So close to winter break...really I just want to graduate. Gonna be so nice to have a stress free summer, which is still over six months away. I should be studying, cause aparently that test I thought I missed is actually tomorrow and I feel well enough to go to school - but I think I've developed a problem. I can't stop writing and I blame NaNoWriMo I figured out how to write consistently and now it's taken over my life…

I've added a few songs to the playlist, mostly The Gospel Whiskey Runners and a little more of LAYLA and Gregory Alan Isakov. Link's on my page.

Anyways thanks to everyone who has followed or favorited this story. Special thanks to Inkandtrees, redangel2463, las131984, sillygabby, my-forgotten-rose, Kyokkou, and wickedclownsmile for the reviews!

Chapter 21 - Cake

She kept telling herself she was going to make that run to find clothing - something nice and warm, but weeks later it still hadn't happened. What she had packed for Atlanta four months ago had consisted of mostly shorts, t-shirts, and tank tops. She had exactly one pair of blue jeans, and one oversized, maroon, knit sweater she used to use for pajamas, and that was the extent of her winter wardrobe.

It wasn't even procrastination, she'd never liked to put things off before, it was just everything kept piling up. Sophia got lost, Daryl kept getting hurt, Shane, and now this mess...she hadn't spoken to any of the Greene's since the barn that afternoon.

The air had that crispness to it, the one she used to always relish, it was how she knew fall was coming. She admitted she fell into the white girl stereotype real hard once the leaves started changing colors. Big comfy sweaters and patterned leggings, and damn did she love her pumpkin spice lattes. She still had the big comfy sweater, but pumpkin spice lattes were scarce. Suppressing a shiver she folded her hands into her sleeves and added another flower to her pile.

Sophia's funeral would be tomorrow. Jada had wanted to bring her flowers. So they'd hiked up to one of the back fields, sat down in the damp, yellow switchgrass, and picked dying wildflowers in the hazy evening light. The petals were wilted and wrinkled, and the stems were dry and yellowing - but she figured the sentiment was the same.

Dinner would be soon. She wasn't feeling all that hungry, but Jada needed to eat. Renee glanced at her little girl, she was shivering. Bracing herself for the chill she tugged her sweater over her head, leaving her in nothing but a tanktop and jeans, and pulled it down over Jada. It wasn't even dark yet and it was already this cold...their sleeping bags weren't the thickest, and Jada didn't have any warm clothes. It would be weird asking to sleep in the house tonight, but Dale would be willing to take her in.

Everyone else had been a bit more prepared for the world to end. They'd been home when the news reports started, could pack things. She and Jada were just kinda winging it.

"C'mon, grab your flowers. Let's head back." She offered Jada the hand that wasn't full of flowers, and Jada did the same, letting Renee pull her to her feet. The sweater was far too big on her, hanging past her knees.

"What's for dinner?" Jada asked.

"Take a guess," Renee said, as they walked through the tall grass back to the little dirt road.

"Is it eggs?"

Renee nodded, "Yup."

"I don't think I like eggs anymore…" Jada's nose wrinkled. They'd had them at least once a day for a month now.

"Yeah, me neither."

The clouds had slowly creeped in on the horizon a few hours ago, and now the sky was an odd grey-purple, reflecting the light of a sun she couldn't see. It looked like it could rain, she really hoped it didn't - it was already cold enough.

It had been a horribly hot summer, and now the winter was promising to be just as extreme (or as extreme as it got in Georgia). She did her best to hold back a heavy sigh, didn't need to be worrying Jada...what if Hershel decided to kick them out? It was Glenn or the walkers, she'd choose Glenn again in a heartbeat, but that didn't mean she wasn't worried about the thought of the road.

A month of fresh food, farm fields, and mostly uninfested woods had left her with a wonderful sense of calm. For a while she'd forgotten what it was like out there - and she really didn't want to have to remember.

