Hey Everyone! Sorry it's been so long, I got sick, and therefore wasn't able to get as much accomplished as I wanted too. Sorry this chapter is so short but I wanted to give you guys something so that you knew I wasn't forgetting about this story. The next chapter is going to be a juicy one and well worth the wait, I promise! Originally it was supposed to be part of this chapter but I realized it would be a monster if I tried to add it on, so I decided to just give you this brief little interlude. Hopefully the next chapter will be up soon, school is getting a little hectic but bare with me while I try to get my schedule hammered out. Also, finish recovering from my nasty cold! My brain will be up and running soon enough to get the next installment to you guys! Hope you enjoy, sorry it's not much.

Chapter Ten

Training in Temptations

Kate sat at a bench on the basketball courts enjoying the feeling of the sun's warm rays dancing across her shoulders. The chillier weather had broken for the day and it was finally pleasant outside for once. She guessed it was probably about seventy degrees or pretty much damn near perfect weather; the humidity had been broken by several rain storms over the past few days and now the light breeze that sped across fields was welcome. The day had been a brilliant one so far, peaceful.

"Miss Kate! Miss Kate!" A few of the children she was watching had made their way over to her bench.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Kate smiled at the eager faces around her.

"Can we go play soccer in the field?" They held out the tattered soccer ball that Glenn had picked up on a run a few weeks ago. Kate looked over to Beth, who was sitting next to her on the bench. The blonde girl shrugged.

"Sure, let's go." The kids took off in excitement. "Slow down and wait for Miss Beth and I at the gate!" She called after them, watching them intently as they skidded to a stop as they reached the fence that led out into the field. Kate shook her head and helped Beth pick up the blanket and red solo cups that were scattered on the ground where Judith had been entertaining herself. Beth grabbed the happy little girl up in her arms and they made their way down into the field.

Kate spread the blanket out on the ground and held Judith while Beth got comfortable before handing the baby to her. Beth arranged the girl's playthings on the blanket in reach of the young girl who sat up on her own and happily banged around the cups. Kate was about to sit down when she felt a small hand slip into her own. She looked down to see Timothy, one of the boys, tugging on her.

"Come play with us," he smiled.

"Oh, I don't know Timothy, I'm not very good." Kate laughed.

"The teams are uneven; we need someone else to play!" Several of the other children shouted their enthusiastic agreement. She hushed them before smiling and letting Timothy lead her over to where the children had set up a small boundary with a few sticks shoved in the ground as goal posts.

She joined Timothy's team since they had one less player than Lizzie's. The two of them were the oldest of the children so it automatically made them the captains. The ball was put in the middle and the game started. It wasn't long before Kate had to take off her sweater, tossing it to Beth, who caught it with one hand and put it on the blanket.

Kate started off by not participating much, afraid of embarrassing herself. The ground was wet from the morning dew still and Kate knew her Converse had no traction whatsoever. She began by only doing anything when someone kicked the ball back to her, since she didn't want to present a false advantage for her team, but after a while she realized that some of the kids were much better than she ever had been.

Finally after as much self-restraint as she could possibly muster her competitive spirit kicked in and she could no longer hold back. The children responded eagerly, kicking the ball to her as much as possible. They seemed as if they were testing her for some reason Kate just couldn't figure out. She paid no mind to them as she kicked the ball towards Timothy, trying to keep it away from the other team. She missed the first goal she tried to score, much to the disappointment of her teammates.

The next time the ball was passed to her she dribbled it down the field, the pack of children running after her. Lizzie tried to slip her foot in to steal the ball but Kate turned and danced away while Lizzie let out a frustrated laugh and continued to pursue her. Kate kicked the ball towards Dakota, who was playing goalie, with the inside of her foot, remembering her days of little league and useless physical education drills. The soccer ball arched upwards, sailing over Lizzie's head as she ran to defend her goal. Kate smiled and let out a breath, stopping to watch her triumph. The ball almost slipped through, but at the last moment Dakota jumped towards it and batted it away with her both of her hands.

"Damn!" Kate covered her mouth as soon as the word slipped out.

