John
Wow…
That's about all I really have to say. Just… wow.
Back on the run was one thing, but-
"That was amazing…" Rachel mutters softly, her head laying upon my chest as she cuddles up next to me. Her hand rests on the opposite side of my chest as she lets her index finger run in small circles upon my skin.
I can only smile and nod. "That it was…" I responded in agreement, enjoying the feeling of her pressed up against me with my arm wrapped around her. My other arm rests under my head, and I let the hand wrapped around her give a gentle squeeze here and there.
"I don't think I've ever felt that good in my life." Rachel comments, causing me to let out a loud laugh in response. She in turn lets giggles escape her, her small form shaking in amusement against me.
"Well, I enjoyed it too." I reply as my laughter dies down to light chuckling. I look down at Rachel resting against me. There's no cover atop us, and our clothes are still sprawled all over the tent, so we're just resting here in all of our glory.
"So, I guess we're dating now." Rachel speaks up once more, once again causing me to chuckle.
"Dating? Is that even a thing anymore?" I ask as I look down at her with an amused gaze. "What would we do for a date, eat at an abandoned diner and then fight off walkers?"
My words have the intended effect as Rachel begins to once again giggle like a schoolgirl. I can't really think of any time I've heard Rachel actually giggle rather than laugh, and I'll tell you now, I am more than eager to hear it again.
"Yeah, and we'll spend a night in an abandoned hotel, fucking on dusty and unmaintained beds." Rachel replies with her own quick wit, causing me to laugh once again.
"Right! Well, I suppose it'd be better than fucking on the cold hard ground." I joke in response. Rachel doesn't actually reply at first. She's silent for a moment, before propping her head up so that her chin is resting on my chest.
"I thought it was pretty warm." Rachel replies with a smile, causing me to roll my eyes in a mirthful manner.
"Yeah, cause you had me heating you up." I remark, causing Rachel to once again giggle.
Seriously, that has to be the most adorable sound I've ever heard.
"Well, I think I'm glad to know you'll be there to heat me up in the future." Rachel responds, a gentle smile coming onto her face.
My expression morphs into my own soft smile at those words, and I lean my head down to kiss her.
"Any time." I tell her when we separate as I rest my head once more. "So, you had a crush, huh."
At that, Rachel playfully swats my chest, and I can almost feel the pout on her face. "Shut up." She mumbles, causing me to chuckle.
"You know, all jokes aside?" My eyes move to meet her gaze once more, and I smile as I look at her. "I'm glad you and Shiela found your way here. I love you."
Rachel smiles in response, almost beaming from the words, before she closes her eyes and lays her head back down onto my chest. "I love you too."
I could make a remark, I could joke, so many things I could say…
But I can't help but to just lay there and smile.
Hard to believe that after so long, after her being one of my closest friends… when the world goes to hell, Rachel is the one right by my side.
It's funny. We went to school together ever since kindergarten, and we never really spoke to each other that much. Rachel was always the party girl, and I just stuck to Maddie and Levi. And when she was suddenly best friends with Peter, it didn't really affect that much.
It was like 'Oh hey, that's a thing now. Anyway,' and I never really cared.
But there's one thing I do remember…
"You know, I remember something." I say, catching her attention as I turn my head down to meet her gaze. "The day before everything happened that gave me my powers, I remember coming into school that morning and bullshitting with Levi and Maddie."
"That was before we actually got to know each other." Rachel recalls, nodding her head before tilting in confusion. "What about it?"
"Well, you guys knew I had the superhuman gene already." I recall being informed of that bit of information as I raise an eyebrow. "But one thing that doesn't make sense is the fact that you guys knew for a while."
Now Rachel looks even more confused, sitting up off of me as she looks down at me, causing my arm to slide down to her waist. "What do you mean?"
I can't help the playful smile. "If you guys actually knew for that long, then what's the real reason you were staring at me?"
At that, Rachel's eyes widen and she visibly blushes at my words, causing me to grin.
Okay, I have to take this chance.
