Chapter Twenty-Five

Angel

Yesterday was another wild day in the lives of Daryl and Angel. See, he even had me calling myself Angel now. I will admit when we hit those two converging herds things got quite a bit scary. But I knew Daryl would get us out of it. I trusted him completely.

And he did.

We've been hiding out in this apartment since yesterday afternoon waiting for the walkers to move on. Since there was nothing to do, we did what we do best...have sex. It was kind of a turn on with a dead thing in the other room. Yes, I am a bit weird. Daryl is slowing finding that out. Can't have him know all of my secrets right off the bat.

One thing he has learned really quickly is how much I love it when he goes down on me. For a guy that never did that before, he as has become an expert in such a short time. I finally had to beg him to stop as I just couldn't take anymore. I was coming over and over again, and he never stopped.

My big bad energizer bunny.

He had taken such good care of me, without coming at all himself. That's why when he sat back, I straddled him immediately and rode him like there was no tomorrow. As long as Daryl was getting it up, we were getting it on.

The room was hot and stuffy to begin with. We didn't help that at all. By the time we deemed it safe to leave, the room smelled of a dead body, sweat, and sex. It was really pretty gross by the end, but we did have fun.

Together we searched the apartment for anything we could take back with us. There was absolutely no food. It was a good thing I had thrown a package of jerky and two water bottles in the backpack. Otherwise, we'd be hungrier than we already were.

We took candles, matches, a can opener and a cute little cat carving that I liked. That earned me a raise of the eyebrows from Daryl, but he didn't say anything.

"What do you think?" I asked him. We both were looking out the front windows at the parking lot and street beyond. It seemed like the herd had moved on.

"Looks good. What about we check the rest of these apartments before we head out?" he asked.

"Are we bailing on the convenience store?" I did have my heart set on some more chocolate.

Daryl shook his head yes. "We still a have ways to go, and we had to waste yesterday. Maybe another time. We still got shit to do to make the house safer for us. We can scavenge our way back."

I knew he was right, but I hated giving up that chocolate. The more time it took us to get back to that store, the bigger chance that someone else would find it. Today, just wasn't that day. "Let's do it."

We snuck as quietly as we could out the door and down the steps. We had to break into each subsequent unit, but this time Daryl kicked the doors in instead of using his shoulder. We grabbed what food we could find. One of the apartments had some tools, so I took that too. Also, any candles we found we grabbed. They were heavy, but it was our only way to have light at night so we needed as many as we could find.

The pack was pretty hefty, so Daryl helped me get it on. Then the bike took us away from our temporary overnight quarters and we headed home. Daryl had us back within two hours, and the dead we encountered were few and far between. Certainly, not like we had yesterday. Thank God.

"I got an idea about blocking the driveway," Daryl said as he stored the motorcycle in the garage.

"What's that?"

He walked over to the open doorway, and I followed him. "What if we move two broken down cars along our side of the road at the end of the drive, but not blocking the driveway. Then we put a car that works blocking the drive, with another deadbeat car behind that. Nothing tight together and kinda haphazard. This way if we need to take out the SUV, we just move that one car. Maybe pull a spark plug in it, so people think it's dead."

"I like that," I told him. "It'll block the dead if we get a herd and maybe stop the living from noticing the driveway. Maybe scatter dirt at the ends, so it looks unused. Good idea."

"There's still some daylight left, maybe we could look at some of the cars on the street," he suggested.

I was tired, sweaty, and still smelled like sex. The last thing I wanted to do was push a car, but he was right. The more we could do to protect us the better.

During the next couple days, our main concern was trying to hide from the world. We found the broken down cars that would work along the road we lived off of. With just the two of us, it was a lot of work to push them where we needed them, but we managed to do it. We made sure that everything was random in how they were left. No straight parking, but everything was crooked.

It was finding a car that actually worked that took some time. Daryl finally found an old Toyota that he was able to get going. Moving that off the end of the drive was how we could get the SUV out. His bike just maneuvered around everything.

We set up spikes for any errant walkers in the woods that surround the house. The further we could keep them from us, the better, but so far we had been lucky and seen very few around us. Our best find was a gas grill in the backyard of one of the houses. We rolled it up the street and used the gas sparingly. Cold food was no longer our only option.

