Chapter 14

Daryl never spent another night in the trailer he had shared with his brother. While there never had been an official moving in, he just never left except to get his clothes that now remained at Emma's. The only things he left at his old trailer were his weapons. The hunting knives, his guns and his crossbow didn't belong at in his new home, so they stayed in the closet in his old room. Other than that his life was centered solely around Emma.

They spent every free moment together. If they weren't at work, they were with each other. To Daryl's surprise business at the shop increased as word of his mechanical skills spread. The man whose Porsche he fixed came back for them to work on another car of his, he also told his friends who started to bring their cars to Mack's and just word of mouth had them both working five days a week.

Daryl was making enough money to continue to contribute to the rent to help his brother and also split costs with Emma, since he was essentially living there.

For another couple month Emma still worked at The Devil's Brew and Daryl spent those nights sitting at the bar talking to Sally. Emma was fine with him being there every time she worked. However, when his hours stayed full time at the garage, he encouraged her to quit as they didn't need the money that bad and Emma was happy to. The bar atmosphere was not for her.

Time pass end it was getting close to a year that they were together and everything was still going strong between them. Daryl had been secretly doing some extra jobs on the side to save money. He wasn't getting any younger and he wanted to ask Emma to marry him. He was saving for a ring. Something he never thought he would do, but it was already picked out and he was paying it off as much as he could. He was still a couple hundred short before he could bring it home.

One day after work, Merle approached him after he parked his pickup. "You been watching the TV at all little brother or spending all your time buried in your sweet young thang?"

Daryl took a deep breath. "Merle, I've told you for the last time not to talk about Emma that way. If you disrespect her again, you ain't never gonna see another dime of rent money from me again. Got it?"

"Didn't mean nuthin' by it, so don't get your panties all twisted. Something weird going on in Atlanta, TV is calling it a sickness, but some people are going crazy down there for no reason," Merle told Daryl.

"City people are crazy, you know that bro. You got anything else for me?" Daryl asked. He was anxious to see his Emma.

"Yeah, I need help with something. My buddy Mike, the one that moved to Memphis has a job he needs help with and he'll make it worth our while. Can I count on you?"

Daryl automatically wanted to say no as he knew Mike only meant trouble, but he hesitated. What did worth his while mean? "What's the job and how much is it worth?"

Merle smiled confident that Daryl was going to help him. "We just hafta drive a truck from Memphis to Charlotte. That's all."

"Fuck that's all. Gimme the rest."

"We just gotta do it Saturday night," Merle told him.

"Lemme get this straight. First, we need to drive five to six hours to Memphis. Then at night we drive a truck to Charlotte and we still gotta get back here. You can't tell me anything 'bout this is legal, bro. He's setting us up." Daryl knew he needed to say no right now, but for some unknown reason he didn't.

"It's an overnight job and we've done shit like this before. I'll drive the truck and you drive your pickup behind me, we need a way to get there and back." Merle had yet to tell him the part that would guarantee Daryl's help, but it was now time. "The job's worth a grand, bro. That five bills each for an overnight job. We both can use the money."

Daryl lit up a cigarette giving him a chance to think for a moment. The job was shit. He'd bet everything that if the truck got pulled over, they end up in jail with the key thrown away. His instincts told him to say no and walk away. He was about to, and then he thought about the money he would make. He would be able to pay off Emma's ring and still have a little left over.

"Fine. I'll do it, but it's the last job like this I ever do with you. Got that Merle?"

"Sure. You got that pretty little thang to take are of now, ol' Merle here is on his own."

"Fuck off," Daryl told him. They quickly hashed out when they were going to leave and Daryl headed home. He knew this was a bad idea, but he wanted to give the ring to Emma. This way it wouldn't take him another few weeks to save up what he still owed. It also hit him that it would the first time they would be separated overnight since they became a couple. Actually, he would be gone most of the weekend.

"Em, where are ya?" he called out once he got inside.

"Putting away laundry in the bedroom."

Daryl found her folding clothes in the bed. "Hey listen, I took an extra job with Merle this weekend, "he started to tell her.

"A little extra money always helps." Emma felt it was good that he spent time with his brother, even though he made her uncomfortable. Daryl and Merle had been together for a long time before she came around and sometimes she felt guilty that Daryl rarely saw him anymore.

"It does, but there's a catch. I gottta gone most of the weekend." Daryl watched Emma for her reaction. He saw her normally happy face, turn sad as his words sunk in. "I know, we'll be apart, but it's just this once. I told Merle this was the last time. Okay?"

Emma hated the thought of him being gone for the weekend, but she would never say no to him. She forced a smile back onto her face. "I think we can survive a weekend away from each other. I'll miss you, but it's okay Daryl."

"Thanks Em," he said with a sly smile. "Since we won't be together for a bit, maybe we should start making up for the time we'll be apart." Daryl took the laundry she had in her hand and tossed it back into the basket. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a deep kiss.

"I like how you think," she purred as she rubbed her hips against his. She could feel his growing erection in his pants. Clothes soon went flying and they didn't leave the bedroom at all that night. Their desire for each other never waned in the year they had been together.

.

.

Daryl and Merle were approaching Memphis and Daryl had started regretting this trip ten minutes after it started. He forgot how much Merle could annoy him. Now almost six hours later, he was ready to shove him out the door.

"Bro, are there more cops out than normal?" Merle asked. Something wasn't right. He could just feel it.

"Yeah, there is. I ain't got a good feeling 'bout this." Daryl kicked himself for the hundredth time for agreeing to do this run with Merle. They finally pulled up at the address that Mike and given them. Merle made a quick call with his cell phone and the large garage door opened. They got out of Daryl's pickup and went inside. Mike was there with a box truck.

