TROUBLE [twd]

a concerned citizen

Daryl drove the truck through the woods until they ended up on a separate backroad, though there were still people and cars there as well it wasn't as bad as the main road into Atlanta.

"Were those.. bombs?" Sakiko questions carefully.

"Guy said Atlanta was a refugee camp. Didn't look like it," Daryl mutters, pulling the truck to park at the earlier gas station that held double the people it did hours ago.

Nanami shakes his head, trying to piece the events together, "They.. The military or whatever, blew up the city?"

"You saw just as much as I did," Daryl reminds.

Sakiko reaches to her pocket, pulling out her pocket knife. Daryl has to fight the urge to ask her what the flimsy knife it gonna do against a bomb but figures it's a sensitive time to say much of anything.

"Y'all wait here. I'll be back in a few," Daryl says, opening the door.

Sakiko's hand darts out to grab his arm, "Where are you going?"

"To find the phone," he answers, "I ain't going far, all right?"

Sakiko slowly nods and releases her hold on him as he advises, "Lock the door 'til I get back."

The twins nod and once Daryl shuts the door, Sakiko clicks the lock down. Daryl was relieved they were actually listening in this time as he makes his way to the phone poll. He had some change, enough to call Merle and check on him. Sure, he left. But if whatever was going on was big enough to bomb a whole city, the least he could do was see if his brother was alive.

The twins were quiet in the truck, Sakiko clutching her knife as Nanami fiddled with his bottle cap, watching the logo on top spin in circles.

Sakiko kept her eyes on the people that passed by like any single one of them could suddenly lunge at them because of Shinsuke's deal. A knock on the window makes them both jump and dart their eyes to the passenger window. The man outside points to roll the window down and Nanami reaches for the crank. Just before he can reach it, Sakiko grabs his wrist with her free hand.

"Daryl said to stay here and wait," she reminds.

"We're not leaving. Maybe he's lost or something. He doesn't look crazy, at least," Nanami shrugs her off.

Even though he was willing to hear the man out, he doesn't open the window much, only an inch or so.

"Hey, you kids all right?" the man asks, "You got a parent with you? You safe?"

"We're.." Nanami trails off.

"We're waiting. He's trying to use the phone," Sakiko answers, not specifying their relationship, or lack thereof, to Daryl.

The man nods slowly, eyeing the knife in Sakiko's hand and giving her a sympathetic look, "Would it be all right if I wait for him to get back? Just to make sure y'all are good?"

Nanami is the one to nod making Sakiko sigh as the man lets out his own breath of relief, "Good. Just don't want y'all in danger, you know? It's crazy out here."

"What's happening? Did you see.." Nanami gulps, "The bombs?"

"I didn't see them. I heard them, though," he nods.

At the confirmation that it wasn't a hallucination from their abrupt awakening, the twins feel uneasy.

"My name is Theodore. Y'all can call me T, or T-Dog. It's what my buddies all call me," the man introduces.

"I'm Nanami. This is my sister, Sakiko," Nanami greets.

"And who are y'all waiting on? Parents?" T-Dog asks.