Status: Am still trying to write, but school is keeping me really busy
Hopeless Wanderer
Eleven
About a week passed, forming a routine. I exercised as much as I could during the dark hours of the morning while everyone else slept. During the day when the others were awake, I slept with an extra pillow wrapped around my ears. I imagine the girls loosely kept watch and tended to the baby. Whatever Rick told them, they stayed well out of line of sight and spoke softly. At night, Carl took me out for first watch. This hardened boy still knew how to make me laugh as we traded mother stories and talked about home. At the end of the first shift, his dad came out and sent him off to bed. He replaced his spot beside me but not the company, although not for a lack of trying.
I supposed on that sixth day he'd finally had enough of my stonewalling. "I know you know how to talk. I came out a few minutes early that second night to check on Carl and heard you. Been coming out early to listen ever since," he confessed. My eyes narrowed to angry slits. What had he heard? "You're not really a threat."
"Then I'm free to go?"
He rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, not quite." He tried to pin it on the others, that they wouldn't be comfortable letting me go so easily. I wasn’t really sure what his true motive was. Perhaps he was just scared if I ever came back, it’d be with unwelcome guests. "Maybe we could get to know each other? I'm Rick Grimes. Used to work for the sheriff's department." Briefly he allowed my silence to pass. We sat together watching the fence, listening to the few active rotters hanging around the border. "Who is Will?"
"Does it really matter now?" He shrugged but clearly it did matter. A large breath hissed past my lips. I never even talked to Carl about Will. Maybe getting on Rick’s good side would earn me a release. "We were engaged. His roommate turned into one of those rotters and ate him while I hid." I looked into his face before asking, "is that enough for you?"
"What would your last name be now? If this hadn't happened?"
"I should be Mrs. William Simmons,” I fumed. I couldn’t really tell if I was mad at Rick for asking or the world for taking Will away. Either way, I could feel the anger burning in my stomach. “I should be settling into a new home, entertaining Will's new colleagues with dinner and wine. But I'm here, sleeping in a dark, abandoned prison keeping watch against the dead with people who may or may not want to kill me too." I stared out, an irritated sigh releasing what little anger left in me I hadn’t unleashed on Rick. He merely soaked in what very little I gave him. "If this hadn't happened. What a ridiculous fantasy."
The next night he did all the talking, mostly about his recently dead wife, Laurie. Maybe he thought we'd bond over it. Maybe he just needed to talk to somebody about her. Whatever his plan, we spent the third night having a real conversation. It felt like a boulder had been rolled off my chest to openly talk about Will. I loved taking watch with Carl, but I grew to depend on my shift with Rick to get me through the rest of the day.
I supposed on that sixth day he'd finally had enough of my stonewalling. "I know you know how to talk. I came out a few minutes early that second night to check on Carl and heard you. Been coming out early to listen ever since," he confessed. My eyes narrowed to angry slits. What had he heard? "You're not really a threat."
"Then I'm free to go?"
He rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, not quite." He tried to pin it on the others, that they wouldn't be comfortable letting me go so easily. I wasn’t really sure what his true motive was. Perhaps he was just scared if I ever came back, it’d be with unwelcome guests. "Maybe we could get to know each other? I'm Rick Grimes. Used to work for the sheriff's department." Briefly he allowed my silence to pass. We sat together watching the fence, listening to the few active rotters hanging around the border. "Who is Will?"
"Does it really matter now?" He shrugged but clearly it did matter. A large breath hissed past my lips. I never even talked to Carl about Will. Maybe getting on Rick’s good side would earn me a release. "We were engaged. His roommate turned into one of those rotters and ate him while I hid." I looked into his face before asking, "is that enough for you?"
"What would your last name be now? If this hadn't happened?"
"I should be Mrs. William Simmons,” I fumed. I couldn’t really tell if I was mad at Rick for asking or the world for taking Will away. Either way, I could feel the anger burning in my stomach. “I should be settling into a new home, entertaining Will's new colleagues with dinner and wine. But I'm here, sleeping in a dark, abandoned prison keeping watch against the dead with people who may or may not want to kill me too." I stared out, an irritated sigh releasing what little anger left in me I hadn’t unleashed on Rick. He merely soaked in what very little I gave him. "If this hadn't happened. What a ridiculous fantasy."
The next night he did all the talking, mostly about his recently dead wife, Laurie. Maybe he thought we'd bond over it. Maybe he just needed to talk to somebody about her. Whatever his plan, we spent the third night having a real conversation. It felt like a boulder had been rolled off my chest to openly talk about Will. I loved taking watch with Carl, but I grew to depend on my shift with Rick to get me through the rest of the day.