"Okay, so I might've lied when I said it had started while we were training you." Rachel admits, averting her gaze out of embarrassment. I can only chuckle in response.
"Really?" I can't help the urge to tease, before propping myself up on my arms so that our faces are inches apart. "Well, I looked a bit different back then. So what was it that drew you to me?"
While the blush is still prominent on her absolutely adorable face, Rachel gives me a genuine smile as she wraps her arms around my neck and leans in so that her forehead is touching my own. Something I have no problem with, as it allows me to stare into her beautiful hazel orbs.
"Do you remember that science fair project we were partnered up for in eighth grade?" Rachel asks softly, causing me to chuckle in response.
"We were partnered up because Maddie and Levi were already working on something, and Peter was in a different class." I recall with a soft smile, bringing my own arms up to wrap themselves around her.
Rachel smiles at the memory, nodding her head as she remembers it as well. "Do you know how many people treated me like a weirdo? Even the people I thought were my friends were calling me shitty names."
I can't help but to frown as she tells me that. Rachel never deserved anything like that, and I feel a little guilty for the time where I thought she and Peter were a bit weird myself.
"But you didn't say anything like that." Rachel explains as she resituates herself, swinging a leg over me and sitting down upon my lap. "'Well, I don't know what to do, wanna just look up some ideas online?'" She says in her best imitation of me.
I actually let out a laugh when she tells me that. "Well, it was true."
"That was my first time in a few years having a normal interaction with someone my own age." Rachel reveals, leaning her head down onto my shoulder as she does so and hugging me. "It caught me so off-guard at first, but even though we didn't win, I actually enjoyed spending time with you. You were the first person who didn't act like I was some freak, or who saw me as different because I wore thick makeup and hung out with Peter."
"Well, if I'm being honest, there was a time I thought you guys were weird." I admit, eliciting another giggle from Rachel in response.
"I know. Shiela let it slip."
Dammit Shiela.
"But you never judged me for it." Rachel's voice goes softer as she speaks, bringing her lips to my own as she does so. "You treated me like a normal person, like there wasn't anything different about me. After that, I found myself staring at you every once in a while, and I just realized that I liked you." She continues when she pulls away from the kiss.
"Well, staring at me from a distance wasn't gonna make any progress." I can't help but to tease, but I begin to wonder if that was a poor choice of words when Rachel's face falls.
"I was too scared." Rachel admits, to my own surprise. "I had Raymond as a constant reminder of what happened, of my powers. I was too scared of hurting you." She admits, showing a moment of vulnerability that feels like it's becoming a lot more common lately. "I thought I might've had a chance when we started training you, but I was too nervous, and then Maddie told me she loved you. It just… it wouldn't have felt right."
I can't help the sadness that wells up slightly at the mention of Maddie, but I focus more on Rachel than I do myself.
"You know, all the way back in school, any time before Maddie and me got together… I would've given you a chance." I admit to her, giving her a soft smile as I say it. "I wasn't concerned with romance, but I wouldn't have said no."
Rachel's expression shows appreciation when I say it, and I'm more than happy to accept her lips upon my own when she leans down for a kiss.
"Well…" Rachel says as she pulls away from my lips. "We can't change the past… but we can appreciate the present." She says with a smile as she presses her head to my own.
I absolutely agree.
"You ain't gonna hear any arguments from me." I assure with a smile.
Rachel let's a giggle escape her, and she goes to lean in for another kiss…
Until the sounds of approaching footsteps from outside the tent enter our ears.
It's like we're both perfectly in sync, as we look at the tent for a split second upon hearing the noise. Rachel immediately jumps off my lap and scrambles for something to put on to at least cover herself, while my own hand shoots for my pants and underwear, immediately pulling them on as quickly as I can.
Once I get them on, I turn to look at Rachel, who has managed to slip her panties back on before throwing on her shirt.
I half expect whoever it is to immediately open the tent once they arrive, but luckily for both Rachel and whoever it is, they immediately speak up first.
