Hope Is a Waking Dream

Chapter 16

He was awoken by movement within his arms. She was trying to escape without waking him up. He just held her tighter and breathed her in. “Can’t leave yet.”
“I gotta pee Daryl. Unless you’d prefer I piss all over you and the bed,” she said.
“No ma’am. I ain’t into that shit,” he said with a straight face, and released her. “I’ll go with you.”
“I can take a piss by myself, I’m a big girl now,” she said mockingly.
“I’m most certainly aware of that woman, but I don’t want ya going off on your own, even with your knives. ‘Sides, I gotta piss too. Might as well go together, it’s safer,” he said as he tugged on his boots and vest. He sat and watched her shimmy into her jeans. She was trying to angle her body so he wouldn’t see her ass, but was unsuccessful.
“Please don’t look at me, just don’t.” Her face was pink with embarrassment and she avoided looking into his eyes. He stood from the bed and crossed to the other side where she was standing. He put his hands on her shoulders and leaned into her ear.
“You’re beautiful, every part of you. I told ya that before. I like looking at ya, and I’m gonna make sure ya believe that someday. Now let’s go ‘fore I piss my pants” When they got back to the cabin, everyone was up and moving about. Carol was packing breakfast to go, just granola bars and stale pop tarts, but it was portable. It was a beautiful day to be on the bike. The sun was out and it was fairly warm considering winter would be here soon. Daryl grabbed his leather jacket and an extra flannel, the only one he had with sleeves, just in case Melissa needed it later. He made sure he had enough bolts and brought the unfinished ones so they could work on them tonight. Right as they were about to head out, he pulled her to the side of the cabin.
“Okay. You ready to go?”
“Yep, got my knives and the gun. Checked my ammo, that’s good too. I don’t think I’m forgetting anything.”
“Good. I want ya to keep your eyes open. If you see anything or need to stop for some reason, just give me a nudge, I’ll stop. Remember to hold on tight. Might be going a little fast. If something happens, I want ya to be safe, okay?” He laid a hand on her cheek. “We’re a team out there. We’ll keep watch over each other, take care of each other. You need anything, just tell me.”
“Yes daddy,” she said softly, half annoyed by his protectiveness. Daryl’s dick twitched just a little hearing her say that, the way she said it. He shook his head and smiled.
“Don’t make daddy have to put you over his knee now girl.” He blushed when he realized what he had said. “Just don’t want to lose you.” He kissed her, gently at first, but soon he felt engulfed by the soft, sweetness of her lips. She wrapped her arms around his neck and returned the kiss with passion. When they broke the apart, she stared into his eyes. They were the most beautiful shade of blue she had ever seen. They made her feel nervous. She couldn’t see a bit of ill intent in them, but they stared back at her and it made her skin tingle.
“We should head out. Their probably looking for us,” she whispered, not wanting to break the spell that had been cast on them.
“Yeah, let’s go.” She followed him around to the front of the cabin, where Maggie was saying her goodbyes to her father and sister. Melissa noticed that Rick was not doing the same with his wife. She remembered what Lori had said about how well Daryl had been taking care of her and the baby and she wondered for the first time why he would do that, and why her husband wouldn’t. She put it in the back of her mind for now, she would ask Daryl when she had a chance. If she was going to travel with these people, she needed to know their group dynamics a little better.
Thirty minutes into the trip, Rick flashed the truck lights, telling Daryl to stop. He and Melissa had been leading the tiny caravan on the bike and wouldn’t have known otherwise if something was wrong. He helped her off the motorcycle and held onto her longer that he probably should have. When Rick, Glenn and Maggie came running out of the truck, he let her go and ran over to them. “What the hell’s going on?” Maggie pushed past them and ran into the woods.
“Maggie’s sick,” was all Glenn said, worry apparent on his face. He moved to follow her into the woods, but Melissa stopped him.
“I’ll go. You guys stay here. Talk amongst yourselves. We’ll be back soon.” She followed the path the other woman had taken and found her about twenty feet from the tree line, offering up her meager breakfast back to the Earth. “Maggie? Are you okay?”
