Chapter 32
Bay bit her lip and stifled an excited giggle when Daryl began to stir while she rolled the condom down his turgid shaft. Once it was down to the base of his cock, Bay, who was straddling him already, scooted up further on her knees until she was able to align the tip of his erection with her opening.
"Mmmmhhhh, good morning." she moaned quietly while she sunk down on him, letting him part her folds and stretch her inner walls. The exquisite feeling truly never got old for neither one of them.
Daryl felt like he was having the best dream ever, only that it wasn't a dream. He felt tight heat envelop his cock, felt it getting massaged by that wet heat, while he slowly blinked his eyes open. "Baby girl?" his rough, sleepy voice sent shivers down her spine and made her contract her muscles around him once more. "Mmmm... damn..." he groaned low in his throat and let his eyes close again just as Bay started to move back up, starting to set a slow and steady rhythm, but she picked up some speed fast.
"Sorry for waking you." She grinned under labored breath as she worked herself up and down on his rock-hard length. "Wanted you... And it's never been like us to waste some good morning wood, right?"
"Damn right." he agreed with a slightly strained voice. "Fuck, sweetheart... Just like that... That's damn good." he cupped her ass in his big hands and helped her bounce up and down. She let him guide her for a while, but when she felt like she was aroused enough she grabbed his wrists and brought his hands up to her breasts, while she sunk down on him all the way, letting him hit the end of her. She whimpered quietly when the mix of pleasure and pain made her shudder, but as soon as she got used to the sensation, she started grinding herself down on him harder and harder, like she was trying to get him even deeper. She rolled and rotated her hips, slowly at first, but then more frantically by the second, loving the feeling of being so full and having her muscles clench down on him, mixed with the slight discomfort of having him all the way inside of her.
"Want it rough, sweetheart?" Daryl's voice momentarily broke her concentration, but it didn't make her rhythm falter.
"Yes, please." she whispered breathlessly and continued grinding on him erratically. Daryl closed his hands over her breasts and squeezed hard. "Yesssss!" she hissed and put her hands on top of his, squeezing her breasts with him for a short moment, before Daryl started manipulating her nipples, rolling them and tugging on them roughly. Bay let her head fall back and stifled her cries by biting her lip. She didn't feel like letting anyone listen in again.
"Wanna cum?" Daryl bit out from between gritted teeth while he enjoyed the view and the feeling of her using his cock for her pleasure.
"Yes."
"Touch yourself. Got my hands full." he said and pinched her nipples for emphasis. "Make yourself cum on my dick, sweet girl."
One hand remained one his wrist, but the other she slid down to her throbbing clit. It was so sensitive that she let out an involuntary moan when she touched it and she immediately started rubbing tight little circles around it. Daryl's eyes fluttered shut for a split-second when her pussy grasped him even tighter, but he quickly opened them again to watch the mouthwatering scene in front of him. It took all of his willpower not to grab her hips and pump his dick up into her wildly. He wanted her to cum first, before he would pound her into the mattress.
Her nails dug into his wrist as she started panting. Her fingers and her hips moving frantically as countless little moans left her mouth. Daryl gritted his teeth, lips pulled back into a snarl as he tried not to cum along with her when her walls finally started fluttering around him. "Oh... oh... oh... OOOHHH!" A loud cry left her mouth when she finally came apart, but as her body shook in pleasure, she quickly pressed her lips together, suppressing her sounds while she pressed her fingers down hard on her clit, riding out her climax while she clawed at his wrist with her other hand. Daryl gave her no time to breathe. Her velvety, wet walls were still contracting around him when Daryl lifted her off of him and knelt up. He pushed at her, making her turn around, and with one hand firmly pressed to the middle of her back, he made her get down on all fours. He positioned himself, letting the head of his dick slip into her a little before he grabbed her by the crook of her arm on both sides, pulling her arms behind her back, immobilizing her and making sure she wouldn't budge an inch when he thrust into her.
He eased himself inside slowly, enjoying the last flutters of her orgasm until his abdomen was firmly pressed against her butt cheeks. That's where slow and easy ended. Daryl pushed into her with quick, sharp thrusts, making her ass bounce and jiggle when it met his body with a loud slapping sound. Bay grunted with every thrust, just like Daryl, both of them briefly giving into their animalistic side as he took her rough and hard. All too soon Daryl released her arms and suddenly pulled out of her. He quickly pulled the condom off of his pulsing length and tossed it aside, then he quickly wrapped his hand around himself and pumped his fist up and down a couple of times until he shuddered and, with a long drawn out groan, erupted all over her ass, covering her tan skin with his creamy, white essence.