A few of the children turned to her with wide eyes, but their exclamations of "Miss Kate said a bad word" were drowned out by someone guffawing behind her. She spun on her heel to see Daryl standing next to Beth, Judith on his hip. She quirked a smile at him before walking over towards where the trio standing on the sidelines.

"Gettin' your ass whooped by a bunch of kids?" Daryl greeted her as she approached.

She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and bent over to pick up her water bottle off the ground, she took a few long gulps before leveling her gaze at Daryl. "I was just going easy on them."

He snorted and raised an eyebrow.

"What are you doing over this way anyhow?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I was thinkin'," he paused to give Judith back to Beth who walked a few paces away and sat back down on the blanket with the baby, not so subtly eyeing her two friends. "Since you're goin' with us at the end of the week, I figured now was a good time to keep my promise." He rubbed the back of his neck roughly, peeking at her from under his messy strands of brown hair.

Kate furrowed her eyebrows together. "What promise?"

"I said I'd teach ya' some moves with yer knife." Daryl explained, gesturing awkwardly to her hip, where the holster for her knife sat.

"Oh, um—" she cleared her throat. "I—yeah, sure. I'd like that." She smiled at him.

"Alrigh' well, let's go get tha' horses." He turned away.

"Horses?"

"Bike would be too loud."

She jogged to catch up to him as he headed towards the barn, hooking her hand around his arm and pulling him gently to a stop. "Where are we going? Can't we just…do it here?" She gestured to the large field around them.

Daryl shook his head before continuing walking. "Nah, ain't no Walkers to practice with."

"W—walkers? Wait, you want me to actually go out there and kill Walkers?"

Daryl looked at her with exasperation. "Wha' was you thinkin'?"

"I—I don't know," Kate admitted, her shoulders slumping in defeat.

"We're gonna take the horses out into the woods, I know where there's been a few Walkers roamin' 'round. They shouldn't give us too much trouble, but they'll be perfect for practicin'."

"I'm not sure about this—I mean, shouldn't we tell someone we're leaving?" Kate looked around as if expecting someone to pop out from behind the barn and come to her rescue.

"Beth knows, and I told Rick earlier." Daryl informed her, hopping the fence, picking up Annie's bridle, and walking over to the black mare. Kate climbed over the gate less gracefully, following him with reluctance. She snatched Percy's bridle off the fence and went over to the gelding. They pulled the bridles onto the horses and led them over to the fence where they began to saddle them.

"Rick said it was okay?" Kate asked skeptically as she finished cinching the girth, partially hoping that Daryl had been lying to her.

Daryl ducked under Annie's neck, coming up next to Kate. "He agreed it'd be a good idea before ya' went out on the run with us."

Kate bit her lip and avoided Daryl's eyes, pretending to adjust Percy's saddle, smoothing her hand along his back. She could feel Daryl watching her nervously stroke her horse. "You'll be fine. I won't let nothin' happen to ya'." He reassured her.

Kate searched his blue eyes for a moment before sighing through her nose and turning to grab Percy's reins. "I know." She turned and gave him a small smile. "Well, let's get this over with."

She pulled Percy towards the entrance, Daryl following behind with Annie. They made their way over to the gates, where they swung into their saddles. Rick came walking over from the guard tower as Tyreese moved to open the gates. He held his hand up at the man, who paused in his efforts to let Daryl and Kate out. Kate gave Daryl a questioning glance over her shoulder. Daryl leaned forward against the pommel of his saddle in interest, watching Rick approach. Rick came to a stop by Kate's leg, smoothing his hand down Percy's neck before squinting up at Kate. He reached into the back pocket of his pants and drew out her revolver. He laid the walnut handle gently on her thigh.

"I think you've earned this," he said, gesturing for her to take it.

She blinked at him, tears stinging the backs of her eyes, before she wrapped her hand around the wooden handle and tucked it into the back of her denim shorts. "I—thank you."

Rick nodded and stepped back from Percy's side, his hands on his hips. "Be safe. Both of you." He turned to look at Daryl who nodded intently at him. "And be back before dark."

