Hope Is a Waking Dream

Chapter 5

Maybe she wasn’t as ignorant as he had hoped she was. She seemed like she could track pretty well and she’s quiet enough in the woods. Before he had come out to fetch Carl, he had been in the cabin with the others and everybody was talking about her; Herschel and Carol talking about how all her fierceness was just a defense mechanism. He’d heard that about himself when he was younger. That’s what his high school guidance counselor had said about him. He’d had a lot more anger then, but he still didn’t understand it. Apparently, she had given in and was letting them stay, as long as they left her alone. Not a fucking problem, Daryl thought. There should be some good hunting around here. He had done pretty well this morning, maybe he could find a deer later when he went out with Carl. Before he walked out the door, Carol stopped him and asked if they could talk. They walked into the second bedroom; the one Melissa had been sleeping in, until last night. “She’s not giving in to us Daryl. She’s not fighting anymore because she feels she can’t win against us. She said she’s resigned to it, not accepting it. I know you’ve just been trying to protect us, but you don’t need to do that from her. She won’t hurt us unless we threaten her. Be nice Daryl. Herschel seems to think that the two of ya’ll have something in common, besides your aggressive personalities. You’ve grown in these past months, you’re not as angry as you were at the quarry. Since Merle’s been gone, you’ve become a better man. You’ve moved out from under his shadow and you can be the man you’ve always wanted to be. You’re a compassionate man Daryl. We’ve all seen it, when you were looking for my little girl. You didn’t have to do that, there was no obligation on your part. That was by your own volition, you made that choice. We’ll need to make sure that girl knows we won’t hurt her or take from her. She’s skittish, just like you were. Only you know how to get through that. Remember how you felt at the quarry when you thought you had to fight us all the time? That’s her now. You can make this better for all of us if you try.”
“What do ya’ll want from me woman?” Daryl said, exasperated. “She don’t wanna have nothing to do with me, not after this morning anyway. If this is up to me, then we’re all fucked.” He stands and walks out the door, leaving Carol sitting on the bed. On his way to the backdoor, he can see Rick and Herschel talking and looking at him. He speeds up and gets out the door before the two can bat an eye. What does he see as he goes outside? Her, talking to Carl. She had better not be talking shit to him, he’d put her in her place, again. As he got closer, he heard her ask why he was out by himself. Before he knew it, the three of them were in the woods together. She had identified the tracks as a small deer and she had been right. Maybe she does know her shit. She has been completely alone since the beginning of this thing; at least that’s what she had told everybody. At least she was quieter than the boy was; he stomped over every leaf and branch on the ground. She wasn’t chatty either, benefits of being alone for so long he guessed. She probably kept her thoughts to herself, just like him.
Finally, he could hear a creek up ahead. Hopefully, dinner had stopped for a drink. When Carl spotted him, or her, he had shushed them and assumed the position. Aiming and taking a deep breath, he let the bolt fly. Perfect shot, duh. It hadn’t been a bad afternoon after all, considering the company, until she opened her mouth. He didn’t give a shit about what Carol had said or what Rick or Herschel thought, he’d be damned if he was gonna let an arrogant little bitch talk to him like that. Guess they all were fucked.
The walk back to camp was excruciating, but thankfully silent. Carl could sense the anger in both of them. He had tried to talk to Melissa, but he didn’t think he did a very good job. He heard Herschel tell her that she and Daryl were alike, so he thought if they could have time to talk and get to know each other, they would get along. Maybe he could get Beth or Carol to help, they knew about relationships. He had heard his mom once say that opposites attract. Maybe she’s right, ‘cause these two had the exact same personality and were at each other’s throats. When they got back to camp, everyone praised Daryl for the feast he had brought them. Melissa had been walking behind them for some time and it took her ten minutes to catch up. When she appeared at the tree line, Carl ran up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Thank you so much for going with us. Can you take me out again tomorrow?”