"Mine." he pressed out between harsh breaths as he rubbed her hips possessively, watching his cum run down her ass and between her crack, down to her pussy.
"U-huh." Bay nodded in agreement while she tried to catch her breath.
Daryl wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand while he looked around for something to clean her up with. He spotted her top on the floor and bent down to grab it, before he proceeded to gently clean the traces of their passion off her skin. When she felt like he had caught everything, she slowly straightened her legs and laid on her stomach, with Daryl dropping on his back by her side. They shared a breathless smile and Bay laughed a little. "Is it just me or is it even better than it used to be before?"
"Ain't just you." Daryl replied, still slightly out of breath.
"I feel like I'm able to enjoy it more. Which is weird, because I always enjoyed it. But it's different now. Isn't it?"
"It is." he nodded, as mono-syllabic as ever. "Also lasts longer."
"Yeah. That's right. It's more intense, too. Oh my God, just imagine if we had one of those joints now Pat used to give us. I think we'd die! For real. Death by gargantuan orgasm." She giggled.
"I'd still try. Would be worth it."
"Very true." she smiled and reached over to gently caress his face with her fingertips. "I don't wanna get up."
"Then don't."
"I have to. Lots of things to do. There aren't enough hours in a day to get everything done. Even with the extra help."
"I know." Daryl knew it all too well. The men wanted to reinforce the fences, and even though they worked all day, it felt like they were barely making a dent. Today they would even be two men down, because Rick and Shane would check out the hospital which meant that they would get even less done. "We should get down there. Can't be late all the time."
"It's okay. I woke you up early, so we are right on time."
"As organized as ever." Daryl gave her a little smile and a kiss while he rolled on his side. He added a little slap on her butt, making her giggle, before he sat up and grabbed his clothes. "Come on, you too, sweetheart."
"Yeah, yeah. Working on it." she sighed deeply, wishing they would be able to spend a whole weekend holed up in her room, like they had used to back in the day, but once again, they couldn't be that selfish. Everybody needed to pitch in. So she got dressed too with the hopes, that they would be able to have some quality time before they would fall asleep at night. With them working all day and Daryl having watch almost every night, getting enough time alone and getting enough sleep was not that easy.
Two weeks passed and the new, bigger group quickly grew into their new routines. On the outside everything seemed fine, but on the inside, things were starting to get tense between two parties. Number one being Rick and Shane. They had returned from their trip to the hospital banged up, bloodied and bruised. They had come to blows after an intense disagreement, but Rick had assured Daryl and Bay, that they had made up and would live together and be civil from now on. Neither of them believed it, especially since Shane got more intense with each day. He was quieter now and kept to himself, but there was an aura of danger surrounding him and it got stronger every day. Everybody felt uneasy around him, even Lori thought of him as dangerous now, and they were all glad that he kept his distance. The second party things were getting tense between, were Andrea and Lori. After initially bonding some more during the first week on the farm, things quickly took a turn, when Lori realized how all the women were working themselves to the bones, except for the former civil rights lawyer. Even Beth barely spent time with Jimmy anymore and helped harvesting and cooking and keeping things clean. They were all exhausted, except for Andrea, and Lori didn't like it one bit.