"Yeah, yeah." Daryl straightened up in his seat and nudged Annie with his heels. He gripped Rick's hand in passing before coming to up next to Kate at the entrance. "Ya' ready?"

Kate looked towards the bridge that would lead them into the tree line. A few stray walkers aimlessly stumbled around, unawares of the prey that was getting ready to make a break for it. Kate swallowed and clenched her fists in her hands before pushing her heels down in the stirrups and nodding determinedly. At her signal Tyreese pulled the gates open and Daryl looked over at her.

"Hiyah!" he kicked Annie's sides. The mare sprung forward easily, the horses wound tight from being in the prison for the past month. Kate barely had to nudge Percy to get him to follow his companion out from the safety of the fences. Kate looked back over her shoulder as they galloped away. Tyreese had closed the fence and Rick was starting to walk back up the hill already. A few of the corpses had noticed the sounds and were following in curiosity but were easily out run.

The prison disappeared quickly as Daryl and Kate rounded the bend. After a few minutes of hard riding Daryl began to pull up Annie. Kate followed his lead until both of the horses were walking side by side. Kate rested her hand on her hip and for a while they ambled along in the silence, nothing but the sounds of the horse's hooves on the road. The trees gave way to large, rolling fields on either side. On one side walkers roamed, their jerking movements turning towards the sound of the horses approaching. Daryl whistled softly to get her attention and jerked his head, squeezing his heels to Annie's side. Kate followed him as he turned off the road to the field that wasn't occupied by walkers. They cantered through the tall, yellow stalks of grass, the tips of which whipped against Kate's bare legs.

When they broke through the trees they slowed to a walk again. A game path was just distinguishable in the dim light of the forest. They walked single file through the trees, Kate's skin tingling the whole time in anxiety. Every snap of a twig, every rustle of the bushes made her swing around in the saddle to scan the forest. The only thing that kept her from jumping out of her skin completely at the smallest noise was Daryl's calm presence in front of her. His crossbow was slung across his back, partially obscuring the angel wings on his vest. His navy blue button up was just distinguishable from underneath the hair that brushed against the collar.

The more she stared at the back of Daryl's head, the more her stomach fluttered nervously. It had been a few days since he'd returned her book and kissed her cheek. Just thinking about it still made her skin tingle. Yet, he had gone on acting as if nothing had happened. They exchanged pleasantries and banter exactly like they had before, yet he'd practically avoided any instance to touch her, or even be alone with her. The mixed signals were driving her up a wall. She wished she could get the gumption up to just plant one on him.

Maybe she would. They were all alone out here, in the woods. What's the worst that could happen? He'd refuse her? Leave her out here on her own? She trusted that he wouldn't do that. No matter how gruff he acted Kate knew better than to think he would leave someone as completely helpless as herself unprotected. So what really was the worst? He would deny her? Push her away? She wondered if she could stand the shame of that.

The noises of the forest snapped Kate out of her thoughts; she could feel her heart pounding in her throat, the persistent throbbing of adrenaline through her veins was uncomfortable. "How much farther?" She whispered at Daryl's back, confident that he would be able to hear her.

He turned around in the saddle, putting his finger to his lips before holding up his hand, fingers splayed.

"Five miles? Minutes?"

"Minutes, now quit your yackin'." He scolded but there wasn't any heat to the words.

Kate smirked at him as he turned back around in the saddle, shaking his head as he did so. The five minutes Daryl had promised her seemed to draw out for far longer and Kate wondered if he was using his advantage to not tell her the truth about how long it was really going to take to get to where they were going. She was about to call up to him again when the trees began to thin. They finally broke through, coming up to a surprisingly large meadow, complete with a small pond. The grass was short here, probably from animals feeding in the open area. She could see dragonflies flitting across the still water of the pond. Besides the bugs on the surface of the water nothing moved. Kate and Daryl dismounted, tying the horses to trees on the edge of the meadow. Kate turned to Daryl expectantly, her hands on her hips.

He didn't acknowledge her; pulling out his knife instead. He slid it across his palm, wincing slightly.

