Daryl's Angel: Saviour (Book Two)

Chapter 43: Consequences

A lot of people die, but all of mine come home. Already, I have questions, because I can tell that something happened that they didn't plan for. Why else would they return so much later than planned, almost a whole day after the attack was supposed to start?

What's more, Daryl comes back on his motorcycle. His, as in the one he built with Aaron, and I wonder if that means he saw D and Honey again. Were they at the satellite station, and did he take his revenge on them?

I don't have much time to speak to him, as both Carol and Maggie need a doctor, and they take priority. While Denise cleans up cuts on Carol's hands, I clean and dress a cut on Maggie's stomach. There's bruising on her hip and back, too. When I ask, Maggie doesn't say much, just that she and Carol were captured by a few Saviours while they were on watch. They're dead now, too.

Aside from them, everyone else is fine. When Carol and Maggie leave, I find myself leaning against the kitchen island, staring at nothing as I mull it all over.

"You okay?" Denise asks. She cocks her head a bit, hand on her hip. "Looks like it went okay. There's nothing to worry about."

"I'm just...surprised," I admit. "I guess I'm shocked it's over so easily."

"We can focus on better things now," Denise says. She smiles a tiny bit. "Like fresh vegetables and a new community to ally with."

"Yeah." I return her smile, then clear my throat as I focus on the curio cabinet that holds our medicines. The bottles are starting to look scant. "We're low on meds. I think we should make a list of what we need most. I'll look into making supplements in the meantime."

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Things seem peaceful. I wonder if we deserve it.

I spent two days keeping myself busy, doing target practice, walking Tabitha, weeding the garden, and keeping tabs on everyone to make the time until our people returned pass faster. Morgan hid away in the unfinished house we've been using as a detention centre and built a real jail cell. When I asked him about it, he said he wanted to give us options for next time. Conversations didn't bloom past that. There is something haunted about that man, something I don't quite understand.

I spent two days keeping myself busy, preparing for the worst, and now, everyone's back and it's just...over? It's like a shock to my system, expecting hardship and not receiving it. Since when has that ever been the case?

Things are okay, I tell myself. We have food. We've expanded our horizons past our walls and found allies. It's a good life. I don't need to keep waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Daryl has been quiet since they got back. I don't try to engage him in conversation; I'm just glad that his silence isn't paired with avoiding me this time around.

It's early when I get to the infirmary. Denise is already up, looking over a map as she sips her coffee. I scratch Tabitha's rump in greeting as I come through the door, holding it ajar and letting her run onto the porch. I join Denise at the kitchen island.

She looks up at me as I sit down across from her, hand startling against the map. I raise an eyebrow but she starts talking before I can say a word.

"I was thinking about our medicine problem," she says. "I couldn't sleep last night and I remember this place I saw on my way up here. An apothecary. It could have drugs."

I look at the map, where she's circled a spot by a major road in red ink. "That could be valuable. I can mention it to Daryl, ask him to check it out."

"Oh, well..." She fidgets. "I wanted to go, actually."

I look up at her, raising a brow. "Alone?"

"No! Of course not, but...maybe, you could ask Daryl to come with me? I'm already planning to ask Rosita, since she's not going on runs or anything right now," she rambles. "I just want to help."