Slow Dancing- Troy Otto

5

Troy had thought that day would bring the two of them closer together but when Jeremiah caught wind that Stanley went missing he chose to punish the new girl in the form of work. He stationed her at outpost C, furthest away from the ranch closer to the military outpost for months, sent her with a full truck full of supplies to last her. She'd only be allowed to return after three months time exactly. Troy was enraged when he sent someone in his militia without his say so, especially being so sneaky as to send her off at dawn while he slept.

Scarlett on the other hand, thoroughly enjoyed this newfound isolation, needing it after the event that occurred. Day by day she scouted, scavenged, and only allowed herself one MRE a day that way she'd come back with half her resources and return them to the people. Troy and the other men were forbidden to go see or help her, Jeremiah needed to see for himself what kind of a person she was and what she brought to the table. Even though the two weren't speaking, Tanya was furious with the old man for throwing her daughter to the wolves.

Sparing food like that made Scarlett weaker at first but soon her body adjusted to the amount she allowed herself, the fuller body she'd gotten in those five weeks at the ranch was now gone, the weight lost to the apocalypse once again. Now, today marked three months exactly on an old calendar she was given. It was time for Scarlett to return home, back to the ranch. Scarlett was worried she'd be a stranger when she returned but was pleasantly surprised when the guys ripped her out of the drivers seat engulfing her in a series of hugs. Troy stood off to the side confused how they could all be so excited to see one person that they stayed up in the middle of the night to greet her. She'd dawned a new all black uniform meaning she'd been scavenging by herself this whole time, after that day getting coated in her blood she shouldn't have been isolated out there so far from his protection— the militias protection, he corrects his thoughts.

"No hug from you soldier boy?" Scarlett's voice snapped him out of the trance he didn't realize he was stuck in, realizing he'd been staring at her this whole time. Cooper nudged him forward as she threw her arms around his midsection, lightly as he forced his arms to wrap around he shoulders. His touch was tense and forced while hers was gentle and kind. Polar opposite's of on another. Troy was the first to pull away visibly uncomfortable from the physical contact but it didn't hurt her feelings she just smiled and shook her head lightly.

"Soldier boy?" Troy asks her confused not understanding when Cooper and Scar bust out laughing at the nickname.

"You had to be there man." Cooper says collecting himself before helping Scarlett unload the truck. He was referring to one of the many inside jokes they shared that week at outpost alpha.

Once the truck was empty which took barely any time since all the guys helped out, Scarlett decided to head to her cabin for some much needed rest, only had slept four to five hours a day so she could be alert longer. Troy however had kept his experiments going, kidnapping people at the border and documenting how long it took different races to turn and coming up with theories as to why. Troy was raised by a racist, learning not to care for anyone who looked different, but couldn't help to notice Scarlett's olive undertone to her skin. She was different.. but not at the same time. He couldn't explain why she was so freely accepted amongst the men under his leadership.

He watched Scarlett haul her duffle bag full of things to her cabin tiredly, curiosity sparked inside him surely she had plenty of rest away from the noise of the ranch. He shrugged the thought away heading home to get some rest of his own, not really sure why he stayed up for her in the first place.

Scarlet jumped awake nightmares not allowing her to sleep as much as she intended to. She decided to relieve someone of their post on night watch, taking Adam's AR and telling him to get some rest as she climbed up to the top of the wall, sitting down and staring out into the darkness. She watched as night turned into morning, jumping when a hand touched her shoulder.