“Daryl doesn’t want me going with ya’ll anymore, remember?”
“I meant just you and me. Dad will say it’s okay. You helped keep me safe; you’re a good tracker. Daryl will vouch for you.” He said excitedly.
“Daryl will not vouch for me. He’s so pissed right now; he wouldn’t put me out of my misery if I was bit. He’ll make sure your dad doesn’t want you anywhere near me.”
“Not if I get to him first. Daryl’s real sensitive ‘bout people thinking he’s stupid. Maybe if you said you’re sorry, he won’t be mad anymore.” Carl said and gave her puppy dog eyes.
“I’ll think about it.” She said and went into the cabin. Carol and Lori were busy cutting the meat for dinner, well Carol mostly; Lori was trying not to wretch. “So, how did he do?” Lori asked her.
“I think he did a great job. He needs to work on stealth, he has heavy footsteps, but he’s gonna be a great tracker. He’s very observant. Notices things you wouldn’t think he did. Got to be careful around him,” she said and laughed despite herself.
“Believe me,” Lori said, “I’ve already learned that. We washed some clothes in that brook half a mile up. There are clean ones for you if ya want to get out of those nasty ones.”
“You washed my clothes?” Melissa questioned. “Why?”
“We were washing ours, made sense to do yours too. Would’ve been ridiculous not to.” Lori replied. Great, Melissa thought, now I owe them.
“Thank you. That was thoughtful of you. It’s appreciated. I’m gonna go up to the brook and wash up a little. Probably won’t be more than an hour. If I can do anything to help ya’ll out, let me know.” She said that last part reluctantly, but she meant it. She’d never been indebted to anyone her whole life, she wasn’t going to start with these fuckers. She took the clothes that were laying on the bed she had been sleeping in until recently and gabbed a towel and her knife on her way out the door. She reached the brook in ten minutes and realized she was alone. She had thought maybe the redneck had made his way down here, but if he had, he was gone now. She placed her clothes and towel on a tree stump by the brook. Not much water to work with, but enough to get clean. She looked around her one last time to make sure she was alone and began to undress. Shirt and bra first, then socks, boots, pants and panties. Her wash never took too long, this was a bad spot to be caught naked if any dead ones came by, live ones too for that matter.
He crouched behind the trees and bushes on the opposite side of the brook. He had just got his clothes on when he heard her very faint footsteps. She was silent; he’d give her that. He was well hidden, he assumed, if he hadn’t been, she wouldn’t be stripping in front of him. Good God, she was taking off her fucking clothes, all of them. Well, he thought, that’s unexpected. He just sat there, crouched to the ground like a damn salivating dog. He hadn’t seen a woman’s body since before the world went to shit, long before the world went to shit. Those girls didn’t look like her. There had barely been a handful of them, but he remembered that none of them had tits like that. They were as big as his fucking hands, and his hands were pretty fucking big. Even though he could see her ribs, she had the sexiest curves he’s ever seen. Hell, none of those girls had curves at all. The way her body dipped at her hips and rounded out at her ass made his dick twitch. The brook was way too small to submerge in, so he could see all of her as she moved her hands over her body. He had to get out of there before he got too hard, but he just couldn’t control it. Fuck it, he told himself. No one’s gonna know, she can’t see him and as long as he can keep quiet, he wouldn’t attract walkers.
He sat on his knees in the dirt and leaves. As quietly as he could, he unzipped and pulled his dick out already rock hard and leaking. He pumped himself hard and fast watching her hands rubbing those beautiful tits, running over her stomach and moving between her thighs. He came in record time. He was never able to last too long, with or without a woman, but this was outrageous. He closed his eyes tight and bit his lip as he spilled all over the ground. He took a moment to calm his heartbeat and slow his breathing. He tucked himself inside his pants before he looked back to where Melissa was bathing. Faster than he thought he could, he grabbed his bow and started running to the other side of the brook when he saw a walker step out from behind the tree Melissa had her back to.