The Next World

Chapter 32

I took off my boots the minute I opened the door. I sat on the bed and placed my elbows on my knees. I inhaled and exhaled. We had made it back. We all had made it back. There were a thousand ways things could have gone wrong but they didn't. When we were waiting to get Carol and Maggie back, I kept thinking what if we didn't get them back in time? What if the people who took them didn't even accept the trade? What if they had killed the two of them on the spot? But they didn't. We were strong. All of us. As long as we were all together, there was nothing we couldn't do. That much was certain and was made clear today. It had been a very long time since I felt as relieved as I felt at this exact moment. We would be okay. All of us. We would. I laid back and stared up at the ceiling. It didn't take me long to fall asleep. I stirred a bit before I opened my eyes again. I wasn't all that sure what time it was. Maybe early morning. Daryl was next to me with his arm draped around my waist. I slowly moved his arm out of the way. I didn't want to wake him. I sat up and quietly made my way to the door.

"Where you headed?" he asked right when I was about to turn the knob.

"I'm hungry. In case you forgot, I didn't get anything to eat earlier. I didn't mean to wake you. Go back to sleep," I said.

"Want me to come with?" he asked.

"Are you hungry?" I asked.

"No," he replied.

"Then I'm good. Get some sleep," I said.

"All right," he said getting comfortable again before closing his eyes.

I walked down the stairs and filled up the tea kettle. I let it sit on the stove before checking to see what I could make myself. There was some stir fry left over from the last time so I decided to just heat that up. While I waited for the both things to heat, I went out to the porch to overlook the place. Everyone was sleeping because the streets were quiet. I quickly noticed the light to the infirmary was on. Denise probably couldn't sleep. Was she thinking about Tara? I'm sure she was. I went back inside and made two mugs and two plates of stir fry. Once everything was nice and warm, I grabbed a tray to place everything in, then headed to the infirmary. I gently knocked on the door. It didn't take long for her to open the door.

"Amelia. What are you doing up?" she asked.

"I wanted to ask you the same thing so I figured I'd bring you something to eat so we could talk," I replied holding up the tray of chamomile tea and plates of leftover stir fry.

"Well, I guess I can't turn you away now, huh?" she said.

"Nope. It was really hard trying to keep anything from spilling on the way over," I retorted.

"Come on in," she said opening the door wider for me to walk through.

"Thanks," I said passing her on the way in.

I placed the tray on a table nearby and then took a seat.

"What's got you up?" I asked her blowing my mug of tea before taking a sip.

"I was just checking inventory," she replied.

"Sure you were. Come on. Tell me what's on your mind," I said taking a bite of stir fry.

"It's Tara," she said.

"You miss her?" I asked.

"That and well..." she trailed off.

"What is it Denise?" I asked.

"Before she left, she told me she loved me," she replied.

"Isn't that a good thing?" I asked.

"I didn't say it back," she replied.

"Oh. Well, do you love her?" I asked.

"Yeah. I do. I just...I should have said it," she said.

"I'm sure she knows. She'll be happy to hear it when she gets back though," I said reassuringly.

"Doesn't take away from the fact that I should have told her," she said.

"Is that what's keeping you up?" I asked taking another forkful of stir fry.

"Yeah. What if something happens to her while she's out and she never hears me say it?" she retorted.

"Nothing is going to happen to her, Denise," I said.

"How can you be so sure?" she asked.

"Because I've seen her in action. She knows what she's doing, Denise. Her and Heath will be back before you know it. And then the two of you will be saying 'I love you' so many times that you'll actually get tired of saying it every now and then" I said with a smile.

She half- smiled and took a seat across from me. I was happy to see her actually eating. I doubt she'd eaten anything at all. She nodded and took a sip of her tea.

"Thank you, Amelia," she said.

"Happy I got up when I did," I said.

"What has you up?" she asked.

"I was hungry. I turned in the minute we got home and I didn't have a chance to eat anything," I replied.

"You sure that's all?" she persisted.

"Yes. We're alive. I can relax a little," I said smiling.

"I'm happy you all made it back all right. That whole situation could have gone wrong," she said.

"Yeah. Boy do I know that. I'm just grateful it didn't," I said.

She went and took another sip of her tea. We finished up our last bit of stir fry and tea.

"Okay. Well I better get back or else Daryl will start asking questions," I said getting up.

"Well, I really appreciate you coming over to talk to me. It really helped," she said.

"I'm glad I did. I told Tara that I'd look after you. And I will, Denise. You're a part of this community. There isn't anything I or anyone else wouldn't do for you. I hope you know that," I said.

"Thank you. I'm really happy you all moved here," she said.

"So am I," I said smiling at her.

I wrapped my arms around her and gave her a tight hug.

"Well, I'll see you later, Denise. Try and get some sleep," I said after we parted.

"I'll do my best," she said.

I started placing the plates and mugs in the tray.

"You can leave that," she said.

"I've got it. Besides, I want to make sure you don't have any excuse to stay up. Sleep well, Denise," I said.

"Thanks again, Amelia," she said.

"I'm always happy to help," I said before I took off.