149 - The Walking Dead: Warlord of the Apocalypse (Patreon)

Strange!

Before separating, the three men had agreed to meet at the edge of the forest two hours later.

It was already five in the afternoon when they split up.

Even in summer, when sunlight lingered past seven, the forest would become far more dangerous after dark.

Because Isaac had found Maggie and learned what had happened to Carl and Lori, he brought her back to the meeting point first.

What had happened between them, combined with Isaac's unresolved agitation, left them with almost nothing to say to each other.

Maggie was still shaken by Isaac's assault. Standing near him, she could almost feel his hands on her again.

She folded her arms across her shoulders and stole occasional glances at Isaac.

He had given her his shirt as a form of compensation, leaving his upper body bare.

Isaac's build stood out even among American men.

Months after the outbreak, most walkers' clothes were fouled with rot and blood. He had nothing clean or suitable to wear.

So his sharply defined muscles remained exposed, with nine lifelike black dragons coiled across them.

In the sunlight, she found him attractive despite herself, and her gaze kept drifting back to him.

His powerful, well-proportioned build would have appealed to many women.

His face only added to the effect.

The misunderstanding between them had hurt and humiliated Maggie.

If he had been ugly, she might have hated him for the rest of her life.

But Isaac's looks complicated her feelings, and she could not say where that would lead.

"Um..." Maggie hugged her shoulders, uncomfortable with the silence between them. At last she asked, "Where are we going after this?"

Isaac's arousal had subsided.

Maggie's question was reasonable, and he had no defensible reason to refuse an answer.

He looked at her. "We'll meet the rest of my group on the highway. Then you'll take us to the farm."

Maggie's arms tightened across her chest, and she turned slightly away.

A woman's intuition told Maggie that Isaac's gaze kept dropping to her chest beneath his shirt.

"How many of you are there?" Maggie asked.

Isaac remained guarded. "Why do you need to know so much?"

"It's our farm. We need to know how many people you're bringing."

"You'll see when we arrive. You have no way to contact the farm from here anyway."

"You..."

His reasoning was irritatingly sound, leaving her no obvious rebuttal.

Still, Maggie could not shake her anger.

Was it his dismissive tone, or his failure to show any remorse for assaulting her?

Before Maggie could lash out, Rick and Shane emerged from the woods, disappointment on their faces.

"Isaac, what happened to you?"

Both men noticed his bare torso at once.

His powerful build and nine-dragon tattoo were impossible to overlook.

"Who's she?"

Rick spotted Maggie nearby and pointed toward her in confusion.

Isaac answered, "Her name is Maggie. Lori sent her to find us."

"What?"

Rick and Shane were both shocked. Their attention snapped to Maggie.

Rick rushed up to her. "You... Lori really sent you? Where is she? Where's Carl?"

Shane was just as shaken, but he held back.

Instead, he gave Isaac an odd look. "What happened between you and this Maggie?"

He had noticed the shirt Maggie wore.

Wasn't that Isaac's?

Whatever had happened, there was clearly a story behind it.