Red River Blue
Chapter 28
Since it took them a while to lead the large herd of walkers away from Hilltop, by the time River and Carol arrived at the settlement, the rest of their group was already back. River rushed towards them, skirting a small tree stump and leaping up into Merle's arms. Since Carol was coming in right behind her, Daryl smiled and held his arms open. He was clearly ready to receive the same enthusiastic greeting from his wife as his brother. But Carol passed him right by, flying at Sam and wrapping her arms around the boy.
"Don't you ever make me worry like that again," she scolded. Unlike his sister, who would be embarrassed by such a public display of affection from her mother, Sam didn't seem to mind. He hugged Carol back, squeezing her tight and lifting her off her feet.
"S'alright," he assured her. "Ma! I'm fine. Nothin' bad happened to me."
While Carol finished fawning over her recently rescued son, Merle began to laugh at the dejected look on Daryl's face. He let out a loud guffaw, increasing his volume when River attempted to hush him up. She threw an elbow at his ribs, moving away from him to wrap her arms around Daryl.
"Don't worry Daryl, I've got a hug for ya," she offered. Daryl added his quieter laughter to Merle's as he hugged River back and pressed a quick kiss onto the top of her head. By this time, Carol seemed to remember that she had a husband she was worried about as well as a son. River stepped back, allowing Carol room to move in and give Daryl the affectionate greeting he was not so patiently waiting for. She wrapped her arms around him, resting her head against his chest.
"Thanks for bringing our boy back," she whispered. Daryl held her against him, assuring her that there was never one single chance that he wasn't going to return with their son. He'd never let anything happen to the boy. Or to Carol and Mika. It was a promise he'd made to himself years ago. One that he kept, despite all the odds being against him.
"Okay," Rick said, clapping his hands together. "Let's get the horses saddled up. We can make it back to Alexandria before dark." When the only response he got was a few dejected stares and a scowl from Merle, he glanced at Daryl, hoping the man might back him up. Unfortunately for him, Daryl was not any more eager for a long horse ride home after the day he just had than anyone else was.
"Fuck every bit a'that shit man," Daryl huffed. "It's dinner time and I'm beat. We're stayin' the night here and ridin' home in the morning." Rick glanced at River next, hoping she might want to get home to her son. But from the amused look on her face, Rick could already tell she wasn't going to be any help.
"Harley can handle herself and the kids fer one more night," River said with another giggle. From the red blush that was creeping up Rick's neck, it was obvious that he didn't want to admit the real reason he was so eager to get back to Alexandria. And having River call him out about his obsession with her oldest daughter obviously embarrassed him.
"That's not why," Rick insisted. "We have no idea what those people might do with all those walkers." When his obvious lie was met with another round of laughter, Rick tossed his hands in the air and stormed off.
"You guys know he's gonna take off on his own," Glenn observed, lowering his daughter back to her feet and hugging the girl into his side.
"Fuckin' let him," Merle huffed. "Rick don't need a damn babysitter. If he wants to act like a fuckin' fool, that's on him."
Glenn glanced after Rick with one more look of concern. But then he shrugged his shoulders. Rick was a grown man. He knew the risks of taking off on his own. And since he wasn't technically a member of Hilltop, that meant it really wasn't Glenn's problem to worry about. Glenn missed his original apocalypse family. But he was often relieved that wrangling them was someone else's problem. Running a community as large as Hilltop came with its own concerns. It was a lot of work to organize and plan everything that needed to get done. But the people in Hilltop were cooperative and mostly compliant with the rules. They didn't challenge his or Maggie's leadership. Alexandria was a different story. He was happy that Carol was the one leading that community instead of him.
"How about dinner at the Barrington house tonight?," Maggie suggested. "...we butchered a cow yesterday and I've got a big rack of beef ribs in the oven."
