Full Time Job

The next morning, I worked to quickly pack our supplies with the members of our group. We were going to the place where the horsed brunette girl had told us where Rick, Lori, Shane and Carl were. Daryl and I had not spoken since the night before and I actually made every attempt to avoid him and the angry looks he would give me.

After we were all packed, we filed into the vehicles and nervously prepared to leave camp. Vinny and I were tucked safely in the RV with Carol and Dale. We watched out the small, gritty RV window and rolled my eyes as I saw Daryl kick start a motorcycle and it grumbled loudly to life. Of course he would choose to drive that death trap, and he was concerned that my yelling at him last night would attract walkers. I sighed audibly and shook my head.

We drove for about twenty minutes and followed Daryl, perched on top of his rumbling bike as he pulled into a fielded area with a large white farm house in the center of the property. It was exactly as the girl on the horse had told us. Rick and Lori were standing outside with the same brunette girl from the night before, an older man with white hair, and a group of other people that had to have lived here on the farm.

“Where are we, Zia?” I heard Vinny ask, grabbing my hand.

“We’re at a farm, I think… We’re here to find Mr. Rick and Mrs. Lori…” Vinny nodded, and stared out the window. We came to a stop near the farm house and I picked Vinny up, slung him on my waist, and exited the RV behind Dale and Carol. The loud rumbling from Daryl’s motorcycle halted and we walked quietly as a group, approaching Rick and Lori.

“This here’s Hershel,” Rich started, motioning towards the older man, who I noticed was dressed nicer than any of us. He was wearing a crisp white linen shirt with suspenders and gray pleated pants.

“He saved my boy,” he said, and told us the story of how Carl was accidentally shot in a hunting accident by one of Hershel’s people the night before. I peered over at Shane, who had now shaved his head into a buzz cut and who was looking awkwardly at all of us. Otis, Hershel’s man that shot Carl, was killed the night before trying to get medical equipment with Shane to save Carl. I looked over to Carol, surprised, and her expression mirrored mine.

We joined Hershel’s people as they held a memorial service for their lost man. The mood was tense as we dispersed after the service. I joined Carol, still holding Vinny, as she and Rick and Shane were going over the plans to continue to search for Sophia. Rick had acquired a map of the area from Hershel and they were marking off search grids on the large map.

Daryl had walked up next to Carol and was listening intently and staring at the map in front of him. Vinny had whispered to me that he was hungry, so I patted Carol’s shoulder and walked back to the RV, where my backpack was left. She nodded towards me and went back to focusing on the map and Rick talking in front of her.

I heard Daryl walking next to me before I saw him. I didn’t make eye contact with him as he asked, “You aren’t thinkin’ of searchin’ are ya? With him?” he asked, and I assumed he was talking about Vinny. A guilty feeling pinged in my stomach and I answered, “No, Daryl…” and kept walking. I felt terrible that I couldn’t be of more help to Carol, she was trekking out in the forest today. It seemed as if everyone was.

“Well who’s staying with ya? We don’t know these people…” he sputtered out and I stopped walking and turned towards him.

“Why do you care?” I asked, anger escaping my tone of voice.

“I don’t!” he rebutted, looking heatedly towards me and abruptly turned and walked back towards Rick and the search party. I sighed in frustration and continued towards camp. He can’t keep flip-flopping to being worried about us and burning with anger every other time he was around me. I couldn’t keep up. When we had reached the camper, I pulled some airline crackers from my bag and opened them up for Vinny. He looked sweetly up at me.

“Thank you, Zia. I wish you weren’t so sad at me.” He said as he popped a cracker into his mouth. My heart broke. I sat down on the RV step next to him and placed an arm around him.

“I’m not sad at you, baby. I’m never ever sad at you…” I said as I kissed the top of his head.
“Why can’t I help find Sophia too?” he asked through bites of cracker.

“Well, if you are helping find Sophia then who’s going to protect me?” I asked, smoothing his hair that always stuck up in the front. He contemplated that for a moment as he chewed.

“Daryl Dixon?” he asked and I chuckled loudly.

“You’re funny, little boy,” I said as I stole a cracker from the bag he was holding.

We spent the rest of the afternoon alone. I was folding clean laundry from the day before when the brunette girl had walked towards us, carrying a basket of apples, peaches and berries. She smiled towards us as she walked over.

“Hello,” she said nicely as she approached.

“Hi!” Vinny answered in a bright friendly voice. I smiled.

“My name’s Maggie. What’s yours, partner?” she asked, kneeling next to Vinny who had been playing with his toy gun.

