I ran a shaky hand down my face, as I exhaled the large breath I was holding. Phillip Blake, of course it had to be him, it couldn't have been some random person who probably already died and that I didn't know. Unfortunately for myself, the luck I seemed to be dealt was a son of a bitch that enjoyed making my life a complete hell hole.
"Are ye gonna tell the others?" Hearing Daryl's voice brought me out of my thoughts. Tilting my head in his direction I studied his face for a few seconds before shaking my head.
"I don't think so." As I told him, I pushed the stacks of paper together cleaning up the floor a bit. "They need normal, and I can't give them that. I'd rather keep it a secret and just carry on like nothing happened. I don't want to be the reason we have to leave again."
He just gave an understanding nod and placed his hand gently on my thigh. We had it good here, I mean I haven't seen much of the place but from the conversations Daryl and I had, it seemed pretty secure. He told me a barbed wire fence, encased the yard and it was strong enough to hold back several walkers at a time. There was plenty of things to hunt, and he said there was a small lake on the property were we could fish if we couldn't shoot any bigger game. Overall this was better than the prison and I didn't want to be the reason we lost this place.
"Guys you awake?" Not even pulling away from each other we both looked over at Glenn poking his head up cautiously through the hole in the floor.
"Yep." I smiled and watched his head come up the rest of the way. A small grin tugging at his lips as if he had something to say, and knowing Glenn he was going to say it no matter what.
"What ye looking at?" Daryl huffed as we watched the smile grow bigger on Glenn's face.
"Nothing." He smirked shaking his head quickly. "Merle was betting you two would be up here having sex. But clearly you two are being nerds and just reading." He all but laughed, which cause both Mine and Daryl's smile to fall.
"Glad you find that amusing." I rolled my eyes. Not to mention I was getting sick of people calling me a nerd. First Daryl, now Glenn, who's going to be next Carl?
"What ye want?" Shaking my head I got out of my thoughts just long enough to hear Daryl ask the most important question.
Glenn's fingers lightly drummed against the wooden floor as he gazed at the both of us. He seemed to be thinking to himself which was only making Daryl more irritated. He was never one to wait for an answer. After a few moments though, he finally decided to talk.
"Merle wants you to go hunting with him." Glenn addressed Daryl, and ignored the fact I was still in the room.
"Tell em' I'll be right there." He said and Glenn gave a nod, before starting his way down the ladder again. But before he left completely, I wanted to know if there was anything I could do.
"Glenn!" I shouted, causing his head to pop up again, but this time I could only see his eyes and the top of his cap. "Is there anything I can help with?" I asked, hoping there was so stupid medial task I could do.
"No." He shook his head as he spoke. Great... "You look like crap, so you could go back to sleep." He smiled evilly at me. Causing me to reach out and grab the nearest pillow and chuck it at his head.
Luckily for him it missed and bounced off the wall. As he descended down the ladder I heard his laughter echo off the walls, making me glare at the empty space Glenn used to occupy.
"He's right Had." Daryl grinned, knowing he was pushing his luck with me. "But I have to go see Merle, see ye later." Leaning over to me he pushed his lips against mine before he pulled away and all but sprinted out of my sight.
Once he was gone I jumped down onto the bed again. My head resting on the pillow as I stared out the window. I saw Daryl and Merle heading out into the woods. Daryl with his crossbow strapped to his back and Merle holding a larger compound bow. Frankly with the two Dixons around I doubt that the group will be going hungry anytime soon.
There figures slowly disappeared into the tree line, making me shift my focus on everything else going on outside. Carol was hanging up laundry, and Rick was walking the perimeter. Knowing him he'd be doing that all day.
Sighing to myself I knew that I wasn't going to be able to get anymore sleep so I decided to get up and maybe pester someone into find me something to do. After all, there was always something to do.
After making my way down to the first floor, I wandered around, noticing everyone was basically outside. So that's where I headed.
Pushing open the screen door, I immediately felt a heat wave hit my body. Sweat rose to the skin of my forehead as the sun blistered down onto me. Groaning to myself, I stepped out onto the porch. Despite it being the beginning of April, today was extremely out of the ordinary weather wise.
Jumping down onto the dirt ground I let my feet carry me over to where Carol was. She was humming to herself just like most times she did laundry. It was actually quite soothing.
"Need any help Carol?"I smiled as I watched her turn around, my pair of black jeans in her hands. As she was about ready to hang them up on the clothes line.
"Nope." She chuckled and turned back around to her work. "I have it covered, but if you could watch the kids for a bit, it would be extremely helpful." I placed my hands in my pockets as I watched her pin the jeans up and move on to the next article of clothing.
Kids? I barely even knew the kids. I barely spoke to them since I've been in this group. Well, I talked to Carl once but I scared him off with my comment. But since it was probably the only thing I was going to be able to do, I decided to give it a go.
"Sure, where are they?" I asked, looking around the yard. Thinking they had to be out here somewhere.
"Getting stuff to head down to the lake." Just as she said that I heard the screen porch door slam open and the distinct sound of feet running down the wooden stairs.
