𝑩𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝑺𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒔 | ᵀᵂᴰ

13: The Barn.

I was propped up on my elbow on my sleeping bag flipping through a magazine I found in the Greene's house. Maggie let me borrow it. She has a pretty accent.

Daryl poked holes in the netting of the tent with the end of his arrow.

"Don't do that. The bugs will get in, and I don't wanna hear you complaining about it." I said. He groaned but kept doing it.

"Hey." Andrea said, walking inside. "This is not that great, but..." She said, handing Daryl a book.

"What, no pictures?" He said, flipping through it. "I'm so sorry. I feel like shit." She said. "Yeah, ya 'n me both." "I don't expect you-either of you to forgive me, but if there's anything I can do..." She said, looking over at me.

"Ya were tryin' to protect the group." Daryl said. "We're good." Andrea looked down at me, and I sighed before nodding slightly.

She walked out of the tent. "But, 'ey!" Daryl called out. "Shoot me again, ya best pray 'm dead." Andrea left, and Daryl kept flipping through the book.

➳

"Found this camera. There's film already in it. Thought you'd might like it." Glenn said, throwing it in my lap. I picked it up and looked through the lens. I pointed it at Glenn with a smile.

"Strike a pose." I said. He put his arms up and flexed with a smirk on his face. The camera snapped, and the picture emerged out of it. I pulled it out and shook it. The picture developed, and I showed it to Glenn. "Nice, you got my good side." He joked. I laughed and looked at it again. "I'm gonna go show Maggie." I teased as I got up and made my way to her.

She was taking clothes off of a line in the yard. "Don't you dare, Bela." Glenn whispered through clenched teeth. "Oh, I dare." I said, turning back to him and running. "Oh, maggie." I said in a sing-song voice.

"Yeah, Isabela?" She said. "I have something for you." I noticed Glenn leaning on a tree in the distance, acting like he wasn't looking at us. I pulled a prescription bottle out of my inside jacket pocket. "Found some medicine in one of my bags. Thought someone might need it in the future." I said, handing it to her. "Thanks." She said. I smiled. "Yeah, no problem." I said about to walk away.

"Uh, Hey, Isabela?" She called out. I turned around. "Yeah?" "I don't mean to be this kind of person, but I see the way you look at Glenn, and I just wanted to know..." "Oh, no, no, absolutely not. He's all yours. We're just friends. If not friends, then best friends. Nothing more." "Oh, okay." "Yeah, I uh... I don't really... swing- that way anymore. If you get what I'm saying." I said. Maggie slowly smiled. "That's alright. I just didn't wanna get in the way if there was something." "There is nothing. Trust me." She laughed lightly. "Alright." "See you later."

I walked away and back over to the log I was sitting on. Glenn trailed behind me. "What the hell, Bela." He said. I laughed and sat down. "You were shaking in your boots." "Yeah, I was."

Glenn sat next to me. I looked around and took in the surroundings. "We should just stay here forever." I said. "At the farm?" Glenn asked. "No, on this log so we can become one with the tree." I replied. He scoffed. "Of course, the farm. It has everything. Food, water, shelter, medicine." "What happens if we run out of food?" "We'll just ask Hershel which chicken he hates the most and there's dinner." Glenn laughed as did I.

"Bela, if I tell you something, can you promise not to tell anyone else?" "Depends." "You know that barn over there?" "Yeah, what about it?"

Glenn took a deep breath. "Hershel keeps walkers in there." I looked at Glenn praying he was making a joke. "Maggie said he thinks they're just sick and that they'll get better." I thought to myself for a moment. "So, what are we gonna do?" "Nothing. If we kill them, Hershel will kick us all out, and that's not good, especially now since Lori's pregnant." "Lori's what?" "Another thing you can't tell anyone." Oh my God.

"Tonight." I said. "What?" "Tonight we have to go into the barn and kill them." "We can't." "We have to. What if they get out? What if they get here? What if they get Maggie?" My last question made Glenn go quiet and look down at his lap. "Okay." He said.

➳

Daryl had fallen asleep early tonight, so I snuck away and met Glenn at the barn. "Are we really gonna do this?" He asked. "Yes, now boost me up." I said, grabbing onto the old short ladder. He put his hands together, and I used them as a step to get onto the ladder.

We climbed up into the hayloft, and I looked down at the walkers. I saw chicken feathers on the floor and dried blood on their hands and faces.

I took my bow off my back and got an arrow ready. I was about to let go when Glenn tapped my shoulder and pulled me to the ground with him. I looked at him confused, and he put a finger to his lips.

"What are you kids doing up there?" It was Dale. Shit. Glenn leaned over to me and whispered. "I'm sorry for the reputation I'm about to put on your name." I scrunched my eyebrows and watched as he took his shirt off and messed up his hair. Oh. My God. He stood up and looked out of the window we came in through. "Hey, Dale. Uh, sorry we just uh-" Glenn grabbed my shoulder and pulled me to my feet and next to him. Dale looked surprised at the scene and tried to find words for this situation. "You two go on to bed. If someone else sees you two up there, you're gonna be in bigger trouble." Dale walked away. "Yes, sir." I said, biting the inside of my cheek.

Once Dale was out of sight, I smacked Glenn's arm. "What the hell?" I whispered. "I said I'm sorry." He threw his shirt back on, and we climbed down. Glenn went back into his tent, and I made my way up the hill to Daryl and I's camp.

He was pacing back and forth in front of the tent, chewing his thumbnail. When he saw me, he stopped.

"Where the hell've ya been?" He asked. I pasted him and got into the tent. "I just went for a walk." "Like hell ya did." He said as he entered the tent as well. I turned around to him. "I needed to clear my head, okay?"

He scoffed. "Carol's girl's missin' and I'll be damned if mine goes missin' too." What did he just say?

"Take 'em arrows off and go on to bed." He left the tent and walked around outside.

Did he really just say that? Did he really mean it? That I was his girl. That I'm his daughter.

I took my weapons off and climbed into my sleeping bag. I had my back facing Daryl as he walked in. I heard him lay down as well.

➳

I kept tossing and turning for what felt like hours. It felt like the moon was never going to switch passes with the sun. I propped myself up on my left elbow, still facing away from Daryl.

"Isa." I heard him say. I looked over my shoulder, and he was wide awake as well. He opened his sleeping bag and gestured his head for me to come over to him. I got out of mine and went over to Daryl crawling into his sleeping bag with him. I laid my head on his chest as he wrapped his arm around my back.

"Ya haven't had problems sleepin' since ya was a kid. What's on yer mind, Isa?" He asked. "Everything." I answered.