Today Daryl, Rick, Shane, T-Dog and Glenn had taken several cars to the hospital. It was their fourth trip. It wasn't as overrun as they had feared and they were cleaning out the floors one by one. Bay had given them some locations she remembered from her long stay there, so they knew where they would have to go first. Still, everyone was nervous and on edge, especially the women, who had stayed behind. They had kissed their men goodbye telling them to be safe and threatening to hunt their dead asses down if they wouldn't return. Now it was time to distract themselves. Bay suggested reorganize the basement. Hershel wanted the basement prepared in case something happened and they would all be stuck in the house or even in that basement for a couple of days. With Beth's help Bay had made a list of the essentials like water, food, sleeping bags, extra blankets, flashlights, etc. which they would put in one of the rooms down there for emergencies. They were lucky that the house and the basement were so big. It allowed them to stock up and prepare for things. They were also lucky that Hershel's wife Annette had been a bit of a hoarder. She had never been able to pass up a good deal and she had bought in bulk, mainly because the farm was so far out of reach and they hadn't had time to go into town and do their grocery shopping every day. They still had a ton of hygiene products, paper towels, bottled water, cereal, rice, pasta and canned food, which the women were now supplementing with their own canned fruits and veggies from the garden. Hershel would butcher a cow and some chicken soon to fill the freezer with meat and to make some jerky. The men would look for another generator and for fuel so they would be able to keep the generators running for as long as possible, so all the goods in the freezer wouldn't go to waste. They had started to cut down on their use of electricity. Only a couple of lamps stayed on at night and they switched over to camping lanterns and candles. Also shower time was reduced to 5 minutes per person. They were amassing batteries during runs which would help them have some luxuries, like listening to music every once in a while or use brighter LED lights for reading. They thought they were well organized and would be well prepared for winter once they had checked off all the items on their lists. It eased the minds of everyone a little bit.
"Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing?" Maggie looked at Lori with an incredulous look on her face, when the pregnant women tried to help her and Bay moving one of the heavy shelves towards the wall.
"It's okay, I can help push this thing." Lori waved her off with an embarrassed smile.
"No you can't." Maggie stated and put her hands on her hips. "You are already doing way more than you should."
"She's right." Bay cut in. "You know how it is. The first three months and the last three months you have to take it easy. Trust me, nobody is going to judge you for putting your feet up. Now go upstairs, take a break and have some water and a snack. We got this."
"But-"
"Upstairs. Now." Maggie told her sternly, but affectionately. Lori gave her a grateful smile and squeezed her shoulder, before she mouthed a thank you to Bay, and went back upstairs. "Alright. On three... One... two... three." Maggie said when Lori was gone, and the two "sisters" tried to move the heavy shelf to another spot in the room.
Lori spotted Andrea snacking on some cucumber slices in the kitchen, when she came back up. Perfect. "Hey Andrea, could you go downstairs real quick and help Bay and Maggie move a shelf? It's really heavy."
"I can't. I have to go outside and do watch. Why don't you help them?" Andrea asked, sounding bored.
"They told me not to. Can you please go down there and help out for once? I'm sure Hershel and Dale are able to handle watch duty without you for five more minutes." Lori was reaching her limit where Andrea was concerned, and she was no longer able to hide it.
"Help out for once?" Andrea asked indignantly. "I help out all the time."
"Yeah. You are such a productive member of the group..."
"I am on watch against walkers, I help keep the group safe."
"The men can handle that just fine, Andrea. They don't need your help. We do!"
"Oh really? Seems like you have a good handle on things, so what would you even have me do?"
"Oh there is plenty of work to go around. Caring for the animals, cooking, cleaning, laundry, harvesting... But no, all you do is sit up on that RV, working on your tan with a shotgun in your lap, while the girls work themselves ragged. Your behavior puts more burden on the rest of us." Lori was working herself up into a rage, but her voice stayed surprisingly calm.
"Oh is that how it is now? We're setting back evolution, going back to being caveman and woman? They hunt and protect while we keep the cave clean and tidy?"
"They protect us while we create stability and a life worth living, Andrea. You seem to enjoy the perks of that, so why not help out a little?" Lori looked pointedly at the cucumber slices Andrea was munching on. A cucumber Beth had harvested the day before.
"Are you kidding me? I contribute plenty. You're seriously getting on my case because I'm not doing the dishes or dusting the cabinets?" Andrea felt offended by Lori's claims that she wasn't doing anything around here.
"You're selfish. You're only thinking about yourself, Andrea. You don't care about anyone but yourself."
"I am selfish? Are you fucking kidding me, Lori?" Andrea started yelling and getting in Lori's face. "You are the one who is self-centered. You take all of this for granted. You have everything while the rest of us is piling up their losses. But no, not Lori. Your husband came back from the dead, your son, too, your boyfriend would kill for you, and now you have a baby on the way. You have everything! Now you play house and act like the Queen Bee and make rules for everyone but yourself. Those girls you are so worried about? They run themselves ragged for you. Bay is worried about you. The men are out there, mainly to get medical supplies for you. It's you, you, you, all the time Lori, and you really have the nerve to tell me that I'm self-centered? And how about you watch what your own son does instead of what the rest of us do?" Andrea was fuming, just like Lori.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Lori reached a new level of anger when Andrea brought Carl into this.