"What the fuck is going on around here?" Merle asked Mike.

"Not sure. News is covering the extra cops out, but no one is saying why. Heard people are going crazy out there though. I'd suggest heading out of the city pretty damn fast," Mike advised.

Mike gave the directions to Merle, while Daryl just stood there knowing this was completely fucked up. He should just head home, and not go all the way to North Carolina. Mike handed the keys to Merle and peaked off five one hundred dollar bills. "You get the rest when you deliver the truck."

Merle handed the money to Daryl. He knew his brother would keep it safe. He popped in to the box truck and Daryl into his ancient pickup and they headed off to North Carolina.

It was almost six hours later and the sun had started to come up when Daryl realized this was officially nothing but a huge clusterfuck. He wished his radio worked so he could hear if anything was being said about this traffic nightmare they were in. By his estimate they were only half way to Charlotte, but nothing had moved in the last hour or so. The other side of the highway was busy, but it wasn't backed up like they were.

With Merle's truck in front of him, he couldn't see much that was ahead. All of a sudden there was a commotion that he couldn't see. Horns were honking and people started yelling and screaming. Next thing he knew Merle jumped out of his truck and ran back to Daryl's pickup. His face was white as a ghost.

He jumped in the passenger seat and slammed the door. "What are you doing?" asked a confused Daryl.

"Get us the fuck outta here, bro," he replied.

"What about the truck and the delivery?"

"I just saw a guy eat a woman's face off. Fuck the truck, we're done."

Daryl sat there shocked. That could not have happened. "Were you smokin' weed, man? You gotta be seeing things."

"You hear that yelling, fuckin' crazy shit is going on and we need to get out of here now!" Merle yelled.

This was so out of character for his brother that Daryl knew something bad was going on. He was glad he was in the passing lane when a woman covered in blood and looking not all human started walking between the cars towards them. Daryl didn't hesitate. He threw the truck into drive and drove across the grassy median getting them the hell away from the carnage that was going on.

It took Daryl almost four hours to get them back home. His heart was racing the entire time. Merle told him what he had been hearing over the radio and the bloodbath he witnessed. Daryl had never seen his brother shook up before. Nothing ever phased Merle, but this sure did.

Daryl had gotten off the highway as quickly as he could once they turned around and took back roads to avoid the chance of getting stuck again in the traffic. His only thought was to get back to Emma. When he pulled into Riverside it was practically on two wheels. They had seen signs of trouble all the way back.

He slammed the truck into park and ran for her trailer….their trailer. Her car was gone. He shouted for Emma, but there was no response. "Where the fuck are you?" he yelled to an empty room. Daryl didn't know what to do. He ran to the kitchen and in earlier his haste he had missed a note on the table. Emma was always leaving him notes, so he knew it was from her. He quickly scanned it and ran for his brother.

Daryl burst into his old trailer almost got himself shot in the process. "Whoa…whoa, bro it's me!" he shouted at Merle who held a shotgun up.

"Don't go bustin' in here like that unless you want your head blown off!" Merle bellowed. He started to shove clothes in a duffel as fast as he could.

"I need your help. Emma took a last minute extra shift at the diner. You gotta come with me to find her. Then we all need to get the fuck outta here." Daryl was in a panic. He had to get Emma now and the three of them needed to find a safe place to stay until this blew over.

Merle knew that Daryl rarely asked for his help with anything and while they weren't as close as they used to be, Merle was not going to let him down. "You got it, little brother, but we're taking our gear with us. I'm not gonna be caught without a gun, if those things come at us."

Daryl quickly agreed. He felt more comfortable with a gun after hearing what Merle told him. They loaded up all of their weapons into the pickup including Daryl's crossbow. Merle tossed a duffle full of clothes in the back and they sped off looking for Emma.

Forty-five minutes later there was no sign of Emma. Her car was at the diner, but it was empty and locked. The diner was completely abandoned. Daryl drove back to the trailer park twice and around town too. He even tried the bar she used to work at and there was no sign of her. All they saw was chaos happening all over the place. Daryl drove back to Riverside and the trailers one last time. He didn't know what to do.

Daryl rested his head on the steering wheel. His heart was breaking. He could not believe this was the same town he had left yesterday. He had no words to describe what he had Merle had witnessed. He needed Emma, but she was nowhere to be found. He opened the truck door to check the trailer another time. Merle followed right behind him armed with a gun.

Nothing had changed since the last time he had checked. "Pack a bag, bro and one for Emma. We'll keep looking for her," Merle told him.

Daryl turned to look at his older brother. Merle was shocked to see tears in his eyes. Only then did he get how important Emma was to Daryl. The last time he had seen Daryl cry was when he was eight years old and had been beaten by their father. That was almost thirty years ago. "We'll find her," Merle told him with a hand on his shoulder.

A nod was all that Daryl could manage. He threw clothes into packs for him and Emma and then he left her a note on the kitchen table telling her to wait for him. By the time he was ready to leave the trailer, which was no more than twenty minutes later, the trailer park had started to become unsafe. They quickly loaded Merle's motorcycle into the bed of the truck and took off once again looking for Emma.

Daryl and Merle never returned to Riverside Trailer Park and they never ever found Emma. After another hour and several very close calls with people that didn't look human, Daryl had to admit defeat. They drove out of town without a destination in mind. Merle for once in his life, kept his mouth shut as he saw the tears streaming down Daryl's face. It had taken him all this time to realize that his baby brother had fallen in love. Merle would have given anything at that moment to help Daryl, but it was like Emma had vanished into thin air. She was nowhere to be found, she was just…gone.

A/N - Thank you again to everyone reading and commenting on Suddenly...GONE. What do you think so far?