Love's Conquer

Pretty Much Dead Already Part One

I deeply exhaled through my nose and released a quiet moan as I stretched out my arms and legs. A stiffness ached through my body and I attempted to roll out my shoulders to relieve some of the tension. Opening my eyes, I had a few rapid blinks as the light from the sky shone down at me through the leaves. The birds were chirping away beautifully, leaving me to conclude it was around six in the morning. I soon started envisioning the events from yesterday and I unconsciously brought my hand to my cheek, feeling a wave of sadness, confusion and guilt hit me. I looked down towards my abdomen, remembering where I had placed myself for the night and carefully straightened my balance before untying the rope that I had used to secure me safely against the branch of the tree. Using my hand and elbow, I rolled up the rope and placed it back in my rucksack. I tilted my head over the edge of the branch, measuring the distance between myself and the ground. It looked the same as it did when I measured it last night, about a two metre distance. I got onto my hands and knees, wrapping my arms around the thick branch to cradle myself underneath, before dropping myself to the grass below.

"You weren't kiddin' about sleepin' in a damn tree." Shane' voice plucked up to my surprise, causing me to turn on my feet and face the direction his voice was coming from. "Why'd you pick so far away?"

I suddenly remembered placing myself near the barn, deciding I wanted to keep out of everyones way but also to make sure nothing happened during the night that I couldn't protect my family from. I walked towards him, feeling a sense of anxiety tear through me at the thought of Shane finding out about the contents of the barn. "I like the peace an quiet."

"Nah." Shane murmured back at me, turning to walk alongside me towards the main camp. "There's no livin' for you if it only consists of peace."

A slight smirk rose upon my face. "That's why I have you in my life."

Shane let out a laugh with me. "I see, I'm the storm an the noise."

"Yeah, pretty much. You just about balance it out." I joked.

"Morning." Carol smiled up at us, earning a smile back from me.

"Good morning." I dropped my rucksack down by one of the trees and walked over to her, embracing her in a hug. "Breakfast smells amazing."

"It's just egg." Carol said humbly, finding my reaction to her cooking amusing since it was the same every morning.

"Egg that we don't usually get the privilege of having anymore. Made by the great Carol Peletier." I crouched down to examine the scrambled egg she was cooking, letting the aroma fill my nostrils. "We're eating like kings an queens."

"Morning guys." Andrea spoke up as she exited her tent.

"Morning Andy." I replied, doing a little jog towards her as she opened her arms up for me.

"I'm gonna start wanting these every mornin'." Andrea joked as I released her from the entanglement. "Why don't we all hug more? I think it would definitely boost morale."

I looked around us to see who else was up, when my eyes landed on Daryl who was slumped in one of the camper armed chairs with his leg hanging over the side. I couldn't resist the grin that was widening on my face as he caught me eyeing him up. "Hell no." He muttered with a mouthful of scrambled egg, using one of his hands to wipe his lips.

"Oh hell yeah." I laughed as he immediately placed his food on the ground and stood abruptly, doing a little dance from one foot to the other as if he was preparing for some sort of major tournament.

"Kinda offended that you didn't give me a hug but you're willin' to fight Dixon for one." Shane smirked slightly, leaning back against the tree as she show commenced.