"Do you know how many times I've heard the question 'Have you seen Carl? He's not in the house.' coming from you? Do you know how often I caught him wandering around in the dark? You want him to get lost, too? Seriously, it's like you want something to happen to him." Andrea hit Lori where it hurt and they both knew it. Lori kept quiet, they just stared at each other for a moment, before Andrea scoffed and walked out of the room. "Just leave me alone."
At the bottom of the stairs to the basement, Bay and Maggie shared a look. It had been impossible not to listen in. Like Lori had said, privacy was long gone.
"Lori had a point." Maggie said.
"She did, but that's all I'm saying about that. I am not getting involved in any cat fights. Who needs it?" Bay shook her head and took a step towards Maggie. She put her hands on the taller woman's cheeks and pulled her down to press a kiss against Maggie's forehead. "I love you. I'm glad that you're you. You are pretty cool." Bay smiled.
"And you are actually not as boring as I thought. Those sounds coming through the wall..." Maggie winked jokingly.
"Oh shut up." Bay mock-frowned and poked Maggie in the ribs. For years Maggie had teased her about being boring, because Bay had pretty much spent all her time on the farm, not interested in parties, boys and all the other things Maggie had been into when she had been younger. "Come on, let's get the other room ready. It'll be our own little pharmacy and medical supply store if the men are able to find some more good stuff."
"Only you and Daddy would get excited about that." Maggie laughed and followed Bay back into the room they had been working on.
Meanwhile at the hospital...
It was almost done. Just a couple of moments longer. This was his chance. This was the perfect opportunity to get rid of Rick without raising too much suspicion. Nobody would be able to prove that he'd had a hand in Rick's demise. This place was practically a deathtrap with walkers possibly lurking behind every corner. Nobody would be able to prove that he had just stood by and watched.
Shane wore the hint of a smile while he watched Rick struggle with the big walker on top of him. Shane had been smart enough to let himself get covered in enough walker blood when they had cleared the hallway earlier, so that the walker hadn't gone straight for him. I love it when a plan comes together! Shane thought of the quote Hannibal from the A-Team used to say. A show him and Rick had watched together when they had been younger. The fond memory didn't stop him from standing there and doing nothing to save his friend.
"This is it? This is how you wanna do it?" Rick bit out while he fought to keep the walker from sinking its teeth into his neck.
"You're not really surprised are ya?" Shane smiled cockily. "Thought I'd just stand back and watch you raise my child?"
"It's not your child. Shane. Just like Lori isn't yours. Just like Carl isn't yours. They never were."
"But they will be. Sure it's gonna be hard on them at first. Losing you again, this time for real. But they'll get over it. Just like the last time. As soon as our baby is born you'll be nothing but a distant memory. The others will forget about you, too. They'll finally have someone who keeps them safe. I kept them safe at the quarry. Until you showed up. You brought the walkers with you. Attracted them by having Glenn drive to the camp with the damn alarm blaring. It's all on you. You lost Sophia, too. If she would have died, that would have been on you, too. Just like Jim is on you. He got bit 'cause of you. We're better off without you, brother."
"You're insane." Rick grunted, before he started laughing. "And really stupid." Shane frowned and started shifting his weight when he got a weird feeling. "Did you really think I didn't know? Did you really think I paired up with you to check this wing without some precautions?"
Before Shane was able to say anything else, something whizzed right by his body and straight into the skull of the walker. Shane noticed the bolt sticking out of the back of the walkers head as it stilled and slumped on Rick. Daryl. Shane drew his gun and whirled around, facing the redneck who had quickly reloaded his bow and was lifting it back up to aim it at Shane.
"Just walk away, Daryl." Shane shouted towards him in a warning tone. "This ain't got anything to do with you. Just be blind and walk aw-" Shane's words cut off and were replaced by an unhealthy gurgling sound. He froze as his eyes widened in shock. Daryl's widened slightly as well when he realized that Rick had stabbed his best friend. He was mildly shocked. Daryl had thought they would just cuff Shane and bring him back to the farm and decide there what they would do. He hadn't thought that Rick would kill Shane, even though, deep down, he knew that it had to be done. Shane was a ticking time bomb and nothing would have stopped him from trying to get rid of Rick again. In the end it would have come down to this. Only one man left standing. Either Rick or Shane. Daryl was glad that it was Rick.
