Z

I sat on a bed, trying to keep my focus on something other than the man and the wound he was cleaning. I was never good with blood, and the amount oozing out of my arm was starting to make me nauseous. Shane had been sitting in the room with me and kept apologizing over and over again about how sorry he was for shooting me. In his defense, I could have been a walker and I probably would have done the same thing. I was only lucky that his aim was off.

“It’s going to need some stitches,” the white haired man stated, inspecting my arm. He was the owner of the farm Shane and Daryl is staying on. He was generous enough, allowing us to stay on the farm for tonight. “Gotcha good, he did.” He shot a quick but dirty look at Shane, but only I seemed to be the only one that noticed it.

“Thank you again,” I said, exposing my manners. Hospitality was hard to come by in the new world, and I didn’t want them to think I didn’t appreciate the time he was taking to fix my arm.

I shot a look at Shane to find him already looking at me. His gaze was blank, but I could sense the curiousness behind his eyes the way his brows knotted on his forehead. He bit his lip before running a hand over his shaved head and offered a smile.

“I’m so-“

“Stop,” I laughed to make sure he knew I wasn’t mad about the situation. He joined in; his awkward laughter helped kill the tension building in the room. I watched as he let his gaze unlock from my eyes before wondering down my body. I blushed, feeling exposed. It’s been a long time since anyone has looked at me like that, not since my husband.

“Well, since you’re staying the night, I’ll give up my tent for you and your friend.” He nodded towards the door, where Rose was waiting impatiently.

“Thanks, that’s nice of you,”

“No problem,”

Shane kicked off of the wall he was leaning on and walked towards the door. With one last look over his shoulder, he walked out of the room. Rose brushed past him once he opened the door, acting as if he didn’t exist.

“How is it? Are you okay?”

I smiled at her concern. “I’m fine; just need some stitches, s’all.”

“Okay,”

I knew she wanted to say more, but I didn’t push it since we weren’t alone in the room. She paced back and forth in front of me until Hershel was done. After a couple more minutes, he pulled off his gloves after wrapping my bicep in gauze.

“Leave this on it for a few days to keep infection at bay. The stitches will dissolve on their own in about a week, to two weeks.”

“Thank you, Hershel,” Rose jumped up once I stood up from the bed, carefully adjusting my sleeves over my gauze.
He nodded his head before he gathered his supplies and walked out of the room. I looked at Rose once we were alone. “Have anything you’d like to say?”

“I don’t want to stay here,” She frowned, looking out the window to see a group of people forming around Shane and Daryl. They ranged in different ages, races and genders. It looked like a good group of survivors. I watched as a little boy walked into view with a sheriff’s hat on and I bit my lip to keep from crying out.

“We don’t have to stay here if you don’t want to, but we do need to stay the night. It’s much safer here than a SUV, you know that.”

She sighed in defeat before following me to the door. We walked outside, timidly approaching the group of strangers.

“Feeling better?” Shane asked, turning and noticing us standing behind him.

I shook my head, and he chuckled. “Guys, this is Beth and Rose. They’ll be staying here tonight,”

“Shane, you think that’s a good idea considering –“ The oriental man with a pizza delivery hat started but was cut short when a hand fell on his shoulder. I squinted against the sun to get a better look at the man that just spoke.

“What do you think we should do?” The man asked, seeming upset about something. “I think we should kill him. He poses a threat to the group.”

“If Hershel said they can stay, then they can stay.” The man that put his hand on Glenn’s shoulder smiled. “My name is Rick; this is my wife Lori and my son, Carl.” He pointed to each member as he spoke their names. I tightened my smile.

“I’m Rose,” Rose spoke up, sending me a look. “This is Beth,”

“I’m Andrea,” A blonde haired woman walked up in a plaid flannel and blue jeans. Her hair was tied back out of her face and she smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “This is Dale, T-Dog, Carol and Glenn,” She finished the introductions, but my gaze lingered on Glenn.

“Nice to meet you all,” I smiled politely before grabbing Rose’s arm and pulling her to the side.

“Glenn… that’s the same guy that was at the store the other day,” I whispered to make sure no one could hear me.

Rose frowned. “Maybe he was talking about something else.”

I looked back at the group of people behind us, huddling together and talking among themselves, much like we were doing now. When I looked back at Rose, I sighed.

