Howdy everyone! So, this chapter may not be as edited as the others, and for that I apologize. This next week is going to be very busy for me, so I wanted to make sure I got this chapter up for y'all before the craziness ensues. Good news though is that I then have two weeks of Spring Break (yay! college!) So I should be able to get a few chapters up during that time in pretty rapid succession. I hope everyone likes this chapter! I was really excited to do the flashback in the beginning, it was fun to write (also, these characters will probably be important in Part II of this story, so keep them in mind, this wasn't a throw away scene!) Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

To AndreaHarding: I just wanted to say thank you so much for your reviews, both of them really made my day when I received them! I, too, love dogs and horses as well (not going to lie, Jack in the story is based off of my real life Australian Shepherd named Jack, he's my baby and I miss him a lot so I wrote him in.) I don't think it's unrealistic for people to have dogs (Norman Reedus himself wanted a dog for Daryl in season three, shame the producers didn't want to give it to him but alas.) I hope you enjoy this chapter and continue to enjoy the story! I'm glad you like everything so far and I was so flattered by your reviews!

Chapter Eleven

Petrichor

Kate stepped out of the RV and took a moment to look over the scene in front of her. She could make out the shadows of a few people walking the walls on watch around the camp. The stars were glittering in the sky, it was shocking how many had become visible since electricity was more scarce than anything these days. The gentle sounds of crackling fire and murmured conversation was like water running over rocks in the river bed. Kate's eyes fell on a blonde leaning against a log, solitary, poking at few logs in a fire with a stick. Kate pushed off of the side of the RV and made her way over to the young woman.

When she was across the fire the blonde looked up and flashed her a quick smile. Kate grinned back, circling the fire and coming to sit on the log next to the woman's head.

"Hey Charlie," Kate greeted as she sat. Charlie replied by leaning her head against Kate's bare leg. Kate found her hand carding through Charlie's short blonde hair. The orange light of the fire danced off of their bare legs, both of which were stretched out in front of them, Charlie's boots daringly close to the white stones circling the fire.

They sat quietly for a few moments before another woman walked into their small camp area. She had a rifle slung over her back and her tangled red hair was pulled back in a ponytail which swung behind her shoulders except for a few strands that framed her elegant, long face. She smiled widely and took a seat across the fire from Charlie and Kate, folding her long legs under her.

"Howdy Liv!" Kate greeted quietly, aware that Charlie had dozed off against her thigh.

"Hey Katie."

"How was watch?"

"Boring," Olivia scoffed, reaching behind her head to tug out her ponytail. Her fiery hair tumbled down her shoulders. She ran a hand through it, pulling out tangles methodically, the red shining drastically in the flames.

"Did you see them come back?" Kate asked, her eyes flickering behind Olivia's head to where the wall was in the distance.

Olivia shook her head, taking the rifle off of her shoulders and leaning it against the log next to her. "They should be back soon. I'm going to get cleaned up." Olivia stood, raising her arms over her head as she did so and leaning backwards to stretch. She came around the fire to gently rest a hand in Charlie's hair and leaned over to peck a kiss onto Kate's round cheek. Kate turned her face into the kiss affectionately.

"Ta, love." Kate said, as Olivia danced off, hips swaying as she did so. Charlie stirred next to her, lifting her head, before pulling herself up onto the log next to Kate. "You just missed Liv," Kate informed her.

"Yeah, I heard you talking." Charlie's hazel eyes were fixed on the flames in front of her. Kate could see her strong arms flexing as she prodded the flames with a stick.

"It's fine, they'll be back soon." Kate assured, bumming their shoulders.

Charlie gave a noncommittal noise in the back of her throat.

"Yeah, Char, no worries!" Came a male voice from behind them.

Kate felt a hand rest on her head, and she grabbed the wrist of the person fondly. "Hey Ben!" She greeted as Charlie sprang up, hopping over the log and running into the arms of a waiting, shaggy brown haired man. Ben dropped his hand from Kate's head and took Charlie's place on the log, his tall frame folding over as he grabbed the stick Charlie had been stoking the fire with and began to break it up into pieces.

