message in a bottle --- the police
Everybody was awake except for JJ, the queen of sleeping in.
"Hey, Maggie," Rick walked up the porch stairs, "have you seen JJ?"
"Yeah." She sassed, "still hogging half of my bed."
"Mind if I go wake her up?"
Maggie motioned, "be my guest."
"JJ." Rick loudly said, opening the door to Maggie's room. JJ didn't move. He shook his head, saying to himself, "you're still as bad as you were in high school." She stayed sprawled out in the middle of the bed, laying on her stomach with her face pressed against the pillow, drooling everywhere. "JJ, wake up." He smacked the extra pillow against her.
"What the hell, Rick?" She propped herself up on her elbows, her hair going every which way.
"Get up. We're going shooting. Making sure everyone knows how to properly handle a gun."
"I already know how to handle a gun. You used to make me go to the range with you and Shane all the time."
"It's been at least 5 years since we last went. So, get up and come on." He told her, beginning to walk off, "might wanna wipe the drool of your face, though. You might scare Carl."
JJ groaned, throwing the extra pillow at her brother as he shut the door behind him.
♮♮♮
[JJ]
"Look who finally got up." Maggie announced from one of the rocking chairs as I walked out of the farmhouse. "I forgot how bad it was to share a bed with you."
"Shut up." I sassed, "but seriously, I can sleep out here tonight."
"Nah, it's fine. Reminded me of when we used to go down to Fort Lauderdale for spring break and have to share a one-bed motel room."
I stifled a laugh, "Cheapest we could find."
"But unless you want to sleep out here." She smirked.
I crossed my arms, "why'd you say it like that?"
She gave me a 'seriously?' look, "the other night? When you said that school-girl crushes help take your mind off things."
"I was talking about you and Glenn."
"Right. Let's be real here. The dazed looks, the banter...everything that happened yesterday." Was she talking about Daryl? I raised an eyebrow, and when she noticed I wasn't catching on, she huffed, "Shane."
I slowly nodded, "Shane?"
"The tension is clearly there."
"Oh, the tension's there all right." I mumbled.
"So, I'm right? You do like Shane?"
"What is this, second grade?"
"Hey, you're the one who said school-girl crushes are the best distractions."
"For you." I told her, "I'll catch up with you later. Sheriff Tombstone over there is teaching us all about guns today."
Maggie chuckled at my reference, "good luck. Don't let Shane distract you." She winked.
"Don't worry. I won't." I deadpanned, walking over to Rick and the rest of the group. "Hey, look who's up." I ruffled Carl's hair, standing next to him.
"I'm learning to shoot today."
I gave him an impressed look, "That's badass."
"JJ." Lori warned about my language.
"I mean, that's...that's bad butt."
"Now if you're gonna do this, you listen to Shane." Rick told his son.
"Okay, dad."
"All right? You be careful." Rick looked to me, "Would you mind help keeping an eye on him?"
"Sure thing." I nodded.
He looked down at my shoes, "you seriously going shooting in those? Not very practical."
I also admired my boots, "they're more comfortable than you would think. And if you haven't noticed by now, practicality really isn't my thing."
"Trust me, I've noticed. You wore four-inch heels on your first day of eighth grade, and a mini skirt in the winter."
"You know what they say, pain is beauty."
"Not in the apocalypse when survival is the focus."
"Well, I'll survive and rock my red boots." I grinned causing him to roll his eyes.
Shane began to put the stuff into the back of the car. "You coming?" He asked Glenn, who was standing off to the side.
"I gotta help Dale clean the spark plugs on the RV. He said he's gonna teach me mechanics." Man, he sucked at lying. "I should probably go look for him."
Dale was standing right there. "You found me. He's a good learner.
I laughed to myself as I got in the truck next to Carol.
♮♮♮
"Okay, put your thumb right here and hold your arms steady." JJ instructed her nephew. "When you're ready, pull the trigger, but be careful to not let your arms waver."
Carl made a perfect shot, hitting a glass. "D'you see that, Aunt JJ?"
"Yeah." JJ looked impressed, "Soon, you'll be better than your dad."
"Better than you too." Carl kid.
"I don't know about that," JJ joked, "I'm the best there is."
"Mhm." Carl crossed his arms.
"What? You don't believe me?" JJ pretended to be butt-hurt, causing Carl to giggle. "Here, I bet you I'm a better shot than everyone here."
"Not possible. There's no way you're better than Dad or Shane."
"How much you willing to bet?"
Carl thought, "your necklace."
JJ looked down at her red guitar pick threaded on a small gold chain. "Deal." She grabbed Carl's hand, shaking it. JJ then grabbed the gun and shot five bottles in a row at a rapid pace. Carl looked amazed and somewhat defeated, "eh, here," She pulled the chain off, putting it around Carl's neck. "Looks bad-assier on you anyway."
Down the line, Shane was with Andrea. "How's it feeling?"
"I like the weight." She sweetly smiled, changing the subject. "So, you decided not to leave us. Something change your mind?"
After Andrea walked back to her shooting position, Shane looked over at JJ and Carl.
"Something like that." He mumbled.
♮♮♮
[JJ]
I was out at the RV chatting with Carol and Dale when Shane and Andrea pulled up.
