All This Time (A Daryl Dixon fanfiction)

Chapter 6

Day 46

I was woken up by T-Dog early the following day. The sun was still hidden behind the horizon. I thanked him and told him to catch a few more hours of sleep; there was much to do today. I changed my clothes quickly, putting on a green wife-beater and brown cargo pants with a black flannel shirt on top of it - at the moment, it was still chilly - and tied the laces of my black combat boots. They were starting to look worn out; it would be a good idea to look for new ones. Then I grabbed my duffle bag and took out my rifle, ready to leave my tent.

I walked silently towards the RV, seeing Andrea sitting next to Amy's cold, dead body. For a second, I almost forgot what happened here last night. I made my way to her carefully. I didn't want to alarm her or aggravate her.

"Andrea, would it be alright if I said goodbye?" I wasn't that close to a young woman, but she was part of this group. She was intelligent and sweet, making our afternoons and dinner times slightly happier. She deserved a proper farewell, and her sister deserved to know that we all cared for Amy.

Andrea nodded simply, not taking her eyes from the dead body, so I kneeled on the other side and took Amy's other hand in mine.

"Hey, Amy. I'm really sorry that it happened to you. You didn't deserve it. But I can promise you that we will take care of your sister, you don't have to worry about her. And if you'd see my parents up there, please say 'Hi' from me, alright?" I patted her cold hand a few times, then stood up and made my way to the ladder leading to RV's roof.

I admit I'm not the best person to lift anyone's spirits. I might know what to say and how to behave in those situations, but as I said before, I wasn't comfortable around other people enough to show them how I felt.

That's why after I gained my Ph.D. in Psychology, I moved my interests to criminology, getting a BA in criminal justice instead of being a psychologist in a fancy office.

I sat on the RV for a couple of hours until camp started to come to life. First, as always, to awake was Daryl. He emerged from his tent slowly, like a cat, still wearing the same clothes as yesterday. I guess they were already dirty, and what we were about to do would be a gory and messy job anyway. Not that Daryl was the kind of person to care about his appearance.

He stood at the tent's entrance for a second and started stretching, his arms well above his head, trying to crack his back. Those arms, man. Muscular but not overly, and not in the way you could gain at a gym, but from hard, physical work. And from carrying that crossbow around like it weights nothing. I could see his wife-beater rose up, showing a small piece of skin. It seemed smooth, and his belly was sprinkled with hair going down and disappearing into his pants, leading to...

When my thoughts started to turn into dangerous territory, I noticed that he was looking at me. Not stopping what he was doing.

Oh, My God. Was he doing it intentionally?

Two can play that game. I licked my lips slowly and unbuttoned my shirt, leaving me just in my top, which was quite skin-tight. I cocked my eyebrow at Daryl and sent him a kiss. That made him realize what was happening, and he quickly took off to the woods.

Shorty after him, other people started to wake up, and soon, my watch shift was over, and Dale came up to take over. I jogged to my tent to put away my rifle and leave my flannel, it started getting hot, and I didn't need it anymore. I secured Glock in its rightful place by my side and took my machete. Lori and Carol were already preparing breakfast, so I made my way to them.

"Morning."

"Hey Elena," the Brown-haired woman sent me a small smile, and Carol nodded and passed me a plate with pieces of meat and some canned vegetables. "Did you speak to Andrea at all?"