Kate turned around to see a skinny blonde woman and a short brown haired man with a rugged beard appear behind Charlie and Ashley, who were engaging in a fierce, lip-locked battle. "Victoria! Wyatt!" She grinned as they took a seat across the fire from her and Ben. In one hand Victoria was holding a string with three rabbits tied onto it, with the other she clasped Wyatt's hand hard.

"Hey Mom!" They replied in unison.

"Oh shut up."

"How much weight did she loose worrying today?" They ignored her, as Wyatt called over to Charlie, who finally made an appearance by the fire.

"I'd say about five pounds from the look of her," Ben joked, putting a hand on her stomach.

She pushed him away. "Whatever. You guys were gone long after sundown! What was I supposed to think?"

"Not our fault Kate, there were a ton of—"

The three others that had been gone all gave Victoria a look, as she trailed off. Her big blue eyes wide in the firelight as she bit her lip.

"A ton of what?" Charlie asked, sitting up some.

"Roamers," Ashley said quietly, staring at the fire.

Charlie's grip tightened reflexively where she had her hand draped over Ashley's knee. Kate shuddered slightly, causing Ben to put his arm around her. She leaned into him, nervously worrying at her lip. "Why do you think there's been more the past few days?"

Wyatt shrugged as he watched Victoria take out her knife and begin to skin the rabbits. A horse whinnied in the quiet and Kate followed the sound over to where the horses were tied a few yards away. The little group was silent for a few moments; the only sound a morning dove cooing in the distance.

Suddenly a scream split the quiet night air. Ben jerked up, his rifle pointed towards the sound. Kate was frozen to the log, her legs having completely lost feeling as fear coursed through her. Victoria sprung up, her revolver also aimed towards the noise. The rest of the group had risen to their feet in one swift motion. Another scream, a man's this time pierced the darkness.

"ROAMERS IN THE CAMP!" Suddenly the rasping sound of the dead could be heard coming towards them. Shadows stumbled around in the dark as Victoria, Wyatt, Ashley, and Ben all trained their guns on the figures, not knowing if they were friend or foe. Before long, in the light of several fires burning around camp a swarm of the undead could be seen, their stench preceding them, making Kate put hand over her nose and mouth.

"Kate, get up." Ben grabbed her upper arm and jerked her to her feet. She scrambled against him, clutching the back of his flannel shirt and quivering. He turned his green eyes on her, searching her face. Gunshots began to ring out around them and Kate's frightened eyes followed the noises. Ben grabbed her chin and turned her face towards him. "Kate, where is Olivia?"

"I—"

"Where is she?"

"RV," Kate panted out.

Ben's eyes cut to the RV behind them. "Victoria! Cover Kate, I've got to get to the RV!"

The blonde nodded without taking her eyes off of the undead woman making her way towards them. She picked her off with a clean shot to the head.

"You stay here as long as you can but if y'all think you're going to get over run, get out of here! You go. Do you understand me?" Ben's eyes never left Kate's frightened ones but his voice had risen in command, she could feel everyone else's consent radiating off of them. "Dammit," Ben cursed under his breath, hot on Kate's face. He squeezed his eyes shut briefly, the hold on Kate's chin hard enough to bruise. His eyes flashed opened. He pulled Kate to him, giving her a brief one armed hug, kissing the crown of her head before letting go and pushing her towards Wyatt and Victoria.

Kate tripped over herself on her way over, clutching onto Wyatt's arm as he took aim at an approaching undead. She looked behind her to Charlie, who was huddled next to Ashley, unarmed. Ashley was picking off the dead as they came stumbling towards the couple but they were closing in quickly. Everywhere Kate looked she could see the lurching gait of the dead and see hear the screams.

"Tor, it's getting bad, you need to get out of here." Wyatt said to the back of his girlfriend's head.

"No, we can take them." She gritted through her teeth as she pulled more rounds out of her pocket and loaded them into the gun with steady hands. Wyatt shot at a woman missing both her arms which came to close for comfort. Wyatt grabbed Victoria, spinning her around and causing her to drop a bullet. He kissed her once, quickly and fiercely, twisting a hand in her wild hair.