"John, you in there?" It's… Jenner?
Shit, I told him I'd give him some blood samples this morning.
"Give me a second!" I call to him as I immediately grab my socks and boots, slipping them both on before looking around for my shirt.
"Where's my shirt?" I ask Rachel as I look around for the missing piece of cloth, cause I could've sworn I'd piled my clothes up in the same spot.
"Um…" The tone of Rachel's voice sounds sheepish as she says it, and I turn my gaze over to her to see if she found it.
And she had… just not where I was expecting.
Apparently I wasn't paying attention, because Rachel didn't grab her shirt.
"Oops." An embarrassed blush washes over Rachel's face as she realizes her mistake, and she immediately finds her shirt before pulling mine off and tossing it to me.
Once it's in my hands, I wait for her to get her own shirt on before I move towards the entrance of my tent and unzip it. Jenner probably wouldn't see anything anyway, but better safe than sorry.
Jenner looks surprised when I climb out of the tent, and let's be honest, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what happened. He probably heard Rachel in the tent, and I don't have my shirt on.
"Sorry, Jenner." I apologize as I throw my shirt on, shaking my head a little to free my hair from where it's a little stuck in the shirt. "I forgot about the blood samples."
"I figured." Jenner replies with a nod. "I thought I'd come find you. I was doing some research with what I had, but a few more samples would really make things easier."
"No problem." I assure him with a shrug as I give a small smile.
Jenner manages to spare the barest of smiles, which still looks forced. He still feels like an outcast.
Which is understandable. Let's be honest, only two people- well, Rachel and Shiela haven't really spoken to the guy much… but outside of me and Dale, everyone else gives the guy the evil eye every chance they get.
Not many will forgive a guy when he nearly blows you to hell and back.
But we're all still alive… and Jenner is our only real hope for the mess that is the virus.
I give him a friendly pat on the shoulder and move past him, making my way to the RV as he moves to follow after me.
He keeps a small bit of space between us as as he follows, and it makes me wonder if people have honestly made him that uncomfortable. It's like he's walking on eggshells at all times.
I give a wave to a few people as we go, mainly Dale atop the RV. I'm assuming Shane and Rick are still inside with Carl, and I don't see heads nor tails of Lori.
Good. A little less drama for a moment. We've had enough of that as it is.
When I step into the RV, no one bats an eye when it jostles slightly. Seven hundred pounds will do that.
"Just give me a second, and I'll go get the syringes." Jenner says as he steps into the RV behind me, causing me to move out of the way so he can go and get the needles from wherever he has them at.
I gotta say, I'm not exactly eager to be sticking a needle in myself again, but I'll keep my word. Besides, if this can at least get everyone else inoculated, bites won't be as big a problem anymore.
There will still be danger, obviously… but one mistake isn't gonna get somebody killed.
It doesn't take long for Jenner to retrieve the syringes, and just my luck that he comes back with five needles.
If it weren't for the fact that I made a promise… well, it was a time consuming process of getting my blood, since I'd have to get the needle in and then Jenner would take over to get the amount of blood needed. Rinse and repeat.
Five. Times. Over.
Safe to say that I was irritated when I finally got out of the damn RV, rubbing my arm a little considering it's surprisingly sore as a result.
Considering the wound would heal too fast for it to even bleed, the fact that my arm is a bit sore is honestly a shock.
Or maybe it's not that it's sore, but it's… phantom pain? That's what it's called, right? I stuck my arm so much, it feels like the needle is still in there.
Either way, I hope Jenner has what he needs for the time being. I'd rather not have to stick a needle in my arm on a daily basis.
I rub my arm a little, but I don't question it much more when I spot Rachel approaching, now fully dressed.
"How'd it go?" Rachel asks as she comes to a stop next to me, and I give her a small smile.
"It's a lot better now that you're here." I comment, getting yet another giggle from her as she looks up at me with a smile of her own.
"That bad, huh?" Rachel jokes as she leans up on her toes and plants a kiss upon my cheek. "There, better?"
