Chapter Twenty-One

Daryl

It took four long, frustrating days just to get to this town that Angel had us looking for. We shoulda done it in two, but we had to spend almost a day holed up in an office that we found because a decent size herd was heading toward us. We broke in a back door that we could secure and stayed quiet as they took their damn time moving out. By then it was dark, and we just stayed put.

By the time we hit the Ashville town line, we were both tired and looked like shit. It was hot and humid, so we were sweating our asses off. But what got us was a wind that picked up for two days that say leaves and dirt flying through the air all the time. We ended up having to cover our noses and mouth it was so bad. By the end of these last few days, we looked like we rolled around in the dirt. Even I thought we looked pretty damn bad.

Now, we had to find the neighborhood that Angel had been in. The only thing we had to go on was that it bordered the deep woods and that was on the right side of town. So that's where we headed.

"Anything look familiar?" I asked her.

"No. Same as the last time you asked me five minutes ago," she snapped.

I just gave her one of my stares, and she flipped me off. That's my girl.

We had hit a more commercial area when Angel put a hand on my arm. "Stop."

"What?" I asked. "Is this it?"

"No. Of course not, but let's check out that water company. Think that truck has anything left in it?"

"Don't know. We can check it out." We could always use water. I just didn't know how long it was in that tanker.

We scouted the area, and there weren't any walkers around. The office door was locked, but that never stopped me. Angel wanted to check the tanker before going inside. I had no idea what she was up to, but I checked the gauge for her.

"It's half full. Not sure I'd drink this if it's been sitting for years."

She gave me her first smile in days. "I'm not planning on drinking it. More like bathing in it. I can't stand this dirt another day. It feels disgusting, and that's making me cranky if you haven't noticed."

Oh, hell I noticed. "Nope, didn't realize that." I may be new at this relationship shit, but I wasn't stupid.

"How does the water come out?" she asked walking around the truck.

I showed her the truck had three valves where the water could come out. Angel pointed to the highest one and told me to try it. It took me a couple of tries to loosen it, but finally, the water started coming out.

"Instant shower!" she laughed. "Turn it off until I get ready."

Wait. Was she going to get naked outside again? Not gonna happen. "No. Wait. You ain't taking your clothes off here. No fuckin' way."

Angel raised her eyebrows and put a hand on her hip. "Are you telling me what I can do?"

"Yep. No girl of mine is gonna get naked outside where sumbody could see ya. Once was enough. No more. Ain't happening." There was no way she was gonna do that again. Most guys these days were dicks. If any saw her, I'd be fighting them off, so they didn't get to her.

I thought she was going to call me a caveman or some shit like that. Instead, Angel smiles at me. "You are adorable," she laughs. Me? Adorable? Hell no.

"I like how you said 'no girl of mine.' I like being your girl, Daryl." She moved real close to me, playing with the buttons on my shirt. "Can we compromise? I really want to get this crap off me."

"How?"

"I'll stay in my underwear. Please." Angel was playing dirty because she started kissing me in that way she has. She starts off slow but gets more aggressive as she deepens it. God, she knows my damn weakness.

Her.

Damn it. "Just be fast. Can't have you fighting off walkers half-dressed or me taking out guys that want some of that hot body that belongs to me. Okay?"

"I'll be as fast as I can. You can shower after me." Angel started to take off her boots first then everything else. Did she think I was gonna get caught out here taking a shower from a water truck naked and with a boner? I ain't got any underwear and every time she kisses me I get hard. Just like I am now.

Before I knew it, she stood there in her little panties and bra with soap in her hand. "Hit it," she said. I turned the valve and water started pouring out.

"Not too cold," she said as she lathered up her arms.

Maybe not for her, but I was getting all hot just watched her. It was still new to me to have a girlfriend. Never had one. That could make me a really big loser, or just I was picky. Unfortunately, it was more of the first one. I just never attracted girls like Angel. Not until now. I got a hot girl that not only likes to be naked around me, she likes me too. Really likes me. I know that sounds stupid like I'm a teenager, but fuck, it feels pretty damn awesome.

Angel washed everything she could as the water poured out of the truck. By now her white panties and bra were see through so it almost didn't matter that she had then on. I turned off the water when she was done. Never saw a more sexy sight than she was at that moment. Her long black hair was loose and wet. Tiny droplets of water covered her body. She was happy and hot as hell.

"Shit, I need something to dry off with," she said. "Didn't think about that."

"I should have a t-shirt in one these bags. Just use that," I told her.

Angel searched until she found it and dried herself off as best she could. She pulled semi-clean clothes out of one of the packs. Then she dug around more and showed me a handful of clean, but dry underwear. "I'll be really fast if you let me change into these. I promise."

