Red River Blue
Chapter 85
"How long do we have to stay at this stupid ass meeting," Harley whispered, running her hand up the inside of Spencer's thigh. He lifted her hand, catching it between his before she could reach the apex of his thighs. It was dark around the outside of the fire. But he still didn't think his mother would much appreciate him getting a handski while she held a meeting about banishing the town doctor for beating his wife.
"Hopefully not very long," Spencer whispered back. He glanced around at the crowd. This would go a lot faster if Harley's dad and Rick would hurry up and get here. He knew his mom was waiting for them to show up before she started. And people were starting to get restless. Harley's mother must have had similar thoughts, because she leaned over and whacked at Harley's leg, asking her where the hell her dad was at.
"It wasn't my turn to watch that fucker," Harley announced loudly, earning her a few dirty looks from the people around them. "Maybe he went to the store for some milk?," she suggested. River just rolled her eyes at her daughter. She intended to head away from the small gathering and look for Merle but Carol caught her by the hand and held her in place.
"I'm sure they'll be here soon," she whispered. Daryl added his own opinion, which was to call Merle a stupid asshole under his breath and then wrap his arm back around Carol. They weren't the only ones getting impatient. People's voices were getting louder. And finally Deanna had to speak up and start the meeting before she lost control over it.
"As most of you know…" she started to say. Her words were cut short when Rick and Merle charged into the clearing. Rick had the body of a dead walker slung over his shoulder. He tossed it into the fire, making flames shoot out everywhere. A few people screamed as the fire started licking over the corpse.
"Someone left the fuckin' gate open," Merle hollered. He turned to Deanna, speaking in a slightly lower tone of voice. "We killed three more but I don't know if we got 'em all or not. You might need to reschedule this meetin' fer tomorrow."
"Oh my," Deanna hissed. She could tell people were already starting to panic. A few had better survival instincts than the rest. They already left the gathering, heading for their houses as fast as possible. "Everyone get home. We'll pick up this meeting tomorrow, when it's safe." People slowly started to disperse. Deanna was so focused on the crowd that she didn't hear Pete approaching her from behind.
"Mom!," Spencer hollered. Harley added her voice to his.
"BEHIND YOU!," she screamed.
Deanna turned. Pete was staggering towards her with a sword in his hands. Reg stepped forward, protecting Deanna with his body as he tried to reason with Pete. His intentions were good. But when he stepped forward he was not just protecting Deanna from the sharp edge of Michonne's sword. He was blocking Merle's shot. Merle pulled his gun out the moment Harley screamed. He was edging to the side, trying to get a line of sight on the deranged man so he could shoot him without risking hitting Reg. Spencer saw what was happening and pushed past his mother, trying to grab his father and pull him back and out of the way. But he wasn't fast enough.
Someone in the crowd screamed. Another walker was heading in their direction, attracted by the noise and the light of the fire. Pete turned towards the sound. The sword swung when he moved, slashing across Reg's throat. Reg dropped to the ground, grabbing at his neck. Deanna was screaming. Two gunshots rang out, both of the bullets catching Pete in the center of the chest. Spencer rushed in, grabbing the sword from his dying hands and tossing it away into the grass. Harley skirted the fire and dispatched the walker before it could cause any further trouble. Spencer jumped up and tore off after her, worried that there might be more than one walker coming at the girl. River and Carol both hit their knees next to Deanna. River pressed down on Reg's neck, trying to stop the bleeding. But Carol could already tell it was too late for that. The sword hit a major artery. The rapidly spreading puddle of blood was already too big. Reg's heart had not stopped beating yet. But he was as good as dead. Merle fired off one more shot, this time into Pete's brain. He would rather let the asshole turn. But there were too many people around to risk that.
"What in the world is going on around here?"
The question came from Tyreese. But Aaron and Morgan were standing on either side of him, looking equally horrified and confused by the scene they just witnessed. Harley was the first to step forward. She stared at Morgan, trying to remember where she had seen the man before.
"Yer that crazy guy that gave us a whole assload of guns," she announced. Morgan laughed, offering her his hand to shake and his name. Not that 'crazy guy' didn't have a certain ring to it. "We ran off a whole army of assholes with those guns," Harley informed him as she shook his hand nearly clean off his arm.
"I can't wait to hear all about it," Morgan told her. He tried to hide a grin when a tall young man shouldered up next to the little savage and put his arm around her. The meaning behind his possessive gesture was obvious. Rick's little barbie doll mercenary had found herself a ken doll since Morgan saw her last. And the man clearly didn't care for the way she was grasping Morgan's hand and jabbering away to him. The man pulled her back and stuck his own hand out instead.
