𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐒, 𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒚𝒍 𝑫𝒊𝒙𝒐𝒏

₂ 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐲

It was so easy to get lost in the first pieces of normality Jill had found in so long.

She spent her nights around a campfire with people she could laugh with and share meals with, unafraid of the dark enveloping them, and slept huddled with Lori and Carl in their tent, soaking in their warmth and comfort, while her days were spent chasing after Carl and the three other children in the camp: Sophia, Eliza, and Louis.

On the days Jill wasn't on childcare duty (instead assigned to Carol, a sweet mousy woman in her thirties, and the mother of the shy Sophia), Jill began to scavenge the woods for berries and mushrooms with the friendly blond girl, Amy, who immediately started to fill her in on the 'need to know' of the camp gossip as they filled their buckets, and despite the distraction it didn't take long for Jill to notice the snares Daryl had set up around the area.

The hunter had disappeared that first day he had brought Jill here, but when she finally managed to catch him at his and his brothers' tent, sectioned off away from the others, on her sixth day in camp, she practically begged him to tell her how to make and use the snares. It was the promise of having someone else do some of the tedious work, Jill thinks, that must have made him give in.

Things were looking up, and while Jill did begin to form tentative friendships with quite a few of the other survivors at the camp, and while she felt so much relief from finally being in this little safe haven with her family once more, it didn't take long for her to grow restless and feel the need to do something more.

It was that feeling that led Jill to fight with Shane over going on a run for supplies. "No, Jill, absolutely not," Shane said vehemently. "We just got'cha back, why the hell would I let you go out into dangerous territory again?"

Jill raised her brows, unimpressed. "Let me? Really, Shane? I'm a big girl, I'm not asking for your permission, I'm asking you for advice on what I should grab and letting you know where I plan to go."

"And you think this is gonna go over well with Lori?" he snorted.

Jill looked away, glancing in the direction of the quarry where she knew Lori and some of the other ladies were doing laundry. "I'm not a kid anymore, I don't need to be coddled and Lori... well, she'll remember that eventually."

Shane sighed, rubbing a hand over his mouth. "I know you ain't a kid, haven't been in a long time. It ain't about that. But what you need to understand is that we just got you back, and we don't want to lose you again. Even without that, you know we have the rule– no one goes along, we move in pairs. Safer that way."

"I was out there on my own from practically the beginning of all this; I know how to handle myself," Jill said determinedly, meeting his gaze head on. "And you know just as well as I do that while the Dixons are incredible with the amount of meat they're bringing in, we still need more than that. We need canned vegetables, general food supplies, vitamins, hygiene products and medical supplies, weapons and washing supplies, hell, even extra socks–"

Shaking his head, Shane interrupted her, "God, Rick would ki–"

"Don't," Jill bit out, nails digging into the palms of her hands as they curled into fists at her sides. "Don't bring my brother into this. He's dead. You told me he's dead."

Shane held his hands up in surrender and backed away, "Y'know what, fine! If your doin' this your stayin' the hell outta Atlanta an' you're takin' a partner," he paused, and just as Jill began to grin at her victory, he continued, "And it's your ass on the line here. I'm not the one telling Lori or Carl."

Jill let out a breath, the tightness that had been building in her chest easing as Shane didn't push the topic.

"Shane, wait! I don't want to tell her alone!" Jill called, following after him.