"What are you doing?" Kate exclaimed, stepping towards him but he shifted out of her path and moved to the trees a few yards away from where the horses were tied. Kate watched curiously as he wiped his hand on the trunks of a few trees, smears of blood left behind on the bark. He came back over, cradling his hand towards his stomach to keep any more of his blood from dripping onto the ground. He one handedly opened up a satchel on Annie's saddle, taking out two clean strips of cloth.

Kate opened her own bag and took out one of the water bottles she had seen him stash in there as they tacked up. She held out her hand for his, waiting patiently as he struggled trying to bandage the wound himself. He gave up with a frustrated grunt before reluctantly holding out his hand, palm up. Kate grabbed one of the strips of cloth from him, unscrewing the top the water bottle. She poured some of it onto the cloth before turning to dump the rest onto his palm, letting the flow wash away a few pieces of dirt and bark that she could see; black against red.

Once the bottle was empty she dropped it on the ground, taking Daryl's hand gently in hers she dabbed the damp cloth over the wound, wiping away the last bits of blood and grime from the shallow cut. He passed her the other cloth. She gently wrapped it around his palm. After tying it she let her hand rest in his own, her fingers ghosting over the under side of his wrist. They both looked down at their hands, before Daryl dropped his to his side, clenching it into a fist.

"Thanks," he muttered.

"That was kind of stupid." She replied.

He shrugged. "Them walkers from the road should already be followin' our scent. This was just a little extra incentive."

Kate looked uneasily towards the trees where Daryl's fresh blood glinting in the sun. She shivered slightly, goosebumps rising on her arms.

"Lemme see your gun." Daryl said quietly.

Kate looked back to him, to find his eyes watching her with a steady calm. She pulled the gun out of her shorts, holding it in both of her hands, possessively cradling it against her stomach. She stroked her thumb against the handle before sighing and grudgingly placing it in Daryl's outstretched hand.

"A Wesson?"

Kate nodded her head.

Daryl popped the chamber open.

"There's only one—what?" Kate asked in astonishment.

"Lucky you," Daryl commented in amusement. Six golden bullets shimmered in the chamber.

"I used all of my bullets except for one trying get away from those walkers that day you found us….I don't understand."

".357 Magnum." Daryl shook his head, clicking the chamber back in place. "Same as Rick's Python."

"He—he gave me bullets?"

"Looks like it." Daryl conceded, handing the revolver back to her.

Kate took it, glancing at the bullets once more in astonishment before tucking it back into her jeans. "Remind me to replace those for him."

Daryl didn't answer her. Instead he turned to grab the back pack he'd brought with him and slung it over his shoulder. They walked into the center of the field where Daryl set down the pack and pulled out a blanket. He spread it out and gestured for her to sit. "What are we doing?" She asked instead.

"Waitin'." He sat. "Now sit your ass down."

Kate rolled her eyes at him but complied, crossing her legs under her. They sat like that for a little while, enjoying the steady breeze that tugged at their clothes and carried away the sweat from their bodies. Kate took the time to rebraid her hair, making sure all the stray pieces were tucked neatly within it. She took out her gun, checking the rounds one more time before setting it on the blanket between them. The blue metal glinted in the sunlight.

"Ya' sure are fond of that gun."

Kate bit her lip. "You make it sound like I shouldn't be. It has saved my life more times then I'd care to count."

Daryl rolled his shoulders, leaning back on his elbows where he was splayed out across from her. "Ya' just don't seem the kind."

Kate raised an eyebrow at him. "Well, I guess you're right." She acknowledged. "I'd never touched a gun before the world went to shit. To be honest they scared the hell out of me, I didn't even like when cops carried them."

Daryl snorted. "You was one of them people that wanted to ban guns weren't cha?"

Kate laughed. "Yeah, yeah I was." Her voice drifted off into a sigh. They both sat in the silence for a few moments, thinking about a time that seemed so long ago now.

"So if ya' didn't have a gun on ya' where'd you get that one?"

