A few seconds later a whole group of people are looking at me and Daryl. They all introduce themselves.
There are two blonde girls, the younger one's name is Amy but she reminds me of Elle Woods from Legally Blonde. Her older sister's name is Andrea but she gives off Regina George vibes from Mean girls.
There's an older guy with a fishing hat that introduces himself as Dale, Pale hat Dale. And a tall lanky man named Jim. Slim Jim.
There's a short grey haired lady named Carol and her daughter Sophia. I can't really think of any nicknames for the mom, but for some reason Sophia reminds me of the girl that the Oompa Loompas danced along with when she turned into a giant blueberry.
There is a big guy who calls himself T-Dog and an Asian kid who goes by the name of Glenn.
They start asking a bunch of questions all at once and I try to keep my cool. Daryl seems to notice how uncomfortable everyone is making me and tells them to back off.
"Look, don't overwhelm her she's a mute. Now where's Merle?" Daryl asks.
"What the hell is going on-." I hear an all too familiar voice start to say.
I hear his footsteps come closer to we the group and my heart is pounding in my ears. He walks around the group and I see Shane standing there looking around the group. He's wearing a black t-shirt and cargo pants. His stubbled beard has flecks of dirt in it and I can tell he's been working hard and long from the sweat sticking to his arms.
"What did I tell you guys about keeping the noise down? I know we're not in the city but there are still walkers out in these woods." He scolds clearly annoyed.
"Yeah, we know. One killed the deer. By the way, Daryl brought a new mouth to feed." Andrea scoffs with her arms crossed and I already don't like her.
His eyes scan around everyone but stop when he sees me, they immediately become wide and his mouth stops from making a retort towards Regina. His entire demeanor changes from his normal hard-ass self to a man in complete and utter shock. A man who looks vulnerable
"Keres? Is- is...is that you?!" Shane asks in a choked up voice.
"Wait, ya know her?" Daryl asks confused and I look up and see Shane with a relieved yet shocked expression on his face.
"She-...she's um...she's my sister." Shane says as if he doesn't quite know what to call me.
I just stand there not knowing how to respond. So many thoughts are going through my head. Then I hear his voice.
"Daryl we need to talk about Merle-...Keres?" Rick says just as shocked as Shane as he walks over.
I can't believe what I'm seeing. I left Rick in the Hospital, how the hell did he make it all the way here? I ask myself.
He looks much better than the last time I saw him. Clean shaven and well rested. He's wearing the uniform I left for him and has his gun and holster. I'm silently thankful that no one found it before he woke up.
Shane strolls up to me and brings me in a big bear hug and just holds me there. I can smell a woman's perfume on him, I recognize it as Lori's...Rick's wife...
I can feel his hot tears staining the back of my shirt as he just holds me there tight, as if he's afraid that if lets go, even for a second, that he'll lose me forever.
It hits me just how dire the situation really is. It's not just our city that's plagued with the walkers...it's everywhere. People are probably dying at an insanely high rate and most of them aren't prepared or know how to survive.
"They said you- they said you were dead." He says in a choked up voice and finally lets go of me then gives me a kiss on the forehead.
Rick comes over and brings me into a hug as well, holding my head against his chest. He lets go after a few seconds and just stares in my eyes. It's as if he's searching for the right words to say but can't get himself to say them.
"I'm glad you're alright Keres." He says with a genuine smile.
"Shane you never told me you had a sister that was a Mute." I hear Lori joke.
She knows who I am and knows that I'm not mute. Shane looks at me and then back at her with a confused expression.
"Mute?" He asks confused.
"Yeah, Daryl was just telling us-." The older man, Pale Hat Dale starts explaining.
"She ain't mute!" Shane snickers.
"Well, she didn't say anythin' the ent-." Daryl starts.
Shane starts chuckling and shakes his head at me. I remember he used to do that when I was little and did something I wasn't supposed to.
"Oh Keres, still the same I see. Playing tricks on people who try to help you, just so that they'll leave you alone... really? Sorry bud, but the gig is up." Shane says with a smirk.
"Wait, yer tellin' me that this entire time-damn that's dedication. And can someone get me a shirt? Now, where's Merle?" Daryl asks impatiently.
"About that, something happened in Atlanta."Rick starts saying while Carol goes and gets Daryl a shirt.
