The Middle of the End

Eleven

"Hey, Lori. Carol. How's Carl doing? Sorry I fell asleep last night."

"Well, Hershel said he'll live." Lori grinned, "He's doin' great. He asked for you this morning, but Hershel said no visitors just yet."

"Good, I was so worried!" I sat next to them on the first step when the squeaky screen door opened.

"Hey. The service for Otis starts in fifteen minutes, next to the two apple trees over there." Maggie pointed out the location and offered us each a peach before heading towards the RV. I had no idea what had happened to Otis, so Lori filled me in. He'd been swarmed, according to Shane.

"Oh, look who it is!" Carol nudged my side. Daryl was on his way over with Alfie. Boy, that kid was fast.

"Wonder what he wants now." I sighed, ignoring Carol's ooh-ing. I knew she thought there was something going on between Daryl and I. "We're just friends."

"That's what I used to say about Rick, remember?" Lori pointed out. "Besides, it's pretty obvious you like him."

"Yeah, but he couldn't possibly like me in that way, so I'm ok with the way things are now." I stood up and excused myself, eating the rest of my peach as I walked to Daryl and Alfie. I picked Alfie up, and Daryl asked how things went last night. I finished telling him just in time; we'd arrived to the site of the memorial service for Otis. Patricia, his wife, held onto a blonde teenaged girl who bore a slight resemblance to Maggie.

"Hi, Bethie!" Alfie waved to the blonde girl. He rested his head on my shoulder as Hershel spoke about the deceased man's character, his acts of kindness and selflessness. And then Patricia asked Shane to say a few words.

"I'm not good at it. Sorry." Shane shook his shaved head. He'd shaved his hair off?! Since when?!

"Please! You were the last one to see him alive. I need to know if his death had meanin'." Patricia started to cry again.

"Ok. I will." Shane let out a shaky sigh, and began telling us what had happened. He grew more confident in what he was saying, a strange look in his eyes. That's when I knew he was hiding something.

Maggie brought out sandwiches, apples, and beef jerky for lunch. She ran back to the house, not wanting to talk. That was understandable. Daryl asked if he could talk to me so I sent Alfie in the house with Lori to check on Carl. I followed Daryl to the chicken coop where no one could hear us, especially Shane, who was busy cleaning guns with Andrea. Everyone else was setting up tents, getting settled into our temporary campsite. I sat crosslegged on the ground, not caring if I got my shorts dirty. They were filthy as it is. All my clothes were.

"So what d'you want to talk about?" I ran a hand through my tangled hair, wishing I'd at least brushed it.

"I've been thinkin' about this for a while. Years. An' after you left with Glenn, I kinda figured I should tell ya." Daryl fidgeted with his knife, looking at everything but me. What was going on?

"Are you ok? You're white as a ghost." I pulled a handful of grass out of the ground and tossed it at him, remembering the late night grass fights we'd have when Will passed out after beating us.

Lori and Carol had been right. I did like Daryl. Loved him, even. I knew from that day at the quarry, after Shane accidentally hit me. This was more than some childish crush.

"Mhm." he grunted, throwing the grass back at me. It landed in my hair. Well then!

"You're on!" I smirked, grabbing two handfuls of the green grass. I ran behind the coop and waited when all of a sudden I felt something going down the back of my shirt.