Red River Blue

Chapter 82

"Want me to wait?," Harley asked. Spencer waved her off, telling her he would catch up with her before he ducked inside the belltower. Harley pulled her bow off her back, adjusting the rifle that was strapped on behind it as she headed off towards her rabbit traps. She had an arrow notched, but she didn't string the bow back.

By the time she got the first trap, she had her knife out instead. Usually, she could check all her traps without seeing any walkers. But today, she already had to take out three of them. Harley glanced back in the direction of the belltower with some concern. Spencer was getting better at killing the dead. But she was still a little nervous about what might happen if more than one of them came towards the man at once. Her first trap was just up ahead. Harley decided she would check that first. If Spencer didn't turn up by the time she was done, she was going back to get him.

Worrying about someone other than her immediate family felt a little strange. But the feeling wasn't totally unwelcome. Harley wasn't sure yet how she felt about having a boyfriend. But she liked the idea of having a partner. Someone she could trust to watch her back. Harley didn't trust Spencer in the same way that she trusted her Uncle or Michonne. But that was really only because she knew he wasn't as skilled in combat as they were. She reminded herself that fighting was something he could learn. For now, she at least trusted that Spencer was on her side. And would do his best to make sure nothing bad happened to her. Which was more than she could say for most people.

The first trap was sprung. But empty. There was a small splattering of fresh blood on the ground. Which meant that whatever got her kill, got it only moments before. Harley sighed. She crouched down to reset the trap, hoping that this didn't bode poorly for the rest of the day. Uncle Daryl told her he thought there were some pigs in the area. He was tracking a small drove of them. But on his way, a deer wandered into his path and he shot that instead. He described the general location for her. So Harley was hoping she might get lucky and provide everyone with bacon and sausage. Having the first trap of the day come up empty was a bad omen. Harley stood up and turned, even more intent now on heading back to get Spencer. She had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

The crack of a gun broke the silence of the air around her. Harley heard it. But the pain didn't register until she was already on the ground, reaching for her arm. Someone shot her. Harley's first impulse was to go for her own gun. But she was shot in her dominant arm. So reaching for her gun made her cry out in pain. She thrashed on the ground, setting off the rabbit trap she just reset. But instead of a rabbit, a long chunk of her ponytail caught in the trap. Her hair pulled, yanking hard at her scalp and making her yelp. And what was worse, with her hair tangled up and caught in the trap, she was now having an even worse time swinging her rifle over her shoulder.

"That's what you get you stupid bitch."

Harley turned towards the voice. Then she rolled her eyes. She couldn't remember the asssholes name. But it was the same guy that pretended to stumble and then grabbed her tit right before they left to go on that run. Harley thought he already learned his lesson when it came to leaving her alone. But apparently she was wrong.

"Get the hell away from me," she hollered. "Or I'll beat your fuckin' ass for real this time."

"That'll be hard to do when you're dead!," Nicolas spit back, pointing his handgun at her. Harley looked him over. His hands were shaking. And he was sweating profusely. If he hadn't already shot her once, she would have said that he didn't have the balls to pull the trigger. And she still wasn't sure. Shooting someone dead when you were close enough to look them in the eye took a certain amount of determination and bravery. Something she didn't think this asshole had. But she also didn't want to take any chances. Harley bent her leg and reached inside her boot for her extra knife. She kept a slim silver throwing knife hidden away in there. She wasn't sure how good her aim would be with her arm all shot up. But at least she was now fueled with enough adrenaline that she could no longer feel the pain.

"You think you can take me with that knife?," Nicolas asked. "I have a gun, you stupid bitch!" He brandished the gun in his hands, waving it around before he pointed it at her again.

Harley grinned. She might only have a knife. But Spencer had a gun. And he was advancing on the man from behind. Nicolas was so focused on her, he wasn't watching his back. Spencer adjusted the gun in his hands. He was afraid to shoot the man with Harley so close. So he gripped his rifle by the barrel, swinging it like a club. Harley rolled out of the way as he swung. When he made contact with Nicolas's head, his gun fired off. But the bullet just drove harmlessly into the dirt. Nicolas collapsed onto the ground. Spencer grabbed the small handgun the man was pointing at Harley and tucked it into the waistband of his pants.

"Holy shit," Spencer cursed as he tried to untangle Harley's hair as gently as he could from the rabbit trap. "I think he was gonna shoot you. What the hell is wrong with that asshole?"

