in the next update!
Cheers,
- GuiltyCalamity