"Yep." I say with a smile as I begin walking, with no real destination in mind as Rachel moves next to me. "I just hope Jenner has what he needs for the time being. I just did five needles, and I'm not exactly hoping that this is a regular thing."
"Oh, it's not that bad, you big baby." Rachel teases with an eye roll, causing me to give. A feigned pout in response.
"Says the one that's used to penetration."
"John!" Rachel's face turns an alarming shade of red at a shockingly quick rate the moment the words leave my mouth, and she gives my arm a hard wack… to her own chagrin. "Ow!" She exclaims as she begins trying to shake away the ache she brought herself.
I can't help but to chuckle at her blunder, causing her to give me a glare. "Hey, don't blame me. You walked into both of them." I point out with a grin, causing Rachel to cross her arms.
"Jerk."
"You weren't complaining twenty minutes ago."
Rachel promptly sticks her tongue out at me.
I chuckle in response, before my face falls and I let out a sigh. "All jokes aside, I'm a little worried about Jenner." I admit as I glance over at her. "I get why most of the group don't like him, but he's trying to do some real good, and he's just kind of staying away from everyone."
"When you're not wanted, that tends to happen, John." Rachel responds with a sad look, because she understands what I'm saying. Heck, she was that person for the longest time in school. "He probably feels isolated. I mean, is there anyone else here who actually talks to him?"
I have to actually think about it for a moment. "Well… Rick is civil with him, but outside of myself, Dale's the only one who actually treats him like a human being." I admit with a sigh. "Everyone else might say a few words or they avoid him completely. A lot of them just give him dirty looks."
"Then it's no wonder he feels uncomfortable." Rachel replies as she looks up at me. "Only two people here see a man. Everyone else just sees a monster."
"A lot of people have seen me as a monster." I can't help but to point out as I meet her gaze. "Don't mean I am one."
"That's different, John."
Rachel says that… but I'm not so sure. Me and Jenner have both done bad things, and it's not easy to look past those actions.
The people I went against might've been psychos… but that doesn't mean it's normal to watch someone rip a comrade limb from limb.
At least… it wasn't before all this.
"Look, it'll just take time." Rachel says as she brings her hand up to rest on my arm, causing me to slow to a stop as I turn to look at her. "They can't hate him forever, but they have to get past what happened. Not many people would be willing to shake hands with a guy that just tried to kill you."
"I get that." I reply with a sigh, shaking my head slightly. "It doesn't mean I ain't gonna worry for him."
Rachel smiles at my words, and places her hands on my shoulders as she stands upon her toes for a kiss. Something I happily return.
"You're such a worry-wart sometimes." Rachel teases. All I can do is smile in response.
"Can you blame me?" I ask her, before my smile fades away. "The world has gone to hell. The dead walk the earth. People are going crazy. And we've all lost way too much."
Rachel's expression falls at my words, and she slowly nods her head in agreement. "Way too much." She mutters softly, and I can't help the urge I feel to wrap an arm around her shoulder and offer a comforting squeeze.
"We'll make it through this." I assure, even though I'm not entirely sure there will be an end to this apocalypse. Inoculation is one thing, but it's like we discussed before. We might be able to inoculate everyone, but it'll take an airborne anti-virus to wipe out the walkers.
And even then, something tells me that's just a guess. There's no knowing for sure that it would work.
But… even if there is no end… we'll survive. I'll make sure of that.
"Well, you two look a lot happier." A new voice suddenly enters our ears, and both me and Rachel turn to the source, where we spot Jim approaching us. "You two doing alright?"
I nod my head in response, smiling as I speak. "We're fine, Jim. Thanks."
"No problem." Jim assures us with a wave of his hand. "I talked to Rachel before you did, and a lot of us saw… well, earlier." He explains, and I can almost feel Rachel's face heating up in embarrassment.
I can't help but to chuckle when she turns towards me, letting out an uncharacteristically high pitched moan of embarrassment as she tucks her face into my chest, and I find myself chuckling at her actions as I wrap a comforting arm around her.
