𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝟔𝟎𝟓

𝟏 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫, 𝟕 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐬, 𝟒 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬

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I was about to get in the shower when I noticed a pair of scissors laying on the counter. I looked at myself in the window. My hair had gone from long, neat, and straight to messy, curly, and knotted. It was hard to take care of. So I took one last look at my hair, before reaching for the scissors. I carefully cut it, watching the pale strands of hair fall on the floor. I continued snipping away, until I had lost almost all of length. My hair was now barely down to chin, but I honestly liked it. I ran a brush through my hair, carefully tending to the greasy locks that stuck to my face. I got into the shower, carefully shampooing and conditioning my hair. I felt different, like I was changing. But in a good way.  

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I had come downstairs when I noticed everybody sitting down at the table. And Jesus at the end. Everyone had shocked expressions on their face as I walked over. "You cut your hair." Daryl observed. I nodded as I stood behind the table. Apparently, Jesus had escaped the cell they were holding him in.  

"We got off to a bad start." He spoke, talking to Daryl who was standing beside me. Yeah, we really didn't. I thought, but didn't speak up just yet. "You and Esmé had every reason to leave me out there, but you didn't." I took a deep breath, trying not to say anything. "I'm from a place that's a lot like this one. My job is to search for other settlements to trade with. I think our comminuted may be in a position to help each other."

Wait. Other communities? There's more people out there? I looked around, trying to figure out what the others had thought. Everyone seemed to look suspicious, but I was just surprised. "I can show you." Jesus spoke, trying to convince us. He reminded me of Aaron in a way.

I looked towards Daryl. "So wait you're looking for more settlements? You mean you're already trading with other groups?" He asked, his southern accent stronger than normal. We exchanged glances as Jesus leaned back in his chair, a sly grin on his face. 

"Your worlds about to get a whole lot bigger."

✦

I stood by Daryl as he prepared the camper. Denise walked over, offering a "homemade oat cake." I took a swig of water. "Nah, i'm good. We're gonna make a pit stop." Denise then walked over to me, "You take it then." It looked kind of nasty, but I took it. I carefully looked it over. 

"It looks like shit." Daryl mumbled after Denise was out of ear shot.  "Yeah, whatever." I said with a soft laugh. I took it the book-bag I had off of my shoulder, putting it in the front pocket. "Hope it tastes better than it looks." I grinned as he turned away, continuing to work on the camper. Everyone was getting ready to make the trip from here to "hilltop", what they called their community.

"We good?" I asked, as Daryl slammed the hood shut. "Yep." He responded, placing a hand on my shoulder as everyone started getting in. I walked over, shutting the door behind me. 

Maggie was asleep, while Glenn and Abraham were talking. I couldn't make out what they were saying, but I didn't really care. I sat on the bed in the back room, reading a book. It was some romance novel I didn't know the title of, considering the front pages had been torn off. I wasn't really that big on reading before the apocalypse, but it was a good book.

Daryl sat beside me on the bed, but we didn't talk. His gaze stayed fixed out of the window. I didn't mind though, the silence was comfortable and no where near as awkward as previous times we had been alone together. Rick slowed down, and Daryl got up. He stood in the doorframe. "Yo, Rick. What's goin on?" He asked as I dog-eared my page and walked over. 

"There's a crash ahead, looks like it just happened." Rick announced. I opened the blinds, as Jesus spoke up. "Looks like one of ours."  I quickly grabbed my knife out of my bag, following the others as they went out to investigate. For some reason, Rick thought it was a trick. He held a gun to Jesus's forehead as Jesus looked around. 

"Tracks right here." Daryl pointed to some footprints. I walked over, investigating them. We followed the tracks to a small office type building. "They gotta be in there." Jesus told Rick. "How do we know this ain't firecrackers in a trashcan?" I looked at Daryl. "We don't." I huffed, crossing my arms as we stood outside of the office. "You're staying here with one of us." Rick said, looking around before stoping at me. Seriously?  "Will you stay?" Rick asked me. Despite it being a question, I knew I didn't really have a choice. 

