Not the Walking Dead

The Quarry

I could hear the chains locking the door rattle, and finally a distinctive 'chink' sound as they cut the lock with the bolt cutters. The louder rattle of the chains being pulled off the door was, of course, followed by the violent kicking in of the door.

"Merle! Merle!" Daryl yelled, barely through the door in the first place. I forced myself to my feet, despite feeling dizzy and exhausted from the sunstroke I assume we both have. I met eyes with Daryl briefly and gestured to Merle, who was conscious, and while far more coherent than he had been hours prior, was just as out of it from the sunstroke as I was, even if he had had two more water bottles than I had.

"Elena, you alright?" Rick asked, tilting his head slightly to force himself into my field of vision.

"Yeah, sheriff, we're alright. Took you long enough." I smiled at him weakly to show I was teasing, and he grabbed my shoulder and pulled me into him.

Didn't know Rick was much of a hugger, but I'll take whatever I can get.

"You were right," He whispered into my neck. "They were there." I smiled warmly and patted his back comfortingly. I could hear Daryl and Merle talking quietly (for them) behind us.

"Eventually your lack of faith in me is going to become insulting." He chuckled and released me, and I turned to Glenn and T-Dog, who had already snapped the cuff with the bolt cutters and were helping Merle to his feet. Merle gave T-Dog one hard glare, but T-Dog didn't glare back or say anything. Merle's eyes met mine for a moment and he left T-Dog alone.

Gotta be honest, I expected more than that. But hell, I'm not complaining yet.

"You got any water in that pack, Glenn?" I asked. "We've been baking out here all day waiting for the lot of you." He nodded and took his pack off, handing Merle and I each a bottle which we gulped down.

"I thought you had four when I left here yesterday." Rick said, knowing what I had packed for us in terms of food and water before separating from Morgan and Duane.

Which reminds me...

"Yeah, but the drugged up Jolly here needed 'em more than me, so I only had the one." I replied and sighed.

"You gave me three and you only had one?" Merle asked. "This kinda heat, that's just damn stupid, girl!" Merle smiled and, if I didn't know any better, had a well hidden tinge of concern in his eyes as he looked at me swaying a bit. I shrugged in response and met Daryl's eyes briefly again. He didn't hold my gaze for long, and didn't speak up.

"He finally arrives," I said in between gulps of water. "Pleasure to meet you, Angel." I said, looking at Daryl. He glared between me and Merle, and gestured to me weakly with his crossbow.

"The hell's the matter with her? She lose her damn mind?" He asked.

"I highly suggest ignoring her if you want to keep your sanity." Glenn grumbled from behind the Dixons. They both turned to him but neither said anything.

"Hey, did Morgan and Duane make it?" I asked, ignoring Glenn's weak jab. Rick nodded in response.

It's accurate if nothing else.

"Yeah, they got there about an hour or two before we did yesterday."

"Great, I'm glad they're safe. Shane happy about the guns?" I asked with an eyebrow raised.

He can see in my eyes, I'm asking about more than just the guns.

"Yeah, Shane's pretty happy about it. And yeah, we... talked." I patted his shoulder.

"That'll do for now. We need to get back to camp, boys. Like, right now." I said and made sure I had everything. Glock, check. Bow, check. Quiver, check. Backpack, check.