Deadland

Chapter 1- Tolerate

My dad walks over and sits next to me. "You know, it would be a lot easier to live here if you would at least make an attempt to tolerate some people here, Adrian." "I tolerate Daryl and Merle." I respond without looking at my dad. I swipe my dagger on the rock roughly again.

"Yeah but you don't like them. You've known Lori your whole life and you still barely make eye contact with her." "I'm sorry, every time I see her, you look like you want to shove your tongue down her throat, and I really don't want to be around someone who makes me think of my dad like that." I bite my tongue to refrain from saying that. 

"I just-" I look at my dad, "Are you here to give me a therapy session or some shit? Or do you actually need something?" My dad groans and stands up. "God, that gang got to your head, didn't it?" And without another word he walks away.

I can't help but feel a little bad for how I speak to my dad-after all, he did give me life. But apologizing is one of the things I will never do, that and get into a relationship. Sex-and-skip is my go-to. After Nick, I haven't trusted any man to be my boyfriend. 

Amy sits next to me, she doesn't say anything, she just washes her laundry. 

I actually slightly like Amy. She's a little vanilla for me but she understands that I'm not very talkative, so she doesn't push for me to talk. 

Amy looks at me for permission to talk to me. I chuckle very slightly. "You can say whatever you want to say, Amy." 

Amy smiles, and inhales. "So," She looks back at her laundry and continues to wash it. "Are you sharpening your dagger because you plan to kill Andrea when she gets back or just for fun?" 

I chuckle. I don't really like anyone in this group but Andrea...everyone knows not to leave me alone in a room with Andrea because I'll kill her. 

"A little bit of both." I smile. 

Maybe I actually like Amy. Other than Alyssa, she's the only person who can manage to get me to smile, even if it's just a slight smile.

Amy giggles, "Well, if you kill her then I'll take your cigarettes out of your backpack and throw them in the fire." I smile barely any wider. "If you do that then I'll kill you just like her." Amy laughs but doesn't respond. 

I never really know how to start conversations, so I take that as the end of our conversation and I go back to sharpening my dagger.  

Alyssa walks over to me and smiles. "I'm ready to go hunting." I smile widely at her smile. Seeing her smile immediately brightens my day since we're surrounded by walking piles of dog shit, oh yeah and walking dead people.

"Okay," I put my dagger in its holster and put the sharpening rock on the ground. "I'll go grab my backpack and my bow-and-arrow." I stand up and walk to my tent. I grab my backpack, unzip it to make sure everything is still in it.

Ammo, extra arrows, mints, extra socks, granola bars, a hairbrush, Burt's Bees Chapstick, deodorant, hand sanitizer, bear spray, winter gloves, winter hat, a water bottle, lighter, cigarettes, Tylenol, Bow string oil/wax, AA batteries, flashlight, hair ties, a walkie-talkie, and a first-aid kit.

I sling my backpack over my shoulders and grab my bow-and-arrow. 

I step outside of the tent and walk over to Alyssa. "You told dad where we were going right? I really don't want him up my ass all night about it." Alyssa nods, "Yeah he knows. He says be back when the sky is orange." I nod slightly. "We probably won't be out that long." I nod in the direction of the entrance to the woods. Alyssa nods and starts walking, I trail behind her. 

Amy's eyes follow us as we walk but she doesn't follow. 

A few minutes go by and we're probably two miles away from camp. We're surrounded by trees, bugs, and birds.