Chapter 11

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Daryl-

"We'll set up camp here." I said getting out of the truck, and covered the windows in a layer of mud, threw tree branches on it, to make it look like it had been sitting there for awhile. Ruth grabbed the supplies slinging it on her back, fastening the thick blanket to the bottom of her pack. She then fastened the tent to the bottom of mine. I took the extra container of gas, and buried it by the base of a tree, marking it with a pile of leaves.

We had driven several hours away from home, in hopes of finding better game out here. Ruth's mood had picked up again since her fit. We headed into the woods, our bows ready. Ruth held her bow with her left, her arrow in her right, having it steadied and ready to shoot. She stepped very quietly, through the dried leaves, barely a crunch was heard every once in a while. We caught a couple squirrels to eat for the night, our target for this trip was a deer, elk, moose, anything that would give us plenty of meat, until the cows matured.

Ruth had her hood pulled up, her antlers standing high in the air, they weren't the biggest antlers, but I mean if it did the trick, I wouldn't say anything. The sun was positioned to set, so we stopped to set up camp. We found a cluster of trees, that were spaced out a few feet, making an odd circle. Ruth wrapped a thick rope around the tree making a perimeter, while I set up the tent, we started a small fire, and started cooking squirrels. After the squirrels we shared a can of peaches, our least favorite.

The sun settled behind the horizon, and the moon took its place. We put out the fire, and got comfortable in the tent." Night." I said to Ruth, the only thing either of us had said since starting our hunt.

"Goodnight." We wrapped in the thick wool blanket, laying as close as possible to each other. Before I could say anything else, Ruth was asleep. So I closed my eyes letting sleep in.

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Many hours later, the sun started peeking over the horizon, and I jolted awake, as I heard a couple of Walkers growling around the perimeter. I looked back at Ruth, who was laying there staring at the roof of the tent.

"Been out there a few minutes." She said getting up rubbing her eyes." Got it." She climbed out of the fence, and I followed, pulling my knife out also. There was about five of them, we took them out quickly, and packed up camp, after eating a slice of bread with jam.

We kept marching on, for several more miles. Ruth walked ahead of me, her arrow ready for anything. We came to a clearing, both of us staying low, skimming the field." Might be a few rabbits." I said to her, she looked at me, picked up a rock and chucked it out into the field. A large rabbit then hopped up in the air, frightened and quickly ran to hide. Ruth shot before I could, getting the rabbit with her arrow. She stayed low as she went out into the field, to grab the rabbit. She quickly retrieved it, and came back tying a a small rope around the rabbit then tied it to the strap on her pack.

She then settled her eyes on me, and smiled at me lovingly. She came close to me, and grabbed my hand." Let's keep moving." She walked ahead of me, and we continued on for quite a while." Oh yes." She pressed her hand to a nearby tree.

"What?" I looked around.

"This is perfect for climbing." She hopped up to one of the lower branches, swinging her legs up onto the branch, and kept pulling herself up, until she got very close to the top. A few minutes later, she climbed down, jumping from the lowest branch with a thump." There's a stream, a few miles that way." She pointed.

The sun was getting ready to set, as we walked in that direction a few miles, finding a stream, that was about ten feet across. "Let's set up camp here." I said to her. While she got the water ready to boil, I set up the rope perimeter. After the water was done boiling, she poured it in to the empty water bottles, setting them aside to cool down. We skinned and cooked our rabbit, eating it quickly, then shared a can of green beans. Ruth set the rabbit skin on to a nearby rock to dry, it would dry better when the sun rose.

It had now been dark for a few hours, Rue sat close to the fire, marking kills into her arm, I hated watching her do this, but she did, and she didn't even flinch. She just had a wrinkle between her brows, as she concentrated. When she was finished we put out the fire, and got in the tent. Ruth rubbed a streak of mud onto all sides of the tent to, muffle our smell, since we were deeper in the woods. She took off her jacket, setting it to the side, leaving her hoodie on, I just kicked off my boots,and curled up under the wool blanket with her. She rolled over to face me, placing her hand on my chest, I rolled over facing her, placing my hand under her jawline, rubbing my thumb on her cheek. She pushed my hair back exposing my face. She smiled at the sight of me, then she moved her face closer to mine.

She lightly touched my bottom lip with her thumb, still smiling. I moved my hand, bringing my thumb to her chin, then in an instant our lips were touching, a soft and tender kiss. She then pulled away, and looked back and forth at my eyes.

"Good night, Daryl." She smiled and rolled over, her back facing me. I curled up behind her, putting my arm around her, taking in her smell. I loved the way she smelled, it wasn't some fruity perfume, it was just a natural smell. I wasn't sure how to explain the way she smelled, but it was soothing. I relaxed my body, closing my eyes, then fell asleep.

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Hey guys,

I know this chapter is slow, but slow chapters always lead to good things! ;)
Thank you so much for still reading!

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