Mushaboom • Daryl Dixon

17

..a bit of a read :)

Rachel

Everyone was quiet. Apart from an occasional question or murmur, everyone was busy and keeping to themselves. I had just finished stretching. The soreness was fading, I managed to get up fairly quickly, Ricky helped a bit with some stretches. But apart from that, it only felt as if I did a crazy work out the day before.

The storm last night was insane.. For a moment, I wasn't sure if we'd be able to beat them. But we did somehow. All of us fought for it. And the quiet this morning was such a contrast.

I couldn't get enough of the water. It felt like the little sleep I had was so rejuvenating. But we still had to be mindful of how much we could actually drink.. We couldn't get too comfortable.

I took this time to just watch everything happening all around me. Ricky was sitting to himself, resting his head back when Glenn went over and sat next to him. Milo was organizing our things next to Noah.

I noticed Rick sitting quietly with Judith in his lap. His hands played with hers while she faced away from him. He was keeping her entertained, but his mind was far. I wondered what his story was, what Judith's story was. He looked exhausted. He gave his all to his kids, to these people. In that stillness, I found a deep sense of respect for him. I took in a deep breath before making my way over to him.

"Rick.." I watched him carefully as he looked up at me and nodded.

"Rachel." He replied.

I took a seat at his side. Judith looked over to me and I watched her with amazement. How they managed to keep her safe while out on the road was beyond me. I smiled at her as he asked, "How are you feeling?"

I genuinely felt okay for the first time in weeks.. "Good. I'm good." I quickly looked around the room before looking back to him.

"Good." He said as he lightly played with Judith's fingers. I took notice of the whites of her fingers from squeezing his. I brought my attention back to him.

"And you?" I asked. He looked up at me for a beat. His eyes were still wild, but it seemed like he managed to rest a bit.

He nodded, "Yeah... I'm good."

"Good." I smiled and for the first time since the church, I saw him give the smallest smile.

With all seriousness, I apologized, "Hey.. I'm sorry for what happened with Sasha."

He quickly waved it off, "Mmh.. Don't worry about that. We were low. But we're gonna be fine.."

He took in deep breath then nodded to himself, "I think we'll stay put today. We'll head out first thing tomorrow. I think I'll have a couple of us search around here for a bit. but, I need us to rest. We all need to rest some."

I nodded in agreement. We all had been going almost nonstop since I had met them. "Sounds good.." I stood up slowly, as Michonne came walking up. She smiled at me and took the spot I was just sitting before. I looked to the both of them and assured, "We'll be ready for whatever's next."

"Yeah, we will." Michonne said for the both of them. I smiled once more, and headed over to Ricky and Glenn.

"How's Rick?" Ricky asked. Glenn looked  past me in Rick's direction.