𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐌𝐎𝐍 𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃 | 𝐭𝐰𝐝 ¹

03.

   It had been a week since Nicole and Cheyanne found the cabin. Nicole was still wary of the men; Cheyanne, on the other hand, had seemed to warm up to Jess.

   Daryl was a different story. He didn't know why his uncle was so dead set on having these two people stay with them. It was two extra mouths to feed -- two extra asses to cover. Daryl was never a sociable person. He didn't like having more people around than it was absolutely necessary.

   The Allegro's were no different. He hated the idea of them staying here with them. He wanted to find his brother -- something he couldn't do with them here. They couldn't wield a gun and Nicole's baseball bat would only get so far.

   They had barely any survival skills other than their instincts. Daryl wanted them gone. He wanted to kick them out to find their own way and not get in the way of his. He was getting tired of it.

   "Daryl," Jess' voice broke him from his thoughts.

   He looked up, biting at his nail. "What?"

   "I've been thinkin'," Jess paused, "we need to leave. Maybe try 'n go find that brother of yours."

   Daryl cocked his head. "What about them?"

   Jess placed his hands on his hips, "I'm hopin' they'll come with us."

   Daryl scoffed, "Why? They can't shoot. They've proven to more of a liability than anythin'."

   Nicole sniggered as she leaned on the door frame behind Jess. "Nice, asshat." She pushed herself from the doorframe and marched toward the room.

   "Good going, Daryl." Jess turned around to go after her. "Nicole, wait."

   Inside the bedroom, Nicole was grabbing her things. "We're leaving, Jess. It's pretty obvious that we aren't wanted."

   "Daryl didn't mean it like that."

   She scoffed, "It's pretty damn obvious how he meant it." She pulled her pocket knife from under her pillow and closed it. "Maybe he's right. I mean, what can I do with this little pig sticker anyway?"

   "We can teach you how to defend yourself. To shoot a gun. Even to hunt, if you wanted too."

   "And be more of a burden than we already are? Nah, thanks, Jess." Nicole slung her bag across her back and grabbed Cheyanne's as well. She started to walk toward the man blocking her way.

   "You aren't a burden, Nikki." Jess seemed to beg. He wouldn't bring it to himself that he enjoyed her company.

   Nicole froze at that nickname. Nobody had called her anything other than her full name in a while. She missed her friends. She missed the students she used to teach. She missed the normalcy that she had taken for granted. She missed how normal it was for people to call her Nikki.

   "Daryl's right though. We can't use guns. We can't hunt," she paused looking down to her shoes. "We are just two extra mouths for y'all to feed."

   Jess' hands embraced her arms. "Nicole, we can teach you how to survive." Nicole looked up to his blue eyes. "We can learn from each other."

   "How?"

   Jess' hands slid from her arms as she crossed them. It was obvious she was uncomfortable with affection. "We can teach you to survive and you can teach us that trusting strangers isn't always bad."

   Nicole stood silent. Her eyes scanned over Jess'. Gears in her head were turning; she tried to make sense of what he had said. "Okay."

   A shocked expression appeared on Jess' face. "Okay?" he asked, "You gonna stay?"

   Nicole gave a gentle smile, "We've got some things to learn." She brushed her blonde hair from her face, "I can't just leave here empty-handed, now can I?"

   Jess smiled. "No, I guess you can't."