Weeks went by without too many problems. Daryl and I still did everything together. We scavenged, we hunted, and we just took rides on the Harley. It was rare for either one of us to go out alone. Daryl and I talked a lot and we pretty much knew all there was to know about each other. In the evenings, there wasn't much else to do except talk or have sex. We usually did both. As upset as I had been when I found out I wasn't going to be able to have kids, it was a blessing now not to have to worry about that. We had sex as often as we could. Neither of us tired of the other at all. Some days I'd be doing something in the house, and he'd come in from outside and start taking my pants off. We'd do it where ever we were. I'd do the same thing to him. When the urge hit, and it hit often, neither of us ever said no. I never had a more perfect partner.

Days keep going by but Daryl had started to get cranky on me all of a sudden, and I wasn't sure what was up with him. Until one night when it was time to eat, he snapped at me, and I let him have it.

"Listen. I'm tired of you being a dick to me. What the fuck's your problem?" I was a classic pissed off woman, with my hands on my hips glaring at him.

"Nuthin'. Just give me something to eat," he grumbled.

No this was not how we were going to finish this. "Nope. Not until you tell me what crawled up your ass." Then a little softer I added, "What's going on, babe?"

He leaned his hands on the edge of the kitchen counter. "It's stupid. Sorry, I'm being a dick. It's just…"

"Just what?" I was pretty sure I hadn't done anything wrong, but something was bugging him these last few days.

"I'm outta smokes, and it's…hard."

The poor guy was going through nicotine withdrawal. There was hopefully a way to solve that. "Oh, Daryl. You should have said something. Tomorrow, let's go back to that convenience store. Hopefully, no one's raided it yet."

"You sure?" He wanted to go, I could tell from the look on his face. He needed his nicotine fix.

"Definitely. You get cigarettes, and I get chocolate. It's a win-win. Let's get an early start, but maybe we should take the SUV. That way we can clean the place out. A backpack won't carry much." There was still something that he wasn't telling me. His emotions were always easy to read. "What?"

"Could we take both? I agree we can fill the SUV with everything, but…I need a ride too."

I guess he thought I would get mad that he wanted separate vehicles. Of course, I would love to have him in the SUV, but he never asked for anything, and we did everything together. There was no way I could refuse him. "Daryl, that fine. I just have one request." His blue eyes met mine. "If anything goes down, stay with me. We have to stay together. Okay?"

He pulled me into his arms. "Okay. Of course. And thank you. I don't deserve you, Angel. I really don't."

"Quit being stupid," I told him. "You deserve the best, and you got it, so quit the negativity." I felt his chest move as he chuckled.

"Got the best damn girl, that's fer sure. Thanks for understanding."

Daryl got a big smile from me. He needed smokes and space, I got that because for me it was chocolate and space. Having a few hours along in the car and him on his bike, was what we both needed. It would make us stronger.

His lips met mine, and we didn't eat dinner until much later. Next thing I knew I was bare-ass on the counter, and he was thanking me with his head plastered between my thighs. God, I loved this man.

.

The sun had only been up for a little while, and we were already moving the old Toyota out of the way so I could get the SUV out. So far our trick of trying to hide was working.

"Stay close," Daryl told me. "But if anything happens and we get separated, head back here. Don't go on. Okay?"

"Got it. Let's hope we have better luck this time. How long do you think it'll take?"

"I think it's about forty miles away, give or take. It depends on what we encounter. Maybe an hour, most likely more. You ready?" he asked me.

"I'm always ready. You know that." I gave him a wink out of the car window. "I get to watch your ass all the way there, so let's get rolling."

Daryl shook his head. I knew he thought I was crazy at times, but it kept a smile on his face. He leaned down to kiss me. "You know you are fucked up, right?"

"Yes, but that's why you love me."

"I sure as hell do." He didn't say it often, but I knew he loved me. He didn't have to. It wasn't his way, at least not yet. Love was a word that he never used before he met me. I knew he had to still get used to it, but I never questioned it. Love in the apocalypse was never meant to be normal.

