AUTHOR'S NOTE – For anyone who is curious, Sherry's birthday is October 8th, 1988 (Happy Birthday). Dwight's birthday is September 29th, 1983. I'm saying that the apocalypse happened the year the Walking Dead series came out (2010). Soo…Sherry is 22 and Dwight is 27 with the timeline in this current chapter. And with the flash forward that is going on with Doc Kevin, they would be 23 and 28.

Who knows, maybe by the time it's the start of the third book, another year or two will go by…

I am aware that I updated Chapter 9 on Dwight's birthday.

I am also aware that Chapter 10's update is two days after Sherry's birthday.

Soooo Happy Birthday!

Also, I have taken liberties from their original characters in the comics (der, it's fanfiction) so the birthdays or ages that they have in my universe may not align in the comics…although neither are really mentioned specifically so far.

Chapter 10

For once, Sherry was able to sleep that night. Dwight and Sherry talked for several hours about everything and nothing in particular while they continued to hold each other and soak in the relief of letting loose for a short amount of time. Sherry couldn't remember which one of them fell asleep first but in her slumber, she could feel the warmth of his body beside her. He was still there and she felt safe enough to let her guard down and rest.

She dreamt of her home in northwest Chicago. At first, Sherry stood in her old living room wondering how she made it there. It was almost as if she knew that she was dreaming but decided to continue in the familiarity of her home and how well she knew the scenes around her by heart. Nothing appeared out of place since the last time she visited her parents. Her house was small but inviting. The TV was left on but no one was home.

She looked down to her clothes and saw that she was wearing the same clothes that she wore the day she had to flee into the backwoods of Georgia to avoid the majority of people. Her jeans were torn and dirty as if she had been living like a Neanderthal for weeks.

The house was quiet all except for the TV while Sherry just waited for something to happen. An eeriness came over as she saw red and blue lights flashing from outside their front window. She walked towards it and peered through the drapes to see her old neighborhood in a frenzy. Her neighbors and friends were all packing their things frantically and in a hurry while junk was strewn about the street.

Sirens blared all throughout the city and it was difficult to focus on any one given scene. Everything and everyone was in panic mode. It reminded Sherry about the day she left UGA and how her apartment complex was in a flurry of hysteria.

A loud noise came from behind her as Sherry jumped in surprise. Then she saw her mom coming down from the upstairs as she walked hurriedly to the kitchen. Sherry followed directly behind her and tried to yell for her mom to acknowledge her presence.

"Mom?" Sherry called as her voice sounded distant.

Sherry's mom, Annie, paced the vicinity of the kitchen while holding her cell phone to her ear. "Dammit, Sherry! Answer your phone!" Her mom said with worry.

"Mom!" Sherry tried to yell again but her mom continued to deny her existence. Sherry then picked up a magazine that laid on top of the island in the center of the kitchen and threw it to the ground.

Annie jumped at the sound the magazine made and turned to see it on the floor. Tears spilled from her mother's eyes as she held herself. Sherry felt guilty for scaring her mom and decided that getting her attention wasn't something that she should be doing in the dream. She didn't want to scare her mom again. Sherry was merely a fly on the wall in the dream.

Sherry watched her mother rummaging through the white kitchen cabinets and stopped when she saw batteries and flashlights in the cabinet next to the refrigerator. She placed them on the counter then proceeded to dial Sherry once more.

The door opened behind Sherry as she watched her father come into view with a solemn look on his face. Sherry was told countless times that she was combination of both her parents. She had her father's dark eyes and hair with the same downturned eyes with eyelashes that could go for miles. Yet Sherry held a strong resemblance to her mom as she remembered looking through their old wedding photos. Sherry looked exactly like her mom besides the curly, red hair that her mom carried through her Irish lineage.

Her dad held his hand to his forehead as he sighed deeply. A shadow befell his entire being as Sherry sense his distress. Vinny looked to his wife as she continued to walk in the kitchen to keep herself preoccupied. Silent tears fell on her cheeks as the phone continued to ring with no answer.

"Annie," Vincent said softly to get his wife's attention. "I just came back from the Moritz' place."

Annie put down the phone in consternation. "Why isn't she answering her phone?! She promised that she would call us back when she finished her classes today!" She complained.

