Hope Is a Waking Dream

Chapter 14
Rick was eager to start planning the trip to the housing development. He, Daryl, Glenn and Maggie were huddled together all day looking at maps and making lists. Melissa let them have it. She spent her day with Lori, Beth and Carol. She had Carl convinced, at one point that helping with chores would make a man out of him. He quickly decided he’d rather be a kid if that’s what it took. Herschel told her stories about his life. He told her about the struggles he had because of his drinking. She listened carefully to every work he said. She believed what she told Daryl about the old people. She knew in her heart that this old man could see things others couldn’t, and knew things that were yet to come. Daryl had said a polite ‘hello’ every time he walked by them, and Herschel smiled at Melissa every single time. He caught the blush that crept onto her cheeks. “I’m glad to see that you two kids are getting along. I think you bring out the good in each other.”
“I hope so,” she replied. “I’m sure he’s still an asshole deep down, but so am I. I hope that things don’t start going backward though. He really seems like a good man. I don’t know everything about him, but I would like to someday. He asked me to come with ya’ll when you leave.”
“I hope you do. You’re a strong woman. You can take care of yourself and you have, I think, a desire to take care of others. Everyone in the family loves you already. I think Daryl especially.”
“I don’t know if love is the right word, but I’m starting to feel like I might belong with your group. I guess I got lucky when you invaded my life. I’m sure there are people out there who aren’t as kind as ya’ll.”
“Believe me Melissa, there are people out there who have reverted from civilized society. Sometimes, it’s needed. The rules aren’t the same anymore. Without laws, people feel they can do whatever they want now without consequence. That’s why it is so important to stick together. There is safety in numbers. I’m still a religious man, I still have my beliefs, but many of my opinions have changed since I met these people. I was blind to the reality of this new world, but they showed me the light.”
She sighed loudly. She didn’t want to admit it, but she had no choice. “I always believed that I would be better on my own. When I was younger I knew that getting close to people only meant I’d get hurt. I stayed away from everyone and everyone stayed away from me. I think my opinions are changing too.”

Maggie couldn’t stop herself from smirking every time she saw Daryl pass by her father and Melissa. She didn’t hear anything Rick was saying. “Maggie,” Rick said, “does that sound like a good plan?”
“Sure Rick, sounds good. I’m in.”
“What did he say Maggie?” Glenn asked laughing.
She looked sheepishly at both men. “Well shit! Okay, I have no idea what you just said. I’m sure the plan is fine. Sorry, but I’m a little distracted.” She pointed to Daryl who was sitting on the ground by his bike. He was absentmindedly polishing the fenders and stealing glances toward the old man and his current companion.
“Something happened with them on the run.” Glenn said. “Ya know, we caught them in bed together.”
Rick smirked. “Yeah, he told me about it.
“He talked to you?” The lovebirds said in stereo.
“Yes, but I promised him that I wouldn’t repeat anything he told me. He’s a bit confused by things.”
“He stayed in her room last night. I heard her singing, but I didn’t hear anything else,” Maggie said.
“Just leave ‘em be. If anybody says anything to them, I wouldn’t stop Daryl from putting an arrow in their ass, or Melissa from gutting them with those big ass knives of hers.” Rick turned and walked away, treading slowly in Daryl’s direction. “Anything wrong with the bike?”
“Naw, nothing a little ride around wouldn’t cure. She’s been sitting for too long.”
“It’s only been a few days, but if ya want to take her on the scout tomorrow, be my guest. Maggie, Glenn and I will take the pick-up.”
“We all that’s going? They gonna be safe here without us?”
“I think so. Thanks to you Carol’s got pretty good with that rifle. Lori and Carl can handle a pistol and Herschel’s as good as a sniper. They’ll be fine. Haven’t seen too many walkers since we got here. Maybe we hit a sweet spot.”
“Yeah, maybe,” Daryl said, doubtful. “Or maybe that fucking herd is still headed right for us. If we’re gonna move on we need to stop pussyfootin’ around and get to it.”
