The Black Rose

Chapter Ten

The tension were thick in the air as everybody sat around or near Hershel's cell. Rose sat Indian-style with her back flat against the cold cement wall. Her position allowed her a perfect view of everything going on. She could see Glenn and Maggie having their private conversation while Beth madly snipped all her father's pants away. Lori and Carol leaned in together, discussing Hershel's future. Carl, on the other hand, was anxiously pacing back and forth, waiting for the men to come back. They don't know what Rick was doing with the prisoners.

Well... Rose already assumed that he was going to try co-exist with them. If it was up to her, she'd kill them all execution style. A grunt had Rose stealing a glance towards the locked cell gates. T-Dog and Rick had their arms full of cans as Carl opened the door.

"Food's here!" T-Dog excitedly declared as Carl peeked at the goods in his arms. Rick immediately placed all the goods in his arms down and headed into Hershel's cell. Rose's eyes searched for something... she wasn't exactly sure. Suddenly her eyes found what she was looking for as she noticed dark blue eyes that were narrowed on her.

Daryl.

The realization that she subconsciously searched for him scared her a bit and she struggled to maintain an emotionless face. Rose immediately averted her eyes towards Rick and Lori in Hershel's cell. They seems to be arguing. After quickly checking where Carl was, she was relieved to see that they were out of Carl's hearing range. She wanted him to try to be happy and maintain a level of innocence that she wasn't able to have when she was his age. Rose noticed the young boy was excitedly looking through all the cans.

"You coming?" The thick southern accent gave it away. Rose glanced up to meet Daryl's gaze. He was incredibly close to her that she could inhale his musky forest smell. God... this man was attractive in the strangest way.

Daryl raised his eyebrows, waiting for Rose's reply. He watched the woman assessing him from the bottom, making him feel self-conscious. His position gave him a perfect view of Rose's bosom and his stomach tightened. The grey shirt were positioned in a way that it gave him a peek of that pale lacy green bra underneath. Goddamn... why did she have to look at him like that?

"Where am I going?" Rose simply replied, not understanding what Daryl meant. She watched his eyes linger a little longer on her breasts and instead of disgust or fear, she felt giddy. It was thrilling to know that she had the same effect on him that he did on her.

Daryl exhaled slowly, struggling to control himself. He extended a hand to Rose, "Help me bring sum' food back and keep them prisoners in line."

Rose remained expressionless for a few seconds. Her strange eyes were locked on Daryl while she did something that Daryl wasn't expecting. She actually took Daryl's hand. It was cool and surprisingly soft for a killer's hands. He expected calloused hands... not hands of an angel. Daryl had to remind himself that he needed to pull Rose up.

Her weight surprised Daryl again. Her body seems so small and lean yet when he pulled her up, she felt sturdy and quite heavy. But it made sense. Muscle weighed more than fat and hell... this girl was clad with muscles. Okay. Let's just say that everything that this girl did surprised the hell out of Daryl. She was just not what he expected. Hell... he thought he'll never love a woman. Especially a woman like this redhead siren in front of him.

A smirk broke out on Rose's face as she cockily raised her eyebrow, "Alright. Let's show the prisoners who's the boss."

The redneck chuckled and kept his grip on her loose as he guided her out to the hallway. Eyes burned a hole at them. Everybody in that cell block couldn't believe what they just saw. Was it an illusion? Daryl and Rose, two of the most emotionally distant people they've ever known holding hands? In public?