The Fear (The Walking Dead / Daryl Dixon)

Chapter 71 - Have A Beer

Kat and Daryl went back downstairs after a while, taking their dinner and deciding to eat it out on the deck, but not before Daryl threw a 'how dare you' look to Carol for her part in the plot against him. His new pants were much like the old and the shirt was just a button up black they'd even gone to the trouble of ripping the sleeves off for him. The trouble with his shirts was that more often than not the sleeves had to come off because they were too tight down his arm. He also thought they were restricting when lifting a crossbow up and down all of the time. He seemed to run hot as well and if he had ever felt the cold, he was yet to show it.

They finished off their food and Kat had taken the plates back inside while Daryl lit up a cigarette. She pushed herself up on the railing beside him and decided 'why not?' and took the smoke off him to have a drag herself. He gave her a curious look, but said nothing as she handed it back to him. She'd smoked before, once or twice in her rebellious years and of course in college, but had never made a habit out of it. But with the crap they'd been through she really couldn't give a damn and decided she'd earned that at least. It used to be a good stress relief back in the day.

As she was passing the cigarette back, Rick came outside. She was sat up on the railing and Daryl was leant against the post next to her, one hand resting beside her as he was slightly turning in to face her. Rick was dressed head to foot in the uniform of a cop. Jacket, shoes, shirt and even a tie.

"We good?" He asked Daryl, thinking on earlier that day.

"Yeah." He nodded. "You a cop again?" He asked as Carol opened a side door and came out to join them.

"I'm trying it on for size." He said with a sigh, looking down at himself. "How was the medical bay?" Rick asked Kat.

She nodded. "Good. They're well stocked and Pete seems to know his stuff, although I'm not too sure about the guy himself. Denise is nice though. I'm just doing it for a week or so to learn the ins and outs." She added quickly. "I'll be their on call doctor, I guess." She said with a joking smile. "Deanna's putting me in charge of livestock."

"Yeah. I heard." He nodded.

"So we're staying?" Carol asked.

"I think we can start sleeping in our own homes." Rick nodded. "Settle in."

"We get comfortable here, we let our guard down. This place is gonna make us weak." Carol answered.

"Carl said that, but it's not gonna happen. We won't get weak." Rick said as he walked to the balcony's edge. "That's not in us anymore. We'll make it work. And if they can't make it." He turned around, looking over each of his three friends. "Then we'll just take this place." He said. He chose to say it to them for a reason. The others; Michonne, Glenn, Maggie. It wouldn't have sat well with them and Sasha was too unpredictable at the moment. Carol, she understood. Daryl, he would do what had to be done for the group. Kat, she did care, so long as they were okay. She trusted Rick. If he said shoot, she'd shoot. Whatever Daryl chose, she'd back him. If she thought Maggie might be in danger... so help those she perceived as a threat.

They chose to sleep in the same house that night, but they'd divide up the next day. That, however, didn't stop Kat from throwing her bags in a large double room on the ground floor. It wasn't as large as the one upstairs, but it was near to the staircase and in turn the front door. She wanted to be near the door so they could hear it open and close. The bathroom was small, but enough and the bed was a queen. There were no other rooms either side of it, it was tucked near to the kitchen and across from the laundry. There were a few more rooms further back down the hallway, but this one felt secluded enough to be private without worrying about the thinness of walls. Her and Daryl were usually some of the first ones awake, Daryl being the first most days, so they didn't need to worry about people making noise in the kitchen. There was a kids room upstairs with a single bed that Rick said Luke should have if he didn't mind sharing with Judith. It was next to the room he was taking with Carl. The kids should be upstairs, that was agreed upon and they all should be in the same house close by one another. Michonne took the room on the other side of Luke and next to her was the main upstairs bathroom with Rick's room also having an en-suite only he got a bathtub. Carol was down the hallway up the back from Daryl and Kat near the bathroom on the bottom floor and Sasha was in the room next to her.