He gave me one more long kiss through the open window before hopping on the Harley. And we were off. I certainly hoped this trip would be more successful than the last one.

And so far it was.

Took us a little over two hours, but we made it to the strip mall that housed the convenience store. Just had to make a few detours, but we got there without too much trouble. A pass by the front looked quiet, so we headed to the back where the door was unlocked. Daryl had his crossbow up and ready and I had my hand on the door.

"On three," he told me. Daryl counted us off, and I flung the door open. Nobody was inside. But better than that the supplies from earlier were still there. Daryl got his cigarettes, and I got my chocolate. Hallelujah! But we didn't risk our lives for just that. There were other food supplies and assorted items that these types of stores carried. We were going to take anything we could use.

"Let's see what's in the boxes, so we don't take shit we don't need," I suggested. Daryl nodded, so I took my knife out and started to slice the packing tape open. I had to be careful as the room only was getting light from the open door.

I noticed he was tapping his leg absently with his right hand. The crossbow was already slung onto his back, but he was kind of just standing there. I put the box of canned soup down and went over to one of the many cases of cigarettes. I popped it open and pulled out a carton. Turning, I handed it to Daryl. I knew he wouldn't ask. He would suffer through until the work was done. A few more minutes wouldn't hurt.

"Light one up."

He didn't even ask, "Was I sure," he just flashed me a half smile and went out to smoke. There were a couple cases of cigarettes here so that should last him a good while.

I just kept opening boxes to make sure we could use what was inside. The open container of chocolates was calling my name, but I kept working. I was opening the third carton of what looked like snake cakes when the door from inside the store flew open. Quickly, I turned to defend myself, but the man that came through it already had his gun up at me. All I had in my hand was my knife. The pistol I carried was strapped to my thigh.

"Don't move!" he demanded. "You do, and I take your head off!"

I was trying not to panic. Daryl would come and save me. He had to have heard the man threaten me. My heart was racing, and my hand holding the knife had started to sweat. I was trying to remain calm, but it was hard.

"Listen…" I started to say.

"You here alone?" he asked in a cold, steely voice.

"No, she ain't. Drop the gun, or you get a bolt through your head."

Immediately, my feeling of panicking started to subside. I had confidence in my abilities, but I was outnumbered as I saw two people had come into the storeroom and I was literally backed into a corner.

"Daryl, is that you?" a female voice asked.

I saw the male turn toward the open door. "Daryl?"

Wait, what was going on?

Daryl stepped into the doorway lowering his crossbow. The sun was still on his shocked face. He didn't say a word as the woman ran to him and threw her arms around him. I could hear her start to cry. Who the hell was she to him? I was about to take a step toward them when the man wrapped his arms around Daryl and the woman.

I certainly was feeling like the odd man out.

When they all stopped hugging, I noticed everyone was wiping tears away. Who were they? Could they be part of the group he thought he lost? That was so many months ago.

"Daryl, we thought you were dead," the man said.

"I thought everyone else was dead. I looked, and I couldn't find no one. Who else made it?" Daryl asked as he wiped his eyes. I wanted to go and hug him, but I didn't.

"Us, Carl, Judith, Maggie, Rosita, Aaron, and Carol."

"Nobody else?"

"Nope. Not until now. We thought you were lost too."

This was some of the people he had lost from Alexandria. I was happy for him, but at the same time, I felt forgotten. I took a step forward. "Daryl? What's going on?"

"Who's she?" the man asked abruptly. I wasn't happy with his tone.

The woman put a hand on the man's shoulder. "Why don't we move back into the store? It's very dark back here and store's clear. Then we can figure out what to do next."

"Good idea," he said.

I watched the two strangers head back into the store. I walked over to Daryl. "Are you okay?" He nodded that he was, but I wasn't sure about that. "Are they some of the people you thought you lost?"

"Yeah, Rick and Michonne."

I knew right then that my world was about to change. His 'family' was back, and I was already feeling like an outsider in the few minutes since they burst into the storeroom. I was happy for Daryl, but at the same time, our solitary world was coming to an end. The problem was I didn't want it to.