"Annie." Vincent repeated. "The Moritz' are sick."

She looked to him as her green eyes glistened in the low light of the room. "Oh no! Janice & Bill?" She asked.

Vincent nodded. "Benny and I checked to see if they were okay and looked through their window. Their dog, Pookie, was dead and torn to bits on their living room floor and they nearly attacked us from the window." He told his wife as he sat on the living room couch with the weight of the world on his shoulders. His gaze rested on one of Sherry's senior portraits that hung on the wall over the fireplace. The photo was of Sherry in her pointe shoes and ballet costume performing a jete leap. Sherry beamed proudly in the picture. For years, Sherry thought it was embarrassing that it hung in the living room for everyone to see but saw her parents in their house all alone. She was saddened that Georgia was so far away and wished that if she could turn back time that she would have chosen to stay at a local university.

Her dad's voice snapped her back into the present. "We had to board up their doors, Annie. Keep them inside until everything blows over." He reasoned.

Annie sat next to her husband and held his hand in comfort. Her other hand was placed over her heart as they sat in silence for a few moments. Janice Moritz was one of her mother's best friends. They would often go on weekend retreats together along with several other friends. "Are you sure?" She asked.

He nodded. "I'm sorry, sweetie." He looked around the house as if contemplating their next move. Almost every inch was covered in decorations or photographs that her mother collected throughout the years. Nearly every item in their possession had a story behind it. Photo albums took over the entire bookcase in between the fireplace and front window, quilts that her Grandma Malloy made rested on the back of the couch, crafts were all over the coffee table that her mom was working on. Everything seemed inviting but was slowly becoming empty and filled with heartache. Sherry walked towards her parents and saw her dad look around their house as if in parting.

"You aren't gonna like what I say next." Vinny said knowing that his wife wouldn't take the news well.

Annie eyed him desperately. "What?" She asked.

"We can't stay here for long, Annie." He revealed. "Thugs are coming from Cicero Avenue and raiding the homes. They could be here anytime. We need to leave Chicago until it's safe to come back."

Annie was on full alarm as she stood up from the couch. "What about Sherry, Vinny?" She stressed. "What if she calls the house and no one answers? What if she heads home by plane and no one is home? We have to stay put, Vinny!"

He stood up and gently put his hands on her shoulders. "Baby, you saw what they said on the news. All flights have been cancelled and grounded indefinitely. If we stay, we will never see her again. Your mom needs our help to ride this whole thing out. I will call my relatives and give them the address and we will all meet up in Michigan. We can survive with our family." He said trying to have Annie see reason.

Annie angrily took his hands off of her and then walked past Sherry into the kitchen. She suddenly collapsed on the floor and began to sob uncontrollably. Vincent ran over to her as she cried out Sherry's name.

"My baby girl!" Annie screamed at the top of her lungs.

Sherry ran over to her parents and tried to let her know that she was with them. No sound emerged. She tried to yell louder but still nothing came. She put a hand on her mom's head and her dad's back and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I'm right here!" Sherry yelled. "I'm right here!"

Then they heard the phone ring. All of their heads sprouted up with hope as Sherry saw the Caller I.D. that read: Sherry Ciccone.

…

The setting of Sherry's dream instantly changed to a beach. Sherry was now sitting on smooth sand as the waves on Lake Superior rolled in the background. The dream felt serene in comparison to the nightmarish scene of the last sequence. She listened to the waves as they crashed in front of her. Her Grandma Malloy's house had private beachfront property with one of the Great Lakes being her backyard. Sherry remembered traveling to Marquette, Michigan in the summers and every other Christmas to celebrate with her mom's side of the family.

Sherry looked around the beach and saw two figures appear on top of the sand dune. It didn't take her long to realize that they were her parents and walked towards them while her feet made tracks in the sand below her. They sat on top of the dune while looking at the lake with tears streaming down their faces. Sherry saw their clothes looked surprisingly clean. Her dad's signature mustache was also accompanied by a salt and pepper beard. From the last time that she saw him, her dad appeared to have aged ten years with more wrinkles all over his body. Sherry then glanced at her mom and noticed that her vibrant green eyes appeared gray as they were absent of all joy. She wore a black oversized sweater that she clung to even though the temperature seemed warm to Sherry.

