The Black Rose

Chapter Five

The chain link fence made a groaning noise when Rick clipped through the thin steel rods, making an entry. Each group member entered the prison exterior cautiously, eyeing their surroundings. Daryl and T-Dog were last to enter but from Rose's strict command, they tied up the fence before walkers entered. They all broke out in a sprint but stopped at the prison gates. Rose nodded as she met Rick's glance, "Somebody got to close that gate."

"I'll do it." Glenn elected, hearing his girlfriend Maggie protesting next to him. Rose shook her head kindly, knowing that Glenn might've been the fastest out of the group but she needed him to man the field... he was a good shot. She already decided that Rick would go along with her through the zombie-infested yard.

A plan was already formulating in her head as she told Glenn, T-Dog, Beth and Maggie to distract the zombies by shaking on the chain links and kill them through the fence. Then she turned her attention onto Carol, Daryl, Hershel and Carl, telling them to go up the guard towers and shoot the walkers. Rummaging through her book pack, she revealed a whole pack of ammo, handing them to the shooters.

"Use them wisely," Rose warned before handing them her precious ammo. Everybody almost fell over by the amount of ammo there was in that book pack. It seems like that book pack was a Mary Poppins bag of a sort. She just carried her entire life in that bag. Lori was standing awkwardly as she waited for Rose's orders. "Lori... just man the gate while Rick and I get across the yard."

Rick and Rose slipped out the gate and was immediately met by zombies. Even though the group were safely behind the fence, killing off the walkers they were able to distract... it was hard to deny how glorious Rose looked, plowing their way through to the opened gate. Her sword glistened from the setting sun as she cut through zombies' heads. Gruesome but... incredibly effective. Rick was able to secure the gate when Rose entered the guard tower opposite from Daryl and the others. Once Rick joined her side, Rose pulled out her guns and began shooting zombies in the head.

After a few minutes of loud gunfire, there was no movement in the prison yard. The sun was just slipping down the horizon as the group entered the prison yard, feeling quite ecstatic. At first, some group members like Carol and Maggie were a little dubious about the idea of taking over a prison. But now they could see the brilliance of it. Rose, on the other hand, didn't say anything celebratory but went ahead, clearing the yard of zombies.

Once all the bodies were off to the side, stacked up, Rose saw that the fire was started and a hot meal was waiting for her. Perhaps she could stay with them tonight... it was definitely safe. Beside she hasn't had one full night sleep since that fateful day she met the group. She arrived just in time to hear the end of Beth and Maggie's singing. "Rose! Tell us how old you are! Beth here says that you're like eighteen years old. But I said she was wrong! You're definitely older!"

"Carl! It's not appropriate to ask a lady how old she is!" Lori quickly chastised her son while rubbing her pregnant belly. But to the group's surprise, there were a small smile on Rose's face. Rick and Hershel couldn't help it but to notice smiles suited her quite beautifully. Sure it did look a little out of place... like she wasn't used to smiling but she looked beautiful with a smile.

"It's alright Lori," Rose chuckled as she took a bowl of stew from her, taking a seat next to her youngest admirer, Carl. "Well Carl... I hope you made a bet because you definitely won. I'm older alright. But I'm not... OLD. I'm only twenty-two years old."

Daryl was returning with Carol just in time to hear how old Rose was. T-Dog replaced him to stand watch. There was a fourteen years difference between him and her. He was thirty-fucking six years old. What the hell was he doing... lusting after a twenty-two years old girl. However something... maybe a gut instinct told him that Rose had seen and done a lot more than any typical twenty-two years old would. She certainly didn't act like a twenty-two years old. Daryl saw how Carl adoringly glanced up at Rose, "Whoa! You're twenty-two? Where did you get to learn all of those fighting skills from?"

"Well..." Rose paused as she glanced around uneasily. Everybody... especially Daryl held their breath, waiting to see if Carl was successful making Rose divulge her secrets. God know how Daryl tried to get a single personal information out of that stubborn girl. "I was trained at a young age."

"Doing what?" Carl excitedly asked, wanting to know if she learned how to handle a gun around the same age he learned.

Rose laughed as she ruffled Carl's hair. "Not so fast mister. My past isn't exactly the easiest thing to toss around and talk about. You can ask me one question a day."

"Well... we all should get some rest tonight. Tomorrow we'll get into the courtyard and maybe take over a cell block. I want to make this prison a safe... secure home for us. This prison probably was one of the first to go so there's probably still supplies in there." Rose gave Rick a grateful look as he tactfully changed the topic. They did have a long day tomorrow. She didn't know what the inside of the prison held and she hoped that there's only walkers and no alive prisoners. Grabbing her book pack, she moved away from the group to bunk down for the night.

She already knew that she was being followed as she pulled her hammock bed out. Daryl had a distinctive walk... a walk of a skilled hunter. Any normal person might've not heard him approaching them but Rose was definitely trained to listen for any type of movement. "Yes Daryl?"

"Oh... um..." Daryl nearly jumped out of his skin when Rose called him. She had her back to him, pulling out an animal skin blanket. "I was jus' wonderin if ya need a place to sleep. I have a tent if ya need."

"The sky seems clear. I don't think it's going to rain. But thank you Daryl." Rose concluded after glancing up towards the sky. She smiled inwardly, knowing that it must've been awkward for Daryl to ask or to even interact with her like that.

Daryl and Rose were similar creatures when it came to interacting with others. The only difference between Daryl and Rose were that he was never taught how to interact properly while Rose was trained to act accordingly. She knew that he was slowly learning. The group was definitely a good influence for him... and not so good influence for her.

Daryl shifted uncomfortably as he took another step towards Rose. He wasn't sure why he even came after her or what he was even doing there near her. But he felt compelled to stay there for a few minutes. Rose stopped setting up her camp, knowing that he was still behind her. She sighed, turning around to face him then proceeded to take off her holster belt. The bow and katana sword were already off and next to her makeshift bed. Daryl was definitely handsome. His beauty wasn't the type that would stopped people in their tracks to look... however it was the type of beauty that after few glances had them hooked.

There were definitely mutual attraction between them. Rose had to make peace with that a couple days ago. She wasn't going to act on those feelings but now... facing him made her heart flutter a little. A tiny seed of doubt was implanted into Rose's mind being this close to this guy that she just couldn't explain her feelings for. It was just... right. As if she was supposed to feel like this way with him. Its been a long winter trying to pretend that this... thing was between them. Suddenly, the usually observant Rose noticed how their faces were only inches from each other.

She saw how Daryl searched her face for answers that she either didn't know or couldn't give. Rose's lips parted just a little and then Daryl saw her bite her lips nervously. It was so seductive that his breath caught up in his throat. Did she wanted him to kiss her? There was an epic battle occurring inside Daryl, debating if he should just kiss her or not. He didn't want to do anything that might alienate her from him.

"Just kiss me Daryl." Rose purred softly, putting an end to Daryl's demise. His arms snuck around Rose's tiny waist, bringing her body close to his. They tried to ignore how perfectly their bodies fit together as their lips locked. Her lips were smooth and velvety; it was like kissing a rose petal. His lips were slightly chapped but incredibly soft. Here they were... strangers kissing. But they couldn't deny one thing that both of them wanted so badly to deny.

The kiss felt so... right.