“I don’t know,” she said. Her chest was heaving and her face was pale and flushed. “I was just fine and all of a sudden, my breakfast started rebelling. I don’t know if it was the way Rick was driving, or . . . . . . ah shit!” Melissa had to turn her head, she didn’t want to start a chain reaction of puke. When Maggie was done, she glanced at the woman sympathetically, noticing bits of strawberry filling on the ground.
“Carol did say the pop tarts were a little stale. Maybe they went bad?” said Melissa, offering her words as comfort.
“Don’t know, don’t care. I just want it to stop.” Melissa put her hand on Maggie’s back and rubbed it gently. Her momma had done that for her when she’d had the stomach flu once, and it had calmed her down. After twenty minutes without throwing up, Maggie slowly got to her feet. “Thank you. That made me feel a lot better.”
“I think not throwing up made you feel better. Let’s go find you a bottle of water, maybe there will be something in one of the houses to calm your stomach. We don’t have much farther to go.” Maggie wrapped her arms around Melissa and hugged her tightly.
“You really are one of us, ya know. You’re a perfect fit for this family. We’re lucky to have found you.”
“Thank you Maggie. I’m lucky you found me too. Let’s get you back to Glenn. He was worried sick.” As they made their way back to the vehicles, Glenn came running as soon as he saw them. He kissed his woman and held her tight, leading her back to the truck.
“Is she gonna be alright?” Rick asked.
“Yeah, I think so. It was probably either bad pop tarts or your driving,” she said. Rick looked at her with surprise. “It was the pop tarts most likely” she said and patted him on the shoulder before walking to the bike.
Daryl followed closely behind and helped her back on the bike. “You sure she’s gonna be okay?”
“Pretty sure. I told her I’d try to find something for her stomach once we get to the development.”
“Wait,” he said, turning to look at her, “didn’t you have a pop tart too?”
“Yeah, but I feel fine. Guess we’ll just wait and see.”
About forty-five minutes later, Daryl pulled to a stop outside the entrance to the development. Everyone grabbed their weapons and huddled together before they went in. “The streets look pretty clear, but we go in, check it out. If everything looks good, we’ll come back and get the vehicles,” Rick said, barking out his orders. Everyone complied, even Melissa, who, as happy as she was to help, still didn’t appreciate being told what to do. That is something else she would have to talk to Daryl about. They walked in, Daryl taking point with Rick, Glenn and Maggie following and Melissa bringing up the rear. Nothing had changed since they had been here a few days ago, at least nothing that anyone other than Daryl and Melissa noticed. Once they had made a round through the neighborhood, they walked back to the entrance. Daryl figured out that Melissa had noticed it too when she didn’t make a move to get back on the bike. Rick, Glenn and Maggie got into the truck and rolled right in, Daryl and Melissa behind them, walking the bike.
When they arrived at the house the four had stayed in previously, the two pedestrians took Rick aside to talk. “Ya see that box truck up a ways on the next street?” Rick nodded his head. “That weren’t there three days ago. Don’t know where it came from, who it is or if they’re still here. We gotta stay on alert.”
“Why didn’t Maggie or Glenn say anything?” the leader asked.
“Probably didn’t notice,” Melissa said. “They get wrapped up in themselves sometimes.”
“That they do,” Rick said.
“How is Maggie? She seems to be alright now.”
“Yeah, she got her color back and hasn’t complained about her stomach. I think you were right, about the pop tarts, ‘cause it sure as hell ain’t my driving.” Rick said and smiled.
