I Need You

Evergreene

He turned his back to me and gazed at the selection of crossbows for a minute. "Here." He picked up one of the more compact crossbows and handed it to me. "Try this one."

I instantly held it up, aiming it at the first thing my eyes landed on, a lantern on the end of one the aisles to my right. I pulled the trigger, I cocked it back as though I was reloading, attempting to test the resistance and get a good feel of the weapon. Normally I struggled to manually reload Daryl's crossbow, having to use the built-in crank. But this one I was able to knock it back by hand. I could feel Daryl's eyes on me as I examined the weapon. "How do you like it?" He inquired.

"It feels good. It's lighter and smaller than yours. I think it fits me well."

"That's the idea." I ignore his sarcasm and continue to play with my new toy. "Want to try another?"

"No, I like this one." I give him a smile and strap it to my back. His lips twitch upward and then he slowly looks me up and down. My stomach flutters under his intense stare. The look on his face, I can't help but wonder... Is he checking me out? I feel my face flush at the thought. He clears his throat and adverts his eyes to the floor below. "C'mon let's get us some bolts." His attention turns to the shelf, kneeling down to find what we need. Suddenly I feel silly, Guess not.

I was about to sit on the floor next to him when I spotted a recurve bow with an intricate design carved into the wood. I picked it up to take in all the details. It was truly beautiful. "Daryl..."

"Mm." He hummed as he stood dumping a ton of bolts in our cart.

"Do you know how to shoot one of these?" I ask still not looking at him.

"Yeah."

"Would you teach me?"

He huffed causing me to look at him. "They're a pain in the ass. More difficult and very different from a crossbow."

"I know. I still want to learn. I kinda always wanted to be Katniss Everdeen." I admitted with a little laugh.

"Who?" His brows furrowed.

"Katniss Everdeen." I search his face for any recognition... nothing. "The archeress from District 12..." I try again. Still. Nothing. "The Hunger Games?" The blank expression on his face told me he had no clue what I was talking about. "Forget it. Will you teach me or not?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'll teach ya." He said. I placed the recurve bow in the cart along with arrows and a leather sheath. "Let's go Evergreene."

"Everdeen." I corrected.

"Yeah... well I like Evergreene better." He smiled at me as we went to retrieve the items we originally passed up.

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The others found a small local library for us to take shelter in for the night. It wasn't anything fancy. Just a plain storefront in a strip mall located at the edge of town. An old dilapidated sign hung above it with the word "Library" painted on it in simple script. The sign looked as though it was barely hanging on. One big storm and it would be done for.

The inside was surprisingly bigger than I would have guessed. The size and layout reminded me a lot of the prison library. When you first walked in, all you could see was the front desk and a sea of bookcases. As you ventured further in, the rows of bookcases opened up to unveil a reading/study space, fully furnished with two comfortable lounge chairs and a medium sized table. Tall bookcases framed the area creating a squared "U" shape. From this place, you could see the rest of the library. There was a half bookcase which divided the reading/study nook from the ill placed children's section. Just beyond that, the back wall was dotted with more bookcases and three cubicles with a computer at each station.