The former sheriff pulled the blade out of Shane's back and let his brother turn around to look at him with shocked eyes. The gun had already fallen out of Shane's hand and he now used his hands to cling to Rick as he gasped for air. Hot tears were streaming down Rick's face and he let out a sob when he plunged the blade of his knife back into Shane's body, this time into his chest. Daryl cringed and lowered his bow. It was tough to watch. To be honest, he hadn't thought that Rick would have had it in him. He saw Rick in a new light and with new-found respect. He's really gonna do what's necessary to protect what's his. To protect the group. Maybe it ain't too bad to have him close to Bay. Means he's gonna protect her when I can't.
"You're making me do this!" Rick cried as his heart broke into pieces. "This is you, not me! Not me!" Shane's legs gave out and both men slid to the floor. Shane was gurgling as he drowned on his own blood, clutching Rick's tear-stained face in his hands, before they limply fell to his sides a moment later. It was over. Daryl averted his eyes as Rick screamed and cried, the pained sounds coming from the group leader were affecting Daryl, because he knew what it felt like to lose something you loved. He knew that Rick felt like his own heart had been shredded and torn out of his chest. However Daryl didn't let it show.
He didn't know how long it had been, but eventually he spoke up. "We gotta go, man. We gotta get some supplies before we leave. Come on. Ain't nothing left to do about him."
Rick nodded and wiped his face before he stood up. He took one last look at Shane, then he turned towards Daryl, only to freeze once more. Daryl frowned and turned around, looking at what Rick was looking at with wide eyes, only to encounter the shocked faces of Glenn and T-Dog.
"What the hell..." Glenn stammered. The men had finished raiding their part of the floor and had come to help out the other men when they had stumbled upon the scene that was now presenting itself in front of them. The knife sticking out of Shane's chest made it obvious that Rick had killed Shane.
"Whatchu think you're doing? Put it down!" Daryl told the two men, who had suddenly raised their guns and were aiming them at Rick.
"It's not what it looks like..." Rick stammered and held out his hand in a plea for them not to shoot. "Please... I can-" He didn't got any further when shots rang out, but he soon realized that Glenn and T-Dog weren't shooting him. Daryl turned towards Rick and watched in shock how a reanimated Shane dropped to the ground once more.
"What the fuck?" he muttered as he approached the now fully dead corpse with confusion etched into his features. "Was he bit?"
"No." Rick shook his head.
"But he turned!" Glenn said as he and T-Dog walked up to Rick, Daryl and dead Shane.
"How can he turn when he wasn't bit?" T-Dog shook his head. "Are you sure he wasn't bit."
"We all have it." Rick muttered as Dr. Edwin Jenner's words finally made sense. Now he knew what it meant. They would all turn eventually, bit or not.
"Wha'?" Daryl looked at Rick with narrowed eyes. "We all have what?"
"The... virus... or whatever it is what turns the dead into walkers. We all have it. We're all infected. We die, we turn. No matter if we got bit or scratched or not." Rick explained.
"What?" Glenn couldn't believe what he was hearing. "How long have you known about this? Why didn't you tell us?"
"Jenner told me, at the CDC. I didn't know what it meant until now. What difference would it have made if you had known? Ain't like we can stop it." Rick sounded defeated. He didn't care about the men being upset with him. He had just killed his best friend. He had other things on his mind.
"It was our right to know. You had no right to keep it from us." T-Dog complained.
"So?" Daryl spoke up and stepped in front of Glenn and T-Dog. "Now you know. Now what? He's right. Ain't nothing we can do."
The men fell silent for a moment until Daryl grew impatient. "Now let's fill our damn bags and get out of here for today."
"We'll take care of it." T-Dog said. Despite Rick keeping things from them he didn't want Rick to have to raid a room with his dead best friend in it. "You take what we have and load up the cars. We'll come down once we're done here."
Rick and Daryl nodded and took the full bags from the two men, and gave them their empty ones. They left the hospital and once outside Rick took a deep breath of fresh air. He just stood there looking up at the blue sky while Daryl loaded their loot into the back of Hershel's old truck. "Thank you..." Rick's voice made him stop. "For having my back... For warning me."
