Chapter 10

A/N: Thank you guys for reading! I want to thank my reviewers!

DarylDixon'sLover, mrskaz453, smittendebs, The-Last-Timelord95, Rea Josette, HermioneandMarcus, HippyElephant, and my lone guest reviwer. Thank you so much your reviews inspire me to keep writing!

Here's chapter 10! Enjoy!

Present Day

DARYL

Things had been going well at the prison. They had been prospering, and Daryl had brought back plenty more survivors on his runs. But still no Annabelle.

However, lately things at the prison had taken a dramatic turn for the worse. It had started with losing Zach on the run to Big Lots. But then, a disturbing sickness had swept through the prison like wildfire. One of the cell blocks had been almost completely wiped out. And people were dropping like flies.

The sickness was frightening. The victims were hemorrhaging from the inside and drowning in their own blood. As if the world wasn't brutal enough already, they needed a disease just as brutal as the world around them.

On top of that, there was some sort of murderer vigilante on the loose in the prison. Whoever it was, they had murdered two people that were infected, one of them being Karen. Tyreese hadn't been the same since she had been killed.

Hershel had told Daryl about a veterinary college about sixty miles away, where they may have medicine that could help their infected. Daryl was suiting up for that now. He was just outside of the prison, loading the last of the supplies they would need into Zach's old car. When he threw the last bag in, he shut the trunk and headed back toward the cell block. Before he walked in, he placed a bandana over his mouth. The contamination could be in any of the cell blocks. He didn't want to get sick while on the road, but he wanted to talk to Ruby one last time before he left.

He walked through the cell block, and made a beeline for Ruby's cell. The brunette had been angry with his at first with his decision to stay, but she had eventually accepted it, despite her displeasure with him. She had started going on runs with him, and had developed into a pretty decent shot. She had helped him bring home several survivors. He wanted to ask her to go on the run with them, he could use her while he was out there. She worked with Daryl well, but their friendship hadn't quite been the same since he had refused to go search for Annabelle and risk the lives at the prison. He still made an effort to talk to her. He didn't want to lose her as his friend.

He made his way to her cell, and knocked on the edge of the frame. "Hey." He called to her. Ruby was facing away from him when he walked in, looking at herself in the mirror. He was about to take a step into the cell when suddenly Ruby's voice came loudly and aggressively.

"Don't!" She yelled at him.

Daryl halted in his steps and did as she said. "You alright?" He asked her. The aggression in her voice was unnatural.

"Daryl, you stay away from me. Stay far away." She ordered him.

Daryl felt dread enter in the pit of his stomach as she spoke. Slowly, she turned around, and Daryl let out a breath of disbelief.

Ruby was sick. Very sick. Her skin was exceedingly pale, and her eyes were rimmed with red. There was sweat dripping down her face, and she coughed into her arm.

"Oh, shit." He said simply.

"Yeah. You're telling me." She replied hoarsely. "I've got to get down to quarantine."

Daryl nodded to her, and took several steps back away from her.

"Are you going to that vet school?" Ruby asked him.

Daryl nodded to her, and Ruby began walking slowly toward the entrance of her cell.

"Come back." She said simply to him. "And keep your promise this time."

"I'll be back." He replied. "With that medicine. You're gonna be alright."

Ruby scoffed slightly, but eventually nodded. "Stop wasting your time here on me, go." With that, she began to walk forward to head toward quarantine. Daryl took a step away from her as she walked past. She began to walk along the cat walk, and before she vanished from his view, Daryl called out to her. Guilt had begun to claw at his stomach as he had looked upon her sick form. If he had left when she wanted to leave, she would have never been exposed. She wouldn't be facing a slow, cruel death.

"Ruby." He called after her. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" She called back.

"If we had left, you never would have been exposed." Daryl replied.

Ruby turned around to look at him and met eyes with him. "This is not your fault, Daryl. Now go."