“Vinny…” he said proudly as I walked over to them.

“I’m Gia,” I said, extending my hand towards her. “Thank you so much for letting us stay here…”

She smiled a friendly grin, shook my hand, and answered, “Maggie. Pleasure is ours. It’s nice to know that there’s still people out there…” I nodded in agreement.

“Can we help with anything?” I asked and she shrugged lightly.

“I’m going to run to the local Pharmacy with one of yours, Glenn?” she started and I smiled.

“Glenn is a good guy to have around,” I said and she smiled back.

“Well, why don’t you guys come up and meet everyone in the house? They’re getting around to cookin’ dinner.” She motioned to the farm house behind her shoulder.

“Sure…” I responded shyly, scooping up Vinny and following her to the house. She made light small talk and I began to relax a little. She seemed like a good person.

I stepped into the kitchen and was warmly welcomed by the women bustling inside. Vinny and I were introduced to Patricia and Beth.

I had agreed to shuck corn for them for the dinner they were preparing for everyone. I welcomed the work, it kept my mind busy and the simple task was grounding. It reminded me of cooking Sunday dinners with my family when I was growing up.

After an hour or so, when dusk was approaching, the search parties for Sophia began to return, still with no luck of locating her. We ate dinner with Hershel’s people, and then our group sat together outside around a fire. I watched as Daryl walked up to the group, rolled his eyes in annoyance, and took the only seat left which was next to me. Vinny was resting his head on my shoulder, slowly falling asleep. I got up and placed him in the RV, locking him in with the wooden plank behind me.

When I exited the camper, Rick approached me and walked with me back to the fire.
“How are you doing?” he asked, looking over towards me as we walked.

“As good as I can be, I guess,” I answered quietly and I took my seat back at the fire. He knelt next to me. Daryl peeked over at us suspiciously.

“Listen, Gianna… Hershel and his people don’t agree with the fact that we are all carrying. He’s asked that I round up the guns from everyone in exchange for putting us up...” He said gently, but authority rang in his voice. I nodded and pulled the black Glock from my jeans and handed it gingerly to him.

“I understand, no worries…” I started. He nodded, thanked me, and took his spot again next to his wife.

“…lotta good it’s done for ya, anyway…” I heard Daryl growl out and I didn’t even bother to respond.

One by one, members of group had left the circle to go to bed. Carol, Daryl and I were the last few awake.

“Gia, I’m heading to bed,” she said, getting up and patting my shoulder.

“Carol, didn’t you say earlier that there was a pond nearby?” she nodded and pointed towards the woods.

“It’s about a half mile that way,” she said quietly. “You’re not thinking of going by yourself, I hope?” she asked, the nurturing tone still in her voice despite all she was going through with Sophia.

“Of course not…” I stood up and Daryl stared silently into the fire. “C’mon, I’ll lock ya in…” I placed an arm around her shoulders and walked the short distance to the camper next to her. I entered the RV behind her, grabbed my back pack, and kissed Vinny’s cheek. I quickly wished Carol a good night, and exited the RV, locking the door closed with the wooden plank.

I pulled the flashlight from my backpack, closed it and slung it over my shoulder and turned towards the direction that Carol had pointed out, clicked the light on and headed towards the pond. I was trying to build up excitement to wash my filthy body in the pond to overcome the fear of the dark night that was creeping into my emotions. I needed a bath so badly. Nerve was building in my gut as I trekked past the fire pit, where Daryl was still sitting at.

“Hey! Where ya goin’, princess?” I heard him call behind me, but I ignored him and kept walking. I sensed him walking behind me and tried to yank my arm loose when he had grabbed it.

“Where ya goin’?” he asked again. I continued walking.

“…to the pond. I need to wash my hair…” I said, focusing on the ring of light on the ground in front of me from the flashlight. He matched my pace.

“You’re not going by yourself...” he said, trying to hold authority in his voice.

“What, do you want to come along?” I asked, exasperated, peering up to his eyes, attempting eye contact with him which I had avoided all day.

“Guess I have to …” he said in a frustrated voice.

“I thought you didn’t care?” I asked, shining the flashlight towards the edge of the woods that we were approaching. He grunted in frustration and did not answer.

I slowed my pace as we reached the line of trees, shining the light around me. He was watching my face as I began walking again. Suddenly, he grabbed my arm and I again tried to yank it loose.

“Pond’s this way, princess…” he said, chuckling slightly. I huffed, rolled my eyes and walked in the direction he was pointing. We walked in silence and I threw my pack down onto a large rock when we approached the small pond. I shined the light in a circle around us and all was quiet.

