Happy New Year Everyone :D Here's chapter five! It's a bit shorter than the last one but my next chapter is going to be a lot longer :) However, in order for me to post the next chapter, i need a few reviews. :/ i didnt get any for Chapter 4 and I need to know if i even have readers out there. So, i'm kinda blackmailing here. But i dont think at least 3 reviews, which is my asking price, is too much to ask no? :)

Anyways, on with the show :) I hope you enjoy this chap and if you have any comments, questions, or concerns, please post them in a review :D

P.S. Also i'm still debating on whether or not to do some chaps in Daryl's POV :P Tell me what you think about this and I might give you some sneak peeks ;) haha now im using bribery. i know no bounds XD

Chapter 5: Lie With a Smile and Good Intentions

Life, as they say, goes on. You don't want it to; you try to cling to the past and dig your heels in and believe that the world can't go on, not after all this pain and suffering, not after all you've lost, not after all you the parts of you that got torn to shreds and left behind but the truth is it does; it inevitably, irrevocably, undeniably keeps going. And so it is for me.

I'm acclimating into the group a lot easier than I had anticipated. Maybe it's due to the fact that I was still partially in shock over the recent turn of events; maybe it's because the majority of the people are just so nice; hell maybe it's because they all saw Daryl's black eye and bruised nose and decided that if I could take Mr. "Badass" on than I was quite alright. It could have been a combination of any of those things or none of them at all. I'm not sure nor do I want to question it. The only thing I know is that this morning, mere hours after I had arrived, I walked out of the tent I shared with a woman named Abby and was greeted with smiles and my very own plate of canned beans and some type of meat; I was treated like I had always been here, like I wasn't a random stranger who just came staggering out of the woods. I guess that silver lining crap has some merit after all.

I mean sure this isn't what I had been expecting: the camp isn't fortified, the log I'm sitting on isn't exactly a La-Z Boy and this tough, gamey meat I'm gnawing on isn't a five course meal but…I'm alive and safe. For the time being. That's got to count for something right? A knot suddenly forms in the back of my throat and I stab at a piece of meat, trying to ignore the plethora of traitorous thoughts that are cycling in the back of my head. I was alive and relatively safe. I was alive and safe. That's what I have to focus on. That's what I have to think about because if not…if I thought about the other things…

The knot tightens into a spiked ball of steel and I can't help the grimace as I swallow past it. I am alive and safe. I am alive and safe.

"Did you sleep alright sweetheart?"

For a moment, I carry on devouring my meal, trying my best not to appear like a ravenous animal as I let the conversation continue to wash over me, lost in my own little world of this fabulous mystery meat and slightly lukewarm beans. But when a heavy silence pervades and I lift my head to see what had happened, silently curious but still chewing a mouth full of my meal, more than a dozen pair of eyes stare back at me from their assorted chairs expectantly. I freeze mid-chew, staring back at them through the fringes of my hair. Oh. Had they been talking to me?

Swallowing quickly, I wipe at my mouth as gracefully as I can, which isn't very, and clear my throat. "W…well," I stutter quietly, not sure who had asked the question in the first place. "Th…thank you."

Jacqui, the kind African American woman who had helped clean my wounds up yesterday, smiles at me from her seat across our little campfire. I guess it had been her. "That's good. And your head? Is that ok too," she asks, concern shinning in her warm brown eyes. I nod and try to smile back in return, though the attempt was a little shaky.

"Fine. It…it really was just a graze." Jacqui's smile turned a little strained at that, and a few people shift uncomfortably, I guess my tussle with Daryl is still a bit taboo, but she nods and repeats her "That's good" statement. Silence follows our little exchange and when it seems like she has nothing else to say, I awkwardly turn back to my breakfast, feeling the tips of my ears burn from being the center of attention, even for such a short amount of time. Seems even the apocalypse didn't change some things.

"So where are you from," another voice suddenly pipes up and I lift my head again, fork frozen halfway to my mouth. Andrea nudges Amy roughly, glaring at her slightly in reproach.

