Chapter 21

I woke with a fright, I looked around. This isn't where I went to sleep, I was in a sleeping bag, it was too tight. I found the zipper on the side and undid it. I rolled out of the bag and off the cot.

"Shit!"

"What?" I looked up Daryl lay there starring down at me.

"Ummm Daryl can I ask you something?" he looked at me and crossed his arm on the bed and put his chin on his arms and nodded.

"Yer Em what do you wanna to know?" a smile playing on his lips, I think he knew what I was going to ask.

"How did I get here? Last I remember I fell asleep in my bed." He sat up, his chest was bare.

"Well you had a night mare last night or some shit like that. You just started screaming in the middle or the night, we all came running, you were still asleep, I picked you up brought you over here. You stopped. Think I may have that effect on you." I laughed. He picked up the poncho and handed it to me, I looked down all I was wearing was a pair of his jeans and my bra.

"May I ask about this?" he smile and grabbed one of his shirts from his bag.

"Ummm that seems hard to explain. How bout I say I put them in the wash." I looked at him, he stood up, he was wearing just his boxers, and he grabbed a pair of pants and threw them on.

"Hmmm well can you turn around so I can get dressed, and throw me my clothes?" He threw my clothes to me and sat on the bed watching me. I grabbed my shirt put it on and started to do up my buttons. We heard a car horn Daryl got up and looked out; while he wasn't looking I changed my pants. He turned around just as I was doing up my buttons, he frowned.

"Rick, Glen and Hershel are back we should get up to the house." He grabbed his vest and put it on. He sat on the bed and started to put his shoes on.

"Why is it you rush out of the door, once I'm awake." He stopped and looked at me.

"Everyone is up at the house. If you want people to talk I'm happy to stay here." I stopped him.

"Well lets go." I got up and pushed my shoes on and walked out the door with Daryl following me. We got up to the house and walked in, everyone was talk about something. Someone. Carol looked at Daryl and nodded at him. What does she want I started to go to sit next to Caitlin but Daryl grabbed my arm and kept me beside him.

"Stay with me." He whispered in my ear, I looked at him. He turned Andrea was gawking at us. After everyone had finished in the house Daryl rushed out of the house pulling me with him, Andrea jumped up and followed us out. She called out to me.

"Hey Emily, Can I talk to Daryl for a sec?" I nodded and walked off I stood near a tree and listened. She leaned in and grabbed his arm.

"So Daryl I was thinking that you and I can meet up tonight." He stepped back from her.

"No, I'd rather not."

"But that night was fun, we could do so much more, just slip past your keeper." What they did it. "That night was fun admit it, then we had to come to this farm, no privacy here."

"Just leave me alone." He turned and walked towards me. Andrea followed him. He came up to me. "Em lets go hunting."

"I need to go get my knife it's at my tent." He saw Andrea coming towards him and looked at me.

"I'll get it got get some water from the house meet me at the RV in five minutes." He walked off. Andrea stopped near me and turned to me.

"Gosh what's wrong with him?" she asked me.

"I don't know what were you talking about?" she looked at me Daryl was in my tent.

"Well, when you, Glen and T-Dog came to the farm Daryl and I went for a walk in the forest. Long story short, he is great in bed." I turned to her shocked. "He is just playing hard to get."

"Sure probably."

Must be good for you to have him as a friend." I looked at her.

"What makes you think me and him are just friends?" she smiled then walked towards the house. I followed her. "I got to get some water."

"Okay." She paused. "He wouldn't be more than friends with you cause he got someone like me. Just look at you. And look at me." I smiled. Bitch! I walked into the house grabbed water and walked to where Daryl was waiting. He had his crossbow and my backpack. I startled him by rubbing my hand up his back.

"I said no Andrea-" he stopped when he saw me. "Emily. You ready?" I grabbed my backpack putting the water in there and walked towards the forest without a word. "Emily, slow down." I stopped and turned around, he stopped almost running into me.