Spinning on my heels I saw Carl and Sophia sprinting straight for us. Excited smiles painted across their small faces. The towels that they had in their hands flying in the summer like air.
"We're ready!" Sophia stated happily.
"Kids, Hadley is taking you down today. So please behave." Carol told the kids and despite the changes of plans they seemed more then willing for me to tag along.
"No problem! C'mon Hadley." With that Carl gripped onto my wrist and started pulling me in the direction of the lake.
I waved to Carol over my shoulder before the kids had us completely out of sight from the rest of the group. Mentally I scolded myself for not bringing my bow with me, but I did have my knife in my pants pocket. Even though it seemed like we were safe, you could never be to careful. Especially now that I had two kids to look after.
"Hadley are you and Daryl married?" I almost choked on my own spit when I heard Sophia ask me that.
My feet mindlessly carried me down the dirt path, that was overgrown with tall grass and other various plant life. I was still trying to process Sophia's question frankly. Daryl and me married? If I wasn't suppose to be the adult in this situation I probably would have laughed. That just seemed so strange.
"No, we are not married." I plainly stated. "Why? You interested?" I winked and gently ruffled her hair a bit.
Just seeing her cheeks slowly turn a bright red color, I knew she had a crush on Daryl. It was actually pretty cute.
"What? No that's gross." She chuckled awkwardly before taking off down the path to catch up with Carl.
"Stay close." I told them as we entered a small clearing. The glistening water immediately drawing my eyes in.
The kids laugher filled the air as they rushed towards the water. As soon as they hit the edge, the water splashed up around them. Watching as they played around, I made my way over to a rock that was at the edge. I sat down against the rough surface and kept on high alert.
My ears and eyes were focusing in on every direction, knowing that the kids loud noises could very well attract the attention of nearby walkers. But I didn't want to yell at them, they were just kids trying to have fun. They deserved a few moments to be normal children, and if anything attacked us I'm sure I could get the kids out of here safely. It's not like I haven't killed a few walkers before.
As I sat there my mind drifted in and out of thought. Enjoying the sun that was beating down and warming my skin. By the time i finally pulled myself out of my thoughts completely, I didn't know how long we have been out here but the sun was now lower in the sky.
Running a hand through my hair, I turned my attention to the kids. They quieted down, and were now on the shore line playing in the sandy soil. Making some sort of castle I assumed. A smile tugged at my lips seeing Carl and Sophia together, they were cute and I had a sneaking feeling that Carl had a small crush on her.
But just as I was ready to look away, I saw the trees behind the kids start rustling. My eye instantly narrowing, waiting for something to come barreling out. The kids were unaware, and I didn't want to scare them by yelling at them to get away. Instead I slowly and carefully got to my feet, my hand sliding down my side gripping onto the handle of my knife. Letting my fingers wrap around the wooden handle I continued towards the kids.
By the time I was with a couple feet of them the trees were rustling even more, catching the attention of Carl an Sophia. Their eyes went wide and frantically searched for me. Once they landed on my body seeing I was closer then they thought, I pulled a finger up against my lips telling them to stay quiet.
"Get behind me." I whispered and as soon as that left my lips, they were to their feet and running towards me.
"Is it a walker?" Carl asked, but I didn't have time to answer him as two grey, decomposing walkers came staggering out of the tree line. Clothes haggard, faces torn to shreds, but still alive and kicking probably looking for their next meal.
Their vacant, dead eyes snapped towards us as if we were the first living things they've seen in ages. There was fresh blood all over their clothing and covering their mouths. Instantly making me think of Merle and Daryl who were out somewhere in the woods.
But I knew I couldn't think like that. Being irrational at a time like this isn't a good idea, I not only did I have myself to worry about but most importantly I had two kids.
As they made their way towards me, arms out, teeth snapping, I finally pulled my knife out and threw it at the closest one. Watching as it twirled in the air until the tip jammed itself right into the forehead of the walker. It's head flinging back from the force, but quickly recovering.
It's eyes blinked several times, wondering what happened but it soon fell motionless to the ground. Allowing the other walker to continue its way towards us.
"Hadley." Sophia cried out, knowing my weapon was all but gone in the head of the other one. More than ten feet away from where we were.
Using my good hand I corralled the kids behind my back, protecting them with my body. Id rather be the one eaten over them, and if anything happened it give them time to run back to the cabin and get Rick or Andrea. I felt their hands grabbing fist fulls of my shirt, but I kept my eyes fixed on the dead guy walking at us.
"Not today buddy." I smirked, when I watched him trip on a small tree root. With that I took my opportunity to kill it.
Bringing my fist up, I was about ready to beat it into the ground when an arrow shot out from nowhere and speared the walker straight in the side of its head. Dropping it almost instantly.
Heaving a sigh of relief, I turned in the direction the arrow came from seeing Daryl making his way out of the thick wooded area. He had a angry look written across his face, obviously not pleased with me and this situation.
"What the hell Had!" He shouted as he slid his bow onto his back and stormed over to the pile of walkers pulling his arrow and my knife free from their heads.
"I had it under control." I growled. Even though, deep down I was glad he showed up when he did. I didn't feel like having a show down with a walker tonight.