"Go. I love you."

"I love you too," there where no tears in Victoria's eyes, just rage and defeat. She grabbed Kate's hand and pulled her away. Wyatt dropped down to one knee, resting the shotgun against his shoulder and began to take out the undead left and right. As they reached Ashley his gun clicked and he threw it to the ground, yelling in frustration before pulling out his knife.

Kate grabbed Charlie and pulled her out of the way as a rotting man reached for her. Ashley spun around, slashing wildly at the monster, managing to imbed his hunting knife into the creature's skull, but as he did so another one came out of no where and bit into his arm. Charlie's scream echoed Ashley's own yell as he fell to the ground. Charlie yanked out of Kate's grip as Kate cried after her. Charlie's path was cut off by another monster who descended onto Ashley, tearing into his stomach. Two more monsters added to the frenzy.

Blood in the dark looked black as it poured out of Ashley, his screams turning to gurgling chokes before stuttering off into silence. Kate had managed to grab Charlie around the middle, all the while as Victoria laid down cover fire. The sound of the RV door banging open made all three women jerk their heads up. Ben stood in the door way, a cut on his bald head bleeding down into his eye. Behind him Olivia stood, her red hair glinting in the darkness.

"Olivia!" Kate screamed over the chaos. "Ben!"

Their heads snapped towards the small group and they jumped out of the RV, immediately getting cut off by a group of the undead. They were lost in the crowd. Both Kate and Charlie were screaming, tears falling into their mouths and tasting of salt. Finally Victoria was able to jerk them out of their shock and the three fought their way towards the horses, Kate in the middle while Charlie slashed in a rage at the monsters coming towards them, Victoria popping off rounds into the skulls with deadly accuracy.

They reached the horses and Charlie scrambled onto Annie while Kate clambered onto Percy. Once she had her feet in the stirrups she reached down to pull Victoria up after her. Victoria screamed and was jerked away from Kate as Percy reared up, one of the rotting creatures had a hold of her leg, it's guts spilling out of it's body where it had been cut in half, dragging itself along the ground to clamp onto Victoria's leg. Percy calmed down for a moment and Victoria reached towards Kate, her large blue eyes terrified for the first time. Kate grabbed onto her with all her might, Victoria's nails digging into her forearm. She pulled with all she could but not before she watched, in what seemed like slow motion, the foul monster sink it's teeth into Victoria's calf.

"No!" Kate cried as Victoria screeched in pain. With a final tug Kate dislodged the beast and pulled Victoria onto Percy behind her. She searched for an opening as Percy spun around in fear, finally she spotted one and with a nod at Charlie to know she had seen it too they took off. They rode for what seemed like hours, until the screams died away and the terror was turned into fatigue. Her muscles ached and she could feel Percy shuddering beneath her. After a long time of hard riding her heart finally began to slow down and then it was all she could do to keep her eyes open and keep Percy steered in the right direction.

Finally Victoria's hold on her waist let up and she would have slipped off if Kate had not reached behind to steady her as she pulled Percy to a stop. Charlie pulled up Annie next to them.

"What's wrong?"

"Victoria—was bit." Kate choked out, as Charlie turned her eyes in horror to the chunk of flesh missing from their friend's leg. Kate slid out of the saddle, holding her arms out to Victoria who managed to dismount, but stumbled as soon as she tried to put weight on her injury. Kate caught her and turned to lay her against the trunk of an oak tree. She grabbed a rag out of the stocked saddle bags that they kept on the horses in case of an emergency like this. She wiped at Victoria's damp forehead, by the light of the moon Kate could tell that Victoria's skin was deathly pale. Her full lips were the same color as her white skin and her baby blue eyes were blood shot and unfocused.

Charlie knelt next to her, pulling the bottle of water out of her pocket and handing it to Kate, who tried to tip it gently into Victoria's mouth. A surprisingly strong hand stopped her from pouring the water in to Victoria's mouth. "No."

"You have to drink, we have to keep you hydrated." Kate managed to get out around her tear clogged voice.