I opened my backpack and pulled out a half full bottle of shampoo and a travel sized bottle of body wash that I had found the day before and Daryl was looking down at my hands as they pulled the bottles out of my bag. I pushed the flashlight into his hands.

“Turn away!” I instructed angrily and he rolled his eyes, and turned to face the way opposite of me. I pulled my shirt and jeans off and felt the cool night air hit my skin. I stepped out of my tennis shoes and socks and slowly trudged into the water, wearing nothing but my bra and underwear. The ground was muddy, but the water felt so good against my skin.

I knelt in the water and felt the water envelope my body up to my shoulders. I sighed deeply and dipped my head back, feeling my hair sink into the water. It was wonderfully relaxing.
I sensed the flashlight circling the woods and squinted as it passed over me. I couldn’t see Daryl as the light was blinding me. The stream of light grew steady as he set the flashlight on the rock, facing towards the woods to the side of us. In the moonlight, I could see that he had sat down on the rock that I had put my bag on. He clutched the side of the rock on each side of his thighs and drummed his fingers impatiently. I smiled to myself.

“Ya know, it doesn’t make me a bad person,” I said clearly, loud enough for him to hear me.

“What?” I heard him ask.

“The fact that I froze…that I couldn’t kill that old lady yesterday… I understand that she needed to be killed, but it doesn’t make me a bad person because I couldn’t do it…” I repeated, rubbing the lavender shampoo into my scalp.

“It wadn’t an ol’ lady anymore,” I heard him say, anger still in his voice.

“Why are you always so angry? Why do you hate me so much?” I asked, rinsing the bubbles from my hair. He was quiet for a minute.

“I don’t hate you,” he said, the anger in his voice was gone. I was combing my fingers through my hair. I looked over towards him incredulously. He was silent for awhile. The only sound in the woods around us was the sound of the water as it lapped around my body as I scrubbed the dirt off of my body with the body wash. It just smelled clean. The smell made me feel like a civilized human, and I welcomed the familiar feeling.

“Turn away again,” I ordered and after he turned, I stood up out of the water, goosebumps raised on my wet skin from the cold. I quickly walked over to the rock where my bag was sitting, standing directly behind him as his he faced the other way.

I pulled a clean pair of shorts from my pack and pulled them on over my wet body. They clung to the moisture on my skin. I was pulling a clean t shirt from my bag as I saw him turn around to face me. I tried to cover my body with my arms as I was still in my bra and shorts.

“Hey!” I said quickly, to which he interrupted, “I hate the way you make me feel, but I don’t hate you…” I watched as his eyes glanced over my exposed body. I swallowed nervously and pulled the shirt over my head, and walked over in front of him, still combing my fingers through my wet hair.

“I don’t make you feel anything…” I said angrily as I sat next to him and started to pull my shoes and socks back on.

“I hate that every morning when I wake up, I think about you. I worry that you’re not safe. After I saw that you can’t protect yourself, I hate that I feel like I gotta’ do it for you. And the kid. I hate that you make me nervous. And I really hate that you smell real good right now…” A nervous bubble emerged in my stomach as I felt the heat radiating off his body as he leaned closer to me. I chuckled nervously.

“You don’t have to protect…” I started but was interrupted as I felt his coarse lips press hard against mine. One of his hands grasped the side of my face and I felt the rough skin of his palm against my cheek. I couldn’t believe the strong desire I felt for this redneck guy... it confused the hell out of me, but I didn’t want to stop. I moved my lips with his and he began to grow rougher, his free hand squeezed my hip, pulling me closer. I moaned lightly against his lips and placed my hand on the back of his neck and he abruptly moved away.

He stood up quickly from his spot next to me, wrenching my grip on the back of his neck. I looked up at him wide eyed as the familiar angry scowl grew back onto his face.

“I hate this!” He snarled, and pulled the flashlight from the rock next to me. “…get your stuff princess, we’re leavin’ now!” My heart was beating quickly as I stood up and pulled my bag back over my shoulder, walking behind him, struggling to keep up with his faster pace. We walked quickly through the woods and I could see the small glow of our fire up ahead.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” I whispered loudly to him and when we reached the edge of the woods, he said, “Forget about it, princess…” and walked angrily ahead of me.

I was furiously collecting my thoughts as I watched him march directly into the tent he had set up that evening. He didn’t say another word. I unlocked the RV and climbed inside, pulled my wet hair into a ponytail and climbed into bed behind my nephew.
Sleep did not come easy for me.