Sherry stared behind the sand dune and saw a meadow with several crosses emerging from the ground. She could see several figures that looked like the entire Malloy & Ciccone family were present as they dug up another grave next to the others.

A sob escaped from Sherry's mother and she turned around to look at them again.

Vincent quietly and softly reached for his wife's hand and held it tightly. Her mother's lip quivered as she looked to the waves crashing on the shore.

Sherry watched the shore line and followed it all the way to the heart of Marquette in the distance. She could faintly see the town running like it had before. She often wondered if the town was nearly untouched from the rest of the world. It was so far away from any other town and looked to be intact with the community still being a community.

Tears sprung from her mother's cheeks as she shook her head. "I should be grateful." She wept. "My mother died of natural causes. Her life was never in peril."

Vincent took his hand to Annie's face and wiped the tears away. "It's okay to be sad about her death. Your mother was an amazing woman." He consoled.

Sherry looked towards the meadow below and saw a small and simple coffin next to where the Ciccone's and Malloy's were digging. She never saw her Ciccone side of the family mingling with her mother's side of the family before as it appeared that they were both helping out with the gravesite. Sherry saw her cousins, uncles, and aunts and felt left out. She longed to be there with all of them. She assumed they were burying her Grandma Malloy. There was a reverence in the air as her whole family grieved for their matriarch of their community.

Annie smiled distantly as new tears emerged. "I wish our Sherry was here with us." She lamented. "Do you think we should have another grave for…"

"She's alive, Annie." Vinny said before she could finish her sentence. "Just because she isn't here doesn't mean she's dead."

"Then tell me that she's okay." Annie replied urgently as she stared at her husband waiting for any kind of answer he could give her. "It's been thirteen months since we have seen her. Tell me that's she's okay."

Vincent wrapped an arm around his wife and leaned her head on his shoulder. A worried look overcame him as he stared at the grand lake before him. Sherry could tell he was thinking of what to say next that had some hope of the future. However, he couldn't express it. Sherry knew him for being the kind of person that had a sixth sense when something was wrong or right. He couldn't say that Sherry was alright because it was almost as if he knew she wasn't doing well. Annie could sense his unease as she looked to her husband. "What are you thinking?" She asked.

In the dream, her mother seemed to vanish like sand in the wind as did her family in the meadow. Her dad sat alone on the sand dune but was no longer looking at the waves and instead was staring at Sherry.

He smiled warmly at her in greeting. "Hello, baby girl." He said.

"Dad?" She asked. This time her voice didn't sound distant. He acknowledged her presence as she smiled with relief and sat beside him to stare at lake.

"Are you doing okay?" He asked her as he put his arms around her in a side hug.

She held her arm with both hands. "I think so. I'm trying to be strong with the cards I have been dealt. It hasn't been easy but it's nothing I can't handle." She responded confidently.

He smiled at her with pride. "I figured you were still braving it somewhere." He said as they fell into silence and watched the waves. "We wish you were here with us."

She nodded as tears fell down. "Me too." She agreed.

"You keep yourself strong, baby girl." Vincent encouraged. "This can't last forever. We'll find each other again one day and when things are back to normal, I expect you to show up sometime soon after."

…

Sherry woke up to someone banging on the front door downstairs. In the darkness, she felt Dwight sit up behind her on full alert as they tried to hear a follow up noise. Someone hit the front door once again and started yelling obscenities into the night's sky.

"Ladies! Open the door! I won't bite hard!" A man yelled as some other men cackled along with him.

Dwight got up from the bed and reached for his jacket. He fumbled with it until he produced a small pistol from one of the pockets. He handed the gun to Sherry for her to take. "Hold this." He instructed as he grabbed his shoes from the floor then sat on Christy's bed. "The front door's locked, right?" He asked hurriedly as he proceeded to tie his shoes.

Sherry nodded. "We always lock it. But they always jimmy it open after several minutes of pounding on the door." She revealed while quickly getting herself out of her groggy state and checking to see if the gun in her hands was loaded.

Dwight growled at the piece of information. He had wished that he was in Sanctuary every time Negan was gone only to protect the girls from the other Saviors. There was a strict code of no raping but he didn't trust any of the men with the guideline. Nor did he trust Negan for the same matter.

