"He looks fresh," Daryl said, nodding toward the walker I'd just put down. It had a bite on its arm that was still oozing . This man must have been chased into the house by the herd, locked the door, and then been surprised by the walker inside in the country dress, and crawled up here to the bathroom to turn. Staring down at the walker, I saw it was wearing hospital scrubs. Not quite believing what I was thinking, I kneeled down and pushed the walker on to its back.

Daryl snorted. "Got what he deserved."

I found myself staring into the face of what was once Dr. Carson. I was horrified. Had my actions condemned this man to death? His actions were horrible, but did he deserve to die? Daryl must have seen the look on my face.

"Del, this ain't your fault. He did this to himself. What he did to you, what he did to Beth – that ain't right and he knew it."

"I know. But I still feel wrong," I muttered, casting my gaze out the bedroom window and away from Dr. Carson's corpse.

Daryl shrugged. "Help me move him – he's stinkin' up my room."

We moved both corpses outside of the house. We didn't bother burning them; we wouldn't be here long.

Daryl then stumped up the stairs to the master bedroom and disappeared. I followed him up, hesitating at the door to the master bedroom. I could hear his shoes hit the floor as he kicked them off. I didn't want to risk an awkward encounter with a half undressed Daryl, so I just called into the room, standing just outside the corner of the door.

"So, I guess we're staying here for the night, then continuing on in the morning?"

I heard a grunt. He had probably jerked his head in the affirmative. I wonder if he realized I couldn't see him?

"D'you have a destination in mind?"

I heard his feet hit the floor, and suddenly he was standing at the door. He was wearing a pair of plaid patterned cotton boxer shorts and nothing else. I could feel warmth rushing to my cheeks. I was really hoping that wasn't noticeable in the nearly dark hallway. His arms were folded over his chest, accenting his broad shoulders. His expression was adorable. His lips were pursed, and one eye was closed while the other one examined me.

"Why? You got someplace you gotta be?"

"Uh . . . no. I, uh, just thought-it's nice to know where we're going?"

There wasn't really a good reason that I needed to know anything I was asking. Daryl knew I didn't know the area, while he did. The old way of life was still ingrained in me – needing to know where we were going and when, so that I could decide which spin class to go to. His face relaxed as a smile spread across his lips. Motherfucker! He knew he was making me uncomfortable.

"There's a town a few hours from here. I got a place in mind."

"Great – first light we leave?"

"First light."

I turned to go to one of the smaller bedrooms down the hall. Daryl hadn't moved from the door frame.

"You gonna sleep in one of them other rooms?"

I swallowed hard.

"I was going to?" My voice went higher at the end of the sentence, turning my statement into a question.

Now Daryl seemed embarrassed.

"There's just two of us, and it's gonna be a long day tomorrow. Ain't no sense in each of us just sleepin' four hours while the other keeps watch. Better we sleep in the same room so if somethin' comes at us we're together."

Daryl could see my hesitation.

"Look, I ain't gonna touch you, if that's what you're worried about. I'll take the floor if 'ya want."

"No, no. You're completely right. We can definitely share it. The bed is huge, and besides, we already had our seven minutes in heaven right?"

Daryl looked confused.

"Uh, seven minutes in heaven? Remember, when you were a kid and you went to your first boy-girl parties, and you'd spin a bottle to choose someone to be in a closet with for seven minutes to do whatever?"

Great – now Daryl looked uncomfortable. I followed up quickly with, "But instead of whatever, you and the other person just stood on opposite sides of the closet, terrified?"

Daryl just nodded slowly, still eyeing me with confusion. I think we had slightly different childhood experiences.

"Uh, nevermind."

He turned and got into the bed on the side closest to the door.

"Close that door on yer way in."

Daryl's eyes were already shut before I'd even set foot in the room. The bed was huge – there was no reason this had to be awkward. I could see his clothing laying in a pile beside the bed. Would it be more weird or less weird if I just slept completely clothed? God dammit. I crossed to the other side of the room, settling for a compromise of kicking off my boots, wriggling out of my jeans and quickly swinging my legs into the bed and under the simple sheet, but leaving my shirt on. Sleep – like that was going to be easy.

