My Hope

Chapter 17

Daryl and I walked together, hearing the sound of voices getting louder and louder. Daryl dropped the deer on a table near the house and we walked into the house. I saw Carl run from his tent with a blanket in his hand and into the house. I guessed it was another one of his games with Beth. I walked up the porch with Daryl behind me. I stopped mid up the stair and felt Daryl bump into me from a step down. I looked down at him from over my shoulder and gave him a giant smile.

"Like what you see?" I said playfully. Before he could reply I heard a glass shatter in the house and ran inside. I swung the door open to see Lori, her back to me, leaning down to clean up a broken glass that hit the floor and another person in front of her. I couldn't see who it was until Lori stood up.

It was a woman. She slowly stood up, revealing herself. She had long blond hair and greenish looking eyes. She was slender looking and had on some blue jeans and a black shirt. She had some dirt and what seemed like blood on her shirt and jeans. She seemed about my age and height, but there was something about her. I felt a hand on my waist, knocking me out of my trance.

Daryl came up behind me and looked up, seeing the "new" girl. When he looked over at her, I felt his hand slip off of my waist. I looked up and saw that she had seen Daryl and was smiling a little. This made my blood boil.

Rick walked into the kitchen holding a sleeping bag. He seemed shocked to see that Daryl and I were there but gave a light smile, happy that we had made it back.

"Daryl, Sarah." he said, trying to find the words.

"This is Jessica." Rick nodded his head towards the new girl. She and Lori had finished cleaning up the broken glass and had sat down at the table. "Jessica" stood up from her seat and walked over, extending a hand to me.

"Hi." she said all perky with a giant smile on her face. I took her hand and shook it slowly. I gave her a questionable look, not sure if I trusted her or not. The look of my face must not have been pleasant because she let go of my hand and reached it out to Daryl. Instantly her smile grew wider and batted her eyes.

He took her hand and shook it. I saw her eyeballing the muscles on his arms. She put her hand on her hip, trying to look all cute.

Was she flirting? It made me want to scream out laughing. They finally let go of each other's hands and she walked back over to Lori.

"Jessica will be staying with us for a while." Rick said as he walked up to Daryl and I.

"What?" I said, angry at his words. "We don't even know this girl. How can we trust her?"

"She came stumbling out of the woods about an hour ago. We brought her back and it looked like she needed a place to stay. I asked her and she decided to stay. Sound familiar." Rick said, remembering the day that I had stumbled my way into the group.

I crossed my arms and gave Rick a distrusting look. Something was off about this girl. I didn't trust her or like her.

"That's fine, but where is she going to stay?" Daryl asked from behind me. I turned and glared at him, angry that he thought it was a good idea for her to be here. He didn't even look at me, knowing that I was giving him a death glare.

I stormed out of the house, not knowing how long I was going to keep my cool. I had to get out of the there. I walked over to Carol and Andrea who were sitting and chatting near the RV while Dale kept watch up top. I saw down in an empty chair and crossed my arms.

"Nice that you could join us. Have you met Jessica?" Carol asked me, seeing that I was upset.

"Yeah." I said, not really wanting to talk about her. I couldn't figure out what it was but I didn't like her.