Daryl nodded to her, before he turned around and went the other way, back towards the cars. He had to get this medicine. There was no way he could fail both Miller sisters.

He went back out to the cars, and Tyreese, Bob, and Michonne were waiting for him. They climbed into Zach's car, and Daryl started the engine.

"We're gonna make this as quick as possible." He informed them. "We need to get back." Immediately after, he threw the car into first gear, and began to drive out of the prison yard.

They drove for a while longer, mostly in silence. Michonne was reading the map to him, and giving him occasional directions.

Silence penetrated the car, and Daryl reached forward toward the radio. He did this occasionally, when he was in the car. Hoping to hear something on the radio, some kind of hope that there was still someone else out there. H switched the radio to automatically scroll through ll stations to try and find a signal, and then sat back. He was used to this routine. It never worked.

They sat in silence as the radio shuffled through, and then suddenly Daryl heard static.

He immediately turned his head toward the noise. There was never static. There was just nothing.

And then he began to hear a voice. Faintly. He couldn't make out what it was saying.

Michonne looked over at Daryl urgently. She reached forward and turned up the volume on the radio, and they began to make out voices. Daryl listened desperately to the message, shocked that he was hearing it at all. There were other people out there, with technology. They were broadcasting to the world.

He couldn't make out all of it at first, it was still coming through with plenty of static. But he could make out some words. "Alive…Survive… Sanctuary."

"That's a voice!" Bob said from the back of the car. "Try and figure out what frequency it's coming through on."

He began to fiddle with the radio urgently, trying to figure out what station the message was coming through on. He began to get a clearer signal, and as he did he noticed something out of the corner of his eye on the road.

There were walkers. He swerved to miss the first one, but then there were more behind it. And then they came around the curve and Daryl saw all of them.

There were walkers everywhere. There must have been at least a thousand of them. And they began to swarm the car. They surrounded the vehicle, and Daryl felt his pulse rate increase. He slammed the car into reverse, and began backing up. He ran over several of the walkers behind the car, and they bodies began to pile up under the bottom of the car. The car jammed, and he couldn't go back anymore. The bodies underneath the car were caught in the tires.

"We're gonna have to make a break for it." He told the others in the car. "There's a gap right there. Make it through, and head for those trees. Don't stop for nothing."

They nodded at him, and Daryl jumped into action.

His side of the car was covered in walkers, so he slammed up on the sunroof, causing it to open. He popped out of the top of the car, and shot several walkers with his crossbow from there, before he pulled himself through the sunroof and out of the car. He took out any walkers that stumbled into his way and made a break for the treeline. Michonne was close behind him, and Bob followed shortly after her. Tyreese had just gotten out of the car, and was quickly being completely surrounded by walkers. Michonne and Bob looked to Daryl for what they should do, and Daryl made a judgment call. He couldn't risk all three of them to go save Tyreese, especially after Tyreese had put himself into the situation he was in now. "Come on." He told the two of them, and he charged back into the woods.

They went along for a while, killing several more walkers. They paused for a moment to catch their breath, and behind them the bushes shook.

Daryl raised his crossbow toward the trembling branches and prepared to take his shot. As he did, two walkers came stumbling out of the bushes. He was about to fire when the walker was suddenly taken down, and Tyreese appeared behind it.

Daryl nodded to the man, who returned the curt nod. Tyreese ran forward, and the four of them continued on.

They picked up a map from a gas station, and Michonne and Bob busied themselves with trying to figure out the next best route to get to the veterinary college. They were taking shelter in an abandoned house for now, while they figured out their next course of action. Tyreese was in the next room over, alone.

The man's disturbing behavior at the car had set Daryl on edge. He had waited until the last possible second to get out of car, and the only thing that had saved him had been his blind rage. That wasn't the kind of energy that Daryl wanted on this trip. He needed his people to be focused, and their mind set to the task at hand, not thinking about a situation miles away. The people at the prison needed this medicine desperately, and Tyreese's erratic behavior could set all of that into jeopardy. He needed to know that Tyreese had his back, not that he was going to bail on him or charge off at any given moment. He decided to go see if he couldn't calm the man down, or at least set his mind straight long enough to get through this run.