"Amy! Let her eat," the older blonde hisses at her sister.

Amy grumbles but does her best to look a little chidden, tucking a strand of hair behind her head and glaring at the ground. "Sorry," she mumbles petulantly. "I was just a little curious. I mean she carries a freaking sword. And it's not like we all weren't talking about the same thing a few minutes ago." I see a few faces turn guilty at that and a few others turn back to their plates as if they were the most interesting things in the world. Well. It seems I was the current topic of the gossip mill. Joy. Lori, who is sitting next to Jacqui, gives me a slightly apologetic, slightly pitying look.

"You don't have to answer that," she tells me though, by the small note of hopefulness in her voice, I knew she wishes I would. I chew on my lip in nervousness but shake my head as I make a split second decision.

"It's fine," I reply, setting my plate on my knees. I am mostly finished with it anyway and I think establishing some rapport with these people that I am now living with was a little more important than stuffing my face. Even if this is the first real meal I've had in weeks. Damn, I have to stop thinking about that.

Taking a deep breath, I shift in my seat, feeling the bark dig into my ass and the sun sting the back of my neck. "Um…I don't really know where to start," I confess with a slight chuckle, my expression more than a little confused and lost. The people all give me encouraging smiles but its Amy who speaks up again.

"You could start with where you're from," she supplies helpfully, her blue eyes shinning in excitement. Andrea nudges her in the ribs again, hard, and tells her to be quite and let me talk. I laugh quietly again and run a hand through my short hair, feeling nervous and nauseous, like the fucking first day of school. Well, here goes nothing.

"Ok well I was born in Dalton, near the Georgia-Tennessee border. I…I lived there all my life. Until recently anyways." I say. "I'm seventeen years old, nearly eighteen." I try not to think if I will reach that birthday or not, though it was only a few weeks away. "And…my middle name is Lara. I uh…don't really know what else to say." Shrugging, I give another smile and awkwardly wait for my audience's response, for their acceptance. First fucking day of school indeed. I try not to fidget. Amy blinks her big blue eyes at me.

"That's it?" she asks dubiously.

I blink back at her, really fighting not to fidget now. "Yes?" I say it like a question. I mean what else can I say? I liked to read? Or at least I did before the end of the world. That I wore a size 8 shoe? Was a forced ambidextrous? What?

"I think she's uh…talking about your samurai get up," Glenn speaks up and I turn to see him nodding his cap covered head at the katana leaning on the log beside me.

"My katana?" I ask, brow slightly furrowed. My hand twitches to reach out and pull the steel closer to me.

"Uh yeah," Amy pipes up again, and I spin back to see her eyes wide and brimming with curiosity. "I mean is it a real sword?" I bite my lip again, unused to this line of questioning. No one had seen me with my weapons in my previous life after all. Well, except for…never mind.

"Yes its real," I answer truthfully. Why the hell would I carry a fake sword anyways? I don't voice that thought though because everyone seems more than mildly impressed with this new turn of events, especially the kids. Carl, Lori's son, is oscillating between staring at me and the katana, his eyes wide and oh so childishly blue in awe. Sophia, who is Carol's daughter, does a little better job at keeping the wonder from her expression but I can still see her peeping around her mom's shoulder beside me, curious and intrigued.

"Can you fight with it," Carl suddenly asks, his voice excited and animated. He reminds me a bit of Manny, the animation and innocence.

I smile softly at him, feeling something pull tight in my chest."Well enough."

Carl grins back, wide and infectious. "That's so cool."

Lori makes an un-amused sound beside her son and ruffles his hair, pointing a threatening finger at him. "I don't care how cool it is. You do not touch that thing Carl Grimes or so help me…" The boy pouts, looking at his mom with those big eyes.

"Aww Mom," he whines, and he sounds so much like Manny that I'm suddenly gripped with a violent urge to either cry or laugh. I chose the latter.