Daryl had seen Shane sneaking around the house in the wee hours of the morning. He'd watched the former deputy remove the bullets from Rick's python. Daryl had told Rick, and both men had known what Shane had been planning to do on this trip. It hadn't been too hard to figure out. So instead of looting some rooms Daryl had stayed close to Rick and Shane, lurking in the shadows. Rick had never been in too much danger. If he would have wanted to, he would have been able to take out the walker with his knife right away, but he had wanted to know if Shane would really let him die like that. Daryl had his back and Rick had known that the redneck would step in when the time was right, so he had let Shane think that he would win this for a little while.
Daryl shrugged. "He was dangerous. Something had to be done."
"Are you okay with all this?" Rick asked him, knowing that Daryl hadn't known that killing Shane had been in the cards.
Another shrug. "I don't see you and I tradin' haymakers on the side of the road. Ain't no one who would win that fight." Daryl wasn't answering Rick's question directly. Instead he was telling him that he had Rick's back, and that he would never go up against him like Shane had. He trusted Rick's judgment.
Rick acknowledged Daryl's message with a nod. He was once again impressed by the redneck. After leaving Merle behind in Atlanta, Rick had never thought that he would ever gain Daryl's respect, trust and support. Daryl truly was a different man than his brother. Rick was able to rely on him and these days that meant more than anything else. He could trust Daryl to support him and to help him keep the group safe. Daryl was smart and he would be a great sounding board to bounce ideas off of in the future. Rick Grimes had found his new right-hand-man.
"What are we gonna tell the women?" Daryl asked when he was done loading the truck.
"The truth. No more secrets." Rick stated decisively.
Daryl nodded, but his eyebrows lifted and he sighed. He was not looking forward to going back and telling them everything, because he was pretty sure that almost all of the women would have something to say about what happened and Rick's little secret.
Lori and Maggie went outside when the cars pulled up, while Bay stayed inside and kept cooking lunch for the sure to be hungry men. She had heard the bike pull up and that was good enough for her at the moment. She knew Daryl would be in to see her, preferring to say hello in private anyway. Dale, Hershel, Andrea and Carol approached the cars, wanting to help unload, as the men got out of the cars.
Lori stopped short when she noticed Rick's expression. Something was wrong. Her eyes looked around the group members gathering around the cars, and that's when she realized what exactly was wrong. "Where's Shane?" she asked, getting the attention of everybody else. Finally everybody was noticing that Shane hadn't returned with Rick and the others.
Rick took a deep breath and looked at the ground for a moment. "Rick?" Lori asked alarmed as she got closer.
"He tried to kill me." Rick finally told everyone. "He set a trap, and then he watched me laying on the ground with a walker on top of me. Watched me trying to keep it from killing me. He just stood there with a smile, telling me that all of you are better off without me."
"No..." Lori whispered in disbelief, making Rick scoff out a humorless laugh.
"You said it yourself. He was dangerous. And he really was."
"It's true." Daryl spoke up. "Saw it with my own eyes."
"What did you do?" Lori was shaking when she asked him, because she already knew the answer.
"I killed him. I had to." Rick admitted, drawing gasps from most of the people around. Suddenly something inside of him snapped. "Oh come on, don't act so surprised! Every single one of you wanted him gone. Every single one of you was scared of him. Felt unsafe around him. What was I supposed to do?" Rick started shouting.
"Not kill him." Carol told him point blank. "We don't kill the living. Isn't that what you said?"
"We could have locked him up." Andrea said next, making Rick shake his head.
"Yeah? That what you think? Lock him in a room or tie him up in the barn and keep him there for years to come? This ain't no prison. It's not supposed to be a prison. You all saw what was going on with him. How unhinged he was. There was no other way. There was no way to keep letting him walk around here like nothing happened. He would have tried again and again to get rid of me. What was I supposed to do? Just lay down and let him succeed? I just killed my best friend for you. For all of us! And you have the nerve to look at me like you do right now? You all wanted this. All of you, but nobody had the guts to say it out loud, much less do it. Well I did it. It's done!" Rick stared everyone down who was looking at him reproachfully. He walked a couple of steps towards the fields before he stopped and turned around again. "You know what? You think you can do better, that you are not safe here? There's the road. Good luck. But if you wanna stay you gotta be clear about one thing... This isn't a democracy anymore." With that he took off . He needed to be alone and clear his head for a while.
