Barely Alive // TWD // Daryl Dixon

Chapter 24 -- Unwelcome Visitors

"If something does go wrong, here is my advice... KEEP CALM and CARRY ON."

– Maira Kalman, The Principles of Uncertainty

"You were right," Rick said to me the next morning as he came walking down the stairs. "That bed wasn't bad at all."

"Told ya," I said with a grin.

"Everything alright?" he asked me.

"Yeah, some walkers passed by around one in the morning and then another group passed around three, I'm not sure how many but there weren't more than five, I could just hear them and I could tell it wasn't a big group."

"Well, good they didn't notice us," Rick said as he sat next to me on the couch. "Where's Michonne?"

"In the bathroom," I told him and then smiled at him. "I told her I would kick her out if she didn't shower."

"I should take one as well," Rick admitted. "I only washed my face and cleaned my wounds the other day."

A few minutes later Carl joined us, he looked really sleepy and his long brown hair was all over the place, I suppose mine was like that too. He mumbled an almost unintelligible 'morning' before he sat in between us with his eyes still half closed.

"You stayed up all night?" Carl muttered.

"Almost," I told him. "I fell asleep around four and then I woke up around five and then fell asleep for like another hour or so, I still want to sleep a bit more."

After Carl woke up properly, he went to the kitchen, grabbed his bowl and spoon and took those to the dining room along with the cereal, he sat and served himself some of it. I sat down next to him after I grabbed my bowl and spoon.

"This is good," I commented, Carl only nodded at me, he was still sleepy.

About two minutes later we were joined by Michonne, who already had a bowl in her hands but that wasn't what caught our attention. She was wearing a fancy, white, long-sleeve shirt that probably belonged to the mother of the house. Carl and I chuckled at the sight. Michonne sighed as she set three bottles of water on the table, one for each one of us.

"Do you have something to say about my extremely comfortable and attractive shirt?"

"No, no, no," Carl muttered in between laughs. "It looks great."

"You should change styles, Mich," I told her as I chuckled. "It suits you."

"At least I don't wear kids' clothes," she shot back.

Michonne ignored our jokes and laughs as she made a knot on the back of the shirt, making it tighter on her and then she sat in front of me.

"I wish we had some soy milk," she commented before serving herself the last bit of the cereal.

"Seriously?" Carl asked surprised.

"Yes, seriously. Have you ever tried it?" Michonne asked, looking from Carl to me.

"It's not that bad but I prefer normal milk," I told her. "Actually, I don't even remember what milk tastes like."

"My best friend in third grade, he was allergic to dairy," he told us. "And every day he would bring this soy stuff to lunch. I tried it."

"And?" Michonne exclaimed.

"I threw up," Carl said and then chuckled.

"Oh, yeah, right," Michonne said, not believing him.