"Your mom is right Carl," I can't help but voice, making him look back at me with an expression akin to scandalized betrayal. The pulling in my chest gets tighter but I try to shake it off as I lift up my right hand and gesture to my palm. "It's not a toy. It packs quite a bit of a bite if I do say so myself. I learned that the hard way." As I tell him this, I trace a finger across the wide and ropy scar that cuts diagonally from right to left across my palm, wrapping around my wrist at the end. A few people gasp and make surprised noises at the sight but I'm watching Carl and seeing his eyes go wide and his face go pale.

"What…what happened?" he whispers, the horror in his voice and eyes evident as he gazes at the gruesome looking scar. A look that I can't help but notice his mother is mirroring, more than likely picturing the same scar on her son.

I wrinkle my nose a bit and gaze down at the puckered skin. "I didn't listen when someone told me a sword was not a toy," I say, feeling my eyes slip slightly out of focus as I remember the day I got this scar. How sensei had told me nearly the exact same words I just told Carl; how I, in all my infinite childish know-it-all wisdom, had basically told him to fuck off and grabbed the sword anyway; how the blade had cut through my hand like it was butter; how the blood was the reddest thing I had ever seen; how the pain was sharp and utterly paralyzing. "I was a…little stubborn as a kid to put it lightly. I thought I had it all figured out." The older people of our little circle smile a bit at this, knowing exactly what I was talking about, but I could still see a bit of the horror mingling in their eyes, in the set of their lips. I chew on the inside of my own; did I say too much? I was just trying to warn Carl. Maybe, in the future, I'll keep details like this to myself.

"That looks like it hurt," Shane says from his spot beside Lori, dark eyes switching from my scar to my face. I nod and drop my hand.

"It did. Had to get 12 stitches for it. I was lucky it didn't go a centimeter deeper or I would have lost the use of my hand. But, thankfully," I say, patting the sword at my side with a small smile. "I'm a bit more proficient with it now."

It's quiet for a moment, my audience processing my words, before Morales, a middle aged Mexican man that has a wife and two kids in camp, shifts in his seat and clears his throat. "So uh…can you show us how proficient?"

"Morales!"

"Oh my god!"

"Dude, I second that!"

I blink as everyone yells out at once, a discordant din of voices and shouts. Lori and Jacqui shoot Morales disapproving looks and some others try to do so as well but, for the most part, I can see a lot of people had been wanting to say the exact same thing. Morales laughs, eyes warm and amused as he holds his hands up in a helpless gesture. "What? Like Amy said, we are all thinking it!" The women shake their heads again but no one speaks up to argue the point.

Feeling awkward and on the spot, I rub at the back of my neck. "Um I don't know...uh…" How am I supposed to show them? Fight fucking empty air?

Sensing my discomfort and indecision, T-Dog, who had been silent this morning, suddenly points a stick at me, nodding at my hip. "Wait what's that little one there? A knife?" I glance down to where he's pointing, my eyes landing on the hilt of my tanto that rests against my left side.

"Oh this?" I ask and T-Dog nods. "Um…its not really a knife. Well, maybe a bit. But not really," I stutter. When I see the confused looks I'm getting, I decided maybe showing them was better. Grasping the short hilt, and making sure no one was in my drawing range, I pull the blade from its sheath, listening to the familiar rasp.

Wide eyes follow the glint on the steel, gazes tracing the keen edge. Carl looks positively transfixed. "It's called a tanto," I tell them, twirling the hilt in my grasp, maybe showing off just a bit. "It's the Japanese short sword. I guess it can be considered a knife or a dagger." Shrugging, I lay the blade flat in my hand, feeling its familiar weight and balance, dredging up so many memories. "I was taught to always treat it as a sword though, considering it's just as sharp and just as dangerous." I spare Carl another warning look to which he does his best to look sheepish.

"And who taught you all this ninja, samurai stuff?" Amy asks, her blue eyes curious and scrutinizing. "I mean you have to admit, it's a bit strange." I bristle at the comment, feeling defensive and irritated. Who was she to judge me?