There was a soft knock on Sherry's door. Sherry looked to Dwight in question to see if he thought it was okay to open it. He finally got his shoes on and walked to the bedroom door while nodding towards Sherry to indicate that he wanted her to aim the pistol at the door.

"It's just the other girls. They always come in this room whenever people try to sneak inside." She explained.

"Brittany included?" Dwight asked knowing that Brittany wasn't in on the plan to smuggle him inside the house. "Can we trust her?"

Sherry thought of the Brittany that she came to know several hours before. Different survival methods aside, she knew that Brittany wasn't a mole. "Do we have a choice?" She asked in return as she thought of the front door being unlocked at any given minute.

Dwight scrunched up his face in obvious uneasiness at the idea. He grumbled a phrase under his breath that Sherry couldn't necessarily hear and slowly opened the door to let the girls in.

The women looked at Dwight as they quietly made their way into the room. None of them looked surprised because they had only planted him in there hours before. Except Brittany who looked baffled as she then concentrated her gaze towards Sherry and then back to Dwight.

Dwight closed the door and locked it while Sherry held the gun towards the door. The girls all sat on either Christy or Sherry's bed as they waited in silence. "This is the only bedroom with a lock on it." Sherry explained to Dwight.

"What's he doing here?" Brittany blurted out in a whisper as she pointed to Dwight.

The girls all looked at each other trying to think of what to say. "We brought him here." Christy finally admitted. "As a thank you for all the cans of food that we got for the last three months."

Brittany raised her eyebrows with shock and peered at Dwight as if a sudden revelation befell her. "You're my secret admirer?" She asked dumbly.

Dwight appeared utterly confused at Brittany's outburst but brushed it aside as he leaned on the door to hear what was happening on the other side. Sherry could see his facial expressions in the dark and saw that nothing crucial was happening downstairs. He put his back to the door and looked directly at Brittany as a new worry overcame him. "What can I do to make sure you don't say a word to Negan that I was here?" Dwight questioned her.

Brittany surveyed everyone's face in the room as they in turn gazed at her. Brittany's eyes landed on Sherry as she finally put two and two together in her head.

"The food from Billiard Night?" Brittany asked.

Sherry nodded. "Dwight gave it all to us. We wanted to share with you so we made up your secret admirer." She answered. "I'm sorry but we didn't trust you. We thought you would tell Negan."

Brittany stared down at her hands that rested on her lap. They all anticipated her next reaction as she stayed silent while pondering the information that was given to her. She finally looked up to Dwight with affirmation. "If you guys were the ones feeding me for the past three months, then my lips are sealed." Brittany said.

Sherry felt an overwhelming amount of gratitude towards Brittany at that moment and looked to Dwight who still wore an unconvinced look.

Brittany looked innocently towards him. "Really! I won't say a word! I love my husband but he didn't need to know about the food and he doesn't need to know about…" She then pointed to Dwight and Sherry, "Whatever is happening with you two." She looked thoughtful as she looked towards the ceiling. "So is Dwight your boyfriend, Sherry?" She asked as she reverted back to her typical shallow voice.

Before Sherry could even respond, they heard the front door burst open. Amanda and Megan shrieked at the sudden noise and then soon they could hear several men walk up the stairs with purpose.

"Where you girls at?" One of the men shouted.

"Before we came in here, we saw six men outside." Christy revealed quietly. "It has always been one or two but never six. They'll bust this door open soon!"

"It's not going to matter if I say anything or not. When they open that door, they'll see him in here!" Brittany stated the obvious as they all fell silent while hearing the men on the other side of the door. They listened as the men opened other doors on the second floor as they searched through closets and underneath beds. One by one they heard each door on the second floor open while trying to hold their breaths at the tension. Dwight looked towards Sherry as she stared back him while they waited for the panic to settle in.

A loud banging on the door erupted on Christy and Sherry's door. Nearly all the girls screamed as the men started laughing at their reaction. Sherry held the gun towards the door as they heard the doorknob twisting back and forth to no avail. One of the men whispered on the other side as the fidgeting soon stopped.

