Unexpected Hospitality

She's backed against the wall so I tried to change tactics a little, "Okay, why don't you come out of the corner and we see about working this out?" My voice came out a much softer than I intended; what the fuck?

She nodded, taking a small tentative step away from the wall. She looked me over and while I could see the fear in her eyes I also saw strength, she may be little and scared but I was pretty sure she'd fight if she had too. Her voice was still soft but the tone was more confident, "Who are you and what do you want?"

"I'm not looking for trouble; I just need a safe place for tonight. There's a herd of Walkers not far from here."

She looked at me like I'm crazy, "What the fuck is a Walker?"

I stifled my chuckle, "Nice mouth sunshine. Walker is what we call the dead."

"Oooh, okay that makes more sense" she said. "Who is we?"

She still had her knife pointed in my direction and I still had my crossbow aimed at her but at least we were talking. "I have a group but I was out hunting. What about you?"

She glared at me, "What group? What is your name?" Her voice was back to being gritty and angry, like she was being threatened again.

"I asked you first missy but I'm feeling generous today. I'm Daryl and I'm from a settlement not far from here", the tone of my voice low and about as soothing as I can get.

"You're not a Savior?"

"Fuck no! What about you?" I growled out.

She shook her head, "No the Saviors took my friends. I've been running from them ever since."

I lowered my crossbow a little but still kept an eye on her, "You got a name?"

"Lori" she said as she looked around the shed. "I found this place not long before you got here, I was planning on staying here tonight."

"Well I was planning on the same thing, so I guess ya got a roommate"

She sighed and grumbled out, "Fine, then lower that damn crossbow and help me find a way to lock the door because obviously the latch doesn't lock."

I took a deep breath as I studied her; she sheathed her knife to her hip and waited for me to make a decision. I rolled my eyes and decided I might as well do it, swinging my crossbow onto my back and thoroughly scanned the shed for a way to brace the door.

We found a few two by fours and nailed them across the door bracing it closed. I pointed over to the table saw, "Help me push that in front of the door". Lori walked over to where I've pointed, waiting for me. As I walked over to help her I finally got a good look at her. She was definitely short but she was curvy, honestly most guys would have considered her a little chunky but to me she was perfect. I never liked skinny little stick girls, I've always preferred extra meat on their bones. She had a nice juicy ass and probably the biggest tits I'd ever seen and I hadn't been doing a great job of not staring at them since she stepped out of the corner. I shook my head as I try to clear it because I ain't thought about a woman since the whole world went to shit. I grabbed the sides of the table saw so we could move it and thought, "Cause ya ain't seen a woman this hot since before the world ended, dumbass".

She helped me get the table saw moved and I asked, "Where ya from? You got a Yankee accent girl."

"I was living in Connecticut but I was in Richmond for a work conference when everything just happened."

"You traveled for work?" I asked. She must have had some high paying uppity job. Who was this woman?

"No, it was a yearly conference. I was in the hospitality industry. In fact I usually tried to avoid them but dumb ass me decided to attend it this time. So I got stuck down here not knowing anyone and hundreds of miles away from my family" she grumbles the last part, clearly annoyed at her decision.