Kate stared down at the weapon between them, biting on her cuticles. "It was a friend of mine's." She finally admitted.

"He with the group ya' had before?" Daryl had sat up now and turned towards her, his head tilted slightly to the side in curiosity. His blue eyes squinted at her, roaming over her face intently.

"She," Kate corrected. "But yeah." Kate already felt tears brewing behind her eyelids.

"How many of ya' were there?" Daryl pressed.

"Thirty two, by the time all was said and done. But my friends? There were eight of us."

"Ya' know them in high school as well?"

"Most of them, except—Nic," her throat closed around the name and she coughed softly.

"Sorry, I didn' mean…" Daryl muttered, shifting slightly away from her at the sight of her watery eyes. He dropped his gaze.

Kate took a deep breath. "No, it's alright. I get that you're curious. It's probably good to talk about them. Keeps their memories alive. I don't…I don't want to forget them."

"So," Daryl said, peeking at her from underneath his unruly brown hair. "Tell me 'bout 'em."

"What do you want to know?" Kate asked with a bright smile, the pain clenched her heart but she genuinely found herself wanting to share some of her story for the first time since this whole thing had begun.

"What happened?"

"I don't know where to start—" she drifted off.

"Our first place got over run. We were camped on a quarry outside Atlanta. Lost a few good people, a few not so good people. Then we went to the CDC, thought we could dig up some answers. Fucker tried to kill us all, CDC blew up—"

"Wait. Is that what that was?"

"Big explosion in Atlanta?"

"God, yes. We saw the black clouds; they hung over the city for days. You could even see them through the trees. You were there?"

Daryl nodded.

"Jesus," Kate murmured, blowing a piece of hair that had loosened itself from her braid off her face.

"JC got nothin' to do with it."

"I guess I'd have to agree with you there."

Their eyes connected for a brief second before they went back to staring at their respective spots on the blanket.

"We lived on Hershel's farm for a while, till that got overrun too. Lost even more good people tha' night. Were on the run fo' a while. Then we found the prison."

"It's a great place." Kate offered.

Daryl nodded, pulling a knee up and resting his arm on top of it, staring off into the tree line. "Your turn."

"I had been living in England for the past year—"

"England?"

"Yes, with Charlie and my friend Olivia. We moved there after Olivia finally graduated college, she's two years younger than me…I lived in New York City while I waited for her to finish up back home in South Carolina. Charlie came with us on a whim, it wasn't planned that way, but Charlie's always been a bit more freewheeling then Olivia or I. We came home for the first time since we moved. Met up with Ashley, Charlie's on-again-off-again boyfriend—"

"Ashley's a girl's name."

"Yes, well. Tell Ashley that." She laughed. "Are you going to let me finish?"

He gestured for her to continue, his blue eyes staring at her with patience and the faintest glimmer of curiosity.

"Ben, Ashley's best friend; Nic, my best friend from college; Vic—Victo—" Kate's eyes stung with tears and she wiped them away in frustration. Sniffling, she took another shaky breath before continuing. "Victoria and her boyfriend Wyatt." She rushed out.

"We were camping up on Stone Mountain when we came across our first Walker. We got the hell out of there pretty quick, didn't shoot it or anything since we had no idea what the hell it was. Thankfully Victoria always kept an arsenal in the back of her car; I don't know how far we would've made it without it."

Daryl raised an eyebrow.

"Her dad was Military, and a police officer. He always made sure his daughters were safe and could protect themselves. The Colonel was someone you definitely didn't want to mess with." She explained, smiling fondly at the memory before continuing.

"We got on the road shortly after that and headed for Charleston. Unfortunately, that meant slamming right into the traffic snarl outside Atlanta. We tried to get around, drove until our cars ran out of gas and then we walked, camping from place to place, taking out stray walkers as we went. It wasn't until we came across another group that we were able to set up some sort of permanent camp. We did well for a while; it was tucked away in the woods. We were lucky to have stumbled upon it in the first place. We fortified the boarders with pine trees and had shifts of people on the walls at all times. There where never more then twenty or thirty walkers at once, so we did alright for a while. Until…"