(1) Wolf in Me (D. Dixon)

Chapter Five

The camp settles a little once the supply run returns, though with no supplies. Whilst they may have brought back Rick, they are still short on food and ammo. So Diana retreats to her own camp to do what she originally planned to do. To scrub herself with some soap. She sets herself down in front of the now cold bucket of water. It's not ideal and it's going to suck but she doesn't want to waste it. Considering they have to boil any fresh water they find, it's not smart to waste the effort put into collecting it and boiling it and then doing it all over again for a fresh bucket. She grabs a bar of soap from her toiletry bag and turns it around in her hand. It's supposed to smell like lemon, but it doesn't, or perhaps everything else just smells so bad that lemon doesn't have the same impact anymore. She has a towel, but just like the rest of her stuff, it's not exactly clean clean. Nothing she has will ever be clean again. She drapes the towel over her bag to keep it off of the ground and away from dirt. She sighs as she leans on the edge of the bucket. Because washing with cold water sucks, no matter what way it is spun, it sucks. She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes. She knows that she has no other option here. The quarry has a lake but they catch fish from it and get water from it. Bathing in it isn't going to add to the cleanliness of it. The crack of a twig nearby alerts her to a presence approaching. She leans up from the bucket and looks over her shoulder to find Shane and Rick heading her way. She figured this might come. Though she assumed it would likely be tomorrow. To allow Rick the time to reunite properly and alone with his family. Diana settles back, more comfortable on the ground as she waits for them to join her, resting her arms on her knees. She sighs a little because she just wants to wash her face and she's been interrupted twice now. She raises an eyebrow at Shane who seems to be struggling with what to say here. How to start the conversation. Which is strange to see. Shane never seems so short on words. Shane glances at Rick who gives him an encouraging eyebrow and a nod.

"Rick" Shane offers. "Diana...Diana...Rick" Shane then clears his throat a little. "She's my...urm..."

"Yeah," Rick stops him. "I know who she is..." He pats Shane's shoulder. Shane seems to have trouble admitting that she's his kid. He's struggled since the beginning and it was only through Diana that the rest of the camp know that she's Shane's daughter. She gets it. He's gone his whole adult life without knowing she exists, and then they meet and the world ends and he can't really process everything that has been thrown at him. Rick turns to Diana. "We didn't get a chance to meet before...." Rick offers, and Diana hums in agreement. She and Derek showed up a couple of days before Rick ended up getting shot. Whilst Rick knew about Diana and Derek, he never got the chance to meet them.

"Yeah," She agrees as she pushes herself to her feet. Rick Grimes. The husband of Lori. Best friend of Shane. Unknowing victim of their affair. She is sure they don't see it that way, but considering that Rick is alive, and has been alive this whole time, that is exactly what it is. An affair. And considering that they are both pretty chummy, Diana can assume that Shane hasn't told him what he's been doing. "Glad you're back on your feet," She tells him. "And back with Lori and Carl...they've missed you" Rick smiles and nods.

"Yeah, I missed them too" He assures as Shane shifts on his feet, a little uncomfortable with the conversation. Diana did it on purpose to rattle him a little, seeing if he would slip up. He's nervous, so he is concerned about the fallout that might come because of him and Lori. "And your brother is....Derek, right?" Rick asks. Diana nods. "Is he...?" He continues and Diana shrugs back.

"He went back to California to check on our friends...on our uncle and cousin" Diana answers. "He'll be fine" Rick hums and nods a little but there is disbelief in his eyes. He doesn't think that Derek is fine. Diana knows better. If she's alive, then she believes he is too. Rick then glances behind him towards the main camp.

"You don't want to camp with the others?" He asks her, she snorts.

"I don't live well with others" She comments, pushing herself to her feet. It's a lie. She lives perfectly well with others. What she means is that she doesn't live well with people that don't know about her. It's tough to hide and lie about who she really is around strangers, let alone around people that she has come to care about. And she has come to care about them. It's hard not to when they all live so tight together and they spend day after day with one another.

"And you're okay with this?" Rick asks Shane earning a dirty look from Diana.

"I'm an adult" Diana argues, folding her arms over her chest. "Whether he's okay with what I do doesn't matter" Rick suddenly laughs a little and turns a look on Shane who looks away, seemingly caught out. Diana frowns at them.

"Shane said something very, very similar about his own father...." Rick points out with a small smirk. "When we were...old enough" Diana snorts and looks away from the two of them. She is uncomfortable being compared to Shane like that.

"By old enough he means 15" Shane argues. "Diana is an actual adult" He defends giving Rick a look. The two of them have been friends and partners long enough that expression can be translated easily enough. But Diana can read it too. He's telling Rick that things don't seem to be going well with their relationship and he's not willing to push on some things. The little camp outside of the main camp was hard for him to allow, but she's close enough that if she needs them, if she needs help, they are just a shout away. Plus it also works out as she is technically a look out from this distance. An early warning system in place.