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Adriana stood up and placed a hand on her hip as the water in the pot started to warm up. She looked towards the gate where she saw the lone walker coming towards the light in the building. She sighed and shook her head.
"Not that I think you should do it, but I suppose it's a good idea to see if you have what it takes to survive."
She looked at Lem, giving him a harsh stare as she agreed to this. She didn't like it, since the guy had literally just arrived, but she would reward him with some of the fruit on the mantle.
"At least there's only one. I think if there were more I'd be a bit more worried. Then again, if there were more, you'd probably have no choice but to fight."
She placed a warm hand on Davy's shoulder as she looked at him.
"Get it over with then. You can get something to eat when you get back."
She was right, it was only one. Nothing he couldn't handle. Davy had killed walkers before. Anyone who survived this long had killed walkers before.
Then why was his heart racing? Why did his breath suddenly felt much heavier?
It was the pressure of life and death they weighed in on him. This one single act could mean the difference between them letting him stay and them kicking him out, which in turn heavily affected his survival. This one singular act, one he could not screw up.
Perfect. It had to be perfect, clean, swift and quiet.
His heart pounded as he went through the door, accompanied by the two apes whose eyes seemed to be trying to drill their way into his soul. He moved, slowly, and spotted the wretched corpse simply milling around by the fence. It had been slowed by winter, something about walkers not having blood circulation. He expected to see sadness in its eyes, but he only saw emptiness in its left, and a black hole where its right eye used to be.
It had spotted him by now and with whatever energy it had left, was desperately trying to reach him. Davy tightened his grip on the hatchet, and brought it up as the walker lunged at him.
With a wet splat, Davy had planted the narrow hatchet blade deep into the walker's forehead. He wriggled it free, and the damned thing dropped limp to the ground. He hadn't realized how long he had been holding his breath, and how fast his heart was beating.
"Sastisfied?" He turned around to face the other men, and opened his arms wide in a gesture of defiance "Or is there something else I need to prove, huh?" Davy needed somewhere to vent, it just happened to be Lem and Bill
Lem and Bill raised their hands as if they were surrendering to the new guy. Lem spoke to him and laughed.
"Settle down there new guy. We just had to make sure you could hold your own around here." They turned around and started walking back towards the house where Adriana was standing, staring at them from the porch. Her arms were crossed over her chest as she looked at the men.
"Lem, Bill, we need some wood chopped for fire tonight. Can you take care of that while I take care of Davy please?"
They complied to her request, considering they were given beds in her home. She wasn't a strong woman, physically, but she could be commanding with her voice and she deserved that much. They had sympathy for what she went through. She took a few steps down to meet Davy as she watched the men leave a trail behind in the snow.
"Sorry about that. They mean well though. We've had a few people come through that want to stay, but can't handle a fight. They slept in my beds, ate my food and ran like cowards when trouble came around. They just wanted to make sure you weren't one of them."
Davy cleared his throat and straightened himself out. Dusting his blood splattered suit, he opebed his mouth to say something, but decided against it at the last moment. In silence he moved closer Adrianna, giving the two other men a steely glance as they dissapeared walked away "Fun bunch, those two" Davy commented. He could understand why they did what they did, but it didn't mean he had to stop resenting them for it.
What he did felt was a newfound respect for the woman in front of him, how the two apes, gigantic in size and no doubt could take her easily in a fight, had walked off to do her bidding without so much as a grunt.
"Well, I'm not much in a real fight, let's be honest here" He turned back to Adrianna, forcing a smile past his still shaking nerves. "But I'll help whereever I can, and anywhere you need me"
Adriana placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled. She said nothing more as she motioned for him to come back into the kitchen. He proved that he could kill a walker if need be without running away so she figured he could stay at least one night and get some rest. How long he would end up staying on her farm was going to be up to him. As long as he wasn't a coward, he could stay.
In one of the cupboards she pulled down a plastic container and a jar of preserves that needed to be eaten before all went bad. She laid out a handful of crackers and the jam on a plate for him to devour as he wished.
"Now, I apologize, but in the winter we have to be conservative on how much we eat. I know you're hungry, so go ahead and get your fill. I'll show you where you'll be sleeping tonight."
The sun was going down and the house was getting a little darker. In the living area, he would see two women, a little younger then him, sitting on the floor and sewing together a couple of quilts. Runs to town brought back a flurry of fabrics, needles and thread for them. They sewed. They kept busy and they kept warm in front of the fireplace.
"We don't have a lot of space, but I have a few more beds open. How long has it been since you've slept in a real bed?"
Davy followed the woman into the house once again, glad to get out of the snow, away from the winter breeze that chilled his bones.