“We’ll pack up tonight, leave before daylight tomorrow. Do ya think we can do it in one day or should we plan on staying?”
“Depends,” Daryl said and finally stood. He put the dirty, red rag in his back pocket. “What we find, who we find, how many houses ya wanna go through. Should plan on an overnighter, wouldn’t hurt to be prepared. We got enough food to last the others till we get back?”
“Yeah, unless Carl or the baby go through a growth spurt.” Rick laughed at his own joke. “Don’t go out today. Stay with us, relax, make some bolts, and work on the bike, whatever. We’ll start loading up later. Won’t take long with everybody’s help.”
“Alright,” the hunter said warily. “I might go looking for some good sticks to use for bolts, but I’ll stay close.”
“Good, I’m gonna go make a list of stuff to watch and things to check for.” He slapped Daryl on the back as he passed to go inside. “Oh, and if Glenn or Maggie give you shit, you have my permission to shoot ‘em in the ass.”
“The fuck are you talking about?”
“They think they know something. Don’t take their shit.”
“I don’t take nobody’s shit,” the hunter said proudly.
“I know ya don’t Daryl.” Rick smirked and walked inside.
The hunter looked over at the vehicle where the lovebirds were standing and laughing. When he caught their eyes, he made an elaborate show of grabbing the crossbow and swinging it across his back. He walked off, ignoring them, he knew they were smart enough not to open their mouth to him about anything. He thought about last night and decided that he would ask Melissa if she wanted to go bolt hunting with him. Maybe he would get to kiss her again. “Hey Herschel, what’s going on?” he asked as he got closer to the pair.
“Hello Daryl. I’m just having a nice conversation with a beautiful woman. It’s been a long time since I got to enjoy doing this with someone other than my daughters.” They both watched Melissa blush at the comment, but say nothing in response. “I’m gonna go see if Rick needs help making his list,” was all he said before heading inside to find their fearless leader.
“Ya’ll got everything set for tomorrow?” Melissa asked once Herschel was gone.
“Just about. Gonna plan for an overnighter, just in case. We’ll load up the truck later so we can head out first thing. Rick, Maggie and Glenn are taking the pick-up, I’m taking the bike.”
“Always wanted to ride a motorcycle,” she said wistfully. “Knew guys that had ‘em, but they wouldn’t have let me ride.”
He took her comment into consideration. “I was gonna go out to look for stuff to make bolts. If ya want, we can take the bike out for a while. You could help me look.” She looked at him. She was starting to realize just how much she enjoyed doing that.
“Really? You’d take me for a ride on your bike? That’d be great! Thank you!”
“Alright, calm down. Let me go tell Rick what we’re doing. Make sure ya got your gun and the knives. Meet me at the bike.” She followed behind him and went to the bedroom to retrieve the Beretta, she already had the knives, and she carried them constantly. They met again at the door and walked to the bike together. Daryl took off his crossbow and handed it to her.
“What am I supposed to do with this? Shoot dead ones as we ride by?”
“No, your gonna carry it while I’m driving. Don’t have a seat to put it on, or a hook to hang it from. I can’t carry it on my back because there wouldn’t be room for you. You’re gonna have to hold on to me. Don’t got no seat belts to keep ya from falling off.” He stepped closer to her and put it around her shoulders, fixing it to rest against her back. “Come on, ain’t got all day.” She watched him mount the bike. He held his hand out to her to steady her as she climbed on behind him. “Keep your feet on the pegs, wrap your arms around me.” The engine roared to life and Daryl smiled to himself. He felt her arms wrapped loosely around him, her palms flat on his chest. He turned his head to speak to her. “A little tighter, and lower.” He removed her hands from his body and pulled them tighter, he could feel her breasts against his back. He wrapped each hand around the opposite forearm and placed them low on his stomach. He felt a rush of heat go through him and a stirring in his pants at the proximity of her body to his and her hands to his dick. He just hoped he could concentrate on the road. He didn’t want to have a wreck caused by a hard-on.