They entered the house cautiously, just as they had before. When the all clear was given, they brought in their bags. Daryl took his and Melissa’s stuff upstairs to one of the bedrooms and dropped it off. When he was back downstairs he heard the other four in the kitchen, making a plan. They would check out the other houses in two groups; Glenn, Maggie and Rick in the first and Daryl and Melissa in the second. They decided to clear four more houses. That way everybody could have one and live with whomever they choose. They were to grab whatever supplies they could find and then reconvene back at home base when they were finished. The first house that Daryl and Melissa went to looked a lot like the one they has stayed in before. Same trinkets and baubles lying about, same color carpet and drapes. The biggest difference was what they found in the master bedroom. A family; a husband, wife, son, daughter and a baby, no more than six months old. They had all been shot in the head, every one of them, even the baby. Daryl assumed the father had killed his family then taken his own life, because the gun was still in his hand. He ushered Melissa out of the room and back down stairs. Somewhere between walking out the bedroom door and arriving in the living room, she had stated crying. Daryl held her and rubbed her back. “Is that the first time you ever seen anything like that?”
“Yes,” she said, between sobs.
“Alright. You sit on the couch, get yourself together. I’ll go back up and finish checking it out. I’ll get Rick and Glenn to help me move he bodies later.” As he turned to leave, she took his arm.
“I can do it. I can help you. I’m strong enough to do it.”
He sighed and said, “I know you are. I know you want to, but you don’t need to. You don’t have to do shit like that anymore. I don’t want ya to. I want to do this for ya, so you don’t have to. It’s what we do for each other. We share in the heavy lifting. You can rest for a while.” He went back upstairs and she sat on the plastic covered couch. It took him about twenty minutes to check the rest of the house and grab some supplies. “I fit what I could in my bag. There’s lots more stuff up there, we can come back and get it later. Let’s check the kitchen, then move on.” They found a few cans of veggies and boxes of pasta which Melissa put in her bag. Then they moved on to the next house.
The house next door was not nearly as furnished as the other two they had been in. This one was completed, but hadn’t been moved into. There was no furniture, pictures, decorations or food. Daryl decided that when they brought the rest of the group in, he would ask Melissa to share this one with him. When they arrived back at home base, Rick and the others hadn’t returned yet. They noticed that the box truck was gone too. When they went inside, they unpacked their booty, each snagging a few items for themselves. They took their stuff and went upstairs to the bedroom Daryl had picked out for them. They hadn’t really spoken to each other since they found the family. Melissa was clearly bothered by the unexpected find, but was keeping it to herself. She went to the window and looked out toward the street. The blinds were mostly closed, so no one could see her standing there in the open. Daryl was sitting on the bed, his back to her. He could hear her sniffling, trying to keep her tears from him. He turned his head and held out his hand. “Come here. Sit with me.” She walked around to him and sat close, he put his arm around her and she rested her head on his shoulder. “Talk to me darlin’.”
“I’ve seen them before, you know that. It wasn’t what I saw that bothered me, it’s who they were.” She was full on crying at this point. She hadn’t cried once since the beginning of all this shit. She’d felt anger and loneliness, but not sadness. “They were a family. They loved each other. Can you imagine how hard it must have been for him to do that? To watch his family die at his own hands and then take his own life? The children, the baby. A baby Daryl! But they died together, as a family. If something had happened to me, I would have died alone; alone and angry.” He stood up and knelt on the floor in front of her. Placing one hand on her knee and one on her chin, he raised her face to meet his.
“You are not alone. You will never be alone again. I know your anger. I’ve felt it before, I still feel it, but you and me, we gotta let go of it. We got each other now, and Rick, Carol, Hershel. I never had a real family, not like this, not like you did. Nobody ever loved me, cared about me, or protected me. I don’t even think my brother ever gave a shit about me. He just dragged me along with him wherever he went ‘cause he felt guilty ‘bout never being there when I was growing up. I never had a mom and dad like you did. I’ve been alone since I was born practically, but I’m not anymore. You’re not either. I care about you and I can’t lose you. I’m not expecting ya to say anything back. I know you’re still trying to figure that part out.” When Melissa was about to respond, they heard the front door open, telling them their companions had returned. Daryl place a chaste kiss on her lips and stood. “I’ll go downstairs and check in with everybody. You stay up here as long as you need to. Sleep a bit, might make ya feel better.”
Glenn greeted him at the bottom of the stairs. “Hey man, how did it go?”