At the mention of a beef rib dinner, everyone pretty much forgot Rick even existed. They decided to meet up for dinner in an hour or two. That would give everyone time to shower and unwind from the day's excitement before they ate. Daryl entered the small trailer just in time to see Sam shutting the bathroom door after he pulled Lydia inside with him. Sighing heavily, Daryl grabbed a clean set of clothes and hurried back outside. Listening to his son do whatever he was about to do in the bathroom with his new girlfriend was not on Daryl's list of things he wanted to do today. Or ever.
"I thought you were going to rinse off in the shower?," Carol asked, casting a curious glance at the small bundle of clothes in his hands.
"Sam's in the shower," Daryl huffed, "...and not by himself." Carol glanced towards the trailer, rolling her eyes. She shook her head, grumbling a few choice words under her breath. Not only had the young man put himself in danger, chasing after a girl he just met. But Carol knew this was only the tip of the iceberg when it came to the amount of drama Sam's infatuation with Lydia was about to cause. While there was no formal commitment between them, he had an ongoing relationship with Rachel from Oceanside. Something that seemed to have slipped his mind completely. Carol had a feeling that Cyndie's second in command was not going to take it well when the boy she was hoping to marry showed up at the trade fair with another girl.
"It'll all work out," Daryl said, placing his hand over hers and giving her a comforting squeeze. Carol smiled. She often wondered how Daryl seemed to know what she was thinking without her having to speak it out loud. He was more intuitive than people gave him credit for. Carol slipped her hand out from under his, leaving his hand resting gently on her knee. She reached over, rubbing soft circles on his back. She could feel the raised scar tissue there, under the thin material of his shirt. He'd stopped reacting to her touch on his back years ago. But Daryl was still self conscious about his scars. He never left their bedroom without a shirt on if the kids were home.
Daryl glanced between his trailer and the one River and Merle were staying in. He knew he was likely to hear someone having sex regardless of which trailer he chose to shower in. And he furrowed his brows as he tried to decide which option turned his stomach less. Before Daryl could make up his mind, River poked her damp head out the trailer door and let him know the bathroom was free. Daryl made quick work of washing and rinsing his body, pulling his clothes on while his body was still damp. He headed towards the back of the trailer, following the sound of tinkling laughter.
River was sitting cross legged on the bed. Carol was kneeling behind her, gently twining River's long brown hair into a braid. Merle was lying on the edge of the bed, sucking on a small glass pipe. He held the smoke in, reaching his own good hand out as he offered Daryl the pipe. Daryl smiled as he moved forward, taking a few puffs of the sweet earthy smoke before he handed the pipe off to River. At Carol's request, he opened the window before he flopped down on the other side of the bed. Carol wasn't as fond of smoking pot as the rest of them. But she did take one small puff, letting River keep the pipe in her hand so she didn't have to let go of her half finished braid. Daryl and Merle passed the pipe between them, listening to Carol and River chat about the upcoming fair and what they planned to sell at the booth they had reserved there.
"I'm making adult brownies again this year," River said, "...I don't care what Ezekiel said." Merle laughed, coughing smoke out his nose like a dragon. River huffed, trying not to laugh herself. "It wasn't my fault Jerry's kids got into them," she added. Even Carol laughed at that, shaking her head and smirking.
"I'll put a latch on that big cooler," Merle offered. The fair was getting so big, they had to start securing their possessions a few years ago. People were even starting to turn up from communities outside the alliance. The world was slowly getting bigger. And with that came bad mixed with the good.
"AUNT RIVER!," Sam said, hollering into the trailer as he shoved the door open. "Do you have anything Lydia can borrow to wear for…" The boy paused, stomping down the small hallway towards them. "I smell pot!," he exclaimed. "Who has pot?" Merle laughed, holding the pipe and whatever was left inside it for the boy to take. Sam puffed on it, sucking the smoke in and holding it there as he turned and thrust the small glass pipe towards Lydia. She was hovering nervously in the doorway, clothed in one of Sam's t-shirts and a pair of his boxers that she had doubled over several times to keep them from slipping off her slim hips.