"He did shoot me," Harley corrected. She rubbed at her scalp with her other hand, displaying the bullet wound for Spencer. Once her hair was untangled from the trap, Spencer knelt down and took a closer look at Harley's arm. He pulled his knife out, clearly intending to cut the sleeve of her leather jacket so he could tend to her wound.

"Don't do that," Harley said, her voice coming out more like a whiny complaint than an order, "...yer gonna ruin my favorite jacket."

Spencer bit back a grin. Harley being difficult was nothing new. And her arm was bleeding more than he was comfortable with. But he figured if her top concern was not ruining her clothes, she must not be hurt too badly. He gripped her jacket by the sleeve, pulling it as gently as he could down off her arm. She twisted her body to get a better look at her own injury.

"He only winged you," Spencer announced with great relief. He swung his pack down off his back and poked through it until he found the small first aid kit he knew was inside. While he was searching through his pack, he noticed a small bottle of rum that he forgot was hidden away in his pack. Spencer pulled the rum out first, taking another look at the ragged wound on Harley's arm. He twisted the cap off and tipped the bottle back, taking a long burning swallow. Harley rolled her eyes at him before she snatched the bottle away. Spencer expected her to take a drink from the bottle. That's what he would do if he was just shot in the arm. Instead, Harley tipped the bottle and dumped the liquid down over the wound on her arm, hissing in pain. Spencer grabbed the bottle back from her, quickly twisting the cap back on.

"We have fuckin' bactine for that, babe," he lamented. "You don't have to waste my good rum." Harley laughed through the pain as Spencer shoved his precious liquor back down into his pack. He pulled out the bactine, spraying her arm liberally with it. "I think it needs stitches," he told her, his voice full of concern.

"Okay," Harley said. "Go ahead and stitch me up."

Spencer's face went pale and he swallowed hard, staring at the jagged, weeping wound. It wasn't until he glanced at Harley's face again that he realized she was having a little fun at his expense. She had a wicked little smirk on her face, enjoying his reaction to the idea that he might have to shove a needle through her skin.

"Very funny."

Harley tried to hold in her laughter as Spencer wrapped her arm with gauze. He did a good job, applying enough pressure with the bandage to slow the bleeding but not so much that it cut off her circulation. He was helping her back into her jacket when a loan groan from nearby caught their attention. The hard blow to his head didn't kill Nicolas. It only knocked him unconscious. Harley reached for her knife. But Spencer was faster. He sprung to his feet and pulled the handgun he took from Nicolas out of his waistband. Approaching the other man, Spencer didn't hesitate to pull the trigger. He shot the man twice. Once in the center of the chest. The second bullet went straight through his head, blowing his brains out into the dirt.

"You a'right?," Harley asked, resting her hand gently on Spencer's arm. He didn't hesitate to shoot the man. But then he just stood there, staring down at Nicolas while his blood slowly spread out on the ground around him. Her words seemed to snap Spencer out of the trance he was in. His body stiffened at her touch. But then he relaxed and let her wrap her arms around him.

"We better drag his ass outta here 'fore someone sees him and throws a fit," Harley said, moving to grab one of Nicolas's feet. Spencer nodded and followed her example, grabbing the man by his other boot. Nicolas wasn't a large man, and with both of them pulling, they were able to drag his body through the woods without too much effort.

"I thought about whatcha asked me last night," Harley said, giving a hard enough tug that Nicolas's shirt tore loose from a bush that it caught on. Spencer snorted out a laugh. The night before, he held Harley in his bed and asked her if she would be his girlfriend. She told him she wasn't sure and needed to think about it. Since she was already sleeping with him, he really only asked as a formality. Spencer was surprised when she didn't agree immediately. And she certainly picked an interesting time to bring the subject up again.

"Oh yeah?," he asked. "...What did you decide?"

Harley dropped the leg of the body they were dragging and brushed her hands off on her thighs. Spencer took her actions to mean they must have drug the body far enough away from the walls to satisfy her. He crossed his arms and regarded her skeptically, waiting for her answer.

"Yes," she said, glancing down at the body on the ground before she looked up at Spencer and smiled. "I wanna be your girlfriend." Spencer skirted around the dead body and pulled Harley into his arms, hugging her tightly against him. Her fingers twined into his hair, pulling his head down so she could press her lips against his. When they pulled apart. Spencer grabbed her hand and took a step back in the direction they just came from. But Harley pulled back, keeping him in place.

"Where do ya think yer goin'," she asked, ticking her head in the opposite direction. "We still got some pig huntin' ta do."