"Stranger than the dead getting up and walking," I shoot back and the blonde blinks, cowed. The second the words are out of my mouth and off my tongue though, I wince at how uncouth they sounded, how harsh. "Way to go Audrey," I think to myself. "Just piss these people off your first day here." Remorse trickles through my veins and I take a deep breath, moving to sheathe the tanto. "Uh sorry," I mutter, though a small part of me really isn't.

Amy shakes her head, her expression openly apologetic. "No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to insult you. I just…was, am, curious."

It's a reasonable explanation and, to be fair, her earlier insult wasn't really one. Being able to fight with a sword is strange. I had said the same thing myself, nearly eight years ago. Strange and stupid. Waste of freaking time. I think those were my exact words when I had first seen sensei's swords, mounted on the wall, like some weird sort of trophies. Even so, hearing those words out of someone else's mouth, here, now that sensei's not around to defend himself, to prove these people wrong…it makes my insides twist horribly and a sour taste to awaken in the back of my throat. I shake the feeling away and give a thin, ghost of a smile. "It's alright. It…it is a bit strange huh," I chuckle. "I actually thought the same thing myself the first day I saw a katana."

"And when was that?" Carl asks, though his tone is quiet and cautious, like he doesn't want to upset me like Amy.

The guilt I feel grows sharper. "When I was about your age," I say. "Or just a little bit older. One day I…"

But as I get ready to tell him the story of how I met Sensei Takeo, that fateful day eight years ago, something inside of me draws me up short, makes me pause mid sentence. Biting my lip, I let my eyes take in all the people around me, all their curious and eager expressions and I remember the horror on their faces at the sight of the small scar on my hand and the pity in their eyes when I stumbled into camp, bleeding and lost. I…I don't want that, the pity and the horror. I've seen that enough in my life and I hate it. I'm strong now, strong enough to take care of myself. I'm not some child that needs to be coddled or pampered; I don't need sweet words or empty apologies. But telling them the pathetic little sob story of poor orphan Audrey Bennett would more than likely elicit such a response. So…I can't tell them the truth. I…I just can't. Because if I do I know, I just know, that they'll treat me different. I won't be the cool chick that can wield a sword; I'll just be that pathetic little girl whose life has never been easy. I'd never escape that goddamn yawning pity in their eyes. They'd treat me like I'm some delicate little flower when I'm not. Not anymore, not since I was a kid. It wouldn't matter though; they'd treat me that way just the same. Just like my teachers did when they learned the truth about me; just like how the parents of friends would make sure to give me some leftovers to take home or a few extra treats while I was at their house, like I was some fucking charity case. I don't need that; I don't want that. I want to be treated fairly, judged by my present, by my talents and actions, not by the fact that everyone and their mother feel sorry for me.

"Um Audrey," I hear Amy ask and in that one second, I make a decision. I don't want my past hanging over me any longer. It might be selfish, it might be wrong but hey, it's the end of the fucking world. Why can't I get a fresh fucking start?

So, drumming up all the courage I can, and I can't believe I'm doing this, I clear my throat, and begin to lie through my teeth. The smile I plaster on is strained and so brittle I feel it will shatter if I breathe but I'm resolved to do this. Who can it hurt?

"Sorry," I say. "Got lost in thought. But as I was saying, one day…uh I was at the store with my parents and we were coming home when my dad saw this karate dojo." What the hell? Where had that come from? I can't even begin to say but I roll with it, hoping to God this lie would be believable. "My parents had been wanting me to do something extracurricular for a while but I hated ballet and sports just really weren't my thing." The lies keep rolling off my tongue, smooth as fucking silk, and by the looks on everybody's faces, they're eating it up. I do my best to ignore the guilty feeling gnawing at me and keep pressing forward, smile still in place.

