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“Griff, sweetheart…..not that I’m complaining, but isn’t this a little silly?” Carmen sighed as she was led blindly along, her hand gripping the younger woman’s shoulder lightly, Griff’s hand closed over it. They had been walking for what felt like ages, the shorter woman leading them carefully to whatever destination she had in mind.
“Little old me have a silly idea? Never.” Griff said with a grin, her eyes constantly scanning their chaotic surroundings for any signs of movement. There hadn’t been a walker sighting in ages, but one could never be too careful.
“Is this where you lead me into some unknown area and feed me to the zombies?”
“Maybe.”
Carmen laughed and squeezed her shoulder gently, rolling her eyes behind the blindfold. “You do realize that between the two of us, I’m the one with the survival skills, and I’ll have to take this blindfold off to save your pixie ass, right?”
“Shhh, we’re almost there.”
“Almost where?”
“You’ll see.”
“Where are the other two?”
“Off looking for supplies. Don’t worry, Vi will keep Tod in check. You know how he is, he’s gotta be under adult supervision 24/7.” At that they both laughed, knowing that their companion’s ears were probably burning at that moment in time.
Several minutes later they came to a halt, Carmen hearing the distinct sound of a lock clicking open and a chain falling free, a door creaking open quietly. Griff took Carmen’s hand in her own and placed her free hand in the small of the woman’s back, leading her through the entrance carefully. She was surprised at the lack of debris they had encountered on their trip and took a mental note to ask Griff about it later.
After the door shut behind them and the lock clicked again, Carmen was led deeper into whatever building they were in, down a hallway, off to the right, then the left, then left again; she gave up trying to figure it out and just followed the young woman in front of her. Another click, another lock, something sliding, then she was sat in a chair and Griff was giggling excitedly. “Alright, sit right here and no peeking, got it? This will only take a minute.”
Carmen sat back in the surprisingly comfortable chair, grinning and shaking her head lightly. What in the world was this girl up to?
“Ok my brown beauty; you can remove the blindfold now!”
Carmen did as she was told and immediately squeezed her eyes shut, hissing through her teeth. “Holy shit, is this place going to go up in flames or something? That’s bright!”
“Nah, I’ve got all the candles away from anything too flammable. Plus it’s mostly low-watt bulbs I’ve managed to rig together.”
“Impressive.”
“Thanks! Now, open your eyes, eaaaaaaaasy does it.”
Carmen slowly opened her eyes, Griff seated across the room greeting her vision first, an excited grin plastered all over her face. Blinking the dancing colored lights out of her eyes, Carmen finally took in her surroundings, her mouth dropping open in wonder. The room they were in wasn’t huge, but it sure seemed that way. The walls were covered with various fashion posters, luxurious drapes and shawls that had been tacked up, beads, pictures, everything that she seemed to like. There were racks upon racks of clothes that were screaming for her to go through, a small dresser that was glittering like mad from all the light glinting off of pieces of jewelry, a short bookshelf full of fashion magazines…..she felt like a kid in a candy store. “Where…..”
“It’s an old warehouse of some sorts. I found it several months ago. Cleaned it up. Converted one of the rooms into a secret spot, nothing too special.” Griff shrugged nonchalantly as if this was something she had done for a living. She was twisting in her chair absentmindedly, obviously nervous.
Carmen left her chair and ventured towards the desk with the jewelry on it, running her fingers over the metals. “How did you manage to find all of this stuff?”
Griff giggled and coughed slightly. “That’s a story for another day.” She got to her feet and stood next to her, taking one of the necklaces up in her hands. “I just wanted to do something nice for you, yanno? You’ve saved my ass so many times and Maker knows if it weren’t for you I would probably be…” she broke off and shrugged, eyeing her companion up and down. She stood on her tiptoes and clasped the necklace around her neck, smiling softly. “You’re a diamond in the rough, Miss Adela. One of the remarkable and beautiful things that can still make this ugly place gorgeous.”
Before Carmen could respond Griff had turned from her and clapped her hands together. “NOW, how about we investigate these clothes? I’ve been DYING to see what all is in there!”
Carmen grinned and tried not to squeal too much, the excitement coursing through her. “YES!”