Chapter 26

Here is the latest chapter! Thanks for your reviews. Enjoy! xx

The Sun had barely risen, but Glenn was first to awake, giving a groan as he stretched, rubbing his sore back. The front seats were not comfortable to sleep in and it was starting to take it's toll. He pushed himself off of the chair, stray parts of his clothing clinging to the seat still.

He adjusted his hat, and began making his way to the centre of the RV, hoping to get a drink. He rubbed the sleepiness out of his eye, before his eyes landed on the two at the RV table.

At first, he thought he saw it wrong, and had to close his eyes tightly before quickly opening to confirm what he saw. Daryl and Brooke laying along the seats together, asleep.

Had he missed something?

Feeling slightly awkward about staring at the two while they slept, he continued with his original task, not being able to help looking over a few times.

"Morning," Carol's friendly voice came from behind him, startling him so much that he nearly dropped the bottle he had picked up. "Did I scare you?" Carol asked, gently with an amused smile. Her mood was much better that Sophia was now back and safe.

"Yeah," Glenn gave a nervous laugh, making sure they kept their voices down so that Brooke or Daryl didn't wake up. Carol followed Glenn's eyes and saw the two, and gave a smile.

"How sweet," she whispered.

"Sweet?" Glenn asked, not expecting that word to describe the scene.

"It's nice that Daryl has someone to talk to now," she smiled. "To keep his mind off his brother." That last part of that sentence reminded them of what happened to Merle, it wasn't even their fault, but it must be difficult for him to live with.

"Maybe we should wake them?" Glenn broke their moment of silence. "They might get embarrassed if everyone walks in."

That idea wasn't so bad, Carol was thankful for them finding Sophia, so she didn't want to repay them by embarrassing them.

"You're right," she approached them both. She grabbed their ankles and shook them gently. "Guys, wake up."

The shaking caused Brooke to open her eyes, while Daryl groaned, refusing to open his, subconsciously wrapping his arm around Brooke tighter, which even shocked her slightly.

"Morning," Brooke stretched. Morning? It just suddenly occurred to her what position she was in, with witnesses in the room. Her face immediately heated up as she used her hands to push herself off Daryl. She gave a sheepish smile at Glenn and Carol, brushing some loose hair out of her face. "I was cold," she shrugged.

Everyone apart from Daryl had awoken and were stood outside of their vehicles. Discussing where they would be going next.

"Our best chance is to keep going forward," Rick pointed out, facing the direction they were already heading.

"That's fine," said Dale. "But can we at least have one more search around for some sort of medication for T-Dog's arm? He's got a nasty infection."

All looked at T-Dog and saw how worn out he looked. The cut on his arm was taking a harsh effect on him, and something needed to be done.

"Alrigh', but we've got one hour." Rick stated, making sure everyone heard him. Everyone began their search, Carol making sure the kids were inside the RV, along with Andrea, during this search. Not wanting a repeat of last time.

Brooke barely wanted to go into the cars, because of the corpses, and the fear one of them might get up and start walking. The heat was scorching, causing small beads of sweat to fall. Brooke used her sleeve to wipe them away, when a familiar scent hit her nostrils. Her hoodie still smelt like Daryl. It reminded her of last night, how he made those hints for a cuddle. This brought a smile on her face, as she remembered how he tightened his grip on her throughout the night.

Through these thoughts, her eyes landed on the RV, in some small hope she could see him through the window. Straining her ears to even hear voices from the inside, she might have been able to, if it hadn't been for the annoying heavy breathing.

Then it suddenly occurred to her … why was there heavy breathing? It certainly wasn't her.

He head turned around slowly, on to find herself face to face with a putrid smelling, Walker. It's face half missing and it's eyes piercing and hungry. The same Walker that vanished in the woods. It let out a groan, flashing it's disgusting teeth, as it raised it's arms to grab her.

Brooke let out a panicked cry, as she quickly backed away, heading straight back for the woods. The Walker in pursue. Her cry alerted the rest of the group, even Daryl, who rushed out of the RV, scanning the area for any sign of Brooke.