"No, you—you know—know what you have—have-h—have—to do." Victoria panted out, her eyes rolling backwards.

Kate gripped her hand in the gold locks of hair at the base of Victoria's neck and leaned her forehead against Victoria's fever-heated one. Charlie had grabbed one of Victoria's hands, while Victoria's other hand was gently placing her gun in Kate's. "I can't," Kate moaned, tears spilled out of her eyes and splashed onto Victoria's face. Kate could hear Charlie sniffling next to them, her arm around Kate.

"Please, I need-don't want—to be—I don't—please…Kate," her breath rattled against Kate's cheek and she was gone.

"Nononono," Kate curled her hand around the gun's handle before punching her fist into the oak behind Victoria's head. She leaned back on her haunches, scrubbing her arm over her face. "Ch—Charlie?"

Charlie shook her head, pulling back. "I can't."

"Neither can I!" Kate screamed in despair, her voice cracking with strain.

"Kate, you have to be quiet."

"You can't ask me to do this!" Kate wailed in anger, her voice pleading as tears continued to stream down her dirty face, her dark brown hair stuck to her cheeks and in her mouth where she couldn't care to remove it.

"I'm not asking you. She did," Charlie's eyes moved over to Victoria's now lifeless body slouched against the tree.

Kate's eyes turned back to her friend, whose blue eyes stared off in the distance, unseeing. Kate choked on another sob, holding the gun in her hands, the barrel smeared with blood but still the metal glinted in the starlight. Charlie smoothed a hand through Kate's hair and down her back, centering her friend. Kate looked to Charlie, whose solemn hazel eyes found hers and nodded once. Kate crawled forwards again so that her body was pressed up next to the tree; she turned so that she could cradle Victoria to her. She pulled the body's back to her chest, pressing her cheek to the top of her head for a brief moment. She squeezed her eyes shut before opening them, taking a deep breath and kissing Victoria's cheek, where blood and sweat still lingered.

She put the gun against her temple, the metal heavy in her hand; the heaviest thing she thought she'd ever held. She clicked the hammer back, just as she'd been taught, briefly flicking her eyes towards the safety, stupid since she knew it was off, but having had it drilled into her head by Victoria on their several target practice lessons. At the brief flash of memory Kate closed her eyes, her finger finding the trigger. "I'm sorry," she whispered, her lips tracing the words onto soft, golden hair. The sound of the blast rang in her ears, the feeling of Victoria's warm blood splattered on her neck and shirt. The body jerked once against her before becoming still again. Kate pressed her face into the hair of her friend, sobbing into her shoulder before she felt Charlie's gentle hands on her.

When she looked up Charlie was tugging on her. Kate released Victoria's body without much fight, in too much shock to really hold on. "Come on Kate, we have to go. The Roamers probably heard that shot, we have to find somewhere safe." She realized Charlie had probably been repeating this to her for a few moments.

"Safe…" Kate echoed, dazed as she looked back at her friend from atop Percy, not sure how she got up there. As they rode away, the only think Kate could think was that they'd had no time to bury her.

Kate wiped her eyes while she was stared down; tracing the pattern of a sunflower again and again on the blanket they were sitting on. For a few moments it was quiet except for the sounds of her sniffling. She could hear Daryl shifting on his side of the blanket but she couldn't bring herself to look up at him.

The sound of rustling bushes made Kate snap her head up and turn to the place where Daryl had wiped his blood earlier. Sure enough, the foliage was moving, an inevitable sign of approaching corpses. Daryl and Kate sprang to their feet and moved forward a few paces away from their blanket. Daryl picked up his loaded crossbow, holding it loosely down by his side. Kate pulled her knife from it's sheath, holding it gingerly in her sweating hand.

Two snarling walkers stepped out of the bushes and turned towards the prey standing in the middle of the clearing. When their milky eyes found Kate she took a hesitant step backwards, her back smashing up against Daryl's chest. He put a strong hand on her shoulder to brace her as the Walkers started stumbling towards them.

"Aim between the eyes, if ya' think ya' can't get it that way go for the temple." His voice was right in her ear as he crouched, his breath tickling the side of her neck.