When she was fourteen she'd gone to this intensive wilderness camp, her brother had been the one who wanted to do it, but their parents were going on an anniversary cruise, so she got sent along too. She'd hated every miserable moment of that damn camp, from shitting in a ditch to gutting fish - she'd gotten out of that by bribing her brother with the candy bars she'd smuggled in.

She'd gone home two weeks later and vowed she would never, ever do something like that again. Seven years later, intensive wilderness camp sounded just fine, it was an RV road trip that worried her - working toilet or not. The wilderness didn't have dead people in it, or at least not as many, and there was a bit more room out there too. The RV was cramped as hell.

It was already getting dark, and it was eerily quiet - it was too cold for crickets to sing, she'd gotten used to having them as a near constant background every night. The house came into view around the bend, and the warm flickering light of the group's campfire could be seen. Her brow furrowed, that wasn't the only fire she could see. Down the hill another burned low, under the chimney of a long gone house.

It wasn't nearly big enough for it to be for the walkers' pyre. She squinted her eyes, but in the dusky light she could hardly see the driveway ten feet ahead, forget whatever was a good three hundred yards off. The group would have noticed too, if it was a problem it would have been taken care of. Maybe someone just passing by?

The group was already settled around the fire when she and Jada got there, picking over eggs, as usual. Something was missing, she picked up on the much, but she couldn't figure it out at first. Jada sat on the ground and she was handed a plate, eyes kept flicking up at Renee...she didn't get it. Whatever, it didn't matter.

"Hey, Jada sweetie, why don't you give me your flowers? I'll go put them in the RV." Jada nodded, offering up the droopy bouquet as she dutifully chewed her eggs. Renee didn't feel like eating quite yet, and quickly cooling eggs just didn't sound appetizing. So she took her time pruning back the stems on flowers long past saving, and haphazardly placing them in a mason jar full of water.

She glanced out the window at the others, something was still missing. She knew Carol had gone to bed early, but...

"Where's Daryl?" She asked, heading back outside, "Did he already go up into th- where the hell's his tent?"

The others looked at each other awkwardly, Rick was the one to speak up, "He uh, he moved it." He didn't need to say where, Renee knew exactly where Daryl had gone. Muttering curses at him, she gave up on dinner completely and stalked off down the road. She'd told herself she'd give him his space, if he wanted to work things out on his own that was one thing, but this was ridiculous.

She'd forgotten to get her sweater back from Jada, and she could feel the cold air all too clearly through the thin tank top she had on. It wasn't a long walk, and if she was lucky she'd have him back down at camp in a few minutes. They didn't even have to move his things tonight, he could stay with them in the RV, or in her tent for all she cared - they weren't going to be using it tonight anyways.

"What the hell are you doing?" She called as he came into sight. He didn't respond, and she rolled her eyes. He was sitting by the fire, not looking at her even though she knew damn well he knew she was coming. His hair had been getting longer, little cow licks curling up in front of his ears. Slowly it was changing color too, in the height of summer it had almost been blonde, now it was more of a sandy brown. The firelight looked nice on him, made his cheekbones seem even sharper than they were, his eyes - No! She was mad at him! "I asked you what you were doing?" She snapped, standing over the fire.

"I said eating," he growled back, ripping off another chunk of what looked like squirrel.

"Well obviously you didn't say it loud enough." She crossed her arms, and watched him, waiting for a response. She didn't think she'd get one, and she was right. Doing her best to take a breath and relax, she softened her voice, "Daryl, come back to camp."

"I'm fine." He still wouldn't look up at her.

"I didn't ask if you were fine, I asked you to come back." He decided not to respond again. She shook her head, doing her best not to shiver as she sat down by the fire. Finally he looked at her, a guarded look in his pale blue eyes. Why the hell was he being so cagey all of a sudden? He'd always been moody, but now he was being downright unreasonable. This was her. He didn't have to push her away, he had to have known that by now. "Daryl, if you want to talk about today -"

"Nothing to talk about." His gaze drifted back to the fire, and she bit back a frustrated sigh.