"How the fuck did you get to Atlanta from the Hospital?" I ask Rick without even realizing it before it's too late.
"What do you mean?" Rick asks confused.
"Never mind...you were saying." I say shaking my head hoping he continues with his first subject.
"How did you know I was-." Rick starts countering.
"Wait, hold on..." Shane thankfully interrupts.
"Why the hell do you have Daryl's shirt on?!" Shane asks glaring daggers at Daryl.
Now I'm not so thankful that he interrupted. He's always been like this with guys around me. I guess most brother's are, but most brothers aren't hot headed cops too. Most brothers don't know how to dissect you in the most painful way you can imagine, and make it last.
"You've gotta be kidding me...it's not what you think..." I roll my eyes already done with Shane's shit.
"Ok good. Now that we've got that out of the way, where the hell is my brother?!" Daryl interrupts.
"No, not good!" Shane growls shoving Daryl out of the way go get to me.
"Why do you have his shirt on?" He asks me, daring me to make a snarky remark.
"Well, you see, when a man and woman love each other-." I start saying.
"Cut the bullshit, Keres." He huffs.
"Mine got caught on a branch and ripped pretty bad. Daryl didn't want me feeling exposed so he gave me his." I explain in a simple lie and Shane looks between the two of us as if the story adds up.
I hope that I didn't put too much detail into it. A good sign of lying is if someone tries to make the lie too elaborate. I learned that from Shane. Shane nods his head, seeming to accept the answer and then looks over at Rick.
"We'll, you gonna tell him or should I?" Shane asks Rick and Rick sighs.
"I'll do it." Rick says and gets prepared to explain.
I can't help but think that they have to carefully deliver whatever bad thing happened or Daryl with snap. Shane has had to do this with me multiple times. I have some really bad anger issues that's landed me in a lot of trouble multiple times.
Rick finally answers Daryl's question, trying to carefully word it. Apparently long story short, what happened was; Rick handcuffed Merle to a rooftop when he was causing a scene and making too much noise and T-dog accidentally dropped the key down a drain when walkers started swarming. They had no choice but to leave him behind.
After he finishes telling Daryl what happened to his brother Daryl lunges at Rick in a burst of rage. I can't help but chuckle and watch in amusement as I lean against a tree. Daryl's strong no doubt, but he's no match for Shane. Hell, he's probably no match for me. Shane taught me self defense from the time I could walk.
Everyone's attention is on the guys so I take a quick peak under my shirt and bandage only to see that the wound from the arrow is still there. I can feel it now that my head is clearer.
Just as I knew would happen, Shane grabs Daryl in a chokehold trying to get him to calm down. It's a dangerous, but effective way to subdue the attacker without weapons getting involved. It was one of the first moves that Shane taught me.
Rick goes over tries to help and it seems to work. Once Daryl finally calms down, Rick tells Shane to let him go. Daryl's clearly still pissed but seems to be willing to listen to what Rick has to say.
Rick explains that he's going to head back to get Merle and that Glenn should come with. T-Dog says that he's going too, that he feels bad for leaving him up there like that even thought Merle was racist towards him.
"So your risking 4 lives for one douchebag's?!" Shane asks in a 'just how dumb are you?' way.
"Hey! Choose your words carefully." Daryl growls at Shane.
"No I did. douchebag is what I meant." Shane replies with certainty. Same old Shane. I think to myself.
Lori tells Rick that she doesn't want him to leave but it's clear his mind is made up. If there's one thing I know about Rick it's that there's almost nothing that can change his mind once it's been made up. Especially if it's about doing his duty; protecting and serving people.
"I'll go with them!" I all too eagerly volunteer, not wanting to be stuck at camp being crowded by people and asked a billion questions by Shane.
"Like hell you are!" Shane mocks as he turns to me.
"Shane's right Keres, with your injury and all, you'd just slow us down." Daryl huffs trying not to hurt my feelings.
"What injury?! What the hell did you do to my sister you son of a bitch!" Shane yells as he lunges at Daryl but Rick gets between them and calms Shane back down.
I'm not the only one in our family who has anger issues, and Rick knows it.
"Come on Keres, how about we go in the RV then you can show us. We should make sure it's being taken care of properly." Rick says in a calm steady voice, careful not to set off Shane more and trying to get me to be agreeable.
"Fine." I huff and Rick gives me a small warm smile of encouragement and leads me to the trailer.