"So, my dad and mom talked about it and decided to sign me up for karate classes. When I got there, however, there were some swords hanging on the wall in the dojo and I thought they looked really cool." Lie. Lie. Oh so many lies. "I told my parents and they talked to the sensei there and it turns out that they also taught sword fighting there, along with the traditional self defense classes, for a price of course. But, my parents thought it would be a good investment, teach me some life lessons or some shit, so they signed me up the next day and I went to that dojo nearly every day for the next eight years," I finish, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear and looking around at the group with a wide and innocent expression.

As fantasy lives go, I have to say this one is pretty fucking nice. Two loving parents who would pay extra money to let their daughter do what she wants; it sounds like a nice and normal life; it sounds happy and mundane. It also sounds nothing at all like my real life. Like, not even on the same fucking planet. They don't need to know that though. That past can stay dead, dead and burned to ashes in the empty wasteland that is Dalton.

Everyone is staring at me, still and silent. Anxiety blooms inside of me and I feel my smile start to falter. Do they know I'm lying? I look into Jacqui's eyes, into Lori's. I can't tell. Maybe I laid it on too thick. Maybe-

"Your parents were so fucking cool."

A breath I hadn't known I'd been holding whooshes out of me in a shaky exhalation. "They bought it," I think in disbelief as I turn to Amy who has her chin in her hands and a smile on her lips. "Really," I squeak, my eyes wide and my hands almost shaking. Amy gives me a look like I am insane as she sits up.

"Dude totally," she gushes, her face animated and ardent. "I mean, they actually listened to you and they let you take up sword fighting! My parents made me take ballet until I was in eighth grade! It sucked so bad!"

Before I can say anything in response, Glenn snorts to my left and shakes his head in something akin to disgust, even though he's grinning from nearly ear-to-ear. "You think that's bad? My parents made me join the math and science teams at my schools until I graduate high school. Talk about sucking. I still don't even know my poly-atomic ions or how to do derivatives."

I blink at Glenn, nice and slow. Once, twice. And suddenly, I'm laughing so hard it fucking hurts. The tanto, which had been sitting in my lap, slides to the ground with a muffled thump and I'm hunched over my legs, shaking uncontrollably, tears building in my eyes and lungs heaving. Through the ringing in my ears, I hear the rest of the group follow my lead, all of them cracking up like I hadn't heard since the world crashed and burned. It felt so surreal, laughing here, at the end of the world, with these people I don't even know. I can't even begin to fathom it.

"What," Glenn says, eyes wide and confused as he looks around at all of us in incomprehension. "What's so funny?" It only makes us laugh harder.

"Oh…oh my god Glenn," Amy gasps from where she's leaning against Andrea. "That…that had to be the…the nerdiest thing I've ever heard." Others make similar comments and Glenn just blushes crimson red, looking like he wants to pull his dusty cap over his face and melt into the ground. All I can do is laugh and try not to choke and fall off my log. It takes all of us a while to settle down, every time we would start someone would snort again and off we'd go, but eventually, our laughs devolve into quiet snickers and we can all breathe again.

"Yeah, yeah people laugh it up people," Glenn mutters, still blushing. "Can we get back to Audrey's ninja powers now? She's the new girl here."

I wrinkled my nose and opened my mouth to thank Glenn for pointing that out but someone else cuts me off.

"Ya lot of good she's gonna be," Merle's voice drawls out behind me, making me whip around, hand twitching towards my katana. The large redneck sneers at me from where he's standing a little more five feet away, rifle thrown over his shoulder and cigarette bobbing from his lips. "Just 'nother spoiled lil prissy bitch who can't survive without her pa's money and her ma's goodnight kiss. Fuckin worthless."

Merle's comment shatters the previous jovial air and, even though I'm facing away from them, I can feel everyone sitting behind me go rigid and angry. "Dixon," I hear Shane say, voice neutral and controlled, though I can sense an undercurrent of anger. "Where you off to?" The redneck's glassy blue eyes shift from my face to over my shoulder, the orbs going darker in rage.