He walked out of the kitchen and into the living room where Tyreese was standing alone, looking out of the front window.

"Hey." Daryl greeted Tyreese as he walked up next to him.

The man briefly glanced in his direction before he spoke again. "Sorry about what happened, out in that herd." He said blankly. "Won't happen again."

Daryl looked at Tyreese, but he stayed silent. It was clear he didn't want to talk to Daryl, but Daryl didn't really care.

"You gotta be all in this, Tyreese." Daryl replied. "I need you to be on your game out there."

Tyreese turned and looked at Daryl again. "I said, it won't happen again."

"Alright brother." Daryl finally replied. The two of them stood in silence a while longer, before Daryl decided to try his luck with speaking to Tyreese again. "You know, I know how you feel. It's not easy, but you have to fight through it."

Tyreese turned to look at Daryl and gave him an incredulous look. "How could you possibly know how I feel? Karen is dead, Sasha is sick. All the people I care about are dying."

"Have you ever heard anybody at the prison talk about a girl named Annabelle?" Daryl asked Tyreese.

Tyreese looked over to Daryl. "What does this have to do with anything?"

"Hear me out." Daryl replied.

Tyreese paused for a moment. "I heard Ruby and Maggie talking about an Annabelle once." He responded.

"She was with our group, back when we were in Atlanta and when we were on Hershel's farm." Daryl replied. "I'd known her for years, since we were kids before all of this. She went missing when we had to abandon the farm."

"How does this girl have anything to do with what we were talking about?" Tyreese asked Daryl, annoyance in his voice.

"I love her." Daryl replied. Immediately, Tyreese's face changed from one of annoyance to slight guilt.

"She's been missing for almost eight months now." Daryl continued. "And I don't know if she's alive, or dead, or disfigured, or hurt. I don't anything. And to go looking for her would mean leaving all of these people behind."

Tyreese paused for a moment. "I'm sorry about that." He finally replied.

But Daryl continued. "Ruby is sick. She's Annabelle's sister. I figured if I couldn't keep Annabelle safe, I could at least keep her safe. But now I can't fight against what is killing her. I just have to find this medicine. And my brother, he's dead. Murdered by the Governor, and I put him down when he came back."

Daryl stopped talking and looked at Tyreese. "I would say I know pretty well what you're feeling. Work through it. We need this medicine, and I need you to be with me." Daryl stated. Daryl looked out the window one last time, before he turned and walked away from Tyreese. He hoped that what he had said to him would be enough to wake this man up, and get him back in the game.

RUBY

Ruby stumbled through the cell block, and the sounds of coughing filled the air. The room was thick with the stench of sickness and she could feel the pressure of despair closing in around them. Her brow was drenched with sweat, and she wiped her palm across her forehead to remove some of the condensation there, and felt her own skin's fire. This sickness was brutal.

She coughed, and it felt like boiling liquid was bouncing around in her lungs. She had yet to start coughing up blood, but she knew it was an inevitable point of what was to come.

Ruby finally reached her destination, and clung to the bars outside of the cell as she looked into it.

Sasha was sitting up in a chair, looking about as awful as Ruby felt. She turned her head to look at Ruby listlessly, and a small smirk appeared on her face when she saw who it was.

"When did you get in here?" Sasha asked Ruby.

"A couple hours ago." Ruby replied. "I heard there was a party, I had to have an invite."

Sasha let out a dry laugh at her words. "Some party, right?"

"Yeah, I'd say so." Ruby replied.

She stumbled into the cell, and sat next to Sasha. Since this woman had come to the prison, Ruby and she had developed an immediate friendship. They had a similar sense of humor, and Sasha was always up for returning Ruby's banter.