She nodded her head, repositioning her grip on the knife. Before the two walkers came towards her another two emerged from the tree line. She couldn't help the squeak of fear that escaped from her. She cleared her throat and widened her stance as the first walker lurched towards her. She took a step forward away from the safety of Daryl's heat behind her, and slashed at the creature. The monster grabbed her upper arm in a vice like grip when she missed her mark, the blade a few inches from the creature's rotting skull.

The grip of the monster's hand had her wrestling to get him off of her. She twisted to the side, using the knife to hack away at the appendage. Black blood sprayed out at her as she ducked to avoid teeth that clicked together next to her ear. She finally managed to break from the monster's grip; feeling pieces of flesh come off onto her sweater. Without thinking she spun and drove her knife into it's skull. It sunk to it's knees as she kicked it in the chest to release her blade. She turned to flash a smile at Daryl, who was watching her with a hard expression.

The next monster approached her, it's spindly fingers brushing her braid that fell down the side of her chest. She twisted her shoulders to the side so that the zombie stumbled into her path. With a quick slice of her knife she managed to catch it on the side of it's head, pressing as hard as she could before the blade pierced the dead woman's skull and she dropped to the ground with a thud. Before she could turn she felt something grab onto the back of her cardigan and pull her backwards.

She got an upside down view of a man's rotted face, the skin hanging in folds, it's rancid breath filled her nose as it leaned over her, teeth grazing the tender flesh of her neck. She screamed. The twang of the crossbow did not even register to Kate before an arrow found itself lodged in the side of the monster's head. Kate yanked herself out of it's grip, her heart pounding in her ears and her entire body shaking. She reached a hand up to her neck, where she could feel the slime of it's toxic saliva on her neck. She realized that she had dropped her knife somewhere in the struggle.

Daryl had come up beside her, he toed the corpse over, bending down and picking up her hunting knife, flipping it so that he was holding the blade; he held it out to her. She took it with a shaking hand. There was one walker left; it's rasping snarls getting steadily closer. Kate sidled up to Daryl, her entire body vibrating with adrenaline.

"C'mon, last one." Daryl whispered to her, grabbing the knife that she was holding. With his arm extended alongside her own and his chest pressed close against her Kate relaxed marginally, widening her stance again and preparing for their last enemy with a determined nod. The woman had stringy black hair that hung like a bamboo curtain around her face.

"Grab onto a chunk of tha' hair." Daryl instructed his voice a steady rumble in his chest that reverberated through Kate's body down her arm. She reached her hand out and took a hold of the greasy, tangled mat of hair. She yanked the head of the approaching walker back, exposing a rotted throat. Daryl and her stepped forward in sync, and with the added guidance of his hand on hers, shoved the blade into the bottom of her neck, the long blade reaching into the brain cavity. The flailing arms of the monster dropped lifelessly and they stepped back, yanking out the knife as the corpse fell at their feet.

They stood panting like that for a moment, Daryl's hand still curled around hers, as they surveyed the four corpses around them. "I did it," Kate panted triumphantly, smiling mostly to herself. Suddenly she was spun around, met with fierce blue eyes which where raking over her body. He shoved the cardigan off her shoulders. She blinked in confusion before she followed his gaze down to where his hands were inspecting the skin of her upper arm.

"I'm not scratched." She informed him.

He ignored her, his fingers gliding up her arms and grabbing hold of her chin, tilting her face to up and to the side, exposing her throat. She swallowed nervously at the intensity of his eyes raking up and down her throat, her heart thrumming under his grip. She hoped he would just account it to adrenaline. Apparently satisfied that she had come away unharmed he let go of her and turned away, bending down to retrieve his arrow with a squelching sound that made her stomach roll.

"So that's it?" She questioned, slightly baffled at the lack of instruction, though she figured she shouldn't be too surprised. Daryl hadn't really come off as the nurturing-teacher type. She should have guessed that his teaching method would be more along the lines of: see what she can do and hope she doesn't die doing it…practice makes perfect.

