"This thing's heavy" Carl said as he held out Riley's bow
"You just need to work on your upper arm strength" Riley teased with a smile, taking the bow "if my assumption is correct, it weighs about fifty pounds in itself, which makes the drawback much harder" drawing the string back
"You've got muscle" he noted, looking at her exposed arms
"Perks of hunting every now and again before my coma" she replied, easing the string back "and with the occasional douchebag that tried to mess with me"
A smile formed on his lips, shaking his head slightly as she put her bow around her shoulders, causing a small chuckle to emit from her as she flicked his hat up slightly, the two of them walking out of C block. The sun instantly warmed her skin, a small sigh emitting from her nose, her boots thumping against the floor as they made their way toward Rick and Daryl, running a hand through her hair, adjusting her belt.
"How's the baby?" Rick asked, looking at Riley
"Beth's putting her down" Riley answered "she's a little fighter, that one. How're things out here?"
"Walkers are pushing up against the fence" Daryl replied "nothing new"
Her eyebrows furrowed slightly at the sight of something out of place amongst the horde of walkers, causing her to take the bow from her shoulders and notch an arrow into place,
"Do you see what I see?" Riley asked
Rick and Daryl looked over to where she looked, Rick pulling his gun out from his holster, the four of them heading over to the gate to get a better look, it was an African American woman, what looked like a katana across her back, her hand on the chain link fence as she looked at them. Riley watched as her hand shot to her thigh, causing her to follow it with her eyes, seeing a gunshot wound, looking at the walkers on either sides of her. One of them was sniffing around with his nose in the air, causing Riley to draw the arrow back and release it, watching as it went through the links of the fence, the tip of the arrow piercing the head of the walker, causing it to fall dead to the floor.
"Carl, open the gate!" Rick ordered
The kid ran over to the gate as fast as he could, getting it open, allowing the three of them to run out, she was fighting off walkers with her katana, but it seemed to be too much for her, the basket in her hand falling to the floor just as she did. Pulling out her bowie knife from it's sheath, Riley stabbed a walker in the head, one that got too close for comfort, making their way toward the unconscious woman.
"Shit" Riley mumbled, acting fast and killing more walkers
She yanked the arrow out from the walkers head, Rick picking the woman up and throwing her over his shoulder, Daryl grabbing the basket of baby formula, leaving Riley to cover them as they went back inside the safety of the prison gates. Running as fast as they could inside C block,
"Hershel!" Rick called out as he entered first, Hershel hobbling in
"Is she bit?" Hershel asked
"Gunshot" Riley answered
"Carl, get a blanket" Rick ordered
"Beth, water and a towel" Hershel said
"Alright" she replied, going to do as said
"Here?" Carl asked, holding the blanket
"She's not coming into the cell block" Rick replied, laying her down on the blanket
"I wouldn't take the chance" Riley commented
Suddenly, the woman woke up, looking around at her new surroundings,
"Hey, hey" Rick said softly "look at me"
"Who are you?" She asked, her gaze moving to her katana that was on the table
"We're not going to hurt you" he said "unless you try something stupid first, alright? You wanna tell us your name?"
She looked at Rick with a glare, a low sigh emitting from Riley's nose, having a feeling that this wasn't going to go anywhere, causing her to go back inside the cell block to check on Carol, which was something she was going to tell Rick and Daryl when her and Carl went outside. Oscar, Carl and Riley had been walking the tombs again a little while ago, which led to then finding the poor woman inside a room with a walker blocking the door. They brought her back, and Hershel was checking on her before he was called out by Rick, which caused her to finish up his work.
•
"We can tend to that wound for you" Rick said "give you a little food and water, and then send you on your way. But you're gonna have to tell us how you found us and why you were carrying formula"
". . The supplies were dropped by a young Asian guy" she said "with a pretty girl"
"What happened?" He asked "were they attacked?"
"They were taken" she said
"Taken?" Rick asked "by who?"
"By the same son of a bitch who shot me" she replied
"Hey, these are our people" he said, his hand snapping to her wounded leg, earning a small yell from her "you tell us what happened, now!"
"Don't you ever touch me again!" She exclaimed, shoving his hand away
"You're gonna have a much bigger problem then a gunshot wound" he threatened
"Find 'em yourself" she said
"Rick" Riley said,
He turned his head, looking at her from the corner of his eye, causing her to jerk her head slightly to the entrance of the cell block, causing him to let out a frustrated sigh through his nose and stand straight, walking over to the entrance.
