Chapter 21 is now up :) Many thanks for all of those reviews/favourites/alerts. I can't believe the amount of people who keep reading and reading! It's amazing!

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Chapter 21

I pulled Daryl's hand from my mouth. He moved forward and peeked through the keyhole. He raised his hand and showed all five fingers, which meant five Walkers. Where had they come from? We had checked the entire store and encountered none of them.

I gently nudged Daryl's shoulder and mouthed to him, 'what now?'

He pressed his index finger against his lip and raised his crossbow. Attack? At least I thought that's what he meant. The sooner the better, the storage door was completely solid. It blocked every ray of light except through the crack at the bottom and the transom window above the door.

Daryl encircled the doorknob.

"One, two, three," He whispered, he turned the knob and pulled the door to him. The door stayed firmly in its place. Daryl yanked it again. Nothing.

"Mother f,-" He banged his fist against the door.

Oh God, don't let this be happening."Are you kidding me?" I grabbed hold of the doorknob myself and pulled on it, but nothing happened. "Shit!"

Something hit the door with a loud bang. The Walkers had finally reached the storeroom. They were clawing and scratching at the door, trying their hardest to get inside.

"Great…just great," I stood up and groaned in frustration.

"Crowbar" Daryl said, still positioned on the floor.

Crowbar, of course. Great for prying a door open, very handy for an occasion such as this…If I had taken it with me instead of leaving it on the shelf next to the pregnancy test.

"…I left it on the shelf." I uttered.

"Of course you did," was Daryl's reply, "day just keeps getting better and better."

I ignored his comment. "At least they can't get in." I said and hoped I was right.

"And it seems we can't get out." Daryl got off the floor and walked around the room.

"Just the two of us with three boxes of condoms," I joked. "A regular afternoon."

Daryl didn't reply, but I knew he must have heard me.

I grabbed the duffel bag, opened it and searched for the spare flashlight we had taken with us.

Perhaps there was another way out or maybe we could find anything useful, like a spare key. I flicked the switch and got a strong beam of light out of it.

"The way I see it we have two options…we wait until they manage to break in or we find another way out," I said as I moved flashlight. "I prefer an easy way out."

"Fine by me." Daryl replied as he turned to check the other side of the room.

There must be a way out. God I hated being locked up. At least this storeroom wasn't ridiculously small. Something crunched under my boots. I looked at the ground and saw pieces of broken glass. This was probably what Daryl had knocked over earlier. I looked back ahead and shone the light around the room. A shadow caught my eye and I aimed the light beam at the corner of the room. I don't know what it was but as soon as I caught the thing in full light, I screamed from the top of my lungs. A strong arm appeared and wrapped itself around my upper body and pulled me back.

"It's just a doll." Daryl said.

"A doll?" I turned my head and Daryl moved my hand which held the flashlight and aimed it at the corner again. Sure enough there stood the plastic model of a human female, complete with body and face.

"Son of a…" I looked away from the plastic doll and stared at Daryl.

"Never thought you were such a pussy," He said with a slight chuckle in his voice.

"I bet that mannequin is what caused you to knock all of this crap over." I retorted, referring to the broken glass around our feet. Daryl huffed. He wasn't willing to admit anything. I couldn't help but crack a small smile as I stepped away from him.

"I guess our only option is to fight our way out." I sighed.

"Door is solid, can't break through it easily." Daryl nodded in the direction of the door, "We need something to unlock it."

I eyed the door and could hear the muffled gurgling Walker noises," I doubt they'll be able to get through."

I turned my back to the creepy mannequin in the corner," better continue looking for something useful."

I headed over to the other side of the room, hoping to find something useful there. I reached the other side of the room quickly. A large closet, a desk and a chair stood on this side. I could hear Daryl approaching me from behind.

"Already checked it, no keys," He said.

I aimed the flashlight at the closet, but Daryl shook his head. I wasn't convinced. I placed the flashlight on the desk and moved the chair.

"Hand me that flashlight?" I asked Daryl as I climbed on the chair. I stretched my arm and felt the weight of the object being placed in my hand.

"Should I ask?"

"People hide stuff in the craziest of places." I said to him as I glanced over the edge of the closet. So far the top surface appeared to be empty, "Maybe we'll find a key or…an axe."