"Do you think they're gonna make it back in time, with the medicine?" Sasha asked Ruby as the brunette sat down next to her.

"It's Daryl." Ruby replied. "He'll make it back."

Sasha nodded in response. "But we just have to last until he does."

"We will." Ruby replied. "We have to make sure we stay positive. And that everyone in here stays positive as well."

"You're right."

Ruby and Sasha turned their heads as a third voice joined in the conversation. Ruby smiled slightly as she saw Hershel, standing outside of their cell.

Hershel walked into the cell, limping slightly. He pulled up a chair and sat across from the two women. "The best thing anyone can do right now is stay positive." He stated. He then rustled around in the box he had brought with him, and produced a metal canister, and two cups. He poured a reddish liquid into the cups, and handed one to each of the women. "And you can drink this." He continued.

Ruby took a sip of the drink, and shuddered slightly as she did. It was very bitter. But as it flowed down her throat, she felt the ache there begin to fade. "What is this?" She asked Hershel. She took another sip, and ignored the taste of it. The benefits it gave were well worth the bitterness.

"Elderberry tea." Hershel replied. "It's a natural flu remedy. Keep drinking this, and it should carve off some of the brutality of these symptoms, and keep your fever down."

"Thank you, Hershel." Sasha replied.

The old man nodded. "I'm going to ask something of you girls." He stated.

Ruby nodded. "What do you need?"

"I need you two to stay positive, and to keep the other people here positive too. And to help me, in caring for some of the others if you're able enough. We need to keep everyone's spirits up, and we need to make sure that we handle those that have passed quickly and with as few people seeing as possible. It'll only make their spirits darken to see that."

Ruby looked over to Sasha, and nodded to her.

"Anything you need, Hershel. You just let us know." Sasha replied.

Hershel smiled one of his small, Hershel smiles. "Thank you, girls. For now, I just want you to keep doing what you're already doing. Staying positive."

Hershel stood and walked out of the cell, and paused before he left to say one final thing. "The people here, they look up to you two. Your example could make the difference between life and death for some of these people."

ANNABELLE

Annabelle was feeling better now that she had rested for a few days. Her side was still sore, and her ankle was still in pain, but she no longer felt dizzy when she sat up in her bed, and she was beginning to get her full appetite back.

She was sitting up and reading a book when Dr. Pride entered the room. "How are you feeling today, Annabelle?" She asked.

"Better." Annabelle replied brightly as she set her book down on the nightstand next to the table.

"Well enough for a visitor?" She asked her.

"Who's here?" Annabelle questioned.

"Michael Harris is here." She replied.

Michael? The town leader? She had never spoken one on one with him before, and she had only really spoken to him when she was around town somewhere or when she went specifically to his office. He must want something if he had come all this way to see her.

"Oh. Yeah, sure. Send him in." Annabelle replied. She felt a little bit of nervousness as she replied. She didn't know what to think about him coming here to see her. She sat up a little straighter in her bed and tried to run her fingers through her hair to make herself look a little more presentable.

Dr. Pride nodded, and exited the room. A few moments later, the door opened, and Michael appeared in it. He nodded to Dr. Pride, and then he entered the room, closing the door behind him as he did.

"Hello, Annabelle." He said to kindly to her.

"Hey." She replied.

"I'm glad to see you're on the mend. You did our town a great service by going on that run."

"Just trying to help out." Annabelle replied.

"At great personal risk." Michael responded. "Every time one of us steps outside of the walls of this town, they risk their life. The courage in going out there cannot be understated. Especially in deliberately going to an area that was overrun."

Annabelle felt herself blush slightly at his praise. "Thanks." She responded.