"Really? So that's why you hid yourself away up here? Cause you've got absolutely nothing to talk about?" She was doing her best to be patient, but her best wasn't really working today.

"Don't matter.'"

"Yes it does!" She was starting to get exasperated, "Daryl, please. Please come back."

"Why the hell you getting so pushy all the sudden," he muttered.

He was like a child. A giant, thirty year old child. Jada was easier to deal with than him. "Daryl I'm being pushy because you're my -" Her what? What the hell were they? They'd kind of avoided talking about it the past few weeks, just enjoyed each others company, "Because I care about you okay? I don't want you sitting up here alone, in the cold, stewing in your own problems."

"I'm fine on my own."

"But you don't have to be! I'm supposed to help you, that's what I'm here for!" He wouldn't respond. It was like trying to talk to a stone wall, "You know what?" She stood, "Fuck this."

He wanted to act like a kid, he could act like a kid. She could be childish too.

"Thank you so much for watching her," Renee said to Dale, as she ducked into her tent and grabbed Jada's sleeping bag, Franklin, and the book they'd been reading - it was Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone, she'd read it plenty of times before, Dale could do the honors tonight. He struggled as she handed the awkward load over to him, the sleeping bag hadn't been rolled.

"You still haven't told me what you're doing," Dale said, mildly exasperated. Renee had come back down from Daryl's tent looking just as pissed as they'd expected her to. Still she'd been almost as cagey with Dale as Daryl had been with her as she helped him get Jada's stuff.

She ducked back in the tent and grabbed her own sleeping bag, "Making a point."

The walk back up to Daryl's camp went quickly, and with the sleeping bag wrapped around her shoulders it wasn't nearly so cold. He was standing when she got back, hanging the extra squirrels he'd caught off the old chimney. She hadn't noticed the leather vest when she'd been up here before, angel wings arced down his back. She shook her head - did he own anything with sleeves?

He seemed surprised when he saw her. She didn't acknowledge that, didn't acknowledge him. Just threw her sleeping bag down about twenty feet from his tent, and laid down. Her sleeping bag wasn't all that thick, and neither was her shirt, but he was going to make stupid decisions she was going to make stupid decisions right along with him. Wrapping her arms around herself, she kept her back to the fire, and waited.

"Ain't gonna work, Red." She heard him say, "Ain't about you." She didn't respond, just wiggled farther down into her bag so she could forget the chilly air on her neck. See how he liked being ignored. She heard him sigh, and his footsteps faded as his tent zipped up behind him. She shouldn't have expected much more. No way in hell she was leaving now though.

She was shivering. The only noise was the crackle of a dying fire too far off to do her any good. This had probably been a bad idea. It was like when she was little and went on hunger strikes because her parents wouldn't let her do this or that, eventually she was going to be hungry, but that would mean admitting defeat.

She had an easier time being hungry than cold, but she was going to stick with this one. She couldn't let him sit up here on his own. What if something happened? What if walkers came? She knew he was more than capable of taking care of himself, but his lung hadn't fully healed yet - he was still supposed to be on that ventilator when he slept. She shook her head, let him be stubborn, she could be stubborn right back.

The tent unzipped. Quiet footsteps were coming towards her. She didn't look up, but she could feel his eyes on her. He took a deep breath, and cool air kissed her skin as he worked the zipper free on her sleeping bag. He was muttering something to himself under his breath, she couldn't make out what. His hands felt warm on her bare shoulders as slid one arm under her back, and another under the crook of her knees.

She was tempted to just pretend she'd fallen asleep. Let him carry her to his tent, where she knew he had several thick blankets, and a cot that was a hell of a lot more comfortable than the ground. She wasn't going to do that though.

He'd barely gotten her an inch off the ground when her eyes snapped open, and she smacked his arm. He dropped her, but he didn't stand back up, he stayed kneeled next to her. She sat up so she could meet his eyes before she glared at him, "As long as you're staying here, I'm staying here."

He looked down, then back up at her, he was close enough to kiss. She wasn't going to do that right now, but the thought crossed her mind, "You can't stay out here all night, Sunshine."