Dwight walked towards the door to hear what was going on more clearly. As he listened, he could hear metal touching on metal near the knob. Suddenly, the doorknob starting turning successfully unlocked while Dwight quickly put his whole weight on the door to keep it from opening. Sherry, Ashlyn, and Christy rushed by his side to do the same thing.

They pushed the door closed as all of their weight kept the door closed however, the men on the other side were also trying their best to get inside and started pushing with all of their might.

Dwight looked to Sherry. "They'll be in here soon, Sher." He whispered for only her to hear. "We need a different plan."

Sherry was out of ideas as they continued to try and keep the door shut. Dwight then motioned for Amanda, Megan, and Brittany to take their place by the door. They did so as he quickly took his weight off and walked towards the window.

"What the hell are you doing?" Christy whispered angrily while he opened the window. The door nearly opened behind them as Dwight's absence and strength was immediately felt.

"Trust me." His responded quietly as he climbed out of the window and vanished into the night. The door started budging little by little. The men shouted their small victory as one of the men started counting down from three. Sherry's muscles went rigid knowing the men were going to push their combined weight once the man finished.

"Three, two, one!" The man yelled as the door started opening more and more. "Three, two, one!" They all exclaimed in unison as the door burst open knocking all the girls backwards on the floor. Sherry kept her grip on Dwight's gun as all the girls started crawling away from the door as they men started walking in the room in a single file.

"Well, let's get this party started!" The de facto leader stated as he looked to each other girls. Sherry felt claustrophobic with the men cutting off their entryway. Like Dwight before them, they could have attempted to jump out of the window but didn't have any previous experience with scaling the house as he had. The man looked around at all the frightened girls who stared back at him with terrified eyes. When his eyes finally rested on Sherry, alarm sank in as he saw Dwight's pistol pointing directly at his forehead.

"You need to leave." She instructed with as much authority as she could muster. She willed her body to stay as rigid as possible so the fear that she felt inside wasn't blatantly obvious. Her voice shook from anger and trepidation but she wanted to let the men know that she would kill them if necessary.

The man started to laugh at her while she could smell the liquor on his breath from four feet away. He made no indication that he was going to leave and neither did his friends budge from where they stood.

"Have you ever killed anyone before, missy?" The man asked as he got out his own gun that sat between his hip and belt buckle.

"Don't move." Sherry said but her voice wavered from the front of bravery that she was putting up but the man started walking slowly towards the girls. They all inched away from the men as much as they could.

"Or what?" The man retorted back to Sherry. "I really don't think you are going to do anything to me." With that, he took several steps and grabbed Amanda by her ponytail as he tugged her away. Amanda tried to wrench his hands away while she screamed. Ashlyn stood up but stayed still when the man aimed his gun at her.

"No!" Ashlyn yelled and put her hands to the side of her face in panic. "Amanda!"

Amanda continued to scream as all the girls started to cry. The man started to laugh but was immediately interrupted by a gunshot going off. He looked to see Sherry aim the gun back at him and saw there was a fresh bullet hole in the ceiling above them. "Let her go!" Sherry barked.

The men behind their leader started looking at each other wondering if catching some tail was even worth the effort. Intoxicated or not, they didn't want to die.

Just then, another shot fired as it echoed throughout the small enclosure. Blood had splattered everywhere in Sherry & Christy's bedroom as Sherry looked as surprised as everyone else. She looked at her gun and swore that she couldn't remember pulling the trigger. Yet it looked like a battle had erupted out of nowhere.

"Holy motherfucking shit!" The leader shouted in shock. A man directly behind him slumped to the flood dead with parts of his skull and brains plastered on the walls and floor around him. They all turned to see Dwight facing them with enmity evident in his eyes. He had an assault rifle in hand and was ready to shot again if necessary.

"You guys aren't supposed to be here." Dwight cautioned in a low voice. He sounded dangerous even to Sherry. It had been the third time she had seen him gun down another human being and every time it still unnerved her to see him do something so inhumane; yet unavoidable.

Amanda was near hysterical as the man that was dead laid right beside her. She was bloodied from head to toe while Ashlyn practically dragged her away from the mess.

"Come on." Dwight said in a domineering tone. "Your fun is over. Get out of the house."

