Robin Hood (Sequel To Hiraeth- TWD)

Chapter 16

The group of survivors took shelter in an old bar, one with a rusted metal doorway and dusty cracked tables. Friar sat in the middle with a new stick off the ground, chewing on it as he watched Daryl and Cailey bar the door with a piece of wood.

"Check the back," Daryl instructed.

Cailey turned without a reply, strutting past her dog and Beth at a table. The brunette pushed through a swinging door behind the bar. She checked down and through the empty hallway, then opened the back door. It led to the outside, where rain was already starting to fall. A flash of light cracked across the sky, and Cailey sighed. She shut the door again, locking it back up. She slowly made her way back down to the dining area of the bar.

"Clear," Cailey called out to Daryl. She turned to see the man at a pantry behind the bar, shuffling through empty cans and bottles.

The teenager joined, checking underneath the massive bar counter. There were empty cans and wrinkled papers, but the shelves under the counter were otherwise empty. At the end, Cailey found a half-filled bottle of clear alcohol. She turned her head up at the sound of Friar's whining.

Friar had his nose to another door near the counter. He scratched at the chipping wood, whining. Cailey placed her newfound glass bottle on the counter, then approached the door. She held her knife up, using her other hand to reach for the knob. When she swung the door open, nothing came out. Cailey sighed, then dropped her knife to her waistband again.

The brunette stared inside the little closet, filled with white racks. There were cans and boxes and bottles made of plastic and glass. Cailey turned her head to Daryl, who was shoving a box of cigarettes into his pockets. She whistled softly. "Redneck."

Daryl spun on his heels, sauntering to where Cailey stood. He took a glance inside the closet, food and drinks sitting on the racks. The older hunter let out a loud exhale through his nose, then pat Cailey on the shoulder before walking away again.

Cailey pulled one of the empty boxes out of the closet, then reached up for what sat on the shelves. Cans of beans, corn, soda bottles, beer, chips, a tiny bit of it all. One word went through Cailey's brain as she shoved what she could into the tiny cardboard box. Jackpot.

Cailey swiveled around again, hoisting the box up against her chest. She dropped it with a thump on the table in front of Beth. The blonde stood from her seat, looking inside the box. Friar butted against Cailey's hip to whine loudly. She pat her dog, then reached into the box.

Loud thunder boomed outside. Beth stared up, as did Daryl. Cailey pulled glass bottles out of the box, then a few of the cans. She handed one to Beth, who carefully took the can of corn. She stared at it like she didn't know what to do with it. Cailey sighed, then pulled the can from Beth's hands again. Cailey stabbed her knife into the can with a loud pop. She twirled the knife around loudly until the aluminum lid curled up, while Daryl reached in the box to swipe up another can.

Beth nodded gently as she took the canned corn back again. "Thanks." She still looked at the can like she didn't know what to do with it. Once Daryl started drinking his can of cold beans like a soup, Beth hesitantly started doing the same. Cailey popped open one more can of beans, making Beth jump, then poured the contents into a cleaned ashtray. She left it on the floor for Friar, who swallowed the cold beans like a starving wolf. Cailey sat across from Beth, kicked her feet up on the table, and sighed as her teeth crunched into an old tortilla chip.

Cailey took a drink from the burning clear alcohol in her half-filled glass. Daryl swiped it from her hands after, lifting it to his mouth. He tilted the nearly-empty bottle towards Beth, who shook her head.