"Why can't I have no shame like you?" Rachel mumbles into my chest, earning another chuckle from me and one from Jim as well as he shakes his head in amusement.
"Because you ain't me?" That smart remark earns me another punch to the chest, but Rachel's learned her lesson and makes sure she doesn't hit me hard enough to hurt herself. Still I only laugh at the action.
"All jokes aside, would you two be careful?" Jim asks, expression turning serious as the amusement fades away. At that, we both look at him in confusion. What's there to be careful about? "Look, I really don't want to have this conversation, but if you two are… active, at least take precautions. A kid is the last thing we need right now."
Anyone else my age would be shriveling up in embarrassment right now, as Rachel proves when she once again tucks her head into my chest and let's out another embarrassed whimper. However, I just throw my head back and let the throaty laughs flow, amusement washing over me at both Rachel's embarrassment and Jim's own discomfort.
"Don't worry, Jim." I assure him with a wave of my hand as I come down from my laughter. "We aren't gonna have any mini-mes running around anytime soon." I have to admit that I take great joy when Jim actually snickers, while Rachel's gaze snaps up to me in disbelief as she once again nails me in the chest.
"John!" Rachel exclaims, clearly not a fan of my teasing at her expense, but I simply chuckle as I lean down and plant a kiss on her forehead, causing her expression to shift to an adorable pout. "You're a jerk."
"Just a jerk?" I joke with a raised eyebrow, before looking up towards the sky with a feigned look of disappointment. "I was going for the asshole rank." I say, looking down at Rachel with a shit-eating grin.
Rachel's eyes narrow at me in annoyance, but she nonetheless smiles with a shake of her head as she turns away from me to face Jim. "Um… thanks for earlier, again." She says as her expression softens. "I appreciate it."
"Don't think anything of it." Jim says with yet another dismissive wave of his hand. "You were sitting there for a while and you looked like you needed someone to talk to." He reasons with a shrug as he offers Rachel a smile. "I just wanted to check in on you, make sure you're alright."
"I'm fine." Rachel assures him, my arm falling from her shoulder as she moves closer and actually gives him a hug. "I appreciate it."
"Of course." Jim looks surprised and a little uncomfortable with the hug, but he offers a smile anyway and wraps his arm around Rachel to return the gesture nonetheless. I have to say, I'm happy to see that.
Seems Jim is stepping into a role he doesn't even know is open. At least, from my perspective.
The sound of the front door of the house opening catches all our attention, and we turn towards the house to spot Rick and Shane exiting the house. I'm both surprised and relieved to see that, assuming Shane followed it, my advice worked so far. Because both of them have the biggest smiles on their faces as they go down the steps, laughing and joking as if nothing has happened.
Shane's eyes move up and spot me, and he gives me a grin as he begins to move towards me, Rick following behind him with a smile of his own. I can't hold back my own grin as I take in the site I'm used two. Two best buds damn near always by each other's sides.
"I see you two have gotten closer." Shane points out as Rachel moves back towards my side, and I unconsciously bring an arm up to rest on her shoulders as I chuckle.
"Well, the run didn't go exactly as planned." I joke with a chuckle, glancing down at Rachel with a fond smile before turning back to Shane. "And it would seem I'm not the only one. Are you two still on good terms?"
"Yeah." Rick replies rather than Shane, stepping forward with a smile on his own face as he meets my gaze. "I talked to both of them, and so far, we've agreed to just leave it in the past." He elaborates as he turns to Shane with an amused grin. "That's assuming you can make up with Lori."
Shane does that weird head thing he does every once in a while, where he looks down and then back and forth in the span of a second, before looking at Rick with an amused grin of his own. "Here's hoping."
"So how's Carl doing?" I ask, since I haven't seen him since this morning. "He still doing good?"
They both just grin, glancing at each other with a knowing look before turning back to me.
"He likes your sister." Shane points out, and I can't help the laughter that escapes me at that.