The men were all astounded with what had transpired in the last few seconds. They did as Dwight demanded and left their fallen comrade laying on the bedroom floor. They didn't say another words and didn't carry the ego they once had when trying to forcefully get into the house.

Dwight put his gun down and watched them leave the house as he stood by the stairs. Sherry stood up and looked at all the girls as they froze in place. They were all looking at the dead man in the room with his blood splattered everywhere. Amanda was nearly soaked as she started hyperventilating at the trauma that just befell her and the rest of them alike.

"I think you girls should sleep in the basement until Negan gets back." Dwight suggested calmly. "I'll send some men over to clean this mess up. But if you guys are in the basement you won't have to see anymore Saviors tonight. If that's you want."

A few of them nodded their approval at his idea and started inching around the dead man and towards the stairs. Ashlyn helped Amanda off the floor and walked outside the bedroom side by side. Sherry was the last to leave as she slowly walked away from the corpse and then looked to Dwight as the adrenaline started to die away.

When she reached Dwight, she started handing him his pistol but he shook his head. "I would feel a lot better if you kept it for the time being." He uttered gently.

"Why? So I can use it to not shoot anyone again?" Sherry countered as she was angry with herself for hesitating on behalf of Amanda's sanity. It could have all been prevented if she shot the man who grabbed her.

"You're only human, Sher." Dwight reminded and almost pleaded with her. "It's good to still have a conscience about killing people."

Sherry nodded and started walking down the stairs. Dwight carefully grabbed her forearm as she looked to him in question. "Are you okay?" He thought to ask her.

"Yes." Sherry answered sadly but he continued to hold her arm as if he wasn't finished with his thought.

"That was a close call." He stated bitterly. Sherry understood his frustration.

She nodded again. "I know." She replied.

"I don't think it's a good idea to do what we did again." He revealed after a couple of seconds of silence.

A pang rested against her chest at his words but she knew he was right. "Agreed." She finally said.

He looked to her as he reached for her hand and squeezed it once. "I'll take care of the mess in your bedroom. Take care of the girls. They look to have been pretty sheltered from what the world is like outside of Sanctuary." Dwight instructed with a soft spoken voice.

Even then she could hear Amanda wailing in the background. She squeezed his hand back and walked down the stairs without another word.

"Sher, I just don't want you to get hurt. If Negan found out…" Dwight started.

"I know." She said as she turned towards him. "We can't be seen together. I'm not mad at you for saying it. I mad that it's the truth."

Dwight sighed heavily and nodded that she spoke his sentiments aloud. "I wish it was different, Sher." He informed her. "I really do."

"I know." She repeated and heard Amanda still crying. "I have to go." She walked down the rest of the stairs and headed towards the basement door. When she turned the corner and no longer could feel Dwight's eyes behind her, she leaned against the door and closed her eyes shut while feeling the inescapable gloom overcome her. Any happiness that she had felt only hours before felt completely exhausted.

She only felt bitterness.

AUTHOR'S NOTES, TRIVIAS, & FACTS –

#1 – Sherry's birthday is October 8th, 1988 making her 21 years old at the time when the apocalypse began. Dwight's birthday is on September 29, 1983 and was 26 years old. But since time has passed, they are both one year older. The flash forward with Doctor Kevin Mitchell would push them another year more with them being 23 & 28 in that timeline. Sherry's birthday is actually MY birthday since a lot of me is ALL of Sherry. If you like Sherry, you'd get along with me just the same. Dwight's birthday is who I imagined playing him and who I still use as reference when I write for Dwight and that is actor Zachary Levi.

#2 – The first dream sequence was inspired by the Last of Us' first cut scene.

#3 – I felt that Sherry has some untold story about how much she worries about her family and how much she wishes that she could see them. It's always in the back of her mind and if given the chance to sleep, she would dream about them and their whereabouts.

#4 – I have said countless times that Sherry and I could be the same person. Another example of this is my hometown being Chicago and my grandparents living in Marquette, Michigan. Now it's just grandma as my grandpa passed away four years ago. I implore all of my readers to look up Marquette on Pinterest. You would be surprised how that small town in the Upper Peninsula resembles a town off the coast of Maine. One of the most serene places that you will ever visit if given the opportunity. Visit the Yooper's! They'll appreciate it.