"Nun ya goddamn business," he snarls, reaching up to take an aggressive drag from his cigarette. I hear people shift behind me, uncomfortable and slightly frightened, everyone waiting around with bated breath to see what would transpire. The air was charged with this pent up energy, like something was waiting to just explode. I guess there is a bit of tension between Shane and the man before me.

"Maybe I should resolve it," I think and I can't stop the next words out of my mouth. Eight years under sensei's calming tutelage and there still remains something of that ten year old little girl who fought against the world with bared teeth and sharp fucking claws, who didn't take shit from anyone or anything. I took Merle's threat yesterday because I was disoriented, discombobulated, and disconcerted but I wasn't about to let him walk all over me or think I'm some weak little bitch. That stopped right now.

"I wouldn't worry too much about him Shane," I say, loud enough for everyone to hear. Merle's eyes zero back in on me and I match him sneer for sneer, even if my heart is racing in my chest like a hummingbird's. "I mean talk about fucking worthless. With the amount of food you guys have, I'd bet Merle here doesn't do anything more than shoot fucking air in the woods."

The words are petty and childish, reminiscent of kids exchanging words across a playground. Well, with a few more expletives added in anyway. But they get the job done because the second they are out of my mouth, it's like the world just froze in place; like the very turn of the Earth just halted in its fucking tracks. Merle stands there, staring at me with his cigarette halfway to his mouth again, his eyes narrowed and livid, as if he couldn't believe I had just fucking said that. But I had, if the echoes of shocked gasps behind me or the innocent bystanders that had frozen in their places behind Merle or the rage I can see unfurling in the burly redneck's expression are any indication. Good. Let him know that I'm not some bitch he can push around.

Merle sucks in a lungful of smoke and takes a threatening step forward; his blue eyes pinned on my face. "What the fuck ya just say to me," he growls, taking another step. I tilt my chin up and harden my expression, moving to stand and face him. I am not going to be afraid of this motherfucker. But before I can give Merle a piece of my mind, well another piece of it, I feel a hand fall onto my shoulder and, suddenly, Shane's voice sounds at my right ear.

"I think you should leave Merle," he says calmly but, by the tight grip on my shoulder, I can tell he's a bit on edge. But Merle doesn't move, at least not backward. Instead, he moves forward again, until he's nearly an arm's length away, towering over me.

"Nah! I want to know what she said," he yells, spit flying from his cracked and raw lips and, out of the corner of my eye, I see his hand twitch on the rifle's handle. Shane's grip grows tighter, nails digging into my skin and, for a moment, I feel a tad bit remorseful because I can feel this little argument is going to come to blows. However, before that can happen, an irritated shout rings out across camp, making us all jump in surprise.

"Merle! Hurry yer ugly ass up or I'm fuckin leavin ya!"

Startled, I, and everyone else, turn to see Daryl standing fifteen feet away, near the tree line, crossbow in hand and scowl in place. The hunter squints against the morning sun and makes an impatient gesture towards his brother again. "Merle! I know ya hear me ya sumbitch. Hurry the fuck up!" Merle snorts as he exhales a lungful of smoke but, unexpectedly, listens to Daryl, shooting us one last dirty look in our direction.

"This ain't fuckin over bitch," he snarls quietly, locking eyes with me and flicking his cigarette at my feet before he turns on heel and begins to strut towards his brother. "Watch yer mouth fuckin Darlene," I hear him yell. "Or I swear I'll…" Whatever else he says is lost as he reaches Daryl and lunges out to cuff him around the head. The younger Dixon ducks the swing and I can see him mutter something to Merle who just shakes his head and shoves past him into the tree line. Daryl shakes his head as well and moves to follow his brother into the forest but, just before he disappears into the trees, he casts a look back at the rest of us and I can't help but feel his eyes find mine for just an instant before he's gone.