Daryl didn't respond to her, instead he wadded up the blanket and started towards the horses, Kate following quietly behind. "Is that all? I mean…we could stay out here for a bit longer. It can't be that late…" Kate trailed off as she fiddled with a loose piece of leather on Percy's saddle.

She felt something cool against her arm and turned to see Daryl was pressing her revolver against it. She realized she must've left it on the blanket. She smiled in thanks and tucked it into the back of her shorts.

"Gotta git back. Those clouds mean rain." He nodded his head towards the horizon where Kate spotted the dark grey clouds that were moving swiftly across the afternoon sky.

"Right." Kate said, mounting up without further discussion.

The ride back to the prison was quiet, the sun slowly beginning to lower down as they approached, finally engulfed by the ominous clouds. As soon as the prison gates came into the sights the winds picked up in an awful howl and a sharp burst of thunder had Percy skittering to the side. She smoothed a hand down his shoulder and whispered kindly to him as he resettled. When she looked up she could see Daryl watching her, she gave him a timid smile in the growing darkness.

Tyreese let them in and they moved off to the stables, the grounds were abandoned due to the impending storm. She watched Tyreese hurrying up the walk towards the buildings as it began to sprinkle. They untacked the horses quickly in silence. As soon as Kate managed to drag a tarp over the saddles so they wouldn't get water damaged the sky opened up and the rain began to come down so hard she could barely see in front of her. Immediately she was as drenched as if she had just jumped in a lake. She could hear Daryl cursing near her as they trudged through the mud towards the exit of the pen. They began to cross the field towards the prison. Kate took out her braid, running her fingers through her tangled brown hair. The cool rain was washing way the blood and other various bits of grime that had accumulated on her during their outing.

She shook her head side to side like a wet dog shaking off water, peeling off her cardigan and tying it around her waist. She could feel Daryl's eyes on her despite the darkness. She rubbed her arms vigorously until she could see that they were clean. She ran her hands over her neck and chest, washing away the saliva of the walker that had almost gotten her. A loud clap of thunder made her jump slightly, her shoulder bumping into Daryl. He looked down at her with a quirked eyebrow and she began to laugh. The water seemed to elevate something in her. She felt as clean and refreshed as she had with that first shower in the prison.

She spotted a puddle a few steps ahead. Taking a bit of a skipping start she jumped, slamming both feet down in the puddle, laughing gloriously as mud splattered up her calves. She turned behind her to see Daryl watching her with a mildly amused expression on his face. She shrugged her shoulders, scanning the ground in front of her as he came nearer. When he was a step away she jumped, long legs stretching forward. She landed in another puddle, her laughter ringing out of her so strong she couldn't stop it if she wanted.

She made to hop to another puddle just as a hand closed around her bicep. They were only a few paces from the fences. She could hear the patter of the rain on the pavement, a musical sound that made her feel giddy. She turned to Daryl, who had managed to snag her arm with a pout.

"What?"

"What're ya' doing?" He asked gruffly, his voice confused more than anything else.

She shrugged. "Jumping in puddles. What's it look like?"

"Yer gettin' yerself all muddy is what it looks like."

She followed his gaze down to her now mud flecked legs. "The rain'll wash it off." She smiled up at him, as if it made all the sense in the world.

When their eyes connected her breath hitched. She hadn't noticed how close they'd been standing. Although his hand was only loosely grabbing her arm she felt a shock jolt through her. Judging by the sudden almost panicked look in Daryl's eye he felt it too. Kate's mouth fell slightly open as Daryl took a step closer, dropping her arm to push her damp hair off her face, tangling his fingers in the dark locks at the base of her neck. She reached up and tentatively laid her hands against his chest, stretching up on her tiptoes so that their faces were even, never breaking eye contact.

She tilted her head slightly, his blue eyes holding a question. She let her eyes flicker down to his lips, which were marginally parted like hers. She was so close she could see water droplets collecting in the hair on his chin. She glanced back up at him from underneath her eyelashes, giving him a shy smile and curling her fingers into his leather vest.

