Author's note:

Hey everyone, so this chapter is kind of a filler, but it also shows Daryl's feelings a bit more so I hope you like it!

Thanks for the reviews Onyxus, I loved reading all of them! Also thanks for the tips about Daryl. I guess your right about the smirking, when I finish the story I'll start editing every chapter and I'll surely take your advice in mind! It's just that letting him smirk kind of makes him a bit more annoying, so I might still use it...

Also thanks to Scarlet Nyx for the review!

So I had like several ideas how to continue after this chapter (several meaning 10 in total) but I chose one now and I really hope you'll enjoy it. I also just realized that, except for some that also died in the series, no one else has died yet. That's pretty unbelievable for a zombie story like this isn't it... Shit. Ah well, I'll have to see what I'll do about that.

I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for reading, as always.

Chapter 25

Daryl's POV

Heading back along the same road we came wasn't very interesting. Not that I would've paid attention to the road if we had gone into another direction, I was too busy with something that was interesting. Kate's sleeping figure to be precise.

She had fallen asleep with her head resting against the window somewhere along the place we'd left Jim behind. I was glad she wasn't awake when we passed, as I remembered how she'd looked when we left him. I really didn't like seeing her like that, her smile was so much better. Actually every other expression was better than how she'd looked then.

I looked over to her, seeing that she had her arms folded across her chest. I thought that smiling while you're sleeping was impossible, but Kaitlinn proved me wrong. Her hair was obstructing the view I had on the rest of her face, which I didn't really like to be honest. On the other hand it might be better, because I was pretty sure that if I was able to see it, I wouldn't be paying attention to the road anymore.

I sighed, glancing back at the road. I wondered what she was dreaming about that she was smiling like this.

Me

The thought came so suddenly that it startled me, and I'm not easily startled. It wasn't so much the thought itself, more the fact that I wanted it to be true. I wanted her to be dreaming about me, however strange that was.

I remembered how I'd felt by the fire right after the moment she told me her story, when I gave her the ammo to my gun. How I wanted to protect her from everything that had happened in her life. How I wanted to take away every bad thing that happened in her life away so that I could see her real smile, not just one that she faked for the benefit of others. And she did that often, I could see it in her eyes.

I also thought back to how I'd wanted to kiss her that time in the bathroom, how her hazel eyes were able to enchant me with no more than a glance. No one had ever been able to do that. Yes I've had my fair share of relationships and one night stands, I've had my share of fun. But I never believed in love. I never believed in liking someone and feeling the need to be with them, let alone wanting to protect them. Right now though, I started to doubt my conviction, because maybe it wasn't all bullshit.

I looked over at her and reached up with my hand. Without even thinking about what I was doing I brushed the hair out of her face, so that I could see it. She stirred under my touch, slightly changing her position. For a moment I sat there, frozen, glancing out of the front window a few times so that I wouldn't crash into something with my truck. When she returned to the still position she had been in before I let out a sigh of relief, damn that was close.

I didn't know why I did that, or why I seemed to always do things without thinking around her. This girl did something to me, something no other girl had ever done. I actually found myself wanting to talk to her, instead of feeling the need to. I normally don't mind spending time in silence, people don't always need to be talking or be talked to. With her however it was different. The only reason I wasn't always talking to her, was because I had no idea what to say. I loved hearing her voice though, like I loved making her laugh.

I think I've talked to her more in these past two weeks than I have talked to anyone in the group since Merle and I decided to join. And I was sure that I never waited this long for a first kiss.

First kiss? What?

Where the hell did that thought come from? That's something teenagers think when they have a crush, that's not something Daryl Dixon thinks, ever. I didn't push the thought away however, instead I started imagining what might've happened in the bathroom if Kirra hadn't interrupted. I started imagining how her lips would feel against mine, and how I would run my hands through her hair. How her skin would feel under my touch-

Fuck I had to stop. I shook my head to get the damn thoughts out and focused back onto the road, trying to ignore the fact Kaitlinn was still sitting next to me. I was confusing myself with everything that was going through my head right now. She was the whole reason I was feeling confused. And the truth is that, even though I don't like feeling confused, right now I didn't mind one bit.

Kaitlinn's POV

I woke up with my head leaning against the window. I hadn't meant to fall asleep so I was pretty surprised I had. I guess I'd been too exhausted to fight it. Well after everything that happened, I guess that wasn't weird.

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and when I accidentally touched my cheek I cringed slighty. It hurt more than it had this morning, but I'd just have to get over it. Act like nothing was wrong, I was good at that most of the time.

I lifted my head and looked through the front window, seeing that we were still on the move.

"Daryl," I started, wanting to ask if I'd missed something while asleep.