"Watch me." She growled, and slid back into the bag, zipping it up - or trying to, it caught a few times as she yanked on it, before finally it went all the way up. Rolling over on the bumpy ground, she set herself to ignoring him until he either agreed to go back to camp, or went back to his tent alone.

His footsteps faded away.

Fifteen minutes later the first raindrop fell. It was going to be a long night.

It had started raining. Daryl rolled over in his cot again, he couldn't get comfortable. The rain wasn't all that heavy yet, but the occasional drop had quickly grown into a steady fall. That girl was going to get herself sick, wouldn't have been a problem if they weren't liable to get themselves kicked off the farm. She didn't need to be hacking a lung out on the road though.

He sat up quickly, running a hand through his hair. He wasn't going to go back to camp. Not now. He didn't need to deal with Dale's speeches on morality, or Rick and Lori's marriage problems, or that kid of their's sulking around, or that god damned look on Carol's face when she thought about the little girl he hadn't found. He'd have to deal with it enough when they were back on the road again, might as well get some damn peace while he could.

A gust of wind strained against the tent, and the rain started coming down harder. He was going to have to go get her. Girl was gonna die of pneumonia if she didn't put her head on straight.

The fire had gone out, and between the rain and the clouds over the moon, he couldn't see a damn thing. He knew where she was though. Not even bothering to unzip the bag, he grabbed her under the arms, pulled her out, and lifted her off her feet.

"Daryl!" She yelled, struggling to get down. He wouldn't let go. If she wanted to be stubborn she could do it on a different night. She was already soaked through, sleeping bag wasn't all that waterproof. "Daryl put me down!"

"You're gonna get sick," he said, as he set her down in the tent, and zipped it up. It was too dark to actually see, she was just a darker spot on rain streaked canvas. She didn't say anything, but he could feel her glaring at him. He stepped closer, a hand going up to her arm, "You're fucking freezing, Red." He shook his head, and crouched down next to his bag, feeling around for a clean shirt. "Put that on, can't stay in those wet clothes."

"No."

"Renee, put on the damn shirt," he growled, holding it out to her. She took it. Her clothes peeled away from her skin, and dropped to the floor with a wet thud. Cloth rustled, and he reached out to touch her again. Her skin was still cold and clammy, but the dry shirt felt warm against her. It was one of his flannels, he was pretty sure, sleeveless. Would've gone down to mid thigh on her, he didn't really have any pants for her...he didn't think she'd want his boxers, been meaning to throw them in with the laundry yesterday, but things got busy. He only had one pair left for tomorrow, and he'd been kind of hoping to have underwear.

"C'mon," He steered her towards the cot. She wasn't talking to him still, but he was pretty sure she'd given up on her idea of sleeping in the great outdoors in forty degree weather. It hadn't gotten this cold this early in years, must've been some kind of bad front going on - probably would pass in a few days, hard to tell without the news. "You need to lay down."

She didn't protest, just slid in between the blankets. He didn't think she was in a mood for him to be sleeping with her. He had a leather coat in the bottom of his bag, he could pull that out use it as a blanket.

She must have noticed how he was standing awkwardly about. "You can lay down you know, it's your bed."

He didn't have to think hard about that choice. There wasn't a lot of room, and she was still hellishly cold, but she'd already warmed up a good deal. Wrapping an arm around her waist, her bare legs intertwined with his, he let his chin rest on her head and closed his eyes.

Like every single childhood hunger strike, she'd given up, and eaten the cake. She ate it begrudgingly, and glared the whole time, but she ate anyways. The rain had stopped, and now the pre-dawn light casted drop shaped shadows all over the tent. She didn't want to get up, Daryl was warm against her, and the proximity of his lips to her neck was making her breath come a little shorter.

At some point in the night, she must have wriggled up higher onto the pillow, his head had been over hers when she fell asleep. Now his breath tickled her throat, and he groaned when she shifted, dragging his nose down to the base of her neck as he stretched, and pulled her tighter to his chest.