"Spencer," he said, giving Morgan a very brief and very firm handshake. Once Spencer was sure that Morgan was not a threat, he quickly returned to his mother, taking River's place and kneeling down next to Deanna. He saw his father get cut and fall. But he didn't realize how dire the situation was until he knelt down next to the man and saw how much blood he already lost.
Aiden was kneeling on the other side of their father's body. The two brothers exchanged glances. Their mother was still trying to revive her husband. But it was clear that he was already gone.
"We can't let him turn," Spencer hissed, reaching for the knife on his belt. Before he could act on his concern, he felt Rick's hand come down over his shoulder. The man gestured towards Deanna.
"Just take her home," he said, "...I've got it." Spencer nodded gratefully. He really didn't want to stab his own father through the head if he didn't have to. Everything felt oddly surreal. Like he was outside his body, watching everything happen to someone else. He pulled his mother away. And between himself and Aiden, they got her back home and onto the couch. She was alternating between balling her eyes out and sitting quietly with a blank look on her face. Spencer wasn't sure which was worse. He was considering trying to get her upstairs into her bed when the front door swung open.
"Carol made me bring this," Harley explained, holding up a casserole dish that was covered with tin foil.
"I'm not really hungry," Spencer said.
"That's fer the best," Harley assured him, "...'cause this thing stinks real bad. Smells like hot fish in the worst way possible."
Spencer wasn't sure how to react to the situation. He stayed next to his mother on the couch. Aiden rose from his chair and approached, pulling back the edge of the foil and sticking his nose close to the dish.
"Holy FUCK!," he announced, quickly backing away and fanning his nose with his hand to try and rid himself of the horrible smell. "You weren't kidding!"
The rowdy display seemed to roust Deanna out of the strange trance she was in. Because suddenly she was focused on the people in front of her. Harley took Deana's stare to mean she also wanted to smell the food and judge its level of disgustingness for herself. Spencer wasn't sure if shoving a stinky fish casserole into the face of someone that clearly seemed to be in shock was the best idea. But since he didn't have a better one, he just watched as Harley pulled back the foil a little more and shoved the mess under his mother's nose. It took her a little longer to react than Aiden. But once the smell hit, Deanna jerked back and covered her nose with her hand.
"What in hell did you make?," she asked.
"I didn't make this nasty shit," Harley said indignantly. "Carol made it. Don't worry, I'll just wrap it up in the fridge fer tonight. Tomorrow I'll take it home to my Dad and my Uncle. They'll eat anything."
Harley disappeared into the kitchen. After some loud banging around, she reappeared in the doorway.
"Gonna make myself some pork chops," she said. "Any of y'all want some?" Aiden nodded. Spencer shrugged his shoulders. Then he nodded his head too. Now that she was talking about food, he realized he was actually quite hungry. Deanna didn't respond. She was back to doing her blank stare. Harley strode over and snapped her fingers in front of Deanna's face.
"You want a pork chop?," she asked. "Or do you want to take a valium and go to bed?" Harley pulled a small bottle of pills from her pocket and shook them around. Deanna held her hand out, gracefully taking two of the small orange pills and swallowing them down with some water that Aiden hurried to grab her from the kitchen. Harley tucked the rest of the pills away and pulled Deanna up off the couch. She walked the woman all the way up to her room and helped her pull off her shoes. Deanna climbed into bed with all her clothes still on. In her grief, she found Harley's unusual show of concern comforting. The girl even covered her with a blanket before she flicked the lights off.
Harley made Spencer and Aiden each a pork chop and watched them to make sure they ate before she took Spencer by the hand and led him up to his room. Their day was long. And it had taken one strange turn after the next. Culminating in Spencer's father dying. Something Harley was sure he hadn't even fully absorbed yet. She wasn't sure what sort of comfort he would want from her. Or if he wanted her there at all. But the moment his door shut behind them, he had his arms around her. Their lovemaking was over faster than usual. And once Spencer found his release, he rolled onto his side and cried into his pillow. Harley didn't care much for the crying. But as he had a more than legitimate reason to be upset, she found she felt more pity and understanding for him than she expected. She didn't say anything. There was really nothing to say. She just rubbed her hand softly over Spencer's back until he cried himself out and fell asleep. Then she cuddled in behind him and let the combined warmth of their bodies lull her into her dreams.