chapter 11 : Good mood

By midday on the third day, Sophia was much better and they left the house with Cal carrying her in his arms.

They walked for a while before coming to the pit and as they walked, Cal listened to mutterings down below and looked up to see Daryl lying there and delirious as a walker approached him.

 « What is the problem with the people in this group with this gap? » he complained before pulling out his gun and killing the walker.

 Reyes: It's someone from the group, right?

 "Yeah..." Cal gave her Sophia and he quickly went down to check on Daryl who had no injuries but one of the bolts from his crossbow pierced him from the left rear and luckily it was only the muscles who were hit even though he lost a lot of blood.

He brought him up as Daryl became delirious while chatting with a vision of Merle. Cal ran towards the slope and quickly climbed it with Daryl on his shoulders as Christina looked on in shock.

 Reyes: Wow! You are really… strong.

 Cal: he lost blood and also has a fever. We have to get back to the truck quickly. I'm going to put the little one on the back and carry Daryl at arm's length.

 Reyes: Leave the girl to me, I can carry her on my back.

 « You won't be fast enough and won't be able to carry it without tiring. Do as I tell you, Reyes. » She shook her head thinking he was crazy before putting Sophia on his back, he asked Sophia to hold him tight before starting to run.

Christina followed him in the race looking at him in disbelief and her look was even more serious after 30 minutes of racing where they arrived at the highway to find only King, the others had even left with his van.

 He opened the door and placed Daryl on the ground, asking Reyes to start taking care of him.

When Dixon regained consciousness, he thought that walkers were attacking him and became agitated but Kim subdued him before Cal came to calm him down and he fell asleep from fatigue.

Sophia looked at the interior of the luxurious King under Christina's amused gaze and Cal took out a brick of fruit juice from the fridge and gave it to the little girl who looked at it greedily.

 Reyes got a little itchy and Cal told her she could go take a bath, which she happily did while he remained explaining to Kim why they took so long and Kim in turn told why the group had left.

 One of the children was shot and they went to a farm a little further away to get him treated. Apparently, it was an accident and they were supposed to find them there.

 Daryl regained consciousness when night had just fallen, he saw Sophia sleeping with Christina and was deeply delighted that she has been found .

Cal came up to him and gave him a shot of whiskey before asking him for direction to the farm.

As Cal drove, Daryl showed him the way and they soon arrived at the farm. Kim went down to open the hedge and Cal brought King inside the property.

 Once there, he asked Daryl to take Sophia to her mother alone because he was tired and needed a bath before sleeping.

He didn't want to be disturbed the next day and would see the others whenever he felt like it.

Daryl thanked him for helping him, he woke Sophia up but she was dozing so he carried her to take her inside Hershel's house where there was a light.

Screams of surprise and cries of joy were heard in the house that night where they had coincidentally hosted a dinner .

 Cal had decided to move King off the property to a neighboring farm whose well was close to the Greene farm.

He went out and examined the well which had a lot of water and connected his pump so that King would suck up this water and filter it to knock it.

He had already emptied the sewage and biological waste before going inside and finally taking a hot bath, he brushed his teeth and came out of there in a towel to find Christina sitting on his bed.

 Christina: Do you mind if I sleep with you?

 "Do as you wish…" He said before lying down, turning off the light and falling into a deep sleep without even paying attention to Christina who wondered if she had any charm.

 The next day, Cal woke up in the afternoon alone in the truck. Christina and Kim had gone out to visit and see the others, especially Sophia who Christina wanted to see and check how she was doing.

There was a button to open King from the inside and Cal never stopped them from coming out.

He ate breakfast and dressed lightly before taking a silenced assault rifle and leaving with it.

 He looked for Christina and Kim on the other side but was assaulted by greetings from the others to whom he just replied "Hello".

Carol saw him in the distance and rushed towards him with Lise. Carol thanked him sincerely and asked Cal how she could show him her gratitude and he just told her it was cool before leaving.

 Lise caught up with him and asked him how he was doing but while he was answering her questions, he wasn't paying attention and bumped into someone who fell.

 "I'm sorry" he said sincerely as he turned around to help the person when he saw on the ground a cute little girl in a white dress with black tights on the bottom and a pair of ballet flats. She had curly brown hair, beautiful, very light brown eyes, and a baseball cap on her head.

 « CLEMENTINE ! » A fairly handsome black man limped over to help her get up, but Cal had already helped the child.

 "I'm sorry, she's dizzy and hasn't quite recovered from her fever yet," the man said, pulling the girl closer to him.

 Cal: No, I'm the one apologizing. (gets on one knee in front of the child) Can you forgive me?

 "Um Hum" Clementine said softly with a nod as she hid a little behind Lee.