She needed to leave. People would be getting up soon, she'd need to get Jada awake, and dressed, and fed. Reluctantly pulling herself from his arms she stood, he grumbled, watching her crawl over him and out of bed.

"It's early." He rolled over to face her as she looked at her discarded clothes.

"Yup." She'd eaten the cake, but she was damn pissed about it. "You coming back to camp?"

"No," the sleepy amiability in his voice hardened a bit. Yeah she wasn't the only one who was still a bit miffed. The morning air was cold on her bare legs and arms, though she had to admit Daryl's shirt was comfortable. Pretty warm to for what it covered. She crouched down, her own clothes weren't just wet still - they were absolutely freezing. She'd honestly be better off running back to her tent in Daryl's shirt, it was long enough not to show anything, and no one would be awake yet.

Was she actually going to do that? She poked at her dripping jeans, and decided that yes, yes she was. With a sigh she pulled on her damp boots, and stood back up.

Daryl's brow furrowed, "You goin' out like that? It's cold."

"My clothes are still wet. They're colder." She said, lacing her shoes up. "Just gonna run down to my tent, I doubt anyone's up yet."

"Suit yourself," he shook his head. She was pretty sure he was trying not to smile at her. Yeah she knew she was being dumb again. Still there wasn't a damn thing that would make her put on those sopping jeans.

It was even colder outside where the air was damp and the storm had left lingering breezes. The sky was a dull morning grey, hints of gold peering over the tree tops as the sun began to rise. The wind tossed at her hair, red locks flicking this way and that. She was really going to have to run wasn't she?

With a sigh, she took off down the drive. The faster she got there, the faster she could put on pants - well shorts, but it was better than nothing. Maybe she'd ask Dale to borrow a blanket, and just not get up all day. Her sleeping bag had been left outside Daryl's tent, she'd need to hang it to dry later if she wanted to sleep tonight.

She ran into camp, thinking it would be empty. And she was almost right, almost. She froze meeting Glenn's eyes, she felt like a deer in the headlights as they stared at each other. His gaze flicking between Daryl's shirt and her obvious lack of pants. Her eyes had gone wide, brows raised as she tried to figure out how to react. He had a similar expression, lips twitching as he desperately tried not to laugh.

"You have a good night?" He barely managed to get the words out as he shoved down giggles. Lips turning into an over exaggerated frown as he fought off a smile.

She blinked rapidly, mouth gaping open as she tried to find words. "It was fine."

The silence that followed was too much for him. He started absolutely howling with laughter, "Oh my god!"

"Shhhh!" She hushed him, afraid someone else would wake up, "Please, just be quiet." She begged.

"You guys did it didn't you?" He grinned.

"No! No we didn't I just," He raised a brow, "We just - you know what? Fuck you!" She glared, though she was starting to laugh too as she stormed back towards her tent. She needed some real clothes.

The service had been simple. Hershel had come out in his suit and read from his bible over three graves. Everyone else gathered around in tattered clothes, and watched the spots where they'd lain three bodies only hours earlier. Sophia was on the far left, Hershel's wife and stepson in the middle and on the right. Otis' marker was off to Sophia's left. Apparently he'd been the one to bring her into the barn, more likely than not. If only he'd lived long enough he might've been able to tell them that, wouldn't have spent so much time and heart break on false hope. Daryl came down for the service, jaw clenched tight as he watched Sophia's grave.

Jada had laid wilted wildflowers on the graves - they looked even sadder than they had the night before - but Hershel had looked appreciative. She didn't think he was going to let them stay, but he still was fond of Jada, she hadn't done anything wrong.

She'd thought they were going to have to leave tomorrow, but the way things were right now - Hershel had disappeared, Beth was catatonic...they'd stick around while they could, help out, they owed the Greenes that much. Rick and Glenn had been gone awhile, she was doing her best to keep Maggie company, but the other girl was listless. Her sister was sick, boyfriend and father missing, she'd had to bury her long dead loved ones today.