She didn't need to finish her request with a kiss. I already was going to tell her to change. Staying in wet underwear was stupid. "Make it fast, okay?" And secretly I was dying to see her naked again. I know, we'd had sex more times than I could remember, but I still liked looking at her. Yeah, I'm a guy.

First, she changed everything on top, so at least she was partly covered when she went bare-assed below. Damn, that girl has great knockers. I couldn't resist reaching over and touching one. That I could do that whenever I wanted was so fucking cool.

"Later," she told me with a wink. I knew she wasn't saying no, just not right now and she was right.

When she was dressed and her long hair braided again, she told me it was my turn. There was no way I was getting naked like she had been. Plus, I still had that boner.

I took off my sweaty shirt. That's the best I was going to do. "Turn it on," I told her.

"What's with the pants?"

"Angel, I'm not getting caught with my dick hanging out. Not happening. I'll just wash what I can. I'm used to being dirty anyway." I was, but this was even too dirty for me.

She gave me the sexy smile that could get me to drop my pants for her. Stay strong, Dixon.

"Well, from what I can tell by that big bulge in your pants your dick would be doing more standing up, than hanging down."

"Right," I growled at her. "It's hard cause of you being naked out here. Can't help it, but I ain't showing it to the goddamned world that way. Just turn on the water, Angel." Yeah, she laughed at me the whole time I was washing up. Get no respect from my girl. None.

I got dressed in the cleanest shirt I had, which wasn't saying much. My pants were wet, but there was no way around that. We checked out the office, but that's all it pretty much was. It did have a water cooler that we filed up our bottles with. In the back was where they kept their vehicles. One looked like it was a delivery truck so I rolled up the side. Sure enough, it was filled with those big clear plastic containers they used for those water dispenser machines in offices. That was still drinkable water, and I wanted it.

"Wow," Angel sighed.

"Gonna see if I can get this truck to run. Then we can take it." Water and transport. Good deal if the truck still ran.

Twenty minutes later we were chugging down the road in our water delivery truck. Angel, turned to me, "When did you earn to hotwire a car? Before or after"?

"Before. Hell, I was fourteen when Merle taught me."

"Why were you hotwiring cars at fourteen?" she asked.

I gave her a little smile. "Angel, you really don't want to know the answer to that. I told you I wasn't a good guy before. Merle and me got into shit that we shouldn't have. It was stupid when I look back at it, but it was what we did to survive."

"I knew you were a bad boy," she laughed. "I love it!"

Sometimes I wondered about her.

"Wait! Stop! This looks familiar," she cried out. "Give me a second."

I brought the truck to a stop in the middle of the road. "Yes, turn down that street there." Angel pointed to a cross street on the right. Now I drove slowly so she could get her bearings. "And turn there too."

I drove maybe a half mile, before she screamed, "Yes! This is the street."

"Take it easy," I told her. Didn't need her voice bringing on the walkers. There were already a few approaching the truck as it was.

"That house, the yellow one, is the one I stayed in before I found you. Maybe another few house down is a small park. The trail I took comes out behind that." She turned to me. "Now I can get us to that house I found, without a problem. Let's go, Daryl! Straight ahead about four blocks."

I was hoping this place was as good as Angel had it sounding. I could use a good night's sleep for a change. It had been about a week since I had one. Not to mention that we hadn't had sex in the last few days. We were both tired and dirty, and as much as hot as she is, I'm not gonna fuck her just to fuck. Not with her. I knew that if she wanted to, she would have let me know.

Angel is giving me directions, and I'm wondering how the hell she found this place, to begin with. Finally, she has me stop. "Okay, it's down that narrow paved lane. Maybe about half a mile back. Maybe more."

"We should go on foot. The truck will announce that we're coming if the house got people in it now," I told her.

"I was thinking the same thing. We should hide the packs, too. This way if we lose the truck, we still got our stuff."

She thought just like me. Just another thing I loved about her. Whoa! Why did my head go there? Love? Did I even know what that was? Could Dixon's fall in love? Thought about her like this had been popping into my head all too often lately. She made me think of the "L" word. Even back at the shit cabin I thought about it, but figured I was just horny. Maybe not. But man, this was not a good time for this shit to start running through my head. I needed to concentrate on what we were gonna do, not how I may feel about her. I had to push that to the back and worry about getting us to this house safely.

I knew Angel could take care of herself. She had proven that multiple times, but she was still mine to protect. And I would do that with my life.

I parked the truck that no one could miss on the side of the road, but down a little ways. We hid our packs in the bushes that ran along the small lane to the house. Now all we had to see if this place would work for us. We needed a home base, and from how Angel described it, it should work for us too. It wasn't Alexandria but could be a new start for me. New girl and a new life, maybe my luck was finally changing.