While everyone stood around in awkward silence, Daryl grabbed a backpack and went up the steps and into the house. He dropped the bag by the door to the basement and quietly made his way to the kitchen when he heard music coming from there. As soon as he reached the doorway to the kitchen, he suddenly felt himself being transported into another world... or another time. There was his girl, cooking, dancing around and quietly singing along to the music that she was playing on a portable CD-player. He listened to her and the music, and despite what had happened at the hospital, he found himself quite amused by her choice of music. She had to be very sure that none of the kids or the farmer were around, or she probably would have chosen something with more kid-friendly lyrics.
And then I put you on the bed and you ruffle through my head
Never thought a girl I'd see but you're making me believe
Lick my poison young, now I got you on my song
You whisper I'm the best while you finger on my chest
I never be a lonely boy in a lonely world
And yes I know it's true
I close my eyes and I'm with you
I'm yelling you the whole night through
In the middle of the night, when I dream of getting you
Grab my hairs going crazy thinking what I'd do to you
I'd rip off all your clothes as I'm breaking down the door
I'd make you beg for more as I pin you to the floor
Cause you'd be screaming oh, oh, oh
Baby don't stop, no no, no no
We can fire up the night
Make me feel alive
Fire up the night
Get up, fire up the night
Come on, fire up the night
Hey, let's take our clothes off
Now I'm going down on you, proving what I want is true
Let me show you what it's like when you ain't afraid to fly
To hell with all them girls cause you know upon my world
I couldn't tell you why but I'm yours until I die
Daryl smirked as he walked towards her on silent feet. He got a little kick out of imagining Carol's and Lori's faces if they would catch Bay singing about some guy going down on a girl, in front of their kids. He gently put his hands on her waist, alerting her to his presence, before he wrapped his arms around her from behind. He pressed a long kiss against the back of her neck before he nuzzled that spot and inhaled her soothing scent. He had missed this. They used to have this every day. It brought back so many good memories that it was bordering on painful, because he longed to have that time back.
"Hey." she smiled and put her hand on top of his for a moment.
"Hey." he smiled and put his mouth right by her ear. "The farmer know what a dirty girl you are?"
"Geez, I hope not. I wouldn't want him to have a heart attack." Bay giggled and turned her head to get a kiss from her man. "Mmmmmmm." she moaned quietly when Daryl pressed his lips to hers. A little wave of bliss rushed through her body at the contact. She wished they would have time to go upstairs and spend some time alone together. She would have loved to take off all their clothes and just cuddle naked, and kiss and caress each other for a while. "Everything go okay at the hospital?" she asked and broke the spell Daryl had been in.
"Not really." Daryl sighed.
"Why not? What happened? Are you okay?" Bay dropped her wooden spoon and turned around to face him. Her eyes scanned his face and his body, trying to see if he got injured.
"Rick offed Shane."
Bay's brows shot up and her mouth dropped open in shock. "He... what?"
"Shane tried to kill him. We were right not to believe that fucker. Left him no choice."
"Jesus Christ..." Bay swallowed hard. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Gotta be, right?"
"No. I told you before, it's okay to not be okay all the time." Bay told him before he pulled away when they heard other people come in.
"Imma help 'em bring the stuff down. Got a lot."
"Okay." she quickly kissed him one more time before he left, then she absently turned off the music. Now was probably not the time for some happy tunes. She was glad that the Shane thing had been resolved, but it shocked her that it had taken murder to get there.
The general mood was somber, aggressive and overall just not good. Glenn hadn't been able to keep quiet and had informed everyone about all of them carrying the virus. It was funny to Bay, how sweet, mousy, quiet Carol was now the first one to riot. First over Shane, as Bay had been told, and then over the virus thing. She seemed ready to hunt down Rick with a pitchfork like they were angry villagers trying to lynch Frankenstein's monster. It was funny, because she had never particularly cared for Shane, especially not when Shane had wanted to call of the search for Sophia. She seemed to have forgotten all about it. Now Rick was the monster and she thought something had to be done about him, which of course got her into a fight with Lori. Needless to say, the day sucked for everyone.