He moved his head forwards, slowly, until their lips brushed in the gentlest of contact. He breathed into her mouth softly before pulling his head back, but she followed his movements, unsatisfied with the briefness of the kiss. Her hands pulled on his vest until he bent down to capture her lips again, this time lingering for a few moments, his fingers releasing her hair to grab onto the back of her neck, his other hand coming up to grip her hip bone and pull her towards him as he deepened the kiss.

Kate slid her arms around his neck, dragging him down towards her. She ran her tongue along his chapped lips lightly, testing the waters.

"Kate?" She heard her name over the chaos of the storm and as quickly as she had been enveloped in Daryl's arms she was released. She practically stumbled with surprise at how abruptly Daryl moved away from her, turning away and pushing past the person who had interrupted them.

"Hey Charlie," Kate greeted as she walked towards her friend, grateful for the darkness of the storm, so that Charlie couldn't see her cheeks burning red.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Charlie grated out as Kate approached, shoving her arm as she fell into step next to her.

Kate pushed some of her wild, wet hair out of her face and turned to Charlie as they walked inside. "What?"

"I'm worried sick about you all damn afternoon and I have to find out from Rick that you went gallivanting off with Mr. Dark and Mysterious. Then, to top it all off I hear your back and come outside to find you in said Mr.'s arms lip-locking!" Charlie was basically screeching as they entered into the main room. Because of the rain dinner had been relocated to the common room; meaning, as soon as they crossed the threshold all eyes were on them.

Kate scanned the crowd until she found the person she was looking for. Daryl was standing on the other side of the room, as soon as his blue eyes made contact with her he covertly slipped out down into the catacombs before everyone's gaze could find him. Kate grabbed Charlie by the arm and dragged her through the crowd until they reached her room at the very end of the hall. They crashed through the blue curtain before Kate bodily forced Charlie to sit down on the bed.

"Got a problem?" She snapped.

"Yeah! You and Dixon. Shouldn't be happening." Charlie glared at her best friend, who just quirked her lips into a mocking smile.

"Someone jealous?"

"Don't pull that bullshit Kate, we aren't in high school any more. I don't want to steal your boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend."

"Well then what the hell was that? Kate, we barely know these people. It's the goddamn end of the world. I know he got us out of a bit of a bind but he's not your knight in shining armor. You're engaged for Christ sakes!"

Kate threw the pillow from the top bunk at Charlie. "Shut up! The last time I saw Liam was almost two years ago! He's dead for all I know!" Kate let the tears that had been building behind her eyes come pouring out. "Besides, I don't even think Daryl means anything by it."

Charlie scoffed. "I always knew you were a bit blind Kate, but everyone sees the way he looks at you. Like a piece of meat, like he's a wild animal waiting to devour you. No pun intended."

"It's not like that. He would never do anything to me that I didn't want."

Charlie snatched Kate's wrists to stop her from pacing around in the small space. "It's just been you and me for so long Kate."

Kate reached up to cup Charlie's cheek. "I know Charlie. But these are good people. Do you trust me?" Kate's multicolored eyes found Charlie's hazels and held them seriously.

After a moment Charlie deflated some and nodded.

"And I trust them. Shouldn't that be enough for you?"

"It is! But you left today—" Charlie's voice cracked and Kate could see her eyes begin to shimmer in a way she had only seen a few times in the long years they'd been friends. Kate collapsed on the bunk next to Charlie, slinging an arm around her shoulder and pushing her cheek into Charlie's hair.

"It's you and me. I promise I'd never leave you. Nothing is going to happen to me. Nothing is going to happen to you."

Kate felt a hot tear fall onto her thigh. She rocked her friend softly for a few moments before Charlie broke away from Kate's grip. Kate let her hand fall away without a fight, knowing Charlie was finished.

"You and me."

Kate nodded and then smiled. "I guess now would be a bad time to tell you I'm going on that run to Wal-Mart in a few days…"

Charlie mock punched her shoulder and both of the young women broke into laughter. "At least you'll have your guard dog with you."

"Jack?" Kate giggled.

Charlie just shoved her over onto her side, Kate falling without resistance, both of the women continuing to laugh freely.