"Hey" Riley said to the woman, gaining her attention "don't mind him. He means well, he's just concerned for our people is all, they're family to us. That pretty girl you mentioned, that's his daughter" pointing to Hershel "and the Asian? He's been with us since the start of this" seeing her eyes soften slightly "we need to know where they are so we can get them back" crouching down in front of her "now, you came here for a reason . . one that only you know"
". . . There's a town" she finally said "Woodbury. About seventy five survivors. I think they were taken there"
"A whole town?" Riley asked
"It's run by this guy" she replied "who calls himself the Governor, pretty boy, charming, Jim Jones type"
"He's got muscle?" Rick asked
"Paramilitary wannabes" she answered "they have armed sentries on every wall"
"Do you know a way in?" He asked
"The place is secure from walkers" she said "but we can slip our way through"
"How'd you know how to get here?" Riley asked
". . They mentioned a prison" she replied "said which direction it was in, that it was a straight shot" causing her to nod slightly
"This is Hershel" Riley said, pointing to him "he'll take care of that for you" gesturing to her leg, earning a small nod from her
.
.
"How do you know we can trust her?" Daryl asked
"This is Glenn and Maggie" Rick replied "why are we even debating?"
"We ain't" he replied "I'll go after them"
"This place sounds pretty secure, you can't go alone" Riley said
"I'll go" Oscar said
"Me too" she said said
"I'm in" Daryl said
Walking out of the cell block, they made their way outside, getting a car ready, a small sigh emitting from Riley, leaning back against the hood of the car, running a hand through her hair. The woman, who's name Riley learned was Michonne, was off to the side, not really knowing what to do, causing her to push off the hood of the car just as Daryl walked out of the prison,
"I got the flashbangs and tear gas" Carl said, handing Riley the bag "you never know what you're gonna need"
"Hey" she said "don't you worry about your old man. We'll keep an eye on him" earning a small nod
"Bring them back" he said
"We will" she replied with a nod
Riley tossed the bag in the trunk of the car, slamming it shut, walking around the car and leaning against the back passenger door, crossing her arms over her chest, Rick was the one who would be driving, Michonne in the passenger seat so she could give him proper directions, which left Oscar, Daryl and Riley to be in the back seat, and she had a feeling she was going to be forced is the middle seat. Rick was talking to Carl, knowing that they wouldn't be leaving soon, Daryl walking over to Riley, leaning back against the door next to me, gently nudging her shoulder with his, a smirk forming on her lips as she lightly returned the gesture.
"Let's head out" Rick said, walking in our direction
~
Rolling my eyes slightly, Riley scooted closer to Daryl, secretly thankful that their weapons were in the trunk to provide at least a little more room, Oscar being the one who took up more space than Daryl and Riley because of his bigger stature. It was expected to have a little room, and Riley also expected it to be a tight squeeze when they get Glenn and Maggie back, and who the hell knows how that's gonna go, Rick would probably make then lap it. Letting out a small sigh through her nose, Daryl adjusted his position to where she would have a little more room, but she knew he didn't mind her being close to him, even if he was uncomfortable with PDA. Whenever they were in their cell at night, he would just hold her, nothing needed to be said between them in those moments, especially since she wakes up a few times at night sometimes and he's still sound asleep.
Before the start, when Riley would wake up in the middle of the night on those days, she would always silently make her way to Daryl's room, all the while ignoring the light moans and groans coming from Merle's room. When she crawled into bed with Daryl, he would wake up and wrap his arm around her, sure it would take her a little while to fall back to sleep, but she did eventually, and got up to go to work the next day. Riley could feel Rick glance at then through the rearview mirror every now and then, but Daryl and Riley didn't pay any mind to it, keeping their laced hands out of sight, a small sigh emitting from her as she slightly leaned against Daryl.
"Stop the car" Michonne said "they have patrols, we're better off on foot"
Rick did as said, parking the car and shutting it off, causing Riley to mentally sigh in relief as we all got out. Daryl handed over her bow and quiver, causing her to put said quiver around her shoulders, making sure the arrows wouldn't fall out, doing a test draw on her bow to make sure everything was in order. She grabbed her knife from the sheath strapped to her right thigh, quickly giving it a quick sharpen before putting it pack, tucking a gun in the back of her pants, the others making sure that everything was fine as well.
"How far?" Rick asked "night's coming"
"It's a mile" Michonne replied "maybe two"
He gave her a small nod, the lot of them starting to walk in the direction of Woodbury, Daryl and Riley staying close as always, not just because of the fact that he wants her to stay within arms length or less, but since they were together, he didn't want anything to happen to her, if it were to happen. A small smile formed on her lips when Daryl lightly nudged her shoulder with his, causing her to return the favor, playfully rolling her eyes, continuing to walk alongside him. Taking an arrow from her quiver, she notched into place on her bow, aiming it at the floor bit not drawing it back just yet, because there wasn't a threat, a slow breath emitting from her, mentally getting herself ready for what's to come.