Same Love

23: Normal

At least 6 weeks had passed without incident since the Woodbury survivors had come to the prison. Sam kept to himself. He hated it, there were too many people. The inhabitants of Woodbury did little to approach him as he seemed so distant and intimidating and that was the way he wanted to keep it. Sam also knew the food was scarce and so didn't accept anything from the group's food supply. He hunted for himself and shared with Carl occasionally. At this particular moment, Sam sat, basking in the glory of the sunshine as he did some much-needed maintenance on his bow. He surveyed each of his fifteen 5.5 mm arrows, cleaning their sharp tips of gore. There were people clearing walkers on the fence as they flocked to it, people eating breakfast, people people people. Sam failed to notice a person approaching him and froze up when a voice spoke directly to him, tone casual. His head snapped up to give the teenager a steely gaze earning a chuckle as Carl sat beside him. The two were closer now, they both agreed that Rick was foolish for letting all these people into the prison.

"What do you want Carl?"

"To get away from dad"

"Why?"

"He's gardening" Carl shrugged and picked up one of the clean arrows, turning it over in his hands as Sam continued to work, lost in the comfortable silence that fell over them.

"I'm coming out with you later"

"No, You're not. I told you I hunt alone now, I don't want to be responsible for you" 

"You won't be. I can take care of myself" 

"Sorry Carl, I can't" Sam shut him down, tone switching to slightly defensive and Carl knew he was still hung up on a lot of things, like Glenn's words what seemed a full month ago. Sam set off then, passing those at the gates who gave him a tense look. He was stopped by a hand on his wrist and those at the fence stopped to watch the exchange.

"I'm not five Daryl, I can go out by myself" Sam smirked, not even turning around. He heard the deep chuckle and his wrist was let go.

"I've made the mistake of lettin' ya go out alone before. Don't want ya dyin' on me"

"That was one time and you almost died too!" Sam complained, his lips curling upwards more. The taller hunter simply slung his arm around Sam's shoulders and they walked off into the forest together, to hunt and to relax. Back at the fence Tyreese and Karen resumed their killing of walkers until Karen voiced her thoughts.

"Daryl's ok but that other guy's just scary" 

"Sam's just wary" Tyreese assured, though he also thought Sam was almost too detached from them all and he recalled the first time he saw the male, writhing in agony and consumed by hallucinations, screaming and being carried kicking through to his cell. To see him in normalcy was strange but definitely preferable. Michonne returned soon after and Daryl and Sam didn't take long before they returned, three rabbits and a few birds hanging from their belts. They delivered the meat to the supply store before meeting up with the others to go on yet another supply run. Sasha greeted them both and Daryl gave a curt nod while Sam blatantly ignored her. Zach and Beth kissed each other goodbye and Bob was allowed to accompany the group. They piled into the car and all was silent until the distant blare of music sounded and Daryl explained to Bob that it was to attract the walkers. Upon arrival at the old shopping mall, Sam vaulted out of the truck, listening to Zach talk on and on. 

"You must have been a homicide detective" He asked Daryl who affirmed it though it was clear he wasn't really a homicide detective before the shit hit the fan. Zach turned to Sam and looked at him carefully.

"You were a fitness coach" Zach guessed which made Daryl snort and Sam hit his shoulder playfully, a smirk coming to his lips.

"Not even close kid"

They entered the shop with little incident, Sam scouring the shelves for anything useful. A loud crash followed soon after and Bob was found pinned to the ground by a shelf. Broken glass littered the floor as Sam and Daryl attempted to hoist the shelf off of him, walkers started to fall through the weak ceiling and soon the whole ceiling began to fall. Zach was bitten as soon as they managed to free Bob and they all left very quickly, only stopping to see a helicopter fall on the building, the structure going up in flames. Sam loved the feeling it gave him, the heat flaring against his skin as the others watched in dismay. He hummed, the crackling flames being music to his ears, he always loved fire. He didn't hear Tyreese calling to him but his head snapped around when he felt a strange feeling come over him, he saw his mother again standing by them. Daryl sighed and placed a gentle hand on Sam's shoulder, breaking him out of his daze.

"She's not there" He mumbled comfortingly. He found he needed to reassure Sam occasionally that his mother was an illusion, he knew by now that Sam was never left alone by her.

"I know, I just...It unsettles me"

"Been unsettled since ya were...taken prisoner by Woodbury" Daryl refused to talk about it in detail. Sam didn't mind it but Daryl was wounded by all that they both endured. He couldn't bear to think back to that time when Sam nearly died. Tyreese and Sasha were more than puzzled by the pair's sudden affection. It was like they understood each other which was strange seeing as Sam never offered anyone else more than a 'hello' anymore.

"It's ok, you don't need to talk about it. I'm sure Glenn would love to hear about my thoughts, maybe I could save everyone" This took those who didn't know Sam by surprise. They knew there was something between Glenn and Sam going on since they'd arrived but the bitterness of his tone reinforced it and chilled Sasha to the bone.

"Shut up" Daryl smirked, though worry clouded his mind. Sam needed to go back to how he was at the farm, in Atlanta. When Daryl first met him he was annoying someone and got into a fist fight because of it, where had that annoyingly sarcastic man gone? They arrived back and Daryl reported to Beth, telling her of Zach's death. Sam made his way into the main cell block where they had first set up camp, his original cell still occupied by him alone. He drew the bars across his cell, knowing he'd be safe from anything that way. He had grown cautious and for good reason, only last week had an old man died of natural causes and almost reanimated in the night before someone found him, what if someone didn't find that person this time? With this he lay back, flicking through his trusty notebook and smiling. He had added a picture since the apocalypse began. A few weeks back he found a polaroid camera still working and some paper and had snapped a picture of a very grouchy Daryl with his arm slung loosely around Sam's shoulder. It was casual and real and he smiled at it. With his mind spinning with happy thoughts he allowed himself to drift off into a fitful slumber, his nightmares ready to pounce.