Skin Deep

I swung my legs over Daryl’s shoulders and he wrapped his arms around my thighs. He slowly stood up straight and I rose to an uneasy height. It had always been a stupid fear of mine, and now I was sitting up high on shoulders to cut down a stupid Biter. My stomach was jittering with nerves as Daryl moved us closer to the growling Biter.

“Steady now,” Merle called out from opposite us. Gun in hand, he approached the Biter, getting as close as possible without risking an accidental kick. The Biter moved, watching Merle and focusing in on him. “Forward…” As Daryl stepped towards the Biter’s back, Merle started loudly trash talking the Biter to keep its attention. I breathed through my mouth, not wanting the stench of the Biter to make me hurl and ruin the plan. Once I was close enough, I reached out and grabbed onto the rope above the Biter’s head that held it to the rafter. I ran my blade against it, trying to slice through it. After making some progress, the knife seemed to get stuck on a tougher piece near the middle and I grunted as I tried to put more energy into it. The Biter heard and started to thrash its body to get at me.

“Back! Move back!” I screeched, one of its hands barely missing my cheek. Daryl stumbled backwards and I grabbed roughly onto his hair for support, fearing I was going to fall. I breathed heavily as I watched the Biter spin on the rope and angrily snarl at us.

“You all right?” Daryl questioned.

“Yeah… Sorry,” I muttered, letting go of his hair and trying to regain my composure.

“You’ve almost got it, let’s go again,” Merle shouted.

“You can do this, Jo,” Daryl told me as Merle directed the Biter’s attention back to himself. Daryl then slowly shifted us back to the jerking monster. Holding my breath, I took a hold of the rope and began to cut it again. It became rather frayed and soon snapped, allowing the Biter to fall to the ground. Somehow, it landed on its feet, and Daryl rushed us away from it. Again, I held onto his hair and hoped that I didn’t fall and ruin the plan. The Biter was shuffling along towards Merle, which meant that things were going well. Daryl lowered himself and I slid off his shoulders. He then picked his crossbow up off the couch and we followed the Biter and Merle outside. Once we were far enough away from the cabin, Merle stuck his dagger into the Biter’s head and it fell to the ground. Dark brown blood foiled the bright yellow leaves and I sighed, glad that the daunting task was now finished.

“See? What did I tell ya? Not a problem, and no mess,” Merle said triumphantly. I sent a weak smile his way before we walked back to the cabin. Once inside, Merle and Daryl shifted a heavy shelf in front of the door with the broken lock, for just in case. We then moved our bikes into the shelter of the garage and saw that the car currently in there had an almost full tank of gas. There was also quite a collection of fishing rods and gear lining the walls, and Daryl was instantly drawn to it.

“We should go catch ourselves some dinner,” he suggested as he took a rod into his hands.

“You fish too?” I asked, though I wasn’t that surprised when Daryl gave a short confirming nod. He grabbed a box of fishing gear and headed outside.

“I’ll catch you the biggest fish in the lake,” he muttered as he trudged past me. I caught Merle’s eye and he flashed me a smirk while selecting his own equipment.

“What?” I asked, crossing my arms as I tried to ignore the slight joy that I felt from Daryl’s kind words.

“I didn’t say nothing!” Merle laughed and I rolled my eyes. Nonetheless, we walked down to the lake together and I watched as the men prepared the rods. Daryl used a colourful minnow, whereas Merle had disappeared into the bush behind us in search of worms for his hook as he was determined that live bait would catch a bigger fish. The afternoon was still warm, so I kicked off my boots and then waded out close to Daryl and watched on as he effortlessly flung the line out a massive distance.

“You wanna try?” he asked, proving that my staring hadn’t gone unnoticed.

“Oh, no, I wouldn’t be able to catch anything,” I quickly replied with a shake of my head.

“Come on,” Daryl gestured, clearly not accepting my answer. Instead of arguing, I gave in and shuffled forwards. When I reached his side he passed me the rod and shifted behind me. “You’ve got a good hold already. Now just put a finger over the line, right there.” His arms came around me and he slid his hand across mine, pointing out where to place my finger.

“Okay…” I nodded as I did as he said. I had to resist a shiver from his breath on my neck and the gentle touch of his calloused skin.

“All you do now is swing it and let go of the line. Might take a bit to get the hang of throwing it far,” he explained. Daryl then shifted his hands onto my own and he made the motion of casting the line slowly. “Have a go.” He let go and took a few steps backwards, my stomach actually sinking a little from disappointment. His touch had been so tender, something I hadn’t felt since I had been with my husband. To distract myself from those depressing thoughts, I concentrated on flinging the line out into the lake, somehow managing to throw it a decent distance. Daryl then returned to behind me and we wound in the line together, my breath constantly getting hitched in my throat.

“You two look like you’re out of a movie,” Merle’s voice called from behind us. Daryl broke away from me and we both quickly turned our heads to see Merle walking into the water to join us.

“She’s gotta know how to get food,” Daryl simply said as Merle stabbed a worm onto his hook.

“I ain’t questioning ya, baby brother,” Merle shrugged before casting his own line and turning his back to us. I briefly glanced over my shoulder and caught a frown on Daryl’s lips and a slight blush across his cheeks. He then stopped glaring at Merle and insisted that I threw the line in again. By the time the sun was disappearing behind a hill, we had caught a total of seven fish of varying sizes, but mostly rather large. The men gutted the fish before we trekked back to the cabin and lit a fire in the lounge. As the fish cooked, my mouth watered with immense desire for the delicacy I hadn’t eaten for what seemed like an eternity. When I went to the kitchen to find plates and cutlery, I stumbled across a cupboard full of liquor and eagerly brought a bottle back to the men who grinned uncontrollably. Though the whiskey had a tinge of weird taste in it, it was definitely bearable and we enjoyed having some alcohol with the delicious fish.

Throughout the evening I heard many tales from both brothers, and countless details were hilariously argued about. After a while, Merle disappeared to use the bathroom and didn’t return. On his own bathroom trip, Daryl found him passed out on the downstairs bed snoring loudly and came back in a fit of laughter. He crashed a lot closer to me on the couch and we spent what felt like hours sharing memories from our past families.

“I’ll always love her. She can never be replaced,” Daryl said after we had fallen silent for a few moments. I glanced up at him and smiled weakly.

“I know,” I whispered, feeling the same way about my own dead partner. After holding my gaze for a couple of seconds, Daryl leaned in closer to me but I looked down at the whiskey bottle in my lap instead. I opened my mouth to speak but I couldn’t find the right words to express my thoughts. One part of me felt as though I was betraying my husband, whereas another part unashamedly wanted Daryl.

“I’m not him, you’re not her, but… It’s been a year and everything is so different now, Jo,” Daryl said softly and I then turned my head to tell him how confused I was about the situation. Instead I was met with his lips and I froze with surprise. His hand snaked around the back of my neck and his other rested on my knee, his gentle touch comforting rather than making it seem as though he was forcing himself onto me. I didn’t realise until now that I had missed kissing so much, though nothing about the way his lips moved in sync with mine was similar to my husband’s. Keeping my eyes closed, I allowed myself to become lost in Daryl.