Daryl's Angel (Book One in the Apocalypse Angel Trilogy)

Chapter 16: Trouble's Brewing

I wake up to the smell of breakfast. Eggs, to be exact. Daryl's already gone, but I expected that. I get up, feeling groggy.

I walk into the cafeteria, where T-dog is dishing out eggs to everyone. They all look hung over and grumpy. Glenn is moaning with his head down on the table.

"Morning," I say as I sit down next to Glenn.

"Morning Hope!" Carl says cheerfully. "Everyone's hung over! Are you?"

I shake my head. "I only had two glasses of wine. Hard to get drunk off of that."

"You got lucky," Rick says, blinking away sleepiness and an obvious headache.

Glenn moans again. "Please don't ever let me drink again..."

"I think that can arranged." I pat his wrist gently. He just groans again.

I smile and eat my eggs. They taste good after weeks of having mediocre breakfasts.

Shane walks in, stumbling and holding his head. He heads for the coffee maker immediately. Long red scratches mark his neck.

"What happened to you?" I ask.

Shane shakes his head. "Must've done it in my sleep."

"I've never seen you do that before," Rick comments.

"Yeah. Weird." Shane eyes Lori, who keeps her eyes trained on her plate.

"What is going on between those two?" I wonder.

Lori swallows awkwardly before handing around a bottle of aspirin.

"They're from Jenner. They'll help with the headaches," she says.

I shake some into my hand. I get up and go back to the rooms, looking for Daryl. I find him in the bathroom, brushing his teeth and hair. He looks up at me as I walk in, looking instantly more relaxed.

"Hey," I say.

He rubs his head. "Hey."

"You hung over too?" I ask.

He shrugs, stifling a yawn. "Just a headache. I'll be fine in a bit."

I give him the aspirins I brought. "Jenner gave them to us."

"I don't need anyone carin' for me," he grumbles, although he still takes the little white pills.

"I know."

He glances at me briefly before he swallows them, followed by some water. I wait for him.

"There's eggs in the cafeteria, if you want," I offer.

He nods. We walk together to the cafeteria, a silence hanging above us like a fog. As we walk, a question begs to be answered in the back of my mind.

"Daryl?" I ask. "Last night...Was that the whiskey making you do that?"

He rubs his forehead. "Nah."

"So you really consider me your friend?" I ask hopefully.

He nods after another pause, and I feel a surge of happiness inside me.

"Remember, no tellin'."

"Lips sealed."

I speed up, getting ahead of him. I know he won't want to be seen coming in with someone else. He stops, and I smirk.

"That's all you're wonderin' about?" he calls down the hallway.

"Yup," I call over my shoulder.