"Where is she?" He barked, a hint of panic flowing through his words. They all ran into the direction of the cry, only to see nothing. Which confused them. Daryl's breathing increased with his worry. "BROOKE?" he bellowed, which was quickly silenced by Rick and Shane. Daryl pushed them away. "Where'd she go?"

"My guess is in the woods," Dale sighed.

"Well, what are we waitin' for?" Daryl questioned, impatiently. "Hell, we gotta go get her!" the lack of movement angered Daryl, they were all too stunned by the same thing happening again. He brushed past them all, in a quick dash for the woods.

"Daryl, you can't go alone!" Lori called out after him.

"Well none of you bastards are doin' anythin'!" He barked back, disappearing down into the woods.

"Go after him," Lori instructed Rick. "Bring them both back, safely."

Rick grabbed his gun, and nodded at Shane, who rolled his eyes and went with him.

"I hope she's alright," said Dale. As both him and Lori exchanged worried glances.

Running through the trees, Brooke didn't dare look back. She could hear the moaning corpse approaching from behind, which only kept her running faster. No matter which way she went, she felt like she couldn't lose it.

She tried hiding behind a tree, but the Walker saw her doing so, so she only made it catch up to her. She continued running, taking a moment to look back for a second. However, the ground ran out, gravity pulling her down, causing her to fall down a small cliff-like hill. The small rocky bumps colliding with her skin as she fell, forming small scratches, until she finally hit the bottom.

Shocked from the entire experience, Brooke's body refused to respond right away, which even made her consider if she had become paralysed, this thought immediately vanished once she forgot about that possibility and looked up to see where the Walker was. Thankfully, it was still on top of the hill, pacing up and down, as if it was almost contemplating how to get down.

Straining to push her body up off the ground, Brooke breathed steadily, trying her best to ignore the excruciating pain that was shooting through her body. She felt in her pocket, only to remember that she had left her gun, back in the RV.

"C-Crap," was all she managed to say, even if she wanted to say much worse. Managing to push herself to her feet, she stumbled slightly, still dizzy. She closed her eyes, then felt herself throw up, violently.

A squelching sound was heard from above. Brooke looked up to see the body of the Walker crash harshly to the ground next to her, causing her to let out a startled scream, her weak legs giving way, so that she stumbled backwards. She strained to look up, and saw the Daryl, along with Rick and Shane had now taken the Walker's place at the top of the hill.

"Brooke!" Daryl called down to her. "Ya' alrigh'?"

Brooke ribs were in too much pain to shout an answer back up. They could see she was weak, but the question was, how would they get to her.

"What's the fastest way down?" Shane asked, observing the scene.

"This way!" Daryl answered, beginning to climb down quickly and carefully.

"Daryl!" Rick called down to him, through his teeth. But it was no use, Daryl's mind was made up, and was taking that route to get to his friend. Shane nudged Rick's arm, showing a safer way down and they both quickly took it.

Despite what just happened to her, Brooke still worried for Daryl as he came down, watching his every move to make sure he wouldn't fall.

About five minutes later, Daryl finally made it down, and rushed to Brooke.

"Ya' crazy bitch!" he barked at her, grabbing her shoulders. Not the greeting she was hoping for. "Don't run off on ya' own like that! Ya' could've…" he paused, not wanting to think of that possibility.

"Sorry…" Brooke struggled to say, looking down. Daryl looked at her, then released his grip. He ducked down slightly, using his eyes to gain her attention. She looked at him, and saw the small smile on his face. His way of showing he was glad she didn't die. She returned the smile, only to find herself collapsing into his arms.

"Brooke?" he shook her gently, trying to get a response. "Brooke!"

"What happened?" Rick asked, approaching.

"Passed out." He lifted Brooke up bridal style. "Gotta get her back!"

Rick and Shane nodded as they headed back to the others.

Poor Brooke. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! More soon. Thanks for reading! xx