Michael nodded, and pulled up a chair next to her bedside. "I just wanted you to know how much we all appreciate what you and the other members of your team did out there. Since that broadcast went out, we've already gathered three new survivors in just a week, and we brought back a huge weapons haul because we were able to keep in contact with our boys out there. I didn't want you to think that we didn't recognize what you did for us. I'd like to think that in the future, I could count on you to be one of the people I turn to in order to get things done."

"Of course." Annabelle replied. "You guys took me in, and saved me from being out there. I'm here with you."

"That's good to hear." Michael replied. "I want you to know that we recognize when people step up for the good of this town. You jumped right into our school and have been doing a lot of good work with those kids, and you've been helping out with doing runs. We could use more people like you around." He paused for a moment before continuing. "Logan told me that you're looking for some other people." Michael stated.

"Yes." Annabelle replied, almost breathlessly. She was interested even more now in what Michael was going to say to her.

"It's my understanding that he told you he would take you on runs so you could keep an eye out for them, find some clues as to where they may have stayed, or run into some survivors that had met them. But he told you that you couldn't take a team south until there was evidence that proved they were alive."

"That's right." Annabelle replied.

"Well, I'm going to go ahead and supersede that decision." Michael stated. "As soon as you're able to get up and moving again, I'm going to get you a team and send you South. You can look for your people down there, and give us valuable intel on hostile groups of survivors, and walker movements down south. Maybe raid some places we haven't been to yet, and bring back some valuable supplies. And bring your people back here. I'm told that this man is the one who taught you how to shoot. And if your sister is anything like you, I'm sure she'll be an asset to our society as well."

Annabelle couldn't believe what Michael had just said to her. She could go look for them. Ruby and Daryl. And she would have a whole team behind her to help her find them. This was exactly what she needed.

"Thank you." Annabelle said breathlessly. "Thank you so much."

Michael nodded his head and smiled at her just slightly. "Of course, Ms. Miller. We take care of our own here. And you've certainly proved you're one of us." He stood and touched Annabelle's arm just lightly before he left. "Feel better, Annabelle." He said to her before he exited the room.

As the door shut, Annabelle sat dazed in her bed. She couldn't believe what had just happened. She had never imagined that doing this job would be her ticket in to being accepted fully by this town. But it seems that had been the key. He heart soared at the prospect of having a team to search for her sister and brother. But she knew it still wouldn't be easy. She had come across walker herds that numbered in the hundreds when she was in the south. She had even seen one that must have been several thousands of walkers. This task would not be easy, but she was up for it.

LOGAN

The light was beginning to dim as Logan made his way into the town hall. Several of the town residents greeted him warmly as he walked by, and he patted a few of the guards on the shoulder as he passed them. He made his way through the halls quickly, and to Michael's office. He knocked once before he entered into the room.

Michael was writing something down into a notebook when Logan walked in, and Logan assumed it was his history log that he kept. They kept an official one in customs, but this was his own personal log of what happened on a daily basis. He tried to encourage Logan to keep one, but Logan wasn't much into keeping a log of his day to day personal commentary.

"You wanted to see me?" He asked Michael as he walked in.

"Yes. Take a seat, Logan." Michael said without looking up from his journal.

Logan sat down across from his friend, and as he did Michael closed the journal in front of him.

"I talked to Annabelle, today." He stated to Logan.

Logan felt his heart jump slightly at the mention of the blonde's name, but he did well to hide it from his face. He felt a responsibility to the young woman that he couldn't explain. He had been making sure that she was safe, only assigning her to runs that he himself would be on, or sending her on runs that wouldn't be a problem. He didn't want to admit that he was developing feelings for her. He would rather keep himself separated emotionally. He didn't want to get too close to anyone, people were lost too often. But after the run to the broadcast station, where he had carried a bloodied Annabelle out of the building in his arms, he had been shaken. He had seen men die around him in war, in the apocalypse. Many of them had been his friends. But he had never had someone he cared about on a deeper level be in danger like that.

"How's she doing?" Logan asked him.

