The Black Rose

Chapter Six

"So what do you think Rose?" Rick approached Rose, noticing that she was staring into the prison courtyard. Her fiery red curls were up in a tight ponytail reaching all the down to her mid back and her eyes were brighter than usual today. Rick noticed that her zombie blood camouflage were wearing off. His mouth slightly ran dry when he saw how her skin was so delicate like a Japanese geisha and had no freckles visible, not even on her face.

It had been a tough winter for them and he doubted that the entire group would've been alive if it wasn't for her. Behind the two leaders, T-Dog, Glenn and Maggie were bustling full of nervous energy. They were preparing themselves to join Rose and Rick into the prison courtyard and hopefully into the solid grey building. But Daryl was few feet further from the group acting gloomy.

Daryl was pissed off. Everybody knew that. But nobody knew that Daryl felt like he acted like a complete blubbering idiot last night. If only Merle saw him, he'd never hear the end of it. Rose was only few yards away from him, standing in front of the courtyard gate with Rick and hell... Daryl hated the sight of her. Or did he hate the sight of another man standing next to her? He sure as hell didn't like this feeling. He couldn't make up his mind about how he felt about this confusing as hell girl.

Whenever he thought about that heart-wrenchingly perfect first kiss they shared last night, he was weak in the knees and his stomach clenched a little. Last night, after the kiss, Rose pushed him away gently and told him that he should go join the group before somebody notice his absence. Daryl wondered if she thought him as a little adoring fan boy. It was finally starting to annoy him that he had absolutely no idea about this girl. Hell the group knows a little more about HIM than they did about her and Daryl wasn't good about sharing his past. He knew that.

Rose, on the other hand, didn't even think about the kiss. She was too busy surveying the surroundings past the zombies lunging for her behind the fence. The courtyard only showed the front yard and she couldn't see what was around the building. That definitely made her nervous. There could be more zombies or perhaps something worse.

Rick wiped his forehead with a handkerchief, wondering what she was thinking about so hard. Rose sighed, "Honestly Rick. I don't know. There's too much unforeseeable elements here. We'll definitely have to be on guard once we get in there."

"I have no doubt you'll successfully pull us through," Rick assured her, feeling quite impressed that Rose opened up a little. He had seen glimpses of her formidable talents during the hard winter they've spent together. But he had no doubt that she was lethal if she needed to be. Rose could probably take down an entire army if she needed to however it had only made Rick wonder even more. Where in the hell did she learn these skills from and how did she learn? She had to be taught from a young age if it came so naturally for her. "You've got us this far Rose. I appreciate that. Especially with Lori getting ready to give birth."

"Thanks," Rose gave him a light smile as she rolled her shoulders backward. She glanced over to see Carl sitting next to his mother, seeming slightly peeved. It must be hard to be at that age and not being able to do anything significantly important. He should be in school, learning useless things. Rose ran her fingers through her hair, trying to smooth out all the knots while walking over to talk to the young boy. "Hey you, Carl. Do you think you can make sure these nosy people keep out of my book pack while I'm in there?"

A huge smile broke out on Carl's face when he realized that Rose was asking him to do her a favor. After a quick warning from Rose to keep out of her bag, he was now clutching the heavy book pack to his chest.

Carol and Lori gave each other a knowing glance. Carl was the only one that Rose talked to on a daily basis and it was something that Carol and Lori spoke to each other about all the time. They wondered if she was a mother or maybe she was charged to take care of kids. But at the same time, the two women were not going to question Rose's actions. Her actions toward Carl reassured them that she was actually human and had human emotions.