Melissa had never felt this kind of excitement in her life. She had never felt the wind blow through her hair. Whenever he would make a turn, she would hold him tighter. By the time they came to a stop, she was a mess of giggles. He removed her hands but held one to help her off the bike. He sat there and watched her hide her face from him as her giggles became louder and stronger. Her eyes lit up like they were on fire. She had the most beautiful smile he had ever seen. His heart grew at the sight of her. He had forgotten about his dick, right now he just wanted to laugh with her. “That was fucking amazing! God I wish I could’ve been doing that all along. I’m never gonna walk again. You’re gonna have to carry me on that thing from now on.” He stood from the bike and walked over to her. He caressed her smiling cheek with his thumb. “It would be my pleasure,” he said softly. He reached around her and took his crossbow from her body. “Come on, I’ll show you how to pick good bolts.”
She followed him around and watched him pick up sticks and throw them back, then he found a couple he kept. When he was on his knees in the dirt and leaves, he motioned for her to join him. She stood in front of him as he gazed up at her, holding out one of the sticks. “This one’s perfect. It’s almost perfectly straight. I can shave off little bits to make it straighter. This one here is from a maple tree, dogwood works good too. Gotta check for holes ‘cause they won’t fly straight if there’s any hollow spaces. They need to have some weight on ‘em too. My bow has a hundred fifty pound draw weight, need something heavy that won’t snap in two when it’s released or when it hits the target. Think you can find me some like that?” She took the soon-to-be bolt from his hand and inspected it.
“Sure, most all of the trees here are maple. Shouldn’t be too hard.”
“I’ve picked ten so far and only two of them will work. Might be harder than you think.” She just rolled her eyes.
“Oh ye of little faith.” She flashed that beautiful smile that stopped his heart. After about thirty minutes of looking, she walked back to him with enough sticks to start a fire.
“What the hell girl? Where’d you find all that? You inspect ‘em all? They up to my standards?” he said, teasing her.
“I didn’t know rednecks had standards,” she said smiling again and dropped her armful of potential weapons at his feet. He rolled his eyes in exasperation. “Bet you, out of all this, I may find one good stick.”
“What do I get when you lose redneck?” She was giddy, she was actually having fun with this man.
“You don’t get a damn thing, ‘cause you ain’t gonna win. I know what I want when I win though.” He tried not to smirk as he said it.
“What do you want?” Her smile disappeared and she looked at him with curiosity.
“You’ll know soon enough. You just sit and watch my smile when I prove I’m right.” She sat, cross-legged on the ground in front of him as he looked at her sticks. He was making two piles, one good and one bad, she assumed. Soon one pile was bigger than the other, but she didn’t know which one that was. His face was unreadable and she started getting worried, surely she expected to see the smile he promised her. When all the sticks had been separated, he held his head down and didn’t speak. Finally, she heard him mumble something under his breath.
“What? I didn’t hear you.” the smile crept back to her lips.
“You won. More than half of these are near perfect. I’m gonna have enough bolts to last a few months. Gonna have to make a new quiver just to hold ‘em.”
“I’ll make you one myself. This was fun. How long till I get to prove you wrong again?”
He looked up at her, moving only his eyes to her face. “You’re not gonna make this easy on me, are ya?”
She knelt in front of the rock he was sitting on. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to gloat, but I’ve never had the chance to prove myself to someone before. No one ever gave me a chance to show them what I can do. It’s a good feeling to know I’ve done something good and that someone else sees it.” He moved his eyes back to the ground.
“I see everything ya do,” he said, half hoping she wouldn’t hear him. “Okay, so you won the bet. What do ya want this time?”
“Tell me something about yourself, something nobody else knows. It don’t have to be big or important, just something that’ll help me know ya better. We got to get to know each other eventually, and I told ya ‘bout my mom and dad, and the state home. I just thought maybe you could give me a little bit about you.”