"Very well. Dr. Pride told me that she'd been making great progress." Michael replied.

Logan nodded, but continued talking. "That's not why you called me in here though." Logan continued.

"No, it's not." Michael replied. "I told her that I would allow her to take a team into southern Georgia when she recovered. To look for her people and to give us some intel about that region. We haven't been back there since we escaped Atlanta in the beginning."

Logan crossed his arms at his words and breathed out a sigh. He wasn't sure how he felt about this. It was dangerous, to say the least, and they would be sending a team of men well out of where they could call them back easily if they needed to. "Are you sure about this?" Logan asked him finally.

"Yes, I'm sure. She's more than capable, and if she can find her sister and this man they could be assets to our future missions. Not to mention all of the supplies that we haven't even began to look at in southern Georgia."

"We don't know if these people are alive." Logan said simply. "It's a lot of risk for two people."

"That won't be her only objective. If she finds them, she does. If she doesn't, she doesn't. Either way, we stand to gain from this. We can find out which routes are impassable, and get some fresh knowledge on the area."

"I don't know about this." Logan responded. "It seems like a lot of risk for potentially nothing."

Michael gave him a skeptical look before he leaned back in his chair. "Just a few months ago you expressed to me that you wanted to take a group into south Georgia. We said we would do it once we had a broadcast tower. We have the tower, but now you're balking on me. What is this about, Logan?"

"I've just changed my mind. It's too dangerous, and too many people will be put at risk."

"Or do you mean that Annabelle will be put at risk?" Michael questioned Logan. "You can go with her, if it will make you feel better. Sean and I can hold it down here. And you can keep her on task."

Logan shrugged. He still didn't feel right about this.

Logan felt Michael evaluating him, and it made him feel uneasy for a moment.

"That's not what it is at all." Michael said after several moments of silence. "You don't doubt her capability. You just don't want her going anywhere near south Georgia."

"What are you trying to suggest?" Logan questioned him.

"There's no suggestion, just fact. You don't want her to find them." Michael replied. "Are you developing feelings for her?"

Logan shook his head. "No, I'm not."

"I think you are." Michael replied. "You don't want her to find this man, do you?"

Logan felt Michael's words touch a thought that he'd had in the back of his mind for some time. The idea that eventually she would move on from this Daryl, after enough time had passed. It had been almost eight months now. How long would she cling to the hope that he was alive before she tried to move on? When Logan didn't respond, Michael nodded his head in understanding.

"Logan, if you were in her position, you would want to go and look." Michael stated.

"I know." Logan finally replied.

"This is an opportunity I can't pass up, Logan. Despite how you may feel." Michael stated to him. "There aren't many people in this town that would willingly charge into one of the most dangerous parts of Georgia, and she wants to go there. I'm going to utilize her skill set and disposition, just like we do with everyone else in this town. You can decide on your own if you want to go with her, or wait here for the results of her run. You have plenty of time to decide."

It was clear that that was the end of their conversation, and Logan nodded and stood before he exited the room. He shut the door behind him, and let out a sigh. He wanted to keep Annabelle safe, and by accompanying her he would definitely do that. But he would also be aiding in her in possibly completing the one task he didn't want her to complete. Find Daryl.

He had thought that with time, without finding any hope that he was still alive, she would move on from him. And hopefully onto Logan. But he hadn't counted on Michael deciding to reward her for her hard work with this expedition. He knew he was being selfish, and he didn't like how he was behaving. He had spent his whole life being selfless, and it had never been an issue for him. But for whatever reason, he was finding it difficult to brush his personal feelings to the side. He began to walk out of the town hall and back toward his own home to go to sleep for the evening. He had already decided what he was going to do before he even left the town hall. If finding Daryl was going to make Annabelle happy, then he would help her do it. No matter what his mixed emotions were about the subject.

A/N: Thank you for reading! Annabelle and Daryl are getting very close now, it's only a short matter of time until they meet again!