The Middle of the End

Chapter five

"Seriously gettin' tired of him." Daryl said and told me in detail what Shane could do to himself.

"You're so thoughtful." I said, smiling to myself. With Daryl I was talking more and I saw how it could make Shane angry. But he didn't understand the connection between us, how our shared experiences brought us close.

"There ya are, Callie. I've looked all over the place for you." Shane. He'd snuck up on us. "Still not gonna talk to me? Just this peice of redneck trash. I see how it is."

"He ain't trash, Shane." I stood up and faced my brother. "He's my friend and I want you to leave him alone."

"What if I don't? You gonna hide in a corner and cry?" he egged me on, not expecting me to say anything more. But I was tired of being voiceless, not taken seriously.

"No. I'm done crying. You're jealous. Rick's back, you don't have Lori anymore. Don't deny it, I've seen you two sneak off. I'm not stupid. You're hatin' on Daryl because I chose to talk to him, not you. The fact that I would rather open up to him bothers you, and you know it. Tryin' to force me to talk gets you nowhere. You should know this. And Daryl, he didn't force me to do anythin'. He's patient, and waits. Knows it works." I told him calmly, looking him dead in the eyes. Trying not to blow my cool. "For years you've tried to control me, even as I grew more successful with my business. I know how you work, Shane. You love being in charge. Always have. And if someone threatens that... you take 'em out."

Shane's face had turned a lovely shade of red and his nostrils flared. "You don't know what you're talkin' about."

"I'm pretty sure I do. Like I said, I ain't stupid. Now can you please just go? Before you do something I'm sure you'll regret later on."

"We're discussin' this later." Shane said as he walked back to the camp.

"No, we ain't." I muttered and turned around to see Daryl Smiling at me.

"What?"

"Nothin'. Good job, though. I knew you could do it. Man, he's pis.sed at you." he picked up his crossbow. "You didn't have to defend me."

"I did. Shane has no right to treat you the way he has been. You're my friend. He needs to get over himself." my throat was beginning to hurt but I didn't care; now that I'd stood up to Shane I wanted to continue talking. I felt I could now.

"Rick's the one who left Merle on that rooftop."

"He's not a bad guy. Rick's one of the nicest people I know, even if he is a cop." Daryl led me back to his truck, showing me the squirrels he'd shot. I counted twelve in total and picked up the fattest one. "This one's mine."

"But I wanted that one."

"Too bad, I called it first. So it's mine." I grinned and held it out to him. "Kiddin'. You can have it."

"Nope, it's yers. I have 'leven more." he replied, taking out his knife to prepare them for what he called 'squirrel soup'.

...0.0.

Early the next morning, I snuck out of the RV and looked around. Everyone was still asleep in thier tents; I drank a cup of Daryl's soup, grabbed an apple, and checked to see who was on watch. Andrea was sleeping in the white lawn chair; she wouldn't be able to see what I was about to do and blab to Shane.

Just as I'd hoped, there were several boxes and one was nearly empty. I climbed inside, closed it, and waited. Sneaking into the van headed for Atlanta was easier than I'd thought it would be. I'd be in a lot of trouble when they discovered me and I didn't care. It was better than being stuck at camp doing laundry, or getting a lecture from the almighty Shane.

It didn't take long before they loaded up the vn, and someone jumped in the back.

"Let's go! We ain't got all day!" Daryl yelled, the horn honking loudly. As soon as everyone was ready, the van started and began to drive down the bumpy dirt road to the highway. Glenn and T-Dog were talking about cars while Daryl was threatening Rick. I'd almost blown my cover twice because Daryl was being such a d.ick. I had to wait until we were far enough from the quarry until I made my appearance so they wouldn't take me back. I was doing pretty well, until I felt something crawling up my arm and freaked out.

"Did you see that? I swear I saw that box move." I heard Glenn say, and that's when I sneezed. "Tell me I'm not imagining things!"

"Someone's in there." Daryl snapped and someone had removed the lid. I looked up, Daryl's angry face glaring down at me.

"Hi." I smiled, knowing full well I was in trouble.

"Stop the van. Now." he told Rick, and we pulled over. "What in the hell're you thinkin'?!"

"That I'm tired of doing laundry, of listening to the shit that comes out of Shane's mouth. Other than that I have no reasons why I decided to hide in that box. Stupid, I know. Just don't take me back to the quarry. Please. I'll do whatever you say." I said, looking from him to Rick.

"Since when do you talk, Cal?" Rick asked.

"Yesterday when I told Shane off. Ask him about it, I'm sure he'll have lots to tell you. Anyway, that's beside the pont. Don't make me go back, Rick. Turning back now would be a waste of both time and gas."

"Speaking of time, we should get going." Glenn called from the driver's seat.

"Ok. You can come. But don't leave my side. I mean it, Callie. You hear me?" Daryl hauled himself back in the van and I followed behind him. Glenn drove the rest of the way, and Rick sat in the back with us.

"You know each other, from before. I can tell by the way you interact." Rick observed, and I nodded. "I'll bet you got her to talk, huh? We've been tryin' for years, nothin' really seemed to work."

"He's just special." I patted Daryl's forearm, "No, we know each other from back when Uncle Paul took me. Daryl was the only person I had, who helped me and kept me alive."

"Thanks, Daryl. I'm bettin' you did more for Cal than any of us could imagine." Rick gave Daryl a genuine smile, and received a grunt in response. Daryl wasn't good at receiving compliments of any kind. "If things go smoothly I'll give you a handgun. 'Kay, Cal? You'll need it. Actually you should be armed now, just in case."

"Got a knife? I like 'em better. Not as loud." Shane had taught me to shoot not long after Mom died and we'd kept guns in the house.

"Here." Daryl handed me his hunting knife, fitting its sheath around my waist awkwardly as the van slowed to a stop.

"This is our stop, guys. We walk the rest of the way." Glenn unbuckled his seatbelt and we got out. He'd parked under an overpass just outside of city limits. It really looked dead here, felt it too. No cars, people, sirens... the normal fast pace of a city no longer existed.

Was civilization dead as well?