His Cure

Guard Duty

As I awoke the next morning I could feel the gentle sun against my skin. I had gotten into a routine by now of getting ready for the day ahead. Once I was dressed and ready, I did my usual; caring for the horses, filling the water troughs, helping Pearson chop vegetables, etc. It felt nice to help people, to be a part of something bigger. The morning seemed to fly past and it was soon mid day. Just as I was moving a bale of hay over to the horses, I heard a voice call out from behind me.
"Elizabeth!" As I turned to see who had called me I saw Dutch walking towards me. "Yes?" I asked, slightly nervous of what he was going to say. "As you know, before the attack, we used to have one person on guard at all times but I have decided to change it to two, to avoid another incident." Dutch began. I nodded as I placed the hay bale down in front of the horses to show I was listening. "I have written you down on the rotor as you have more than proved yourself." It looked like I was finally starting to be trusted more. "Thank you." I replied.
"If you're interested, that is." "Of course!" I exclaimed. "Good. I was hoping you'd say that. Karen is on duty with Sean but I need him for something, can you take over?" Dutch asked as he lit a cigar. "Of course." I replied, realising I was repeating myself. "Great. Tell Sean to come and find me when you get there." "Will do." I said before quickly making my way over to the entrance of the camp. I walked along the short path, before making my way over to Karen and Sean. It looked like Sean was flirting with Karen but she didn't seem all that interested.
"Uh, hey, sorry for interrupting but Dutch needs you." I said to Sean. "What does he want now?" Sean asked, rolling his eyes. "I don't know, I was just sent to take over." "Fine." He replied, passing me his rifle. As he was walking away he called back "Don't you go making any moves on my girl now!" "Very funny, Sean!" I called back as he walked into the camp.
"Thank god you showed up." Karen said, seemingly relieved at my presence. "He was driving me insane." I laughed slightly before asking "Are you two a thing?" "Not really. We had sex and now he seems to think so." She replied, rolling her eyes. "Ah." I said, understanding the situation.
"So how are you settling in?" Karen asked after a moment. "Good." I replied. "It was weird at first, but now I feel like Dutch is starting to trust me more and y'all seem kind." "Glad to hear it." She said, shooting me a smile. "So this guard duty." I began. "Do we just stand here and wait for someone to show up?" "Pretty much." She replied.
We chatted for a while before we got onto the topic of the jail break. "Oh yeah, where is Micah?" Karen asked me. "I have no idea. He said he needed a 'peace offering' before seeing Dutch. Whatever the hell that means." I replied. "Knowing him, he'll show up with half a packet of cocaine gum and think that excuses him from all his past sins." She said and I replied with a laugh.

We were talking for what seemed like hours and I had actually gotten to know her pretty well. No one had come through other than camp members so the job was quite uneventful. Suddenly we heard someone riding into camp.
"Who's there?!" Karen shouted out. "It's Arthur, you dumbass." He replied as he rode towards us. "Shoot him!" I exclaimed. "I said, it's me!" Arthur replied as he pulled up beside us. "I know." I replied, giving him a smug smile. "Funny." He replied sarcastically before making his way back into camp. "You and Arthur seem to be getting along." Karen said after a moment. "I don't know if 'getting along' is how I would put it but we haven't killed each other yet so that's a positive." Karen laughed at my words.
We chatted for a while longer before Arthur wandered out of the camp and over to us again. "Karen, you are relieved from your duty." He said as he approached. "Thanks Arthur, my legs ache." She replied, handing him her repeater. "Try not to kill each other!" She called out as she waltzed back into camp. "No promises!" I shouted back.
Arthur and I did the usual. Talked, joked, teased and made fun of each other. "Okay old man." I replied to a joke he had made about me which got an eye roll back from him.
***
"So let me get this straight," I replied to Arthur after a conversation we had just had. "Karen and Sean are kind of a thing but not really. When they're drunk they're in love but when sober she hates him? Dutch and Molly are a thing but they are always arguing and it's a mess? And Kieran and Mary-Beth are flirting?" Arthur had been explaining who's with who so I was just making sure I'd got it right.
"Exactly." He replied. "Yeah, no, fuck that. Relationships are far too complicated for me." Arthur let out a slight laugh. "I hear you." He replied. By this point it had gotten dark and I had started to get tired. As if they could read my thoughts, Charles and Javier wandered over. "Take a break you two." Charles said as he took the rifle. "Get some sleep."