I narrowed my eyes as the beam of light showed an object in the back. It didn't look like a key. It was too big to be a key. I placed the flashlight on the corner and reached out. It still too far for me to reach, I stood on the tip of my toes now. By the time I realized it, it was already too late. The chair wobbled and slid away from underneath me. A loud humph sounded as I landed on my stomach and something much softer than the hard wooden floorboards. My heart pounded rapidly, shocked from the unexpected tumble. I moved my head and my lips grazed past a rough path of stubbles followed by a pair of soft,-

I jolted my head up as a wave of warmth and embarrassment washed over me, my heart still pounding fast. My mind went blank. I was at a loss for words. What just happened? I knew very well what nearly happened. Why was he quiet? Oh God this is embarrassing, " Daryl,-"

Loud gunshots erupted from the other side of the door. Daryl placed his arms on my back and rolled me over. I couldn't see what was happening, but I knew that whoever was in the store must have taken care of the Walkers. Muffled voices called out.

"Madison? Daryl?"

The lock of the door clicked and light entered the storeroom. Daryl turned his head as I peered over his shoulder. The key had been in the lock, albeit on the other side of the door, all this time.

"Is this a bad time?" Glenn asked with his eyebrows raised. Never before had I seen Daryl Dixon move that quickly.

::::::…::::::

"We weren't even gone for two hours." I said to Maggie as we walked out of the drugstore, "You two just happened to be in the neighbourhood?"

A pregnant pause fell and Maggie bit her bottom lip as she glanced over at Glenn.

"We…we just happened to be in the neighbourhood." He said, basically repeating what I had said. I stopped and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Really?" I frowned and they both turned beet red. Normally Maggie was able to keep a straight face, but even she lost it. I grabbed the duffel bag with the three packs of condoms and practically hurled it at the two of them.

"I believe this is what you were looking for." I said to them. Glenn unzipped the bag and looked over at Daryl who had his back turned to all of us.

"He told you?" the Korean man asked. I didn't quite understand what he meant until he took one of the packages out of the bag. It became clear to me now why Daryl had been looking for the condoms as well. I guess we both got tricked into being errands boys to help Glenn and Maggie fulfil their needs and desires. Though I might have acted offended, I didn't feel that way. I was glad to be out of that storage room. I glanced over at Daryl who started the engine of his motorcycle. I could feel my cheeks heat up.

"Madison?"

"Yes?" I answered whoever had said my name.

"I'm so sorry…I shouldn't have asked you to do this." Apparently Maggie was the one who had addressed me, "I could only imagine what might have happened had we gone through here."

She seemed to feel incredibly guilty about this. I shook my head as a reply, "It's alright, Maggie."

I could hear Daryl approaching us on his motorcycle. My heartbeat accelerated. He halted behind me.

"Let's go, we haven't got all day." He said rather gruffly. I crawled onto the seat behind him and without saying goodbye we left Glenn and Maggie at their car.

We rode back to our current shelter. I couldn't help but feel very confused by what had taken place the last few hours, which was ridiculous because nothing had happened. I mentally told myself to get a grip and brush it off as easy as Daryl seemed to be doing. Nothing happened and if something had happened it was an accident.

Daryl and I hardly ever spoke during the rides. We talked nonverbally, pointing, nodding, and tapping one on the shoulder. Yet now there was something different, perhaps it was something only I was feeling, but it felt as if there was a certain tension hanging between us. I moved my arms and squeezed them tighter together. Daryl flinched, something he had not done in a while. In this awkward manner we quietly continued our way back to the group.

Soon Hershel's red car came into view and Daryl parked the motorcycle next to it. I still had my arms resting against his stomach, and he didn't move. I could hear him breathe if I listened carefully. For a moment we sat there silently. Neither of us moved.

"Daryl?"

Whatever had been going on was no longer. As soon as I had said his name the spell was broken and Daryl got off his bike. He didn't even look at me.

"Wait!" I said to him.

"What!?" He practically yelled.

Shocked by his outburst, I didn't immediately reply. Daryl took a few steps and waited, when I still didn't reply he came up close.

"What?" He said again, not yelling but still with a hint of what seemed to me to be frustration.

I narrowed my eyes," What is wrong with you?"

"Scuse me?"

"Ugh, never mind." I averted my gaze and walked past him.

"Where you think you're going?" He asked.

"Leaving…" I replied.

"…Good." He said.

I stopped and headed back to Daryl's motorcycle. He eyed me warily as I opened the saddlebags and stuck my hand in to take my crowbar out, which I did not forget to take with me when we had walked out the drugstore. My fingertips grazed the cold steel surface of the crowbar. I wrapped my hand around it and took it out of the bag. When I turned around Daryl was nowhere to be seen.

I felt a sudden urge to kick his motorcycle. But I didn't. His reaction irritated me, I didn't understand it. What was worse was that I couldn't understand why I was so upset about it.

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