Angel

Daryl was ahead of me with his crossbow up and ready. I was trying to keep my eye out for signs of trouble, but the brush along the lane was pretty thick, so I doubted anything could get through there. It was even hard for us to walk down as the trees and shrubs had overgrown so much. Threats would most likely come from the front or back, but we could never be too careful. My problem was I was paying too much attention to Daryl walking in front of me. He was impressive to see. I knew how heavy that crossbow was and he held it up like it was nothing. All the way to the house, we walked slowly, and he had it up in front of him ready to fire.

Those broad shoulders he had and the to-die-for muscles in his arms were the reason he used that thing like it was made of paper. But it was his butt that was distracting me. I don't know if all girls look at guy's butts the way I do, but he has one fine ass. Both in pants and without. Maybe later I'd see it without again.

"C'mon, Jess," I chided myself. "Pay attention. Get the job done and think about playing around later."

Daryl dropped down to a crouch, and I followed him. "I see a vehicle," he whispered.

"Inside the gate or out?"

"Inside."

"Is it dark green?"

"Yep."

"That's okay. I moved that SUV to block the gates from being pushed open from this side. Let's check it out." I wanted to see if it was as dirty as when I left it. Handprints, footprints or smudges would show that someone else had been there.

We got fairly close to the fence, and I studied the grounds and house for a while. It still had that undisturbed look it did when I found it. Whoever built this place, wanted their isolation from the neighborhood. It was set off a residential road and surrounded by an eight-foot tall wrought iron fence that encompassed the house and overgrown lawns. These people definitely had money. The gate was locked, so I had crawled over the fence to gain access when I was here.

"Let's go in," I suggested. Daryl nodded he was okay with that. "Follow me."

I walked between the brush and the fence until I got to a large square brick pillar. I had used a rock to help break off some of the brick to help me climb up it with footholds. How I lived now and how I thought everything through, was a big turnaround from the woman I used to be. I was resourceful, cunning, and deadly when I needed to be. I wasn't the woman who loved to dress up anymore. The girly girl I always thought I was is completely gone. I'm tougher than I ever thought possible. And damn proud of it.

I was the first one over the fence. Daryl followed with a soft thud onto the grass. We stayed low trying to see if there was any movement in the house, but everything still looked dark and quiet. We ran up to the front steps and waited. Still nothing. Daryl quietly made his way up the stairs and tried the doorknob. "It's locked. How did you get in?"

I flashed him a smile and picked up a rock that was in the front flower bed. "With the key." I turned the fake rock upside down and removed the key. I handed it to Daryl as I joined him by the door.

"Idiot people," he muttered under his breath.

"Yeah, but their stupidity saved us from breaking down the door. Now we can safely lock it again." I joined Daryl on the top of the steps and handed him the key.

"I'll go left, and you go right. Okay?"

I nodded I was good with that. Daryl put the key in the lock and just before he turned it, I grabbed his arm. I leaned in and gave him a kiss. "For good luck," I whispered. His eyes smiled back at me, but he didn't say a word.

The door opened quietly and we each when off in our own directions. I was clearing the dining room, kitchen, and laundry room. I knew the floor plan from my previous visit. Daryl had the large living room and TV room. There was also a back glassed in porch. We met back up in the kitchen. It was all clear without any sign of someone being here after I was. So far so good.

"How many rooms upstairs," Daryl asked me.

Briefly, I ran it through my head before answering. "Four bedrooms and two baths."

"We'll do the same thing upstairs." He told me before heading up.

The sweep of the second floor went smoothly. No one was here or had been here. This house was going to be good for us. I just knew it. "What do you think, Daryl? Will this make a good base for us?"

I could see that he was running everything through his head. Life and death decision couldn't be an instantaneous decision. "We need to check the fence and make sure that it is sturdy. I like that in all this time, no one has found this place and it's not too far away from everything. This was a good find, Angel. For however long it lasts, this could be ours."

I threw myself into his arms. This would be a new start for us. While the shack, brought us together and it did have running water, this place was much more comfortable. We would have to figure out a way to heat food, but we'd have better access to searching for supplies. There was a truck full of water just waiting to be unloaded, and we also would have transportation real soon. I couldn't wait to show Daryl.

"Come with me to the bedroom," I told him while taking his hand.

"Angel, we don't have time for that."

I laughed and looked back at him. He had a playful smirk on his face. That was unusual and very cute. "I'm not talking about having sex, Daryl. Well, at least not yet. I want to show you something."

"Sure. Right. What ya got?"