He was surprised by her request. It wasn’t what he had expected, nor what he hoped for. “There ain’t anything to tell. Don’t know what would interest ya ‘bout me.” His mind shuffled through every horrible thing that ever happened to him; the beatings, the humiliation, the despair and the loneliness that made his whole existence. He didn’t want her to know about any of that.
“Tell me a funny story. Something stupid and reckless you did as a kid, some adventure you had.” He never had adventures. Everything he’d ever done had ended up with a belt buckle dragged down his back or having to bail Merle outta jail. It had all been stupid and reckless, and none if it funny or fun.
“Well, this ain’t funny or reckless or any of that shit, but that song ya sing. The one ya momma sang to ya? My momma sang it to me too. When I was little and things would get bad, she’d put her arms around me and sing that song. She sang like an angel, just like you.” He ran his fingers through her long, dark hair. “Her hair was long and dark, just like yours,” he moved his face closer to hers. “She was beautiful, just like you.” His body moved away from the rock and pressed against hers, leaning her back onto the leaves that covered the floor of the woods. He hovered above her and looked into her eyes asking permission to take what he wanted. She licked and bit her bottom lip and he hungrily took that lip into his mouth. She wrapped her arms around his neck in an attempt to pull him closer to her. His hands went to her waist and when his thumbs brushed over her ribs, she moaned and he felt her stomach spasm under his touch. His mouth moved to her jaw and the magic spot under her ear. He whispered, low and husky, things she never thought she would hear from a man.
He didn’t want to be crude, but the only thing running through his mind right now, was how badly he needed to pound her pussy into the ground. She moaned when he kissed and touched her. His arousal was increasing with every sound she made. It was the most erotic thing he had ever heard. He was afraid to speak, afraid that if he told her what he wanted to do to her, right here, right now, she would knock him into next week and rip his balls of before he went. He nipped and sucked at her ear and neck. He kept telling her how fucking beautiful and amazing she was. He told her that he’d never wanted a woman as much as he wanted her, at least he thought he did. His mind couldn’t differentiate between inner thought and spoken word. He was either saying the right things or she was oblivious to his voice. He licked his way down to her chest and put sucking kisses onto the top of her breasts. “AAAHHH, Daryl! God!” She exclaimed louder than she intended. He torturously removed his mouth from her body. “You okay? Did I hurt you? Ya want me to stop?”
“No, yes. Shit! I don’t know. Daryl, what the hell is this?” He let her go and sat up.
“Hell if I know. Never done this before. I mean, I done this, but not like this. Never wanted to spend time with anybody like this. I feel different around you. Never had a woman who was nice to me, or tried to be. Never wanted to make anybody happy before. You got a beautiful smile and laugh, and ya make me wanna smile and laugh too. Ya make me feel . . . shit, I don’t know, not angry. I’m starting to feel comfortable around ya, I don’t feel scared to talk to ya. That day I saw you at the brook, the day I saw ya, I wanted you. I wanted to touch you. I ain’t good enough for you, but I can’t let this go.”
“I want to find out what this is,” Melissa sat up and pushed the hair out of his face. “I don’t know how to do anything. I don’t know what to do or . . . I don’t know anything. I feel like such a little girl around you. My heart beats faster, my skin tingles. Damn, I don’t even know what to say without sounding ignorant.” He gently pulled her onto his lap.
“You don’t have to say anything. I was never good with words, ain’t got any better at it. Words don’t mean anything unless ya can back ‘em up. I won’t do anything you don’t want. You tell me, we both gotta learn how to do this. Whatever you want to do, or not do, just tell me, or show me. Don’t be afraid of me. I want you Melissa. Wanna kiss you, touch you. Do you want that?”
“Yes, I do. I’m gonna try. I don’t know what we can do, I don’t know what I’m ready to do, but I’ll try. Just be patient with me.” Daryl kissed her forehead.
“It’s a lot of little steps, but we’ll take ‘em together.”