He looked up with an all too familiar mocking smile, which made my heart skip a beat or two. I guess the blood pumping organ decided that after I finally said it out loud, it would make it all the more clear that I liked this guy.

"Finally awake, huh princess?" He asked, obviously mocking me for falling asleep.

I wanted to stick my tongue out at him, but instead shot him a glare deciding that sticking out my tongue would be too childish. I couldn't help the smile from playing on my lips however. I didn't quite understand why, but I didn't mind him being his annoying self. I actually didn't think of it as annoying anymore, he was just being himself and I liked that. I liked him. There was no denying it anymore. When he carried me outside of the CDC building I'd felt safer than I had in a long time, and I missed the feeling. Or maybe it was just that I missed the feeling of his arms around me, which could also be true.

"Did you want to ask me somethin'?" Daryl suddenly asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.

I felt myself starting to blush and quickly looked out of the window to hide it. I didn't often blush, well I haven't had much of a chance since the world went to hell, but Daryl always seemed to be able to make me. Damn the guy.

"Where are we driving to?" I asked then, wondering if we might've stopped somewhere along the way and that I'd missed it.

He shrugged, "Don't know, we haven't discussed yet."

I nodded, stretching myself again and letting a yawn escape.

"You rest well?" His voice sounded more gentle than usual so I looked up to see his face. There was nothing unusual about that though, he was staring straight out of the window, trying to hide whatever expression he didn't want me to see. It was strange how I knew he was doing it, but I guessed he just didn't want me to think too much of his gentle tone. I wouldn't.

"I did," I told him with a chuckle. "I love sleeping in the car. Always have."

This made him look up with curious eyes, not trying to hide his expression anymore. "Why?"

I shrugged, "Not sure, I guess it's a certain feeling of safety I always have in the car."

The same feeling I have with you, I thought but didn't dare say it out loud. I would have to keep this to myself for now, because facing it scared the hell out of me. I lost so many people already and the thought of losing Daryl already made my insides turn over, but that would be even worse if I let myself start caring. On the other hand, it might already be too late for that.

Anyway, that didn't matter. As long as he didn't care about me I'd be safe, right?

Daryl's POV

Safety. Did she feel safe with me? Now that's something I never heard before. I wasn't someone you feel safe around. Actually I think people felt uncomfortable, or even scared, around me more. Years of having to fend for yourself does that to you, it makes you less 'fun' to hang around with. Getting through life with Merle as your brother makes it slightly worse.

"What are you thinking about?" She asked me suddenly.

I always hated people who asked me that, but for some reason this time I didn't really mind. My thoughts were still with-

"I'm just surprised you feel safe with me, that's all."

-that. Shit, I didn't mean to say that out loud.

She was staring at me now. Of course she was. What the hell is happening to me? I should be in control of myself more. I should think before saying things, especially these kind of things. So why the hell didn't I?

Well that question has an easy answer. Because of her.

Kaitlinn's POV

I was staring, what else could I do? It was as if he had read my mind and found out what I'd been thinking, about feeling safe with him. I had to say something though, I just couldn't think of anything other than a stupid question.

"Why are you surprised?"

Yes, that stupid question. Damn my mind for blocking out any other thoughts right now.

"Because I'm normally not someone you feel safe around." He simply said, not looking at me.

"That's bullshit." I said.

He looked up in surprise, "Why?"

"Because you saved me several times already. I think it's safe to say that I'm safer with you than with anyone else in this entire group. You freaking carried me out of the building when everyone else had already left."

"Except for Jenner." He pointed out.

I rolled my eyes, "That guy is probably scared of his own shadow." I joked, "Seriously I can't think of a reason not to feel safe around you."

He eyed me and then sighed, as if he wanted to say something but wasn't sure how to say it.

"What?"

He looked at me and frowned, tapping the steering wheel with his right hand. "My brother and I didn't join this group because it was safer than stayin' alone." He said suddenly. I didn't quite get the subject change but waited patiently for him to continue, knowing he wouldn't start talking about something without a reason. "We joined because we thought that after winnin' their trust, we could take their stuff and run."

The way he said it it sounded like he wasn't proud of it, he seemed to want to get it over with quick. I stared at him for a second, cocking my head to the side and thinking of his words. That was pretty harsh. On the other hand, in times of survival...

"So that would be one of the reasons not to feel safe around me." He continued.

Ah, so that was the reason for the subject change. I laughed, shaking my head. He looked at me in a way that told me he didn't see what was so funny, of course he didn't. "Daryl," I started, choosing my words carefully. "I can't say that what you wanted to do wasn't wrong, but that has nothing to do with me feeling safe around you."

