Heaven and Hell

I woke up early the next morning realizing my mistake of staying overnight. I found my clothes and dressed quickly. I was hoping Carl was still asleep as I left Shane’s tent and walked back to mine. When I opened the tent I let out my breath I was holding as I realized Carl was still fast asleep. That kid can literally sleep through anything.

I began rummaging through the only bag I brought with me that had clothes and grabbed shorts and a tank top. I looked over at Carl once more and he was still asleep so I changed quickly. My legs were still hairless which was good so I slipped on the shorts. Just as I pulled my t-shirt on the tent opened.

“Are you ready to go fishing?” Daryl questioned.

“Don’t you knock?” I asked running my hands down my shirt to make sure I was in fact fully dressed.

“This ain’t a door,” he said. “You do realize that?”

“You could have barked from the outside like you normally do.”

“Well look who’s the comedian now. Fish tend to bite more this early so hurry your slow ass up.”

By this time Carl was starting to stir and I scrunched my face up at Daryl. “Hey kid.” Carl rubbed his eyes and sleepily smiled at me.

“What time is it?” he asked. I looked at my watch and noticed it wasn’t even seven yet.

“Early. Go back to sleep. Daryl and I are going fishing. Stay with Shane or Carol and Sophia all day, okay? I’ll be back in a few hours.”

“I want to come.”

“Next time, boy,” Daryl said. I glared at him and he tried to force a smile to Carl. “The boat isn’t big enough for three people. You can go next time.”

“Okay,” Carl replied. He closed his eyes and I walked out of the tent with Daryl. He shoved a fishing line to me and I snatched it from his hand. I really wanted to eat something quickly so I went to the dining area and saw Dale, Jim and Carol chatting. I grabbed two bananas and tossed one in Daryl’s direction.

“Hey guys, we’re going fishing,” I told them as I peeled my banana. “Do you mind looking out for Carl for a bit?”

“Sure thing,” Carol replied. “Since Daryl found that lake we might do laundry down there too.”

“Great. Thanks.”

Daryl and I started hiking out towards the lake which ended up being a pretty long walk. Daryl and I kept bickering mainly because he thought I walked too slowly. I ended up throwing my banana peel at the back of his head causing him to completely ignore me the entire walk to the lake.

The boat Daryl had found was indeed pretty small. I hoped it would handle our weight. We rowed to the middle of the lake and luckily it held our weight, fishing lines and a small container of worms Daryl dug up. He tried to contain his shocked expression while I hesitantly grabbed a worm and put it on the hook.

For the first half hour we were very unlucky. I spent most of those thirty minutes basking in the sun and be ridiculed by Daryl, of course. After a while I noticed, by squinting my eyes really hard, that some of the camp made their way to the shore of the lake. The women were indeed doing laundry. I noticed Shane and Carl nearby as well.

“Hey, your line is moving,” Daryl pointed out. “Do you even know what to do?”

I snapped out of my daydream and took a good grip on my rod. “Of course I do, moron.” I quickly tried to reel in whatever was caught in my line. I felt Daryl’s stare as I struggled but eventually conquered reeling in the fish. Just as I pulled in the small trout I was going to victoriously wave it in front of Daryl’s face when I turned to see something dangling in front of my face.

Stupidly, I let out a small shriek and realized the worm was ridiculously close to my face and open mouth. “Prick!” Daryl let out an evil chuckle as he stabbed the trout to its death.

“I should have put it in your mouth,” he said. He grabbed some dirt from the container and quickly grabbed my arm before I could even defend myself. He pulled me extremely close to him while he smothered dirt around my face. I tried to break free from his tight grip but he had way more strength then me.

“Okay, I’m sorry,” I said in between laughs and trying to break free. “I’m sorry I threw that banana peel at you.” Daryl finally let me go just in time to notice his line had now caught something. He eventually pulled in a fish a little bigger than the one I caught. After he stabbed it he held it up to me with a look of satisfaction all over his face. “Whatever.” We each put more bait on our hooks and waited around some more.

The time waiting around was so boring and it was very hot today that I decided to jump in the lake. I stood up causing Daryl to grip the side of the boat and glare at me. “I’m going in. You’re such boring company.”

“You go in and you’ll scare away all the fish,” he replied. I shrugged my shoulders as I took off my shirt and shimmied out of my shorts.

“Your loss then,” I replied. I jumped out of the small boat and into the cool lake water. I resurfaced to see Daryl looking down at me shaking his head. “You’re really missing out.” I went under again and came back up just in time to spit water at Daryl.