Rick, Shane, and I head inside the trailer. I sit down on the couch as Rick gets a wet cloth ready. I look around and I see a nice little kitchen and couch, there's door that leads to a small bathroom and a sliding door that leads to what I expect to be the bedroom.
Shane's just looking expectantly at me and I look at him confused.
"How the hell did you survive all this time?" He ask and I shrug.
"Remembered what you taught me I guess." I say and he smirks and nods with approval.
That wasn't a lie, it's the truth. Shane has alway protective of me and wanted to keep me safe, make sure I could handle myself. He didn't want me to be weak like the other people he knew. I remember how he told me never be afraid to stand my ground.
My attention is snapped back to reality when Rick walks over.
"Um, I'm gonna need you to take off your shirt." Rick stated politely and I nod my head.
I take off Daryl's shirt and am left in my sports bra. It wasn't the first time that they had seen the scars on my back but there were a few that weren't even a half a year old yet. I always told them that they are from falling out of trees and scraping my back on the bark. They never questioned it since I was an adventurous kid growing up.
"May I?" Rick asks as he slowly comes closer to inspect the wound, he gets on his haunches in front of me and looks into my eyes, waiting for a response.
I roll my eyes and see Shane out of the corner of my eye with a serious look on his face. I huff and nod.
"Alright, tell me if it hurts, ok?!" Rick says.
He slowly unravels the bandage and carefully presses the surrounding area of the wound. He stops for a moment and then looks at Shane.
"What is it Rick?!" Shane asks in a nervous voice.
"Shane can you give me a minute with her?" Rick calmly asks.
"Why? What's wrong?!" Shane starts asking, almost panicking.
"Nothing's wrong I just think she'd be more comfortable if she wasn't crowded right now. Especially by her brother..." Rick tries to explain in his polite manner.
"Rick just tell me-." Shane almost yells.
"Shane, I don't think she wants to undress in front of you!" Rick says through clenched teeth.
"Why would she have to undress?" Shane asks.
"Look, the wound is covered by her bra strap alright, and I want to make sure that when the pressure lifts it won't start bleeding again." Rick finally says after a long pause.
"Uh, ya, I'll uh...be outside..." Shane says and then turna around and stumbles out of the RV.
"Like a fucking schoolboy when a bra strap slips out of the comfort of a shirt." I scoff and Rick just rolls his eyes and shakes his head in a joking manner.
"Look, if I could have a woman do this I would, but none of them here are experienced with serious injuries like this." Rick explains and looks at me intently, waiting for my answer.
"It's fine..." I say as he gets me a towel to wrap around my torso.
He gets some scissors and cuts the bra strap and the sides of the bra. He calmly turns around after the last snip and I cover up.
"All clear schoolboy." I joke and he rolls his eyes as he turns around to face me.
He walks back over and gets the gauze off the wound and looks at the damage. His brows furrow in confusion. It's not bleeding anymore which is good but he still looks confused.
"What the hell happened?" Rick asks as he looks at the wound closer.
"Arrow." I say nonchalantly.
"An arrow? The only way that wound is from an arrow is if it somehow didn't go all the way through and then someone..." He starts saying but then looks up at me.
His lips are inches apart from mine. I can feel his hot breath tickling the skin on my face. He looks me in the eyes, almost as if he's searching for an answer in them. His gaze goes from my eyes down my nose and to my lips for a quick second and then he suddenly clears his throat and takes a step back.
"Uhm...the only way is if you yanked it out yourself. And I'm guessing this was Daryl's arrow and I saw him pull one out of the deer, they're nasty buggers to yank out. How did you not pass out from the pain?" He asks me looking perplexed.
"Well, actually I just pushed it through." I correct him and he nods his head.
I can tell that's what he meant to say but his mind mixed up the wording. Which is odd because he's usually a very well spoken person.
"How did you know I was in the hospital?" He asks me as he leans over and supports himself on the back of the sofa.
I don't say anything, just staring up at him as he studies my face, as if the answer will appear on my forehead. He sighs when I continue to be quiet but doesn't move from his position over me.
"See, I woke up in the hospital and there was a can of beans and a water bottle on the desk beside my bed, along with my uniform and gun. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that now would you?" He asks in a suspicious tone and I just blink as he stares down at me with an intense look in his eye.