This seemed to surprise him and I smiled. "You brought me back to your camp, even though I had three kids with me that had to be fed as well. You came with me to retrieve my bags, even with me blackmailing you about something that shouldn't even have worked. You searched for me when I was lost in the woods, and you brought Zayn back. And on top of all those things, you carried me out of the CDC building and saved me from death by explosion. Now if I didn't feel safe with you after all that, there would seriously be something wrong with me."

He eyed me again, and then his surprised expression made place for a smirk again. "Well if you put it like that." He said it with a low chuckle. "I think I've saved the princess enough for now."

I grinned, "You're never done saving a princess." I told him, the same way Kirra had told me the first time I told her the princess had been saved. "She'll always finds a new way to get back into trouble."

This made him laugh and me smile as I looked back out of the window.

I started thinking about what we should be doing. I wasn't sure exactly how far away we now were from the CDC building, but we couldn't just keep going like this. We were driving without even the slightest idea where we were driving to, that was probably the worst thing to do if you were trying to survive. You always needed a purpose.

Right now we needed to stop and discuss what the hell we were going to do, where we were going to go.

"Has anyone said when we were going to stop and discuss things?" I asked Daryl, thinking that I might've missed things while convincing Jenner to come with us. He shook his head and I frowned. Then suddenly there was a loud sound filling the car, a horn. I quickly realized it was Daryl who'd honked and questioned him with my eyes. He just shrugged,

"You wanted them to stop right?"

I chuckled as the cars in front of us came to a stop. Perfect.

"Let's get this show on the road." I said jokingly while getting out of the car, making sure I had my gun with me in case some walker had heard the sound of Daryl's honk.

Now that I thought about it our way of telling the others something had happened, wasn't the safest, or most efficient, way.

"Does anyone have any suggestions?" Rick asked around the group.

We'd all gathered in front of the RV, it reminded me of when we had left Jim behind. I wondered what had happened to him, but quickly pushed the thoughts away as all kinds of horrible things entered my mind.

"We could try Fort Benning." Shane offered. "We said we'd go there if the CDC thing wouldn't work out."

"You can't." Jenner said. He was staring at the ground, his thoughts seemingly far away. "The army base got overrun two months after the initial outbreak."

Shane's jaw clenched at the news and I saw a slight smirk on Daryl's face at the fact that the guy had been wrong. It soon disappeared though as he probably realized we had no other ideas going around the group.

"Other suggestions?" Rick asked again. No one answered, everyone was fidgeting, feeling nervous about the fact none of them knew what to say. If both the CDC and the army base had been overrun, what place could be safe enough to go to?

"We could go up to New York." Daryl suddenly suggested. "Kate said it was like a safe haven, right?" He directed the question at me and I frowned.

"I'm not sure-" I started but was interrupted by Jenner.

"It's not." He said. "New York's gone as well."

"You got any ideas then, doc?" Daryl snapped at him, annoyed. Not that it was Jenner's fault there was no safe place, he wasn't the cause of the whole walker thing that was going on, but I understood Daryl's annoyance.

Jenner looked away from Daryl, rather inspecting the trees than answering the question I guessed.

"Is there a place that is not 'gone'?" Andrea asked him softly, looking tired and done. She'd been through so much already, and now when she started believing there might be hope out there after all, just one word from Jenner could crush it.

I'd made her believe there was hope, by talking about the cure. Now that we found there might actually be no place to go to, I felt bad for making her believe again. I sighed, almost missing Jenner's next words.

"There might be." He replied, after hesitating a moment.

It didn't sound all too sure, but it was the best lead we had right now so everyone stared at him with wide eyes.

"Where?" Shane asked the doctor quickly.

Jenner licked his lips nervously and glanced at me a second before continuing. "Jacksonville."

"What's down there?" Andrea asked next, sounding interested and unsure at the same time.

Jenner was fidgeting with his hands nervously and I wondered what he had to be nervous about. Maybe it was the fact that everyone was staring at him, waiting for an answer, I wasn't sure.

"Last I heard it was a refugee camp, one of the few that is still up and running." He said slowly.

"And when did you 'last hear'?" Shane asked suspiciously, not liking the sound of those words.

"Three weeks ago." He answered but I saw he was lying. Now why would he lie about that? The only reason I could think of was that it had been a lot longer than three weeks since he 'last heard'. I didn't say anything though, if that was all we could do I couldn't take away that chance. The fact he was lying about when he last heard didn't mean the camp wasn't still safe, at least I tried to convince myself of that. We needed something to focus on, a good thing, and a camp sounded pretty good to me.

