Sharpshooters

Meeting the Girls.

In front of me, near the bushes, was a small, blazing campfire surrounded by long, mossy logs. Sat on top of one was the brown-haired woman I noted earlier. Cracking my knuckles together, I shrugged my shoulders and walked to her. As I approached, I stepped carefully over a small red bag and sat down next to her, keeping a decent gap between us. "Hi," the woman smiled, and I returned it, "you're the new'n? Killed the walker earlier? That was impressive."

"Yes, ma'am. Lex Blanton," I nodded affirmatively and held my hand out to her, which she took and shook firmly.

"Lori Grimes," She cooed.

"So, ah, where's Rick?" I asked. Raising her hand, she pointed over to a couple of vehicles parked in front of the RV. An old man wearing a beige fishing outfit, with the fancy hat too, stepped out from behind the RV, followed by the mystery man and Rick.

"Ov'a there," Lori responded, and my eyes followed her directions. I made quick contact with the bushman, but I broke it to look back over to Lori to thank her.

"I practically owe 'im my life," I nod once.

"My husband's a good man. He's always been the kind to help people. Well, he is an officer, after all, that's his duty still," I couldn't help but chuckle at her witty comment. Each time she glanced over to him, I noticed that twinkle in her eye. It was nice to be around love, especially in these times. Even if I didn't have it myself, I'm happy for Rick and Lori. They're nice people, as far as I know, "we have a son too," she continued, "Carl. He'll be around here somewhere... I trust T-Dog enough to look after him."

"T-Dog..." I pondered, "I remember him. He was with Rick when they found me. Alon' with some blonde, Andrea. He told me about two kids 'ere. Carl and Sophia. Is she yo-"

"And how did they find you?" She cut me off.

"I, ah, was on my way to Atlanta. Been wanderin' the roads for quite some time. I heard it was safe there, so..." I answered, "they found me in the middle of the road. I was a couple of miles from the city."

"I see..." She nodded. With no intent on continuing, I stared down into the fire and examined it closely, admiring the dancing patterns and hues of bright, mandarin shades. Seemingly out of nowhere, two women approached and stepped in front, blocking the view of the fire and of Rick and co. My eyes darted up to the figures. One of them was Andrea, the other was the smaller female from earlier. The smaller one gave me a warm smile and a cute little wave.

"Hi!" She chirped. Andrea giggled and poked the smaller one's waist. She squealed and slapped her hand playfully. They're awfully happy considering we left a guy behind...

"Hey, Amy. Hi, Andrea," Lori beamed. I guess the smaller one is named Amy? "Oh, guys, this is Lex," I awkwardly smiled as the two looked at me. Andrea held her hand out, and I shook it.

"Yeah, we spoke a bit on the way here," she smiled. Amy flashed the same smile and held her hand out, which I politely shook.

"I'm Amy. We're sisters," she cheekily chirped at Andrea. We all chuckled.

"So, Lex, we're 'bout to go do some laundry. Want to join us?" Andrea asked, to which I began standing and nodding in agreement.

"Sure, why not?" I half-smiled down at Lori, "I'll catch up with y'later," and with that, Amy pranced ahead and led us away from the campfire. We passed Daryl's tent on the way, he was sat outside on a retractable chair, sharpening the bolts retrieved from the deer. He and I made eye contact for a short while before Andrea joined me at the hip and blocked the view. The walk down the hill was awful - I kept slipping because of the steepness and the muddiness of the 'path'. Eventually, we came to one rocky side of a huge lake - the other side seemed to be an abandoned quarry. I can't imagine what is in there... About 10 steps away were several large rocks decorating the edge of the lake ahead, each with baskets of dirty clothes beside them. The old, grey-haired woman reached down into one of the baskets and pulled out a red tank top, scrubbing it thoroughly, and repeating on other items of apparel.

"We're back and with more girl-power," Andrea nudged me forwards and giggled before sitting herself down next to the old woman, beginning to empty the nearest basket. Amy soon followed her and picked out of a different basket, which she began picking at and cleaning. Slightly in the distance, behind the girls, was a small bag full of mud-sodden clothing, accompanied by a couple of leaves from the forest. I walked over to it and picked it up, moving away from the girls to wash them. I set the bag down onto a small rock next to me and lifted out a pair of dull grey boxers. I dunked them into the water and started scrubbing it together to get rid of residing dirt.

"Oh, I'm Carol, by the way," the older woman looked up at me and gave a small smile. I returned with a half-smile.

"Lex Blanton," Then, a sudden silence.

"Lex?" Andrea called to me, a giggle lingering in her vocals.

"Mm?" I looked up and continued to work. Amy sniggered and Carol stifled a giggle.

"I don't think Daryl likes anyone touching his clothes," she soon burst out laughing and I raised a questioning brow.

"So?" I stopped and held the boxers out of the water to allow the excess water to drain out, "what's the big deal?"

"Only he likes to wash his stuff, " Amy wiped away a tear of laughter. Carol, Amy, and Andrea chuckled and went back to washing clothes.

I rolled my eyes at myself and slapped them back into the water, continuing to scrub, "At the end of the day, Y'all live on the edge of a forest - you're obviously goin' to 'getcha clothes dirty. It's nice after a day in the forest to have clean clothin' to switch into."

"Fair enough," they all smiled. Soon, everything fell silent again, and all you could hear was splashing water and draining sounds and the occasional coughing.