Red River Blue
Chapter 89
Harley moved slowly through the water, being careful not to cut her bare feet on the rocky bottom of the creek. She held a netted bag in one hand as she slid her other hand under a dip in a larger rock formation. When she felt the raised scales of a fish, she wriggled her fingers and sent the fish sluicing through the water into her net. Lifting what remained of the mesh laundry bag out of the water, Harley reached inside and grabbed her catch. It wasn't her favorite way to fish. But like everything that made life in the apocalypse easier, proper fishing poles were hard to come by in the whisperers camp.
Harley held the fish by the bottom lip as she waded to the edge of the water, placing it carefully into the dilapidated cooler that already held another slightly smaller bass and one large whiskered catfish. Alpha was standing near the water's edge, one hand on her hip with her fingers tapping impatiently. She wasn't used to being made to wait. Harley offered the woman an overly friendly smile as she snapped the cooler shut.
"Sorry ta make ya wait," she lied. "I didn't wanna let that big one get away." She really had to struggle to keep a straight face as she added, "I promised Beta I'd make him a fish dinner."
Though Alpha was doing her best to hide it, she couldn't completely disguise her reaction to Harley's dinner plans. To avoid getting her clothes wet, Harley had stripped down to her underwear and bra before she waded into the widest part of the creek. She picked her way up the side and grabbed her towel, using it to dry her legs but making no attempt to cover her exposed skin. Harley pretended not to notice when Alpha raked her eyes over her slender body and then tugged on her shirt, sucking her own stomach in slightly.
"Did ya need help with somethin'?," Harley asked, lifting her arms and shaking out her long blonde curls.
"You've been spending a lot of time with him," Alpha said, her voice rising even higher in pitch than usual. Harley confirmed the woman's observation with a nod and a big smile. One that she hoped made her look like a silly lovesick girl.
"Yeah," Harley agreed. "He's great. I wasn't really lookin' ta meet someone. But ya know what they say, sometimes good thangs happen when yer least expectin'."
It took Alpha a moment to digest the younger woman's open admission of liking for the large silent giant. Harley assumed the woman must have either been expecting her to deny her supposed feelings or guessing that there wasn't much going on between them yet. All Alpha knew was that they were sleeping next to each other at night. And that they kissed. Because Harley made sure the woman was watching when she kissed the big man, pressing her lips against his before she headed off through the herd towards the creek to fish.
"You're new to our ways," Alpha lectured after she got done tugging on her shirt again. "We're animals. We don't believe in marriage. It's against nature." Harley tugged her jeans on over her underwear as she raised her brow at the woman.
"Oh," Harley said, giggling like she was relieved. "Well fuckin' ain't against the rules is it? 'Cause he told me it wasn't before we…" Harley lifted her hands, making a circle with the thumb and fingers of one hand and poking two of the fingers of her other hand in and out of it enough times that she was sure the other woman got the point. "He said anytime I wanted him, we could fuck. So if that's gonna be a problem fer you, ya better go have a chat with yer man." Harley giggled again, for once appreciating the fact that her laugh was high and girly. "Or maybe he's my man now?," she added with a smirk. Harley leaned down, picking her shirt up and holding it in her hands. She didn't think Alpha was going to actually try and kill her right that moment. But just in case, there was a loaded gun bundled in her shirt. Harley slipped her hand around it, clicking the safety off.
"You think you're really something," Alpha hissed. "But you're nothing but a passin' infatuation ta him. You'll see. When he's finished with you, he'll discard you like the little piece of hillbilly trash you are."
We'll see about that," Harley countered with a shrug.
Alpha spun on her heel. And Harley knew she ought to just let the woman go. She'd pissed her off enough already. But keeping her biting comments to herself had never been Harley's strength.
"Ya know who he really is," Harley said, her words immediately stopping Alpha in her tracks. The woman turned, a look of true shock on her face now. Beta went to great lengths to keep his pre-apocalypse identity a secret. Alpha had to know what it meant if he confided that information to Harley. "Ya had yer fun pretending he was yers. But ya had ta know that you were never gonna be able to hold down a man like that. Not at the end of the world. Not in any world. Ya might have the dirt sleepers around here following ya like a queen, but the truth is even yer own daughter couldn't stand ta be with ya. Yer a worn out single mom. He's a world famous musician. He's way out of your league."
