My Secrets In The Apocalypse

Chapter 19

The rest of the week went by quickly. Riley spent most of her days helping with chores around the camp and staying the nights with Daryl. She had tried talking to Rick several times but he was always so busy arguing with Shane, or discussing things with Herschel, that it just kept getting pushed back.

The day had finally come, Randall was able to get around on his own well enough, so it was time to send him on his way. Rick and Shane had tied Randall's hands and feet together so he couldn't move, and taped his mouth shut to keep him quiet. They put headphones on him, playing music from an mp3 player pretty loudly so he couldn't hear anything, and put a sack over his head so he couldn't see. They had decided to drive him 18 miles away and drop him off somewhere with a few supplies.

Rick and Shane had been gone for a while and everyone was just hanging around the camp waiting for them to get back. Even Daryl had made his way over and settled in one of the chairs around the fire, across from Riley since it was the only one available, and busied himself with cleaning his crossbow. Riley had borrowed one of Dale's books and tried to occupy herself by reading, but it wasn't working very well. She was completely distracted by Daryl's sleeveless arms as he worked on cleaning the crossbow. Daryl glanced up and smirked when he caught her staring and Riley quickly looked down at her book and continued reading.

A few hours passed and it was getting late when the sound of a car coming up the driveway caught everyone's attention. They were all on their feet as Rick and Shane pulled up to the house, the tension between the two men was palpable as they stepped out of the car.
"What's going on?" T-dog asked as Rick opened the back of the car revealing Randall still in the back.
"There were some...complications," Rick said vaguely. He continued to explain how they had found a place to drop off Randall, but it was over run with walkers and they were lucky to get out alive. He also informed them that Randall knew Maggie from school so the location of the farm was no longer a secret.
They quickly pulled Randall out of the car and drug him over to an old shed, locking him up for the time being. They decided to leave him in the barn for the night and discuss their options in the morning.
Riley gave up any hopes of trying to focus on her book after that. She went back to the RV to put it away and headed over to Daryl's camp. It had become a habit for her to go over to Daryl's camp in the evenings. He was getting a fire going, the sun was starting to set and they would need the light.

"Ey, Белочка," Riley said as she sat down next to him.
"What the hell?" he asked poking at the fire.
"It's Russian," she said looking into the fire.
"Russian," he stated skeptically.
"Yep. I had to learn it because of Artjom, English wasn't spoken very often around the house," she said, pausing when she realized what she'd said. She had never really spoken about her past, except for the brief synopsis she gave the group back at the CDC. Judging from the way Daryl had stopped playing in the fire, he had noticed too.
"Artjom?" he asked almost hesitantly.
"Artjom Smirnow," she said. "The head of the largest sector of Russian organized crime in New York City....He was my boss," she explained.
"Oh," Daryl said, watching her from the corner of his eye.
"You can ask questions...if you want to...I won't get mad," she said quietly.
"Nah," he said, taking her by surprise. "It don't matter no more," he said looking over at her. She couldn't help the smile that took over her face.

Daryl and Riley fell into a comfortable silence after that. Daryl had skinned and cooked some squirrels for the two of them. After they had eaten, Daryl had settled in his usual spot. He had his legs stretched out and he was leaning back on his hands. Riley laid down next to him and rested her head in his lap, looking up at the stars.
"They're so beautiful," she sighed.
"What?" Daryl asked looking down at her.
"The stars," Riley said, still looking to the sky. "They're amazing. You can't see any stars in the city, I had never really seen them until I left."
"They're just stars," he shrugged looking over at the fire.
"Hey, Daryl," Riley said curiously.
"Huh?" he looked back down at her.
"What're we gonna do about Randall?" she asked, suddenly very serious.
"Don't know," he shrugged.
Riley sighed heavily and sat up. "I'm tired," she said standing up.