Huddled Together Ch. 06

John headed upstairs to the bathroom for a much needed shave. He kept the door open, and after a few minutes Merry greeted him in the doorway.

"John, can I speak with you a moment please?" She asked.

"Sure come in, what's up?" John replied as he continued his shave.

Merry waked into the bathroom and sat on the edge of the bath, behind John, so that she could see his face in the mirror. She gained her courage to ask her question, and started; "I want to come with you and Tom when you go to my home. I need to see it just once more."

He stopped shaving for a moment, halfway along an up stroke under his chin. John was taken aback. What she was asking was a huge deal, having to look after a woman in her early 60's as they trekked across the Walker infested countryside. He eventually rinsed his razor in the water in the sink, and continued.

It took some time before he spoke.

"That's not an easy thing to do." He said still continuing to shave, not turning to look at Merry.

"I know it is a lot to ask." She replied. "I can't make the trip on my own, and I have been carefully thinking about it the last couple of weeks. It's something that I need; it will bring me some closure."

It turned out that Merry had not even seen Jack's body after they were attacked in town. They had been separated by the Walkers that attacked when she and Skye ran into one house while Jack, Anny, and Anny's brother had headed into the other.

John finished his shave without another word as he processed the request. Once he was done, he picked up a hand towel and patted down his newly shaven face before turning around and leaning back against the edge of the sink.

"It would be a two day round trip to reach your place and back you know, walking the whole way."

Merry nodded her head. "I'm at full strength now after our time here; I can walk that far with no trouble."

John paused and tried to think of another reason he could use to convince her that this was a terrible idea.

"If we're attacked, you can't really defend yourself against a Walker." John said; his last attempt to try and change her mind about wanting to go. She was much stronger than she had been when they found her and the others in town, but she was still over 60 years old and couldn't take on a full-blown crazy Walker.

"I'm aware of that." She said humbly. "I know you and Tom will try to protect me, but I accept whatever happens to me while I'm out there."

They stayed there in silence for a long time. John looking up to the ceiling, contemplating how difficult this would be, while Merry looked anxiously at him waiting his answer.

"Fine" is all he said.

They went downstairs to talk to the others about her request. Tom took a lot more convincing than John had, he wasn't happy with the idea of 'babysitting' Merry while out in the unknown. Merry pleaded her case, while the other women stayed silent. It took a good 20 minutes of conversation, but Tom eventually agreed to her tagging along. The only way he would agree to it was if it was agreed out loud that Merry was second priority to the safety of him and John; having the men stay alive if the shit hit the fan was more important than having Merry around.

Skye blew up at him as he said that and the two entered into a heated debate; Skye furious, saying that he was 'inhuman' to even say that; Tom replying that she was acting based on a world that didn't exist anymore. Eventually Skye backed down a little and Tom got the last word in. She wasn't happy about it, but she wanted Merry to get her closure, and the two men were the only way that she would get it.

-----

Night fell and everyone headed back inside. Everyone had spent the rest of the day apart from each other for once; it was a nice change from having to buddy up together for protection. Tom had calmed down about Merry's request, and Skye too had calmed down from her anger at Tom; she still didn't agree with him entirely though.

The day had been spent organising lists of what was needed to turn the entire yard into a food production area. Merry settled down in her room early to compile the various lists into one. They would go 'shopping' for it at Tom's place, where he had a heap of spare wire, wood, tools, etc. They would head out tomorrow at first light so that they could make it all the way to Merry's house.

Anny and Tom were in the kitchen doing the dishes as it was their turn. John and Skye were in the lounge room on a couch together. Skye was reading her book, leaning back against John's arm with her legs dangling over the arm of the couch. John was nursing a whiskey, staring up at the books on the shelf as he was lost in thought. His mind went through the next couple of days; they would be travelling a hard road. He was starting to regret agreeing that Merry could come; he and Tom were a much better team on their own, without having to babysit another. But he had made a promise, one that he couldn't back down from now...

"You know, you and Anny did win the contest last night." Skye said without turning or looking up from her book.

John's focus returned to him as he processed her words. He smiled, "Hmm, yes we did. What was the prize again?"

Skye dog-eared the page that she was on and closed her book. She rested her head back against his shoulder.

"Good question..." she replied as her words trailed off in thought.

They sat there in silence for a long time. John could feel the warmth of Skye's body where it came into contact with his, he could sense Skye's mind racing through what he hoped would be sexy ideas as a reward for his and Anny's win. John's cock was also starting to wake in response to what he imagined Skye was conjuring up.

The silence continued for the longest time, what would Skye suggest?