Harley watched as the woman's already pasty face went even paler. And in that moment, she knew she wasn't looking at Alpha. She was looking at the woman behind the mask. The one who put on this ridiculous act so that people wouldn't know that deep down she was nothing but a coward with a psychotic need for control. And that Alpha definitely had unrequited romantic feelings for the man that had been her partner in crime for the last decade. She opened her mouth once, as if she meant to say something. But no sound came out. Alpha just straightened up her shoulders before she turned on her heel and rushed away.
Harley yanked her shirt on, tucking the gun in the waistband of her pants as she hurried to pull her boots on and gather up the rest of her things. That woman was unhinged even on a good day, and Harley didn't want to be caught alone if she suddenly decided to come back for round two. Water sloshed from the cooler as she hurried back to what served at her campsite, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw it was presently occupied. Alpha was crazy. But she wasn't stupid. Harley knew that woman wouldn't attack her in front of Beta. There's no way he'd just stand by and watch that happen.
Beta quickly rose from the ground to take the cooler from her. Once he set it on the other side of the firepit, Harley stepped in and wrapped her arms around him. The big man was quick to hug her back, pulling her body flush against his as he twined one hand into the wild tangle of her hair. When she started trying to wriggle away from him, he held on just long enough to press a kiss onto the top of her head. The action made her smile even though she hadn't really meant to. And Harley quickly moved away from him. She knelt down and started to build the small smoking embers back up into an actual campfire. Glancing to her side, she shook her head and smiled again when she saw he already had the fish out of the cooler and was starting to clean them. He was a surprisingly good camping partner. Almost like having her family there, except without all the unnecessary yapping.
A short while later, the fish was on a spit, slowly cooking over the low burning flames. The greens Harley collected earlier were in the one small pan they'd managed to scrounge up. Beta was leaning back against a tree. And Harley was sitting between his thighs, resting her back against his chest. He was scanning through the long list of songs on her MP3 player as one of her songs drifted out through the headphones they were sharing. She felt his chest shake with silent laughter as he put one of his own songs on instead. Ducking his head down, he whispered into her ear to tell her that the song was from his favorite band. She laughed, lightly jabbing at him with her elbow.
"Oh my god! It's my favorite band too!," Harley teased, turning her body so they were looking at each other. He didn't kiss her. But she could tell he was tempted when he lifted his hand to cup her face. His thumb was stroking softly back and forth across the round of her cheek. And that was the moment Alpha chose to come stomping into their camping area.
"I need to talk to you," the woman barked. Even under the mask, Harley could see the look of irritation on Beta's face. It took everything in her to hold back her laughter when he looked up at the woman and spoke.
"Now?," Beta asked, gesturing towards the fire. "Can it wait? We're about to eat."
"It's a matter of importance," Alpha huffed, her irritation at being made to wait for the second time that day clearly showing in her tone. Harley swore she heard Beta groan before he hauled himself up onto his feet and shuffled away with the woman.
As soon as they were out of earshot, Harley leapt up onto her own feet. She hurried over into the larger camping area where the majority of the whisperers ate and slept, moving as fast as she could without drawing attention to herself. She scanned the area, looking for Negan and rolling her eyes at the man once she finally spotted him.
"You've got ta be fuckin' kiddin' me," Harley grumbled. Not only was the man not watching her back, he had that chesty redhead walker woman in his fucking lap with his tongue halfway down her throat.
"Negan," Harley spit, kicking him in the foot. The man's body jolted. And he quickly detached his face from the woman's looking up at Harley expectantly.
"Is it go time?," he asked, looking about ten times more excited than he ought to for whatever was coming. Harley crouched down next to him. She gave the woman a pointed glance before she spoke. "It's cool," Negan quickly whispered before Harley could even ask. "She's with us." Harley shrugged.
"Beta just left with her. And she fer sure wants me fuckin' dead. So just in case this doesn't go my way, we gotta be ready." Negan nodded, nudging the woman back as he bent his knee and reached into his boot, retrieving the small gun he'd kept hidden there since he arrived.
"I got your back, kid," he promised. "It's time to end this."