I opened the one set of closet doors. "Clothes. Lots of clothes."

Daryl looked at everything that was hanging in the closet. It was man's clothes. "Umm, I ain't wearing any of that."

"Babe, what is wrong with these?" Yeah, I was playing dumb. All he was seeing was suits, khakis, and polo shirts. Daryl was so not a polo shirt type of guy. That's why I took out a pink one and kept the ruse going. "I know you wear a lot of dark colors, but maybe you should try pink." I held the shirt up to him. "It goes well with your eyes."

"Angel, get that thing away from me. Now." His voice was low and he was starting to get pissed off.

I couldn't help but laugh. "Sorry, I couldn't resist. Look over to the far right. That's his 'other' clothes. They are more your style. Check out the jacket, too."

Daryl moved the clothes he hates aside and saw what I was talking about. He handed me a couple of shirts and pants, but lastly, he took out the leather jacket. "So he wasn't a complete douchebag. This is decent."

"It'll be good for the cold months. And you'll look so hot in that." Daryl looked down at the floor and not me. Was that a blush I saw on his cheeks? He was so cute. I kissed his scruffy cheek and said, "You are a hottie, Daryl. Gonna have to live with that." That earned me a growl. I loved his growls.

"Okay, I hid a bag of food in the girl's room. Let's get that out." He followed me as I headed into the pink room, and I was hit with a brief moment of sadness for this little girl. Most likely she was dead and would never know what a normal like was about. Would any of us ever see that again?"

"Angel, you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. It's in that toy chest under everything."

Daryl strutted over to the yellow chest and opened it up. He tossed out the toys and studded animals I had put on top and pulled out the heavy black bag. "Nice job," he told me.

That put a smile on my face. "We drop that off in the kitchen, and then I have something I show you." I swear I was as giddy as a schoolgirl.

He rolled his eyes at me. "I don't like surprises," he reminded me.

"Babe, you are soooo going to love this. I promise. Okay?" He waved me on, so I ran down the stairs. Daryl followed me to a door that was just off the laundry room.

"I'm going first," he told me.

"Be my guest," I responded with a big smile.

He shook his head at me and that only caused me to start laughing. I knew what was in that garage and I couldn't wait to see his reaction to it. I opened the door and he pushed through ahead. It was a two and a half car garage. One car was missing. The other was blocking the gate and Daryl's surprise took up the half.

Since the house was clear, I figured this would be too. I let Daryl do all the work as I stood in the doorway watching him. I knew exactly when he saw it. He lowered the crossbow and it dropped onto the cement floor.

The bike was covered in dust when I found it. I had taken a rag to it and cleaned it up the best I could. It still was shining. Even I knew that was a beautiful bike.

I watched him run a hand over the black leather seat, before glancing back at me. Then he looked at the gauges and I knew what he was seeing. "Full tank of gas and it only has one hundred twenty-six miles on it. Practically brand new."

"No, this is brand new. It was the most recent Fatboy model they put out. Fuck, I've always loved Harley's but could never afford one." I could hear in his voice how much he wanted it. "Damn, it's a perfect bike."

"Even has a seat on the back for me," I said, as I joined him next to the bike. "And you didn't think you'd like my transportation surprise."

Daryl finally stopped staring at the motorcycle and smiled at me. "Yeah, I doubted ya. Don't know why, but I ain't gonna do that again." He pulled me tight and kissed me hard on the lips. "Thanks. Wish I could do so sumthin' like this for you."

Oh, there was definitely something he could do for me, I just had to find a way to tell him. I didn't need gifts. At one time I did, but not now. Having him was enough. The bike would benefit both of us. All I did was find it and that was sheer luck.

"Just keep that back seat for me. That's all I need. Maybe we can try it out tomorrow?"

"I hope to. Damn, that's a nice bike. Okay, get me outta here or I may start to fiddle with it and we got shit to do first."

I took his hand and pulled him out of the garage and back into the house. Shadows were starting to set in, but we still had stuff to do. The truck needed to be brought in. We couldn't lose all that drinking water.

Daryl and I were still hand in hand when we go to the kitchen. He stopped and tugged me against him again. I loved being against him like this. "Thank you. I miss my old bike. It's a great way to get around and it uses less gas than a car. Shit, I don't deserve you," he said, pulling me tight into a hug.

"Well, I didn't buy it. I found it. This whole house gives us options that we didn't have before. Maybe, we can make this into a home for us, for however long the world lets us live here. I only want to be with you Daryl, no place else." I could have told him I loved him then. It fit, but I was afraid. I didn't think he was ready to hear that yet, so I hung onto my words. Soon, I would have to tell him, but not tonight. Not yet. But soon, real soon.