“You think you’re real cute, don’t ya?”

I laughed at him and back floated away from Daryl. “I kind of wish we could stay here forever. What are the chances of those walkers coming in water?”

“They probably will. You might want to head to an ocean. Doubt they’d survive long in there.”

“Good thinking! Let’s head to the Atlantic then.” I started swimming towards the boat and leaned my arms in. “Let’s go.”

“Just you and me?” he asked.

“Sure. We’ll be Atlanta’s Bonnie and Clyde.” Daryl let out a genuine laugh and he shook his head once again.

“Are you coming in?” I asked. I flicked water at him again which caused him to throw a worm at me. “Fine, ass.” I swam around a little bit more while Daryl caught three more tiny trout. He kept making comments about how he caught more fish than me and that proved I was a shitty fisher all along.

Eventually I got tired of swimming around and with the hesitant help of Daryl; he hoisted me back into the boat. It was the perfect opportunity to knock him in to cool him off but I doubt he would like that very much. I didn’t want to get my clothes wet so I sat there in my undergarments which caused Daryl to completely avoid eye contact with me.

Today was another hot summer day which meant within minutes the awkward silence between the two of us would end soon.

“I think we’re done here,” he finally spoke up after I put my clothes on.

“Five fish to feed 14 people?” I questioned.

“Still have some squirrels back at camp,” he said. I made a face.

“Aren’t you supposed to eat it right away?” I asked. “Hasn’t it gone bad yet?”

“At least two people can eat one fish,” he said, “And maybe four with the bigger one. It’s enough, princess.” He started rowing the boat back towards the shore slowly.

“Admit it,” I said as we almost reached the dock. Daryl looked at me with his eyebrow raised. “This was the most fun you had in a while."

“Don’t flatter yourself,” he replied.

“You had fun,” I said in a sing-song voice. I poked him jokingly on his arm. He scoffed and I took that as a yes. “You might have had even more fun if you actually went in the water though.”

“Yeah, I might have accidentally drowned you,” he replied with that same smirk on his face. “Would have been a blast.”

“You’re such a douche.” Daryl continued to row back and eventually we made it to the dock where Shane and Carl were both standing.

“Your sister is a shitty fisher,” Daryl said to Carl which caused me to smack him hard. “What? It’s the end of the world and you’re worried about him hearing a few bad words?” Daryl placed the fishes on the dock and hoisted himself up. He was about to reach down for my hand when Shane beat him to it. I took Shane’s hand and he helped me to my feet.

Daryl who saw he was no longer needed around grabbed his fish and walked off. Carl slowly followed and left Shane and me alone behind him.

“You looked like you enjoyed yourself,” Shane commented. I continued walking and ignored his comment. “You two looked a little chummy.”

“Did you see that through your binoculars?” I asked. I finally looked up at him and he was looking straight at Carl. “You must have missed when I gave him a hand job.”

“You know you shouldn’t take your clothes off in front of just anyone,” Shane commented.

“You’re so right!” I replied sarcastically. “Maybe I should keep them on at all times to avoid giving anyone stiffies.”

“What I mean is people like Daryl,” Shane said. “You barely know him. He and his brother are a bunch of racist assholes. Just watch yourself around them.”

“Daryl’s not that bad,” I said, “Merle is the worst. I actually like Daryl.”

“He’s old enough to be your father,” Shane said causing me to stop and grabbed his arm.

“Is that what this is about?” I questioned. “He’s younger then Dad if you really need to know. And he’s younger then you. So don’t give me your fatherly speech about what’s right and wrong. I’m pretty sure the last thing Daryl wants to do is mess around with anyone in this camp especially once he realizes how goddamn possessive you are.”

I started walking away from Shane and when I reached the wooded area I stopped. I was sure I saw everyone leave the lake to go back to the camp. I didn’t get that much further from Shane but I waited for him to make his way to where I was standing. I was leaning against the tree when I heard him walk closer. His back was to me when I spoke him. “Take your shirt off.” He stopped in his tracks and turned to me.

“What?”

“Do it,” I said. “You look better without it on.” He continued to stand there no complying so I walked towards him and decided to take it off for him. I dropped it on the ground and eyed his abs and eventually looked him in the eyes. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

Shane closed the gap between us and cupped his hands around my face as he started kissing me. He eventually pinned me against the tree and his lips moved down to my neck. He gripped my hips and lifted me up so I was straddling him. He kissed his way back to my lips and pressed our bodies closer together. I held on tightly to his neck while he unbuttoned his pants. He staggered back a little and placed me on the ground. He fumbled around with my shorts until they were off. Our rhythm was in sync as he thrusted himself in me and I pushed my hips closer to him. Eventually the leaves and twigs started rubbing against me the wrong way. Having sex in the middle of the woods was literally the worst thing I’ve ever done.