"So you're great in bed?" he looked at me confused. "Oh Andrea told me." He got angry and threw his crossbow to the ground.

"Nothing happened." I turned to walk away from him. He grabbed my arm. "Can we just talk about this?" I turned to him.

"So what I'm just someone you just use, like her." A tear escaped and ran down my face. He looked into my eyes.

"She wanted to sleep with me but I stopped her. I couldn't I just wanted to get through the night, I wanted to get to the farm to you. I stopped her." He wiped the tear from my eye.

"Well, how would she know if your great in bed?" he looked back at the direction of the house.

"She lied. How bout you and me just go, get our stuff and take off." I shook my head.

"I can't what bout Caitlin, Holly, Jordan I can't leave them, they are the closest thing I have to family." He looked at me.

"What if we got a boat and went to Australia." I looked at him and shook my head.

"Not without Caitlin, Holly and Jordan they have family." He looked into my eyes grabbed my hands, he bent his head down and kissed me. I smiled he pulled away. "Do you think I'm ugly?" he shook his head.

"No, your amazing." I smiled. "Why?" I looked at him.

"Andrea said that you would never want me cause she is better looking than me." He laughed and picked his crossbow up. And started walking forward.

"That's a load of shit." I smiled and followed after him.

We were following a trail of a deer when I got pushed to the ground by a walker, I didn't see it and Daryl was ahead. He didn't see me go down. I was trying to grab my knife from my pocket when another walker came and tried to attack me to. I screamed out to Daryl. I heard him calling out to me but he could find me. I finally got out my knife and stabbed one of the walkers in the head, I pushed it off me and into the other walker. My knife was stuck in its head. I looked around I climbed up a tree and waited I looked ahead. A herd was near by, I saw Daryl he was trying to find me. He found the walker at the bottom of my tree. He looked around and I called out to him.
"Daryl. Quick climb the tree." He looked at me confused; I climbed down low and offered him my hand. He grabbed it and I pulled him up. We climbed up further and I showed him the herd that he and I almost encountered. We waited in the tree for them to pass.

"Damn!" I looked to where he was looking. The deer we were tracking was on the ground ripped open and eaten. "Walkers got it."

"We should head back." He looked at me and started to climb down; when we got to the lowest branch, he stopped.

"Hold my crossbow. Don't shot me with it." I laughed and grabbed the crossbow. It was heavy, a balanced it as he jumped to the ground. He turned to me. "Pass me the crossbow." I did he put it on the ground and turned back to me, he had his hands out.

"I don't need you to catch me." He looked at me. "Move over." He did and smiled. I sat on the branch and swung back holding onto the branch with my legs I was hanging upside down. I grabbed the branch and swung my legs out and let go, I landed on my two feet. He smiled and clapped.

"Graceful." I did an exaggerated bow, and turned to him. "Where is your knife?" I looked at the walker that I had stabbed; he turned and saw the knife stick out of its head. He walked over and grabbed it; he cleaned it off on the grass then gave it back to me. He headed back towards the house I followed him. I slowed down and looked at him. I don't know how but I hadn't really notice him before. He is fit, strong, attractive and smart, mostly. He is shy around feeling but knows how to get you to talk to him. He notice I had slowed down and stopped turned and looked at me.

"What's wrong?" I smiled.

"Nothing just admiring the view." He smiled put his crossbow on his back and walked up to me. I stepped forward and kissed him. I put my hands in his hair and deepened the kiss. He pulled away.

"Emily, maybe wait till we get back, I don't really wanna do this in the forest." "Why not?" I pouted. He grabbed my hands that held onto his hair and put them but my side.

"People are telling me things. Lori told me something." Fuck. "Are you? You said before that you weren't." I couldn't tell him yet I wanted to but I couldn't.

"I'm not." He looked me in the eyes, nodded, and turned around kept walking. We made it to the camp just as everyone started to get food ready for dinner. I went to my tent and cleaned up. God this was a messed up day.