 Cal: To thank you, I will reward you. Do you like magic?

 Clementine: Yes yes.

 Duane, Carl and Sophia who heard the word "magic" ran to see also he asked Clementine to give him a stone, she gave him one before he blew into her hand and opened it in front of the children who were impressed.

He then quickly moved his hand back before asking the children to blow inside they did so while he recited some gibberish which made both the children and adults laugh before opening his hand inside which there were mint candies.

 « CANDY !!! » the children all shouted in joy before helping themselves and starting to eat them and he stood up to speak to the man.

 Calvin: My name is Calvin Lincoln. Did you have a problem with your leg?

 « I'm Lee, I injured my leg fighting a dead man and it almost got serious but Hershel welcomed us here and treated my injury. It will take me a little time to recover and resume my journey with her, thank you for making Clementine smile today. » Lee said shaking his hand. They exchanged a few words before he left.

 « I didn't know you liked kids, boss. » Christina said walking up with Dawn behind her, they were chatting together before Calvin came over.

 Calvin: Where I come from, we protect children, even if some people involve them too early in the crime. Where is Kim?

 Reyes: He's chatting with uh…

 Dawn: Glenn.

 Reyes: That's it, Glenn. It makes them happy to meet another Korean here.

 He took Christina's hand and started walking with her while Reyes herself was surprised but it was to give her some keys.

 Cal: These are King's keys and I trust you enough to keep it. Do not disappoint me.

 Reyes: Are you going somewhere? I want to come, you always do awesome things.

 Cal: I'm going hunting, I want some fresh meat.

 Reyes: Fine, I'll come anyway.

 They left as Christina wrapped her hands around Calvin's arm while Dawn looked at them blankly.

 « Something is wrong ? » Shane came closer to ask her and Dawn told him it was nothing.

Cal, without realizing it, had changed something big in the story because Shane had completely forgotten Lori to be interested in Dawn.

 Cal and Christina were walking together when Rick behind called him several times and he stopped.

Rick greeted him and thanked him for Sophia and Daryl, he told Calvin that he had to introduce him to the owner and he took him to Hershel and his three daughters , Maggie as well as Beth were captivated by his eyes light grays.

 Hershel: I'm Hershel Greene, I own this farm and land.

 Cal: Calvin Lincoln, I own a converted truck and a large volume van. Don't worry Mr. Green, we're in the south and I know what it's like for people like me. I parked my truck at the abandoned farm next door, you won't be bothered.

 Beth: No...we're not all uh...like that here.

 « From here I can see a Confederate flag in your house but don't worry, I'm not judging you. Everyone has their own culture, I have no problem with it. Well, it was a pleasure and I'll see you next time. » he said before leaving with, the others were speechless.

 They returned 40 minutes later with a deer. Cal didn't want to get his shirt dirty so he was shirtless pulling his booty over his right shoulder.

Calvin hadn't been very aware of it, but his muscles had gained both volume and leanness.

It attracted a lot of attention, firstly with its architecture and also with the deer he brought back. Christina took him to the Tent where Daryl was resting and he placed the deer in front of the tent as Daryl sat up to watch Calvin smile innocently at him.

 Cal: Dixon, I need your help gutting this deer. I know you don't like to sit around like a cripple.

 Daryl came out of the tent and looked at the deer, it was a beautiful specimen and it had been cleanly shot in the head.

 Daryl: I want to do it but I'll do it alone, it'll keep me busy for a while. It's a beautiful piece but what are you going to do with it?

 Cal: When was the last time you were behind a grill with a good beer?

 Daryl: I already liked you before but you're my favorite member of the group dude. I'm going to cut this thing up just right. When are we having this barbecue?

 Cal: Tomorrow if that suits you. Oh by the way...

 He took four joints out of his bag and handed them to Daryl.

 Cal: It might help ease the pain for your injury.

 "This bastard…" Daryl cursed as he took the sticks and gave Cal a thumbs up who left with Christina.

 Reyes: Looks like you're in a giving mood today.

 Cal: Let's just say I woke up on a good foot. In fact, I don't really remember my personality before my coma. It's like I've had a rebirth. I remember who I am but not how I am.

 Reyes: Do you still have weed?

 Cal: A whole big bag in the truck and a lot of rolling papers. Captain Reyes don't tell me you're smoking marijuana!

 Reyes: We also know how to have fun among the military…

 Forty minutes later, Calvin and Christina were having sex in Calvin's bed while next to the bed, an ashtray had three leftover joints already smoked inside and because the air intake on the roof was open for smoke, Christina's loud screams and moans were even faintly heard by the others as Dawn bit her lower lip in frustration.