Adrianna had brought out some food for him, and he thanked the woman for her generosity before quickly devouring the food. It wasn't much, only crackers and jam but in times like these, there were those who would kill for such simple commodities. Davy heard her apologize, and found himself chuckling, nearly choking on his hastily eaten foodstuffs. "Why are you apologizing, sweetheart?" He asked jokingly between bites. "I've been living on canned beans and bleeding oatmeal for a month. My standards are fairly low"
The living area had a certain coziness about it. A community of strangers living, working and surviving together as if they had known each other since forever; something heartwarming about it, if his heart could still be warmed. Davy put on his best confident lawyer smile as he passed by the two younger women.
"Beds?" He replied as Adrianna finished. Just the thought of a warm bed made him tired. "I don't think I remember what a bed feels like, frankly"
"Sweetheart?" Adriana blushed a bit as he called her that, then paled when she remembered her husband used to call her that as well. There were times when she missed him dearly but it seemed that recently she had been so busy working to survive that he became and after thought. She mostly thought of him in the evening when the house was quiet and she was all alone. She missed having someone to sleep next to and feel protected by.
She let Davy finish his food as if he hadn't eaten in weeks, turning from him to wipe quickly at her eyes. She took to looking busy as she arranged a few things like the salt and pepper shakers on the counter to distract herself from the fact his simple pet name upset her.
When she got herself back together, she turned to him and offered a smile. "Yes, beds. We have 'em."
She motioned for him to leave the plate behind so she could lead him through the house. They went through a living area with a roaring fire already built. He would see couches, a couple of rocking chairs and normal furniture that had gone untouched since the start of all this. It looked like a normal, country home that was thrown back into the 19th century. The lights were on the walls, but none of them worked. There was no point in having any lamps on the tables and those had all been wrapped up an dput in the basement, replaced by oil lanterns and candles. As she headed up the stairs, he would see framed pictures from several decades that depicted her family through the years. Grandmothers, aunts, uncles, fathers, sons and even her own portrait from the 70s that showed her in a little yellow sundress in front of the Washington Monument.
"In here. There's a couple of beds. You can choose whichever one you want. This used to be a playroom for the kids, so I apologize if the cots aren't that comfortable. But I have enough blankets to keep you warm."
Davy could see Adrianna's obvious yet sudden discomfort. Had he said the wrong thing somehow? And if so, what the hell was it? He searched for a way to defuse the situation, but eventually decided that the best course of action was to keep his mouth shut. Funny thing is, sometimes silence spoke louder than words.
As Davy followed the kind woman through the house, he noticed the rustic atmosphere of the house, in both itself and its people. Davy had never been a fan of the country, born and raised in Salt Lake and lived his entire life within the comforts of the wasteful modern lifestyle. And yet, that certain warmth he has felt earlier remained with him as he walked beside her. Perhaps, there was something special here.
Curiosity got the better of him as Davy passes by the frames hung on the wall. All nameless faces to him, strangers of all age and time, people long gone. There was one that caught his eye, a relatively new a little girl in front of The Washington Monument. A daughter? A niece? She had never mentioned either. Davy could spot the resemblance, as much as things would have changed after decades of going through the wear and tear of time. Could it be the woman beside him right this moment? He knew better to ask, and walked.
They reached the beds and all he wanted to do was lay down and instantly pass out, but that would have been improper. "Thank you. Most people would have turned me away, or shot me, or tried to eat me" His initial distrust have wavered somewhat. These people lived in what little harmony was left in this world, a small pocket of survivors out in the middle of nowhere making it day by day by working together. Tonight he would sleep with one eye open still, but it was better than not sleeping at all like every other nights. "You're a kind soul. We don't have many of those left. People are too desperate to be anything but"
Adriana stood in the room for a bit as she waited for him to choose his bed. The sun was disappearing quickly and they would have to bunker in for the night. She noticed him looking over her family photos as they had come up the stairs, but she said nothing. If he wanted to ask about them, she would answer, but really, what did they matter anymore? The past was the past and it seemed like things didn't even exist anymore. Nothing could be duplicated and hope for mankind seemed to be lost to time. She had no idea what it was like 'out there' anymore and she really didn't want to.
"Well, you've just met us. We may want to eat you in good time."
She grinned as she said that, wiping her hands on her skirt as she moved towards the door. She looked over her shoulder as he spoke about her being a kind soul. She could be when she needed to be. She could also be cold and callous. She didn't want to be but strangers made her that way. Especially when they do harm to her and her farm.
"What's the world without kindness? It's a dark place that I'd rather not live in. Now get some rest. It gets kind of drafty at night so there's a few blankets on your bed. We lock up tight at night, so no one gets in and no one gets out. We'll figure out some sort of job for you in the morning....that is, if you wish to stay."
Shauna Kelly: That helped, thank you
Oct 4, 2021 14:40:44 GMT -5
Ayita Hunt: dang, January was my last post.. Jeez it's been a hot minute. o7 guys, sorry for the complete disappearance, life got.. a little interesting this year.
Oct 18, 2021 22:34:19 GMT -5