“Everything was fine. Found a bunch of supplies. We’re gonna go back before we leave and get the rest.” They walked into the living room where Rick and Maggie were writing a list. “What ya planning for now?” he asked them.
“We’re just trying to figure out what this place needs for us to live here. Where’s Melissa?” Rick asked.
“She’s upstairs resting.”
“Oh my god! Is she okay? Did something happen?” Maggie asked frantically.
“She’s fine, just a little upset. We found a family in the first house we checked. Mom, dad, two little kids and a baby. Looked like the dad shot ‘em in the head then did himself. She’d never seen anything like that before. Bothered her quite a bit. Told her to get some sleep if she can.”
“I’m gonna go check on her,” Maggie said and headed toward the stairs.
“Don’t wake her up if she’s sleeping. She needs it.” Daryl told her.
“Yes sir. I’m just gonna stick my head in the door. She means a lot to us too Daryl, just want to let her know were here if she needs us.”
Maggie went to the door and knocked lightly, she could hear crying in the room. “Come in,” Melissa said. She was standing in front of the window again.
“Hey sweetheart. How ya doing? Daryl told us what happened.”
“I’m gonna be okay, thanks. I just never seen that before. Made me think of my family.”
“If you want to talk about it, I’m here. You know that, right?”
“Thanks. Never had anyone I could talk to before. It means a lot, but not right now, maybe tomorrow. How are you feeling? Still sick?”
“No, not since this morning. I’m real tired though.” She paused and put her arms around her friend. “I’ll let you rest. Daryl will have my ass if you don’t get some sleep.”
“Can’t sleep. Can’t get that picture out of my head. I’ll go back downstairs with you. If he wants to bitch, he can bitch to me. I think I can take it.” Melissa replied.
“Yeah,” Maggie said, “I think ya can.”
Daryl gave a hard look to the two woman as they descended the staircase. “What the hell are ya doing down here?” he asked, exasperated. “Thought I told ya to rest.”
“Just can’t right now. Too much going on. I’ll be fine, just wanna help ya’ll make your plans. Maybe it will take my mind off of things.” Daryl nodded his head slightly and pulled a chair out for her to sit. Rick started the conversation back by asking Daryl about the box truck they had seen earlier.
“It was gone when we got back. We should keep our profile low, but I’m sure they know we’re here. Just gotta hope they’re like us, just trying to find a place to live. Don’t think we should approach them though, just in case. Need to keep our guard up, they could be dangerous. Maybe tonight, after it gets dark, we could scout around by where that truck was. We’ll keep an eye out to see if it comes back, maybe we can see who they are.”
“You’re right Daryl. We should stay inside till dark. Close up the windows and doors. If the truck comes back, we’ll arrange watch groups.” Rick, Daryl and Glen started boarding up the front and back doors and the windows, while Maggie and Melissa started putting dinner together. An hour later, the sun was beginning to set and Daryl made a fire, like he had before. This time, he and Melissa sat next to each other, so close their knees were touching. Dinner was a mostly silent affair, Maggie didn’t each much in fear the retching would return. Sometime during the meal, as the sun disappeared beyond the horizon, the box truck returned. Each member of the group grabbed a weapon and found a spot by a window and peered through the slats. The angle of sight was strained, but between the five of them, they saw a man get out of the driver’s side and two from the passenger’s. The two men from the passenger’s side looked rough, as if they had spent a considerable amount of time in the woods, but the man who had been driving looked very well put together. Even in the darkness they could tell he was wearing a nice pair of khaki pants and a button down shirt, as if he were coming home from a hard day at the office.
They watched the men enter the house that the truck was parked in front of. They knew one of them had noticed the truck and bike because he was pointing in that direction and talking to the man who had been driving. When all three men had gone into the house and closed the door behind them, Rick spoke. “They saw the vehicles. I think we should just pack up what we can and leave tonight. We don’t know if they have more men in that house. We could be out numbered.”
