Ch. 26
'Not the same Part one'
[Settlement, afternoon]
The wind was whistling through the holes in the wall, snowdrifts piled high in the small hut made of old reclaimed wood, one wall however had chain link fencing. Walkers stood in the snow and wind, waiting for the food to move.
Opening his eyes slowly, vision blurry with a splitting headache, A.J. looked up at the ceiling as he tried to remember how he got put in here, the lock-up.
Sitting upright, A.J.'s head immediately erupted with pain, holding his head with his hands, A.J. held his head as if to hold it together, the man ignored the sounds of walkers growling at his awakening.
Eventually, A.J. pulled his hands down and noticed his knuckles hurt from more than the cold weather, his knuckles were bloodied and his skin had been broken. Looking around, A.J. spotted a bottle of whiskey on the dirt floor near him.
Picking up the bottle, A.J. wiped the mouth of the bottle before downing the rest, wincing at the taste but relishing the warmth it brought, having finished off the bottle, A.J. threw it at the chainlink wall riling the walkers up.
Pressing their decaying bodies against the fencing one would usually fear the wall integrity failing, but A.J. just watched on in boredom and disgust as the undead growled and foamed at the mouth, desperate to have the food barely out of reach of them.
A.J. remembered heading to the bar late last night. "Maybe I got in a fight, it would explain my hands and the bottle," A.J. thought to himself, wondering how long he had blacked out.
Slowly staggering to his feet, A.J. immediately got a head rush, from standing too quickly.
It wasn't A.J.'s first time in this shed, he spent a night or two every month or two.
Bracing himself on the wooden paneling, A.J. looked around to see if he could find anyone outside.
Peering through a crack, A.J. did not see anyone appearing through the snowy atmosphere.
Falling to a sitting position, A.J. hugged himself in an attempt to stay warm.
After what seemed like hours, the sound of the door being unlocked, A.J. looked up to see Genevieve swinging the wooden door open.
"You really need to stop drinking," Genevieve muttered, offering A.J. a hand.
Brushing the teen's hand away, A.J. felt the bitter cold, frozen ground under his hands as he pushed himself off the ground.
"Fuck that," A.J. grumbled as he walked around Genevieve, the full extent of the wind was now hitting him.
Genevieve sighed in frustration as she fell in step with the disgruntled man. "How many times will they lock you up before they decide to throw you out," Genevieve jabbed, pulling her coat closer to her body.
"Why should you care?" A.J. spat, stumbling slightly as he started making his way to Summer's house where he often recuperated since his heater didn't work.
Huffing quietly, Genevieve didn't necessarily care but also did not want to weaken the community's scavenger team. "You bring some... Vigor to the scavenger team," Genevieve said eventually.
A.J. snorted before chuckling scornfully. "Don't give me any of your shit," the hung-over man said shaking his head at the teenager's words.
Genevieve sighed before closing up, allowing A.J. some space to stew over his actions.
The snow blew wildly across the Virginian lands, pelting our duo of survivors as they made for the shelter of their companion.
Genevieve's fingers were numb and she could barely see by the time A.J. opened the door to her house.
Summer had been waiting on the couch with hot coffee for the two of them since Genevieve didn't like coffee.
Entering the house, A.J. grabbed the mug, Summer had extended to him, nodding to her as he did.
"Do ya wanna talk about what happened?" Summer asked, taking a sip of her own coffee.
A.J. grumbled in response as he took a drink and winced at the strong taste.
Summer and Genevieve were off today with the bad weather conditions making it dangerous to work outside for extended periods, A.J. was not working due to bad behavior, something A.J. had to deal with often.
"How many times do ya think they're gonna toss you in there before they toss you out instead?" Summer questioned, knowing the laws of the settlement.
A.J. sat forward settling his forearms on his knees followed by a small growl. "I've heard this shit already," A.J. muttered dismissively.
Summer was about to press forward with her speech until the door erupted with a sudden three knocks.
The three in the home looked to each other with the silent question being whether someone knew of company arriving.
Being closest to the door, Genevieve put a foot against the door and opened it a crack, and peeked out, seeing a familiar face, Genevieve quickly opened the door and Tina slipped through quickly, helping Genevieve get the door behind her.
"I have something to show you!" Tina exclaimed as she dragged Genevieve away to her room.
Summer's stomach lurched when Tina came through the door, had they done it last night, or was she just crazy, maybe it was dirt or maybe a bruise from her scavenging expedition.
A.J. looked to the worried woman sensing her uneasiness, quirking an eyebrow at the situation, the angry man felt his temper going down a bit. "So are they?" A.J. trailed off, clasping his hands together to emphasize the question he had not asked yet.
"Together?" Summer spoke, filling in the man's blanks with a heavy stomach.
A.J. grunted in affirmation as he looked at the red-headed woman expectantly, unclasping his hands.
"I, don't know," Summer admitted with a small shake to her voice at the thought of the teenager she once knew as a six-year-old girl who was just trying to survive, now she was possibly dating someone.
Before either could continue the conversation, Genevieve's opened and Tina slipped out, not bothering to close the door.
Summer stood up as Tina said her goodbyes and opened the front door to leave.
Summer knew she had to understand what was happening, striding to the door that had just been closed, the woman quickly slipped her boots on and quickly opened the door.
"Hey, Tina!" Summer called out as the wind hit her in the face with a cold blast.
Tina turned around with a smile and was about to answer when Ian bellowed as he stomped wobbly through the snow with his hat over his eyes and a slur in his speech.
"Tinaaaaaaaa! Did you and G go for it last ni--" Ian yelled out in his drunken state before pulling his hat up and seeing Summer in the doorway. "Oh shiiiitttttt!" Ian shouted in a high-pitched voice as he slowly stomped back in the way he had come soon falling face first in the snow.
Laughing at his own stupidity, Ian rolled over lazily in the snow eventually deciding to make a snow angel, cackling as he did so.
Tina turned slowly back to Summer with a concerned look in her eye realizing quickly that Summer was right in front of her.
"I can explain," Tina blurted out, standing up straight.
Tina was taller than Summer but slimmer and much more afraid to hurt someone than Summer was.
"So you are together?" Summer bluntly asked, keeping a stone face.
Tina stuttered slightly before nodding rapidly. "I wanted to say something weeks ago, I'm so sorry!" She blurted out, putting her hands in front of her in a show of innocence.
"What are you wanting with her?" Summer asked, not wanting to see Genevieve be hurt.
"Like, I know I'm a little older but I'm not trying to hurt her," Tina explained quickly.
"Did you--" Summer began.
"No!" Tina exclaimed, putting her hands down. "Genevieve said no," Tina added honestly.
Summer didn't say anything as she processed the information she was given, keeping her stone face and watching the teen's eyes, Summer felt like she was telling the truth.
"Ok," Summer finally said sincerely, with a small, honest smile.
Tina's look of dismay turned to one of awe and happiness. "Really?!" Tina nearly shouted out in joy.
Summer's smile widened a bit as she nodded in confirmation. "Please don't hurt her? Tina," Summer said tenderly, watching the girl's reaction.
Tina was overjoyed to be free to with her feelings for Genevieve, a smile crossed over the teen's face as she laughed in astonishment.
"Yeah, way to go, T!" Ian said from his snow pillow that he had made and was now laying on.
Tina looked back to Summer with a bright smile from to ear to ear before answering.
"I promise, Summer, I won't,"