Touch

“I changed my name in the registry today,” Carol said.

She sat on the concrete wall and looked out at the temporary wall that had been erected to keep the walkers out until a permanent brick wall could be built. Once they had security behind the brick wall, which would be thick and filled with concrete, they would concentrate on cutting down the trees and chopping it up so that they could use the wood for many other purposes, including heating and cooking. They had, literally, years of work ahead of them.

The solar panels that had been brought in made a long double row that soaked up sun and made it possible to power the electric vehicles they were using to aid in construction, as well as the power tools and the deep freezers that were being used to store meat. So much progress had been made and their community was growing. Talk of some kind of turbine to generate even more electricity was being discussed with the two engineers who’d been welcomed into their community.

Rick Grimes had finally taken off his farmer’s hat and was now back in a leadership position where he excelled. He sat beside her and handed her a cold beer. The wall faced west and the sun was going down. About ten feet behind and below Carol a group of walkers hissed and stared hungrily up at her. She didn’t even really register their presence. She’d learned to tune them out.

“Mmmm…” Carol said, taking the can from her lips. “Oh, God, that’s good.”

“Tell me about it,” said Rick, after a long pull off his drink.

Carol spotted Michonne walking into the prison with Inga, one of the engineers who was helping to bring electricity and positive change to the prison. Without her and her husband Johan’s work the fences would have fallen long ago and they’d have been overrun with walkers.

“She’s with Daryl now,” Carol said.

“Unlikely pairing,” Rick replied.

“Not really. Daryl’s never been the racist that his brother was. Does it bother you?”

“A little. Does it bother you?”

“It did at first. I’m over it now.”

Rick regarded Carol. “You get over things quickly.”

“If you’d lived the life I did, you’d realize you had to.”

“To you, Miss Godfrey,” Rick said, using her maiden name, which she’d taken back that day.

“To our home,” she said, and they clunked their beer cans together.

The drinking continued since Rick had come up with a six pack in a Styrofoam cooler. Carol had never been much of a drinker, and Rick hadn’t drank in years, so they both felt the alcohol fairly quickly. Rick thought of the visit Carol had paid to his room a couple of years before, when they’d first moved into the prison. He’d been lonely. She’d cured that loneliness by mounting him and bringing him release.

Now that it was dark, such things were on his mind again.

“Time to go in,” Carol said, seemingly unaware that Rick’s eyes were repeatedly drawn to her breasts and her hips. He climbed down and then helped her to the ground. As soon as she was on her feet he put his hands on her hips.

“I’ve been thinking about that night we had together when we first moved into the prison,” he said.

In the moonlight Carol could see his eyes had a hooded quality, and his pupils were dilated from more than just dusk.

“Yeah?” she said, feeling his fingers dig into her hips.

Rick eased Carol against the wall. When she didn’t object, his lips came down upon hers. She greeted the kiss with only a slight hesitation, but after a few moments pulled back.

“What’s the matter?” he asked.

“Anybody could see us,” she said.

He looked around. The wall didn’t have much in the way of cover and if someone would come out, they’d be caught. The prison cells were full so they couldn’t exactly sneak into his bunk without somebody hearing them, regardless of how quiet they tried to be. That was the only drawback to living in a cellblock--everybody knew when someone got laid.

Rick took Carol’s hand and led her further back into the trees. There, between the wall and the bushes, they had more privacy. His hands skimmed up her shirt, over the soft skin of her belly, to push her shirt over her head. He reached around back and unhooked her bra, anxious to free her breasts, to touch them, and to suckle her nipples, things he hadn’t gotten to enjoy the one time they’d had a tryst in his cell in the middle of the night.