I waited a little longer and eventually pushed Shane off. I stood up, brushed my behind off and slipped back into my shorts.

“That was far quicker than the last time,” Shane commented. “Am I wearing you out?” He too started putting his clothes on. I was wiping the dirt off my legs when he walked closer. “You got a leaf in your hair.” He pulled it out and chuckled.

“Those twigs were basically trying to get up my ass,” I said. “I probably have twig burn.” Shane laughed again as he put his shirt on and we started walking back towards the camp.

“Are you telling me you never had sex in the woods?”

“Are you kidding me?” I questioned. “You know I’m strictly a city girl. Dad had to practically pull me by my hair to get me to go somewhere that wasn’t Atlanta.” Shane laughed again. “Don’t tell me you have before.”

“Of course I have, girl.” I rolled my eyes and let out a laugh. “At least five times. You’re going to have to suck it up. No more bed sex for us anymore.”

“I’ve only done it once on a bed,” I said. “I did it a lot in a car and at work.” Shane cocked his eyebrow at me. “In the kitchen at work too.”

“Oh, Christ,” Shane said. “I can’t believe I ate at that place knowing that now.” I let out a loud laugh but it was cut off by a loud car alarm.

“Was that what I think it was?” I questioned. Shane and I looked at each other in confusion and started walking faster back to the camp. Shane was quicker than me and all I heard was him yelling to turn that off. When I got closer I noticed a familiar head of hair under a baseball cap. “Glenn!” I ran up to Glenn who had his arms opened for me. I ran into his arms and squeezed him tightly. “Finally you’re back!” Glenn continued to squeeze me but had to let go when Amy started shouting at him about Andrea.

“She’s alright,” Glenn said. “They all are.” He squeezed my shoulder and flashed me a huge grin. “Glad to see you missed me.”

“Are you kidding?” I replied. I leaned closer to him so only he could hear me. “I only had Amy to talk to and all she knows how to do is complain. I mean she’s cool and all but jeez.” Glenn chuckled as he hugged me again. I heard Shane clear his throat and Glenn let go.

“Well,” Shane said, “Where is everyone else?” Glenn didn’t have time to answer before a rental truck started driving towards us. I started pulling Glenn with me to go back to our tent. I really was interested in hearing all his stories because I’m sure he had a lot to say.

“You gotta meet the new guy,” Glenn was saying. We were further away from everyone else now, but still within distance of everyone getting out of the truck. “He saved our asses… well except Merle.” My eyes widened and I thought of Daryl.

“He died?”

“No,” Glenn replied. “He was being a dick so new guy handcuffed him to the roof. He’s probably still up there.”

“Poor Daryl,” I replied. Daryl barely spoke to anyone besides me and Merle. He only spoke with me because he realized I wasn’t completely useless like everyone else not to mention I know I made him laugh. Glenn elbowed me and shook his head.

“Seriously? What about poor me? I could have died,” Glenn said. I let out a laugh and massaged his shoulder. “I can’t believe I let Shane talk me into volunteering to go.”

“My hero,” I replied sarcastically. “Wait, what do you mean Shane made you go?”

“He said something about doing one for the team or something. I forget. He was pretty convincing. And did I mention I almost died? New guy saved my ass a few times.”

“Maybe I should thank this new guy. Is he cute?”

“Is that all you think about?” Glenn questioned. I laughed into my hands while Glenn playfully shoved me. “He’s kind of old. But if you’re into that, go for it. He kind of looks familiar though. Like I’ve seen him come into the pizza shop. Maybe he did.”

“Dad?!”

I looked to the origin of the voice and noticed Carl who was three feet in front of me. His mouth was wide open as he stared in front of him. I followed his gaze and felt weak in my knees. I saw Carl running towards the man who all this time I thought was dead.

“Liv?” Glenn asked. I felt him poke my side. I saw Carl run into his arms and knew I wasn’t seeing things. He was real. My feet eventually started working and I too started running towards him. I still couldn’t believe it.

“Daddy?” I asked in a small voice. He looked down at me with his blue eyes and embraced both Carl and I at the same time. I felt my shoulder was getting wet from my father’s tears. And I too started crying over the father I believed to be long gone.