"Then why the hell did you want to die, man?" T-Dog asked him, getting angry. "That's what? 400 miles from here! Jacqui died in there 'cause she thought there was no hope. 'Cause you told us there was no hope! Why the fuck would you lie to us?" T-Dog was shouting now, furious. His fists were clenched and I thought he would jump the doctor, Glenn was trying to calm him down already, but Jenner didn't seem to like being accused like that.

"Because there is no hope!" He countered. "That camp doesn't allow anyone new to enter, going there would be useless!" Jenner was also shouting now.

It was quiet for a minute, T-dog having calmed down and everyone else trying to process what Jenner had just said.

There is now way the would actually do that right? Deny us entrance? That would be heartless. Shouldn't refugee camps be there to help people, to help everyone. How could any governmental organization do something like that?

"I don't believe you," Carol said suddenly, almost too soft to be heard. "They can't just deny us, that's inhumane!" She continued, louder this time, speaking my thoughts.

"I think we should try, I mean there's nowhere else we can go, right?" Lori said next.

She was standing beside Carol who was behind Sophia. Carol was nervously playing with her daughter's hair. I didn't blame her for being nervous, scared of what was to come. In a way I was just as scared, only I tried to keep that fact buried somewhere deep inside me, so I wouldn't have to think about it. That was a hell of a lot easier than facing it.

"Lori's right, it's the best chance we have. It'll take some time before we get there though, and we'll have to work together if we want to make it." Shane said, directing the last part at Daryl. He just shot Shane a glare, which I didn't blame him for. Who was talking about working together after doing to Lori what he did? Asshole that he was.

There were several nods around the group at what he said. The only ones who weren't openly agreeing right now were Jenner and Daryl. I knew Daryl wasn't someone to show others he agreed, or disagreed, with things, but I also knew he'd be coming with us.

Jenner was frowning, thinking hard about something. I wondered why he was looking so guilty right now. Maybe because he had mentioned Jacksonville and he was afraid we wouldn't get in, which meant we would have traveled the distance for nothing. He shouldn't be feeling guilty though, he had given us a purpose again. Somewhere to head to, even if it turned out to be nothing later on, we would've at least tried.

"It's decided then," Rick said next. "We head to Jacksonville. Dale, Glenn, can you help with the directions?" Dale and Glenn both nodded and soon they were hovering over a map, figuring out how to get where we needed to be. The others were scattered around, some just sitting and thinking, others catching up on some sleep in the cars.

I had gotten the assignment to read a book that Dale had lying around in the RV and Kirra had found. I didn't mind, I liked that I had something to do that at least felt a bit normal. I started reading, having five kids stare at me with wide eyes, hanging onto any word that left my lips. It was a pretty basic fairytale, but they didn't mind. Of course they didn't, I guessed that every fairytale sounded good at times like these.

"Lord Dragno slowly made his way inside the cave, trying to see in the darkness that surrounded him." I read next, seeing Daryl stalk closer from behind the kids. I hid my smile and continued, "When he saw the dragon he pulled out his sword and pointed it at the red eyed monster. The dragon stared and it almost looked like it was smiling down at the lord. It took a deep breath and then growled-" I was interrupted by an actual growl, coming from none other than Daryl who had scared the shit out of the kids. He was grinning widely when he saw the kids' faces and I was able to hold my laughter in for about a second before I burst out in laughter, together with the kids.

Daryl sat down behind them, a smirk on his face. "Now, princess, what happens next?" He asked me, acting like he was interested in the story. He got a disapproving look from Kirra, which confused him to no end.

He looked at me as if to ask me what he did wrong and I chuckled, not telling him. I thought he looked really funny when he was confused, so I wanted to prolong the moment for now. Kirra turned back to me and frowned, "Come on Kate, finish the story!" She demanded, crossing her arms over her chest. I looked back down at the book, about to continue, when suddenly Rick called out to us that we were ready to go.

I sighed, looking at Kirra apologetically. "Sorry Kirra," I said. She started pouting and I sighed, looking at Zayn. He smiled at me and then at his sister, "Don't worry Kir, I'll finish the story for you." He said, taking the book from me. Kirra's pout quickly changed into a grin. She was beaming again, knowing her story would be finished and not caring about who finished it. The rest of the kids were already getting up, Carl and Sophia heading over to Lori and Carol. Zayn, Kirra and Nico went over to the RV. When I saw them getting in I smiled and walked up to Daryl who had been waiting for me.

"Did I just really get glared at by a 9 year old girl?" He asked me as we started heading back to the car.

I chuckled, "What can I say, she doesn't like it when her stories are interrupted."

He chuckled as we climbed into the car, ready to go.

A few minutes later we were on our way to the one place that might actually be safe. The one thing I was worrying about now though, was if we would get there without walking into any situations.