"What is that?," she asked, her voice small and quiet as she stared hesitantly at the pipe in Sam's hands.
"Just pot," Sam assured her, as though that ought to be a thorough enough explanation. It was clear from her expression that Lydia had no idea what he was talking about. But when Sam explained to her what to do with the small pipe, she followed his instructions. Lydia came up coughing and gagging on the smoke she inhaled. River hopped up from the bed, patting the girl on the back and giving her nephew a disapproving glance that he was quick to ignore. She led Lydia over to her open bag. Rumpled clothing items were spilling out of the small duffle and River told Lydia she was welcome to borrow whatever she wanted. Once she was clad in a pair of River's jeans and a long sleeve shirt that Merle lent her, Lydia followed along after the small group, walking with them to dinner.
The house they entered was large. A mansion even by old world standards. And it was filled with an odd mix of the old finely made antique furniture it was furnished with when it served as a museum and the more practical use items that had been brought in since the outbreak. The large sitting room off to the left was filled with cots and medical supplies. They passed by that, heading for the dining room and taking seats around the long polished wood table. Lydia smiled at the two small raven haired children that rushed into the room. There weren't many people her age in her old group. And no children at all. There was one woman that managed to keep her baby alive. But when Lydia got back to camp, the baby was gone. Lydia didn't know what happened to it and she didn't ask. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know.
Lydia clasped her hands in her lap, listening quietly as the people around her talked. Most of the conversation was over her head. She didn't understand what they were talking about. The word fair was mentioned multiple times. It sounded oddly familiar to Lydia, like she ought to know what a fair was but didn't. Trying to remember life before the turn gave her a headache. Lydia was sometimes able to conjure up vague images of her father. But her memories of the man were mixed up with the stories her mother told her about him, two separate versions of events that were often not in line with each other.
River got up from the table, returning with Maggie. They each had a large platter of food in their hands. Maggie circled the table, plunking down a large slab of meat in front of each of them. River followed behind her, scooping out a mushy looking white substance followed by a scoop of vegetables. The only thing Lydia recognized was the zucchini, though she'd only eaten it raw before now. Her stomach grumbled as she leaned forward, taking a deep breath in through her nose. The food looked and smelled like something amazing, like something from a dream.
Lydia whispered to Sam, confirming that the food on the plate in front of her was hers. Once he nodded, she dug in. Since the vegetables were the most familiar to her, Lydia grabbed a handful off her plate and crammed them into her mouth. As she gulped those down, she reached for the slab of meat. Lydia had removed every scrap of meat from the bones with her teeth by the time she looked up and noticed the two children were staring at her with their mouths wide open. And while the adults were trying to pretend they weren't looking at her, their facial expressions made it obvious to Lydia that she'd committed some sort of indiscretion. Merle broke the silence with a hearty laugh.
"Hey Sammie boy," he chuckled. "Why don't ya take some a'that barbecue sauce back to the trailer and smear it on yer thomas johnson, see what happens."
Lydia glanced around the table. She had no idea what the man's suggestion meant. But she noticed people were wearing mixed expressions. Some of them were trying not to laugh, while others looked more irritated with the man. And Sam was one of the latter.
"She's hungry," he hollered at the man. "Leave her alone and let her eat."
Merle waved the boy off, still amused with his own bad joke. Showing up at his family dinner with worse manners than the people already there was quite a feat. Because despite Carol's very subtle and polite attempts to improve them, Daryl's table manners were still pretty bad. But even little brother knew how to use a fork.
"We're leaving for home tomorrow," Sam told Lydia, clearly trying to change the subject. "I can't wait for you to see Alexandria." Lydia quietly observed the other people around the table, trying to imitate what they were doing to avoid bringing more attention to herself. There was a little square of green cloth to her right. Lydia saw the other people wiping their mouths and hands on the cloth. So she picked hers up and did the same, attempting to clean the sauce off her face before she leaned closer to Sam. When she spoke, it was barely above a whisper.
"I can't wait either," she said. "I want to go home."