“We’re leaving first thing in the morning, before anyone wakes up.”

“That’s a good idea,”

We rejoined the group afterwards and watched awkwardly as they went back to their chores of their daily lives. Lori and Carol went and did the laundry while Andrea and Dale sat on top of the RV parked under a tree. They had guns in their hands, so I assumed they were on lookout. I felt this weigh lift off my shoulders at the thought of not having to look over my shoulder every five minutes, someone was here doing it for me.

Rose and I stayed together mostly, not really knowing the area or the people made us stay in one spot. We sat around the fire pit and talked. Occasionally someone would come up to us and ask if we needed anything, but mostly they left us alone. I would see Shane look at me across the farm or if he paused in some work he was doing to keep the farm safe. I would blush and look away every time I caught him and then remind myself that I was running for my life and lost my family. Now was no time to be getting giddy over a stranger we were leaving in the morning and probably never seeing again.

Nightfall came and the group joined us around the fire, eating up something Daryl caught out in the woods earlier.

“Want some?” He asked, leaning over closer to Rose, holding out a piece of meat on an arrow.

“What is it?” Her nose turned scrunched in disgust.

“Squirrel,”

Rose pulled her face away from the squirrel and shook her head violently. I chuckled to myself and politely declined when he offered me some next.

Shane came walking up to the fire pit, “The tent is all ready, I got some extra blankets and stuff from Maggie inside.”

“Thank you,” I stood up and stretched, letting the hem of my shirt rise over my belly button. My back and shoulders popped a little from being stiff and I let out a sigh. When I looked back at Shane, I saw him staring at my stomach. I made sure my shirt was pulled down before he gaze was brought back to my face.

“Well, I’m going to head in now, I haven’t have quality sleep since the world ended.” I laughed awkwardly, Rose and a few of the others joined in. Some just looked at us with sympathy. Lori however, was staring at me, her eyebrows furrowed in was seemed like disgust. Once she noticed me looking at her, she got up and walked into her tent. I didn’t ponder over it, and walked inside Shane’s tent. Rose followed shortly after.



I slept better than I had in a long time, but it was still broken up by the hard ground and the paranoia. I laid awake for a couple of hours before I woke Rose up. We got ready and made sure we had all our weapons still before she carefully unzipped the tent and tiptoed out of it. I looked round at Shane and T-Dog sleeping out by the dying fire. Andrea and Dale fell asleep on top of the RV, and I assumed the rest had tents of their own.

The sky was gray, but the sun had not come up yet, making this the perfect time to leave. I shot one last look at Shane, before walking towards the woods lining the farm.

The dead leaves crunching under our boots seemed ten times louder than normal as we tried to make our escape. I was back on my guard in the woods, looking in every possible direction for walkers.

“Leaving already?” A voice called out. I jumped and turned around, my machete out and ready to swing. Rose’s parang was already out, but she screamed out at the new presents before quickly covering her mouth. Daryl stood leaning against a tree, a smug smile on his lips.

“You can’t just sneak up on people!” She hissed.

“But y’all are sneaking off on us.”

“We could only stay one night, remember?” I asked, trying to justify the situation.

“Y’all can do whatever you want,” he shrugged.

I shot a look to Rose to see her irritated at him. I smiled to myself. “Well, thank you for your hospitality. Maybe we’ll see you around.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Daryl stood up straight before talking again. “You know, I’m sure we can talk to Hershel into letting you stay with us.”

“No thanks, we don’t want to over stay our welcome,” Rose put her parang down into the holder for it.

“Y’all won’t make it out there long,”

Rose glared at him, “We’ve made it this long,”

“Yeah, but winter’s coming soon,”

I cut in before Rose could say something snarky, “We’ll be alright,”

Daryl nodded and turned on his heel, but not without giving Rose a glance over as he push his lips together and hummed something under his breath. He was checking her out, and I looked back to see her doing the same.

We didn’t know if we were going the same direction of the highway once Daryl left us, and I pulled out my map to look. It was almost useless; there were no signs to point us in the right direction. I looked at Rose and sighed.

“Should we take Daryl’s offer?” I asked, defeated.

“Hell no,” she took out her parang and started cutting away at the vines and weak branches. “We’ll make it. We always do,”