"Yeah, sure." I walked over to Jesus, pulling out my pistol. Rick handcuffed Jesus and gave me the keys. "Be careful." I announced, but more to Daryl than anyone else. "Yeah, I will." He gave my shoulder a light squeeze  before following the others inside.  

Jesus sat down on the concrete entrance and I held a pistol to his forehead. We waited outside, not saying anything to each other. They came out a few minutes late, I was surprised it didn't take them that long. We all got back into the camper. I grabbed my book and my backpack, bringing it up to the table where I sat. Daryl sat across from me. He didn't look up, he just picked at his hands. 

And then we came to another stop. Great. I stood up and walked over to the front, to get a better look "We're stuck." Rick announced, look back at Jesus who was now standing up. "Great. We're here." He opened the door and got out, everyone following behind him. 

There was a large wall made out of trees. It looked huge, and safe. I couldn't help but wonder how they did all of that. We followed Jesus up a dirt path to the main entrance. "Stop, Right there!" A voice called out from above. I looked up to see a person standing beside the large metal gates. "You gonna make us?!" Daryl yelled back, I gave him a look and he stopped talking. 

"Open the gates, Cal." Jesus told them, and they finally listened. Jesus led us to a large house in the middle of the hilltop. There were trailers, barns, chicken coops, everything. It was smaller than it looked, but seemed to have everything they needed. 

"That's the Barrington house." Jesus said, noticing how I was staring. It looked like a mansion, something I had never really seen growing up. "The family that owned it gave it to the state in the thirties." He continued to explain as we walked towards it. "The state turned it into a history museum." He finished as we arrived. 

A door opened and a relatively old man walked out, greeting Jesus, then addressing us. "This is Gregory, he keeps the trains running on time around here." Rick introduced himself after he finished speaking but was quickly interrupted when Gregory said "Why don't you all get washed up? Come back down here when you're ready." As he walked over, sizing Rick up. This old man who had just met him, sizing him up. I held back a laugh, biting my lip and turning my face so no one could tell. Jesus took us upstairs where everyone, reluctantly, washed up.

✦

Me, Daryl, and Abraham waited in near the entrance. I stood by the window, looking out when suddenly Abraham spoke. "How long do you think Rick and Michonne been urging bumplies?" I looked over, definitely surprised. Daryl looked over too, not fazed by the question. "I don't know." He replied, his voice a low grumble. "You ever think about it?" Now, that definitely got my attention. If I wasn't surprised yet, that definitely would've done it. I took a step back from the window as Abraham started walking over towards me. "Settling down?" 

I thought for a second. Would I?  Would it ever be possible in this world? Everything constantly changing, and as nice as it sounded I just couldn't imagine anything like that. I'd give anything to have a healthy relationship in this new world, but I just didn't know if it would ever be possible. And honestly? That scared me. "I don't know.." I mumbled before Daryl responded. "You think shits settled?" He asked, and quickly walked away. I could tell that question ticked him off. 

I know I shouldn't have, but I had to so I followed after him. He flopped over onto an old looking sofa. I sat on a chair across from him. "You okay?" I asked. He didn't look at me, he just kept his eyes glued to the floor. "I just don't get it, how someone could be happy in this world." I nodded. I knew what he meant, and I felt the same way. Maggie and Glenn made the most of it, even now that they were having a kid. I wondered if I would ever experience anything like that, ever again. 

"Must be nice." I eventually spoke up, breaking the comfortable silence with a forced laugh. Daryl looked up at me. Something looked different about him. I don't know what, but something changed. 

I didn't think about what I did next, I don't even know why I did it. He stood up as I walked over, as if he knew what I was going to do. I hadn't done anything like this in a while, but it just felt right.  Daryl leaned down as I stood on my tippy toes, meeting his head halfway as I kissed him. I felt his sweaty palms come up and cup my cheeks. After a few seconds I pulled away, looking up at him.

What just happened. "Sorry." I mumbled, avoiding his gaze. "No, no. I, I uhm liked it." He finally said after a few seconds, his southern accent prominent, despite his low tone. 

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