"Anything?" Carol questioned.
Shane shook his head, "not today."
"I'm so sorry. We'll cover more ground tomorrow."
Dale noticed Andrea's appearance. How much you wanna bet those two had sex? Won't be getting into that car anytime soon. "What happened out there?" He asked, suspiciously.
"Um, I-" Andrea began, cut off by Shane.
"The place was overrun."
"Yeah."
Carol wrapped her arm around Andrea's shoulder, "let's go get you cleaned up" and they walked off.
I made intense eye contact with Shane before following suit, except when Dale began talking to him, I stopped to hear what they were saying.
"Shane, Shane, I was thinking, you've got that nice new ride of yours, plenty of fuel. More than enough for you to get far from here."
I was surprised. Who knew good ol' Dale had a snappy side to him?
"What, you tellin' me to leave?"
"I know you've been planning to. Maybe now is a good time."
"Is this about Andrea?"
"I'm looking out for the group."
"You think the group would be better off without me, Dale? Why don't you tell that to Rick or Lori? Their boy would be dead if I hadn't put my ass on the line."
"And Otis's." Dale shot. Damn. "You've been vague about that night, about what happened."
"Otis died a hero."
"So you've said."
"A little boy lived because of what went down that night. I think you ought to show some gratitude."
"I wasn't there."
"No, man, you weren't."
"But I was the time that you raised your gun on Rick." What? "You had him in your sights and you held him there. I know what kind of man you are."
"You think I'd shoot Rick?" Shane's voice changed. It got calmer, which was creepy in itself. "That is my best friend. That's the man I love. I love him like he's my brother. And his family? That's my family?"
"I've seen the way you look at JJ. Ever since she got here you've been eyeing her like a hawk." Hold up. Why did he have to bring my name into this? "Just make sure you keep your hands to yourself."
"You think I'd touch JJ? You think that's the kind of man I am?"
It is the kind of man you are.
"That's right."
"Well, maybe we ought to just think that through. Say I'm the kind of man who'd gun down his own best friend and touch his little sister while I'm at it. What'd you think I'd do to some guy I don't even like when he starts throwing accusations my way? What do you think?" There was silence before I saw Dale go back into the RV.
When I turned my head back around, Shane was standing on the other side of me, "What'd you tell the old man? Huh?"
"I- I don't know what you're talking about." I lied.
"You've always been a good liar, JJ." He inched closer, lifting my chin up.
"You're gonna do this here? Out in the open where anyone can see? Not really your style. Thought you preferred touching 15-year-olds behind closed doors."
"You ain't 15 anymore. Technically, us, well, that's legal now. You're an adult, JJ. Welcome to the grown-up world."
"There's nothing stopping me from telling my brother now."
"Aren't you forgetting something?"
I crossed my arms, "not like that matters in this world."
"It'll matter to your brother. It'll matter to Lori. You're already distanced from Carl." By this point I could feel his breath on my face. "Do you really want them knowing you killed a man?"
"It was an accident." I spat.
"JJ, you beat someone over the head with a beer bottle. That's not an accident. You're lucky I came to the rescue. Cause if I hadn't, you'd have been rocking orange instead of red."
I snapped, "The only reason I bashed that scumbag's skull in was because he was gonna do to Maggie what you did to me. I didn't mean for it to go that far, but if it keeps him from ever doing that to anyone else, then by God, maybe I did the world a favor."
"You really think Lori wants that around Carl? Or what about Hershel, hm? You think he's gonna want you around after I tell him?"
"You're not gonna tell him."
"Then you're not gonna tell a soul about what we had...and what we were." Shane tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear, "the black streaks in your hair look good. Makes you look more mature."
"Shane! Rick's looking for you." Daryl came from the other side of the house. Shane shot JJ one last threatening look before walking away.
"The hell was that?"
I crossed my arms and began to march off, "nothing. Don't worry about it."
"Hey." Daryl grabbed my arm, turning me back around to face him. "Look, if he's botherin' you-"
"Why do you care?"
Daryl scoffed, "I don't."
"Good." I snapped, "then leave it the hell alone."
♮♮♮
"Hey, Dale, Rick asked me-" JJ stepped into the RV only to find Andrea sitting at the table, cleaning her gun.
"Dale stepped out. Did you need something?" Andrea asked.
JJ shook her head, "no, uh, I'll just come back later." She went to step out of the RV, "So, what's going on with you and Shane?"
Andrea grinned, "Um, I, I'm not sure yet."
"Just be careful around him. He's not who he says he is."
"I don't understand why people keep insisting that?" She popped her gun down on the table out of frustration. "Shane isn't a bad guy. He said what needed to be said about Carol's daughter.
"I'm not talking about that." JJ shrugged, realizing it was a lost cause, "forget it. Let Dale know Rick needs to talk to him."
"JJ, wait. You and Shane. Is there something going on?"
JJ tensed. "Why would you ask that?"
Andrea crossed her arms, "Just the way he talks about you. Seems like you two were something once."
JJ shook her head, "nope. He doesn't mean anything to me."
a/n: we are not andrea stans here either. she just know how to irk people. and her choice of men is not it. anyway,,, hope you enjoyed :)
until next time,
a + n <3