Bay hid out in the basement and organized the new supplies, and at night she shooed everyone out of the kitchen except for her sisters. She wanted to be alone with Beth and Maggie, like the good old days. They made a point of not talking about the events of the day. Instead they reminisced about family picnics and birthday parties and stupid mishaps that had happened over the years. Bay had hugged Beth from behind and had told her how proud she was of the young girl for stepping up and helping out so much. She had even started to help teach the kids during the day, since she still had her school books around. It was some good family bonding time, especially when Hershel joined them and started sharing stories with them. It was good for them to shut everything out and just be the family again they had once been. It was good to hear Hershel laugh and see him smile when he talked about a botched anniversary surprise for Annette, and it was great to hear Beth and Maggie laugh again. So while the rest of the group was still up in arms over everything, the family was able to relax and enjoy their meal and blend out the bad mood between everybody else.
After dinner Bay grabbed a plate and brought some food to Daryl who was still on watch for another two hours. She kept him company while he ate, before she kissed him and climbed down from the RV. She put the empty plate on the porch steps, then she went down to the barn, after having spied Rick sitting alone on the little roof at the side of the barn. She climbed up the ladder and heard him sigh.
"Came to tell me how much I screwed up?" he asked her. Bay had been the only one who hadn't been present outside earlier. He didn't know what her reaction was to all of this.
"No." she shook her head and sat down next to him. "Can't say that I wasn't shocked though. But I thought about it during the afternoon..."
"You think there was another way, too?"
"Sometimes there just is no other way. So no... I'm not gonna judge your actions. It's not up to me to judge. It's just hard to think that this is how things are now. Brother against brother. Kill or be killed. The worst part is, that eventually we'll get used to it. We are creatures of habit, so the more we do it, the more we get used to it. The Catholic in me has a hard time comprehending and accepting that. Even with the walkers... they were people once. It's hard not to think of it as killing when you take one down."
"Thought you knew that they weren't people anymore. Isn't that what you told Hershel?" Rick looked at her curiously.
"I know it. I understand it, but... I don't know. You know how you can influence your thoughts, but you can't influence your feelings? I can tell myself that these people are dead, that there's nothing left of their personalities, and I'll believe myself. I'm okay with that. But then you have to take one down and you see the human face behind the mask of death and I can't help but feel, even if it's just for a second, that I'm killing that person." Bay tried to explain how she felt to Rick as best as she could.
"Have you ever taken one down?"
"I have. They get stuck in the swamps. Otis used to put them in the barn, but when I encountered them, I put them out of their misery."
"That's how you have to see it, Bay. You're putting them out of their misery. You're not killing them. My first walker... I apologized to her. I know how you feel. But you are right... we get used to it. After a couple of times you don't think twice about it anymore. You just fight to survive and you put them down. It's how it's gotta be."
"I know." Bay nodded with a tight smile. "Just takes some getting used to."
"Yeah." Rick sighed, then he rubbed his face hard with both hands. "I'm just done today. Done with everything."
"You had a rough day. The roughest, probably." Bay acknowledged. "A lot of people are mad at you. It's hard to take. But you are strong. And you are a good man. You made the right decisions. They will realize that soon enough. Have faith."
"Faith... After all this, you think someone up there is still around?"
"I have my love back after a long, long time. Yeah, I admit, it took a long, long time of trying to keep having faith, but here we are... eleven years later and I am finally okay again." Bay smiled and reached behind her neck, unclasping her necklace. "The others will come around. Just takes a little time." she held out her cross necklace towards Rick and carefully dropped it into his palm. "My grandmother gave it to me at a time when I really needed it. She told me not to loose faith, that God would make everything alright again. Frankly, I lost my faith for a while... at least a little bit... until He sent me Daryl... and now He sent him to me a second time. It's done some good for me, so maybe now it will do some good for you. Don't loose faith, Rick." she smiled encouragingly before she climbed down the ladder to go back inside, hoping that she was able to help their leader a little on this grim day.
Thank you for reading!
In case any other non-Americans are not familiar with southern/redneck slang: "trading haymakers" means trading punches. I asked myself for a whole year what the hell Daryl meant by saying that to Rick. This chapter had more dialogue from the show than previous chapters. I just loved all those moments so much from Lori's and Andrea's fight in the kitchen when they listen in on Maggie and Beth fight because of Beth's suicidal tendencies, over to Daryl's haymaker comment and Rick's last words to Shane. Yeah, I loved Season 2.
The song is "Fire Up The Night" by New Medicine. Thank you to the wonderful, lovely reader who suggested it. You know who you are;-)
Don't worry, I'm still working through all your suggestions you sent me, folks. Takes some time, but I am not ignoring them.
thank you everybody for the lovely reviews. Hope you enjoyed this one as well.