The instant the Dixon brothers are gone everyone breathes again and Shane's hand slips from my shoulder, moving up to shakily run through his curly hair. I turn to the former cop with a slight frown. "You didn't have to do that," I say. Shane scoffs and opens his mouth to say something but Glenn is the first one to recover and, as I turn back around to face everyone, he locks eyes with me, his own brown orbs wide and disbelieving.

"What, in the name of fucking God, were you thinking?"

I blink at his squeaky voice, tilting my head as I bend down to pick up my tanto. "What," I say, fingers closing around the familiar hilt. Glenn sputters incoherently, his mouth opening and closing like a gaping fish.

"W…what do you mean what! You just…I don't even know what you did! You…you…"

"You started shit with Merle Dixon!", Amy finishes for him and I see that she shares Glenn's flabbergasted and terrified expression. "Why the hell would you do that? Do you have a death wish?"

My frown only deepens as I sheath the small blade, taking in everyone's pale and drawn faces. "No," I tell her. "I don't have a death wish but I don't think that I should have to take shit from some redneck asshole just cuz he waves a gun around and acts like he's some fucking bad ass."

"He is a badass," Glenn says.

"No, he's just a bully!"

"Alright, alright enough," Shane sighs and he runs his hand down his face in exasperation before he turns his gaze on me. "Look Audrey, I know you're new here and everything but we don't need any trouble in camp. Antagonizing Merle Dixon is as troublesome as you can get so, in the future, do you think you can just do what we all do and ignore him?" I huff and want to argue but I've already majorly overstepped my bounds today and we haven't even finished breakfast. I have to abide by their rules if I don't want to alienate myself and make this apocalypse more unbearable than it already is.

"Fine," I concede willingly. "But if I feel as if he means to harm me I'm not letting him just because you've asked." It's a bit harsh but I'm being honest. Shane nods his head. "That's fair but, truth be told, Dixon's more bark than bite. We've had some…altercations but he usually just runs his mouth."

"Good to know," I say but, something tells me that, sooner or later, I was going to experience one of these "altercations" first hand.

Discussion ended, Shane claps his hands together and turns back to the rest of the group. "Ok y'all. Party's over. Let's get this day started huh?" Turning back to me, Shane tilts his head in inquiry. "Audrey um…I'm not sure what you want to do today."

"Whatever that needs doing."

Shane smiles in gratitude and jerks his head towards Lori. "Alright well see if Lori or some of the other women need your help but if not, you can come with me to get some water from the quarry." I nod in acceptance and start to collect my things. As I bend over to grab my abandoned plate I hear a chuckle beside me and I look up to see T-Dog shaking his head, a shit-eating grin on his face.

"What's so funny?" I ask him, unable to stop my own grin from appearing.

T-Dog lifts his head, still shaking it as he laughs. "Girl, I don't know you but you have the biggest balls I've ever seen."

My grin widens as I bend to pick up my katana, strapping it to my back. "Yeah? Well, I'll let you in on a secret," I whisper to him, leaning in conspiratorially. T-Dog leans in towards me, curiosity and amusement clear in his expression. "They're made of steel."

T-Dog snorts and pulls back but shoots me a wide and friendly smile. "You're alright girl. I think you'll fit in here just fine."

Amy suddenly comes up from behind me and links our arms together, her own smile bright and infectious. "Of course she will! I mean anyone who can stand up to that douche bag Dixon is like…family! Not to mention, she's going to be our own resident ninja. It gives us girls major cool points."

"Cool points?", I question and Amy immediately launches into an explanation of how the camp was somehow involved in a gender competition to see which sex was "cooler." It was childish, it was asinine…it made me feel more human than I had in over a month. So, as Amy dragged me towards Dale's RV, chattering away as we also snag Glenn to help us collect the camp's laundry for the trip down to the quarry, I can't help but smile the whole way like a complete and utter fool.

This place wasn't fortified as Fort Knox, nor was it as luxurious as the Ritz Hotel but, as I think about Carl's wide and worshiping eyes and Amy's smile, I think I can deal with that.

SO? :) Tell me your thoughts :D Please!