"Yeah, no shit." I say with a chuckle. "Me and Rachel were teasing him about that before Glenn showed up asking me to go on a run." I explain with a slight smile.
"I'm glad to see he followed my advice." Rick said with a nod, his smile falling as he glanced in the direction where Glenn was currently standing with Dale atop the RV. "I don't mean any offense, but I'm not sure I trust someone I've never seen in action over someone I know can handle themselves. Figured you were the best option to make sure they get back."
I understand that point. After all, we've only known Maggie for a day, and I haven't personally seen her in action either. And unlike the rest of the group, I don't have to focus on my own safety like everyone else does. Rachel included.
"Fair enough." I say with a small chuckle. "But I do have a question." When I say that, Rick nods his head as my expression changes to one of confusion. "Was there something in particular you sent him out for?"
At that, Rick's brow furrows, and he shares a look with Shane before looking back at me with a raised brow.
"I didn't send him, he let me know." Rick replies, a confused tone in his voice as he did so. "I'm assuming Shane did."
"And I assumed you did." Now I'm confused, and it's clear Rachel is in the same boat as we share looks of curiosity. If it wasn't for Rick or Shane, what did Glenn want? Did someone else send him on the run.
"Are we low on medical supplies?" I ask, even though logically I know that shouldn't be the case. Sure enough, they both shake their heads.
"Ignoring what Hershel has, we stocked up plenty from out on the highway." Shane says, his confusion slowly morphing to suspicion as well. "So either someone else sent him out for something specific, or he had something he was looking for."
"I doubt it's that last one." Rachel admits, speaking up into the conversation herself as she shakes her head. "From what time I've known Glenn, he doesn't exactly strike me as eager to leave."
"Oh he's not, and I've known him longer than any of you." Shane says in agreement with Rachel, shaking his head at the thought of Glenn actively volunteering to go on a run. Admittedly, I can see him volunteering for a run, but only if it's one we absolutely need to make. Still…
"I know Glenn ain't looking for anything just for the hell of it, so if we're stocked up on supplies, someone had to have sent him out for something specific." I reason, my hands coming to rest on my hips as I look to the ground. "But… what could be so important that Glenn agreed?"
"And for that matter, I'd like to know what it was." Shane says, flicking an irritated glance towards the still oblivious man, and I can understand his frustration. So too can Rachel and Rick.
However, Rick clearly isn't on the same thought path we are. "Well, they look to us for leadership." He reminded Shane as he brought a hand up to rest on the man's shoulder. "But we ain't trying to run a dictatorship, and Glenn agreed or he would've said something to one of us."
"Still doesn't mean he needs to be putting himself at risk." Rachel comments, crossing her arms as she too shoots an agitated glare to the still oblivious Glenn.
"No, but I think I see what Rick's saying." I admit as I rest a hand on her shoulder, before looking at Rick. "We can't just go badgering them. In the end, no one was forced to do anything."
"Which means the best we can do is tell Glenn not to put himself at risk, and ask what he found so important." Shane guesses as he too glances at Rick. "And if he says no?"
"We make sure it's not a risk to the group." Rick suggests, glancing at all three of us individually. "So long as that's the case, there's no reason to bug him about it, and I trust Glenn on that front." He sounds positive in his words, and I can agree that Glenn definitely wouldn't put the group at risk for anything.
Though I can't say I'm too happy with him, considering he took it as a chance to fuck Maggie. But to be fair, do me and Rachel have any room to complain?
But still… I'm curious too. What was so important, so urgent, that Glenn agreed to go on a run in the first place? And if he refuses to say what…
…why keep it a secret?
A/N: And that's the chapter. Yeah, I know it's been a long wait for a surprisingly short chapter, but honestly, anything more written down would be pointless. After so long trying to figure out what else I could put in this chapter to make it longer. But after some consideration, I finally decided that this would be a good stopping point, as all the rest wouldn't really contribute to the story that well. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoyed it anyway, and I'll see all of you in the next chapter.