I Need You

Strangers

Beth

"We need to get the hell out of here." Noah declares.

"Now hold the hell up. How do we know for sure we are being watched? You sure it wasn't Eugene pulling a peeping tom?" Abraham asks Daryl.

Daryl tenses up. "The hell ya tryin' to say?"

"We all know you two go out there to bump uglies. Eugene likes to watch. Hell. He does it with Rosita and I all the time."

Daryl takes a step toward Abraham seething. Rick grabs Daryl's left arm to hold him back. I am on Daryl's right and softly say his name only loud enough for Rick to hear. Rick gathered all of us in the living room to let Daryl and I break the news of our unwanted visitor. I watch the angel wings on his back relax and he takes a step back from Abraham who never flinched at the oncoming attack.

To my surprise, Eugene speaks up, "That is a negative. Carol, Michonne, and Tara can vouch for my presence remaining here on the premises from sunup to sundown. Furthermore, I have yet to observe any physical affection between Mr. Dixon and Miss Greene and I am uncertain whether our hypothesis about them is in fact true."

I roll my eyes. "Not that it is anyone's business but Daryl and I just hunt and train with my bow when we are out there. We have lost sight of the bigger picture here. I know what we saw. Someone has been watching us." It seems to shut Abraham up for the moment.

"Which is why we need to decide how to handle this." Rick states matter-of-factly.

"Dad, I don't want to go. We could stay and fight if they attack. We could be walking into a trap if we leave." Carl says holding Judith in his arms.

Noah counters. "This place could be the trap. The officers at Grady had several surrounding the city. We are sitting ducks here."

At the mention of Grady, my eyes immediately look to Daryl. He is looking right back at me. We had been a victim to one of those traps. We both are thinking it. Noah's right. This place seems too good to be true. But unlike the funeral home, there was dust all over this cabin. It wasn't as well kept as the funeral home, which makes me think we are safe here. But then again, what do I know?

Rick mulls over everything and finally speaks, "We weren't planning on staying very much longer here anyway. Everyone pack up. We're leaving."

We travel all night and majority of the next morning trying to put as much distance as we can between us and whoever was watching us. About noon the weather changes and starts raining like a cow peeing on a flat rock. The visibility sucks and we reluctantly park the cars and find shelter in an old barn. The storm rages outside but inside we set up a fire. WIth all of us gathered together, Rick starts telling us a story about his grandpa who fought in the war. We all listen to the morbid tale. A chill runs down my spine as the thunder cracks outside. I know what he trying to say when he says, "We tell ourselves that we are the walking dead." But I don't like it.

Apparently Daryl doesn't either because he speaks up. "We ain't them."

Rick tries to recover and assure Daryl that isn't what he was saying but Daryl just looks at Rick again and repeats himself. "We ain't them."

Daryl wanders away from the fire. I decide to follow him and check on him. It's rare he disagrees with Rick. I walk to the front of the barn where Daryl is. I see a flash of lightning in the cracks of the barn along with another booming thunder clap. "You okay?"

He just looks at me for a millisecond then back down. He shakes his head.

I try to step into his space a little hoping my presence will be comforting to him. "I don't think he meant it like that. It's just his way of coping."