The Dead Walk the Earth

Chapter 5: Charlie's Day Alone

"Ay. Rise and shine, sunshine." Daryl said softly, nudging Charlie with his foot.

She groaned, "Five more minutes." she complained.

"C'mon. Five minutes is all I need, then you can sleep more." he told her softly as he shifted to get up.

She brought her hand up to her face, rubbed her eyes and sat up in the process. "What do you want?" she asked him, obviously annoyed that she'd been woken.

"How's your foot?" he asked, pulling on his shoes.

She sighed and stood to test it out, "Still a bit sore should be fine though."

"Yeah well, I ain't letting you screw up your foot so you can catcha couple a squirrel. You stay here for the day, rest. Tomorrow, I'll take you huntin' with me." he said. He took a sip of his water bottle, "What are you gonna do without me for a day?"

"Maybe I'll try and get the stench of your feet out of my nose." she joked while pushing his shoulder playfully. He smiled slightly and pushed her back.

"I'm gonna savor my hunting today, cause tomarra I'll be stuck with your annoying voice askin' me dumb questins every second," he said and walked away from her and into the kitchen. He opened cabinets, found a large stock of food and pulled out a few cans. He searched more of the draws and cabinets, then pulled out two spoons. He walked back over and handed Charlie a can and spoon, "Eat up."

"Yum! Beans," she exclaimed sarcastically. Daryl gave a half smile again then opened the can in his hand. They ate and finished in silence.

"Don't get too bored while I'm gone. Try and keep it down, don't draw attention to yourself. I won't go too far out so if anything happens and you need help, yell and I'll come running." he told her as he slung his crossbow over his shoulder. She threw him the hunting bag and he strapped that across his chest.

"Stay safe, keep your guard up. You're not back by six tonight, I'm coming after you," she warned him.

"Make it seven," he demanded.

"Six thirty." she countered.

He smirked, "Fine. Six thirty, I'll be back." he promised.

"Not a minute late," she told him as he opened the door. He threw up his hand, his middle finger sticking up above the rest. "Asshole!" she called after him.

"See ya later," he called. She smirked to herself and then laid back down on the couch, shut her eyes and slept some more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Dex. Stop it." she scolded the dog licking her face. She brought her wrist up her eyes and read 12:00 on her watch. She sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes, feeling refreshed from sleep. She got up and took a sip of water, rubbed the dog's head quickly, then decided to explore the cabin a bit.

She entered the bathroom first, then checked the water in the bathtub. It worked, running clear. From the past, Charlie knew that she could take a shower even with the power out, though the matter of hot water was another question. She got in quickly, being as brief as possible in the water. When she finished, she wrapped a fresh towel around herself and explored the rest of the house and let her hair dry in the process.

Charlie wandered out of the bathroom and into the room across the hall into what looked like a bedroom that belonged to a girl. She started checking all the drawers and pulled open the top one first to find some underwear still packaged and a few bras that looked like they'd fit her. Most were only one size too small, but she decided she'd take what she could get. She looked through the rest of the drawers and pulled out a pair of light blue jeans roughly her size and then over to the closet to look through the shirts where she pulled out a simple white tank top. She slipped that on and then pulled her military jacket over her shoulders. She found a pair of socks and pulled those on before lacing up her combat boots.