She didn't seem like she wanted to be cheered up. So they just shared coffee like they had that first night, and waited quietly for something to happen.

She held back a sigh, it had been another long day. Her gaze trailed to the window, Lori was storming up the drive from the old chimney, her stomach twisted...what had Daryl done now?

"Are you going to be okay on your own for a bit?" She asked, standing, "I think I should go talk to Lori."

"Yeah, I'll be okay." Maggie nodded, gripping her coffee mug.

"I'll be back." She said, and stepped out onto the porch. Lori was already at her car, a little tan sedan Glenn had found on a run a few weeks back, throwing in her bag. A pistol was stuffed into the back of her waistband - they needed to find everyone holsters before bullets started going into people's butts. It was just a matter of time.

"Hey," Renee came up behind her, "What's up?"

"Daryl won't go look for Rick, so I'm going have to do things myself." Lori said huffily, pulling the keys out of her pocket.

"Hey, hey, hey," Renee caught her shoulder before she could sit in the driver's seat. "Let me go. You're pregnant, and frankly don't know how to track."

Lori took a breath, calming herself down, "You're right, you're right," she opened her mouth as if about to say something, closed it, and sighed, "I'm just worried about Rick...and Carl's been a mess ever since Shane left... we did the right thing didn't we?"

Renee nodded slowly, "I think so." Lori leaned back against the car, "Let me go grab my bow. They're just in town, I bet Hershel's just...being Hershel."

Lori nodded, "Thank you... do you need me to keep an eye on Jada?"

Renee shook her head, "She's taking a nap in the RV, I think Dale's gotta handle on her." She smiled, "Go lay down or something."

Lori laughed, "I don't think I could lay down now if I tried."

"Well...do laundry or feed chickens - I don't know," she laughed, "Don't worry. I'll be back as soon as I can." With that she ran to her tent to grab her bow and knife, the quicker they got Hershel back the better. It might mean they'd have to leave sooner, but Beth was a nervous wreck...and Maggie wasn't doing much better.

The town was only a ten minute drive away. There were some CDs, she didn't know who'd owned this car, but they really loved their Marvin Gaye. The sun would be going down soon, hopefully this would be a "hey let's go home" and leave kinda trip, but if she knew her luck with that it wouldn't be. Daryl hadn't been all that compliant when she tried that one last night.

Parking the sedan, she grabbed her bow, shouldered her quiver and started walking. They were supposed to be at a bar somewhere? She could see the truck they'd taken, but there were a few more cars...ones that didn't look abandoned.

She blinked...there were people. She hadn't seen anyone other than the Greene's or her group since...practically since the world ended if she didn't count Jenner. Three men were coming out of a store, holding boxes full of something. Five more were standing under a shop awning a little ways away. They were looking at her, must've seen her drive up.

They sure had a lot of guns. Big ones. Reasonable...but there was something in the way they looked at her. One of them smiled, biting his lip. He had hair almost as red as hers, and a thick smattering of freckles. He turned, walking up to her all charm and swagger, she eyed the others. They were of varying ages, some looked younger than her, one had to be in his forties - tall with a square jaw and brown hair, wearing a quilted black vest. He looked cold, not temperature wise either.

The redhead was getting closer than she would have liked. Where the hell were Rick and Glenn? He stopped a few feet away, her gut told her to go for her bow, but she was pretty sure a semi-automatic would rip through her long before she could nock an arrow.

His eyes ran her up and down, "Well ain't you pretty."

Oh no cliffhanger hahaha. I'll probably going back to school tomorrow...but I only have two more days till break...so this is going to be the easiest week for me. It's gonna be great. Well actually it's going to be stressful, maybe I'll see if I can get an extension on my Lit essay. Might be a few days before I update again depending on if I try to get to my shit together or not. So I may just leave you on that note for a day or two. Sorry about that.

Anyways, I hope y'all enjoyed! Let me know what you thought! I hope to hear back from you guys :)

See ya soon!