I felt like I was just dozing the whole night. Closing my eyes, opening them to see an almost completely darkened sky. Closing my eyes again, and opening them again to look out at the black night sky. Every time I opened my eyes, it seemed as if we were getting no closer to dawn.

I felt a breath on my neck, and heavy, calloused hand slip around my waist. The hand slipped up into my shirt and over my breasts as I felt his body draw closer to mine. I pressed myself against him, and raised my hand to run it through his shaggy dark brown hair. The smell of pine was completely flooding my senses.

"Tell me this is what you want."

"Mmm, yes Daryl."

"Tell me what you want."

Then, I was facing him. Our lips crashed together like over-zealous teenagers. I could feel one of his hands gripping the back of my head, the other pressing the small of back closer to his body. My arms were wrapped around him, nails digging into his well-defined back muscles. He was fierce – aggressive, both with his body movements and his mouth. His tongue drove itself deep into my mouth, exploring, but then pulling away, so that I might return the favour. My eyes flicked open in surprise as I felt his teeth sink into my bottom lip startlingly hard. His sparkling blue eyes swam in my mind. I'd thought they were striking before, but maybe the pure light of the early morning sun was making them even more mesmerising than before. I felt him shift his full weight on top of me, pinning my arms above my head as he continued to kiss me fervently. I felt his lips curl up into a wicked smile, and his eyes glinted mischievously. He shifted so that he could keep holding both my hands above my head with only one of his. Now free, the fingertips of his other hand traced their way down my arm and along my ribs. Soon they found my stomach, making playful circles around my belly button, drawing his finger tips lower with each pass. His lips left mine and he started to move down my neck. With lingering, wet, kisses he made his way to my breasts. He greedily filled his mouth with my hard nipple, and the hand that had been pinning my hands above my head appeared on my other breast, massaging it, pinching the nipple gently between where his middle and pointer finger joined. His other hand that had been skirting my belly button had now made its way below my panty-line and was gently tracing where my leg met my hip. I couldn't help it, but a moan of anticipation escaped my lips.

"I think you like that." Daryl moved his head up to my ear, making the inside moist of with his breath. "Tell me what you want."

"I want you."

As the words left my mouth, I heard a rasping breath. A walker stood in the door frame. I tried to scream, but I found I couldn't. I tried to move, but I was paralysed. Suddenly, the walker was standing above us on the bed and I could see his face clearly. It was my ex-boyfriend. He descended on Daryl, tearing out a chunk of his neck, and tossing him aside like a rag doll. I saw Daryl's body slump on the floor, motionless.

"Eric, no, no, no . . ."

It didn't stop him – was this revenge? Did he remember we were engaged? I felt his hand close on my shoulder, and he descended on me.

"Del!"

I sat bolt upright, gasping, looking around wildly. It was dawn. I could feel Daryl's hand on my shoulder. Instinctively, I brought my hand to my cheek and felt the dampness of tears. My eyes found Daryl, fully clothed, and neck fully intact. He looked concerned.

"Uh, you okay? I went to take a piss, an' I came back and you were thrashin' around and moaning."

Oh God, what kind of moaning? Like, earlier in the dream moaning, or my un-dead fiancé is taking a pound of flesh moaning? Maybe the two moans were undistinguishable. Maybe I'd only been vocal towards the end.

"Yeah, just a bad dream. I dreamt I would never see those pumps I found last night again."

"If you think I'm lettin' you pack those things on my bike, you don't know me at all."

"I think you'd look nice in heels, Daryl."

Daryl rolled his eyes, but I could see a small smile on his lips.

"Get your ass moving, clown. We're gonna lose a life here."

I saw his eyes flick to my lips. Maybe he had a similar dream?

"Is your lip bleeding? Damn you had a rough night."

"They're probably just dry . . ." How vocal was I? What did he hear, and what was he thinking I was dreaming about?

There wasn't much to pack up, and after a simple breakfast of peaches from the church and a sleeve of crackers we'd found in the house, we were back on the road.

Was it horrible and predictable to psych you guys out with a dream sequence? Del and Daryl will get together . . . eventually, but as I warned when I started this story it's gonna be a slow burn. Let me know in the comments what you thought about this chapter. I love hearing from you. Your wonderful words keep me writing!