“They’ll hear the truck and definitely the bike. We don’t need to draw them out if we don’t have to,” Glenn said. They all looked to Daryl then, as if he shit magic out of his ass. He squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“We could go out on foot, scout around in the dark. See if we can get a look in the house. If their smart, they’ll have at least one person on watch. Try to avoid them. If we’re caught or seen, get the hell in the truck, I’ll follow up on the bike. By that time, noise won’t matter anyway. Get your weapons and any supplies you can carry on your person. We go in five.” As Melissa started to go upstairs, Daryl took her by the wrist. “You stay with me, don’t leave my sight, and don’t let me out of yours. Let’s grab what we can.”
When she closed the bedroom door behind them, she asked, “I thought Rick was the almighty leader of this group? You sounded very authoritative back there Mr. Dixon.”
As he threw stuff in his bag, he huffed out a laugh. “Rick thinks this ain’t a democracy no more. He wants to think we follow him blindly, and I guess, to a point we do, but most of the time, he comes to me for advice and answers. I don’t tell nobody, don’t want to make him look bad, but I’m more of a strategist than he is and he knows it. I just let everybody else think he’s the man making the decisions. I don’t think he knows what he’s doing really, not out here in this shit anyway. I do. I spent more time out in the woods and trying to survive than anything else my whole life. He trusts me, I don’t let him regret it.”
“He’s lucky to have you. All those people would probably be dead by now if it weren’t for you. You find them food, shelter and protect them. You do that Daryl, not Rick. I’m grateful you’ve let me get to know you. Maybe some of your strategery will rub off on me.”
“Stop it smartass. Just pack your bag so we can get the hell on with this shit.” Before they left the room, he handed her the flannel he had packed. “Put this on, it’ll protect your arms, not much, but it’s better than nothing.” As she buttoned the shirt, she looked around the room one last time.
“I was looking forward to sleeping in that bed tonight.”
“Me too darlin’. If we can clear these asshole out, and we get to come back and live here, I promise you we’ll have our own bed in our own house. I already got it picked out.”
“Our house? You and me, together?”
“Only if ya want that. Don’t want ya to feel uncomfortable. I’m probably not easy to live with.”
“I’m sure I’m not either,” she said, “but I would love that.” She stood on her tip toes and kissed him hard. He snaked his arms around her waist and kissed her back with equal enthusiasm. “Bet the almighty leader is waiting on us,” she said as she tore herself away from him. They put their packs on their backs and walked out the door. Everyone was heading out the back when they got downstairs. Daryl held his crossbow up and ready as the group worked their way around the back of the house. Not knowing if they were being watched or listened to, he used signs to direct them where to go. When they got to the other occupied house, there were no lights on inside or out. Rick, Glenn and Maggie, being the larger of the two groups, approached the house, while Daryl and Melissa went to investigate the truck.
The trio crept as stealthily as they were able up to the front of the house. All the curtains were closed and with the addition of no lights, they couldn’t see a thing. They managed to work their way around the side and into the back yard where the moonlight illuminated the area enough that they could see where they were going without falling and possibly bringing attention to themselves. Glenn and Maggie broke away from Rick and walked off into the yard to get a better look, while Rick continued to try and look inside the windows. While he stood contemplating his options, he suddenly felt the tip of a gun against the back of his head and heard it cock. “Put down your weapon,” said a deep, dark voice. “We were willing to let you and your people be, but now that you’ve tried to get in our business, can’t let ya’ll go. Let’s go get your friends over there, see what the Governor thinks we should do with you.”
Daryl wasn’t too surprised to find the truck unlocked. He climbed in on the driver’s side, but there was nothing to be found, not even a map in the glove box. He got out and went around to the back where Melissa was waiting for him. “The back is unlocked too,” she said. “Sounds like there might be something in there, or someone. Didn’t want to open it until you came back. Didn’t want to do something stupid.”
“Good girl,” he said, and put his hand on her shoulder. “I’ll open it up, you stand back.” She took about five steps back and unholstered her Beretta, aiming it at the back door of the truck. He counted down from three and yanked the door open. “Fuck! Run!” he screamed and grabbed her hand pulling her down the street toward his motorcycle. She scrambled to keep up with him and outrun the walkers that were falling from the back of the box truck.