"It really looked like it." He groaned as he wiped the bloody arrow onto his pants, before glaring at me once again. "Ye have kids with ye Had, ye can't just fight it, when ye ain't got no weapon." He scolded.
"I had a weapon Dare." I pointed to the handle of my knife that was now sticking out of his pants pocket.
"Lotta good it does in a walker." He narrowed his eyes at me, but the corner of his lips turned up in a small smile. Only big enough that I could tell. "C'mon lets get back, gonna get dark soon." Daryl motioned to the kids to run a head of us.
They nodded their heads and took off down the short dirt path towards the cabin. We followed closely behind them, just making sure nothing came crawling out of the woods, but once they reached the porch Daryl's arm wrapped around my shoulder. We kept quiet, neither of us mentioning the little incident, really what was the point in bringing it up when it was just an every day occurrence.
"Sophia has a crush on you." I finally said as I smiled up at him, seeing his face contort in confusion.
"Sophia? Why ye say that?" He asked. I was tempted to say what she asked earlier but I decided to keep Daryl out of the loop. It was better that way.
"Just a hunch." I shrugged. "Anyways did you two catch anything?" I asked, wondering if the Dixon brother hunting trip was successful, or if we would have to listen to Merle go on and on about how they didn't get anything.
"Yeah, Merle's cleanin' it." He proudly stated. "Gonna eat well for awhile." I was glad about that, rice and vegetables were getting old.
"Run into any walkers?" I wondered, hoping that the two that we ran into today were just a fluke.
"Couple." He said, as he gazed down at me. Sensing my worried and anxious tone about them being so close to the cabin. "But we were out far, ain't got to worry Had." He gently rubbed my shoulder, trying to make me feel slightly better.
"How far is far Daryl?" Knowing all to well that these two probably traveled all over these woods, searching for some kind of animal they could expertly shoot.
"Far enough, Merle got us some of these." Cocking my eyebrow I looked up at Daryl wondering what the hell he was talking about.
He silently fished through his pocket as we continued at our slow pace towards the cabin. After a few moments he freed a small box and handed it over to me. Of course I took it, not with out a skeptical look to Daryl first. I know Merle is a changed man but old habits die hard and anything he gets us I'd be weary about. Nothing against Merle, it's just Merle he as a one of a kind sense of humor. One where its usually just him laughing.
Gazing down at the small box I think my heart almost stopped reading the bright lettering on the top. But me being me I kept walking in my dazed little stupor.
"C-condoms?" I nervously asked, feeling a knot in the pit of my stomach quickly form.
Don't get me wrong I love Daryl, but I just was just nervous about the whole situation. When I told him I wanted to I didn't think he'd blab to Merle and Merle would run right off to go get some. Frankly I was expecting a couple months of preparation.
"Ye ain't looking excited Had." He frowned, which made my heart sink further.
"I am, believe me." I faked a smile, handing him back the box. "Just a bit surprised Merle got them for us."
Watching him slid them back into his pants pocket as he laughed. Making me wonder what was going on in that head of his.
"Merle likes ye." He stated it like it was plain as day, but I found the statement a tad bit creepy.
"Oh." My brows raised and my eyes darted back and forth unsure of what to say to that.
"Ain't like that Had." Daryl pulled me closer to him. "Ain't let nobody touch ye but me. But Merle he just wants to help." He shrugged casually.
By meddling in our business? Our personal business? Merle needs a hobby.
"Merle needs a girlfriend." I laughed. "Someone to take his attention off of us."
"He's got the clap, ain't no one want him." I just shook my head and we both laughed at that. Of course Merle has some kind of diseases. I'll have to remind myself to look for some antibiotics on the next run.
"Ain't nobody want who?" Merle shouted as he appeared behind us. Blood soaked knife in one hand, a glass of water in his other.
"Your sorry ass." I gently pushed his shoulder. Causing a smirk to slowly form on his sun baked face.
"Honey, everyone wants a piece of Merle." He spread his arms out in the air, trying to show how many could possibly want him.
"If you say so." I winked and ran up the porch steps.
"Hey now." Merle called out, but I just smiled when Daryl's arm wrapped around my waist. "Ye be nice, I got ye that present." This time he graced me with a wink. "And if my baby brother here is anythin' like his big brother Merle ye gonna have a mighty fine time tonight."
Rolling my eyes I just waved him off. Of course you're going to say that.
"Thanks Merle I'll remember to pick you up something nice next time we go out." Reaching for the door handle I felt Daryl's arm tighten around me. "Hope you aren't allergic to penicillin." I mocked, as we stepped inside the house only to hear Merle mumbling to himself about his condition.
Once we were safely inside I gazed up at Daryl seeing a coy grin on his face. Swallowing the growing lump in my throat, I refocused my attention ahead of us.
Maybe tonight was the night. After all. it could very well be our last.
----------------
Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, sorry for it being a filler but I didn't want to leave you with another cliff hanger this week hahaha and most importantly I'm not sure if I should do a rate R chap with Daryl and Hadley. So I'd love your opinion on it, wether you think I should or not! Not to mention did you enjoy Carl Sophia time?? So please comment and let me know I love the feed back ass always!!!!