Chapter 28.


"You're giving me a run for my money, Holly" Noah said to the girl standing next to him. Holly was a cute girl and around his age and I was just standing there watching them flirt back and forth all afternoon while we were at shooting practice. It was one of the cutest things to witness because it was obvious that they liked each other but they weren't really acknowledging it.

"Your brother is a great shot" Spencer said next to me and I nodded.

"He is, even I miss the target sometimes" I said "I guess he gets it from playing video games for most of his teenage years."

"More than likely… So I was thinking of going on a run tomorrow, are you interested?" He asked

"Sure, who else is coming?"

"Just us, I think some of these guys need more practice before they go out there" I nodded slowly and looked up at his face briefly "Is that alright with you?"

"Yeah, that's fine. Any particular place you were thinking of hitting up?"

"There's a super market about twenty miles out, I tried to get in there on my last run but I was too big to get inside"

"So the place is over run?" He nodded

"No walkers, at least none I could see at the time but like I said, I was too big to fit inside the door. Maybe it's not too bad inside, place is still pretty boarded up"

"Awesome, yeah we can do that tomorrow morning. Gives me an excuse to not hang around while Daryl works on his bike" He chuckled

"Not a big fan?"

"Of bikes?" He nodded "Oh no, I love them but it's not as fun just watching a motorcycle get made. I dropped one thing and I was banned from helping out, why do you think I came out here?" I asked him

"Well you don't need any help with your shooting, that's for sure"

"Exactly, thought I'd see how well Noah does before I'm comfortable with him going out with Aiden and Nicholas at the end of the week"

"I don't think you have anything to worry about, he's really good with a gun" I nodded and glanced over at my brother talking with Tara and Holly. Tara was poking fun of him and I smirked, that girl was really growing on me. She was a smart ass and reminded me of my sister in some ways.

"You're right" I smiled wider.

"Do you think he'll be alright with you going out there tomorrow?" Spencer asked after we arrived back at the community front gate.

"As long as you promise him not to get me killed, oh yeah; he should be fine" I mumbled the last bit sarcastically.

"I thought he was going to take my head off yesterday to be honest"

"That's what happens when you sneak up on people" He shook his head with a small laugh "Next time make your presence known when he has a wrench in his hand."

"I'll remember that, it's a good thing I have quick ducking reflexes" I nodded with a small humming noise as he bumped his elbow against mine and I looked up at him and he motioned with his head and I looked over to where Noah and Holly were going off on their own.

"He better use protection" I said "The last thing I need is a Maury episode right now."

"Oh wow" Spencer said and then started to laugh "Man, I miss that show"

"Me too, but not as much as the Steve Wilkos show; I'm pretty sure he's still alive, he's gotta be" I said

"Oh definitely, that man was tough as hell… I'm gonna go head up to the clock tower for a bit, I'll swing by around seven? We'll get a full day out of it"

"Sounds good to me, see you then" He nodded and I slowed my walking to watch him walk and then I looked over at Aaron's place. Daryl was more than likely still working on the motorcycle and I didn't want to sit around and watch that for another night. So the best thing I could come up with was to head home and take a shower to get some of this dirt off of me from being in the woods all afternoon, plus the sun was just dipping behind the trees and usually the people roaming the streets would call it a day and head inside for the night.

I moved my hands up and down my cold arms and headed inside, it had just started to get colder out a few days ago which just meant that summer was gone and fall was in full swing. I hoped it wasn't that bad of a winter, even though we all had houses now and we had heat; I didn't want to think of all of the people outside of these walls needing shelter when I was here comfortable and warm.

After the shower, I grabbed some macaroni from the cabinet and waited for the water to boil on the stove before I put the whole package in and stirred it occasionally so it wouldn't all clump together. Dinner for one it is, for the fourth night in a row.

"I'm going out with Spencer to some market that was boarded up, he thinks there's untouched food in there" Daryl shook his head as his hands slipped from my waist while I stood up from the bed.

"How long?" He asked

"We'll probably be there most of the afternoon if we find some stuff. We're taking his truck to make it easier" He nodded and dragged his fingers down his face.

"Smart. I'll be over-"

"Aarons" I said "How long do you think you have left on the bike?"

"Day probably" He mumbled "Then we're headed out" I nodded slowly and leaned over and kissed him quickly before I started to get dressed. I shimmied on black skinnies, my thick socks and black boots. I pulled a thermal over my top half and then grabbed the leather jacket from the hanger in the closet and slipped my arms into the sleeves. He started to get out of bed slowly and groggily because he didn't get in until after two in the morning.

"Tell that kid if you get hurt it's his ass" I smirked from the corner of my lips and nodded

"Of course, he's already scared of you so I'm sure he'll do whatever he can to keep me safe"

"Good" He said as I clipped the holster onto my thigh and then pushed my knife into my waist band and stuffed the other knife into the side of my boot.

Right at seven there was a few knocks on the front door and I had already eaten a quick breakfast and I was just taking the two water bottles from the fridge and stuffing them into my backpack. Taking in a deep breath, I slung the strap of the backpack onto one shoulder and opened up the door.

"Ready? Spencer asked and I nodded. He had pulled his truck up to the curb of my house so I tossed my bag onto the front seat floor, "I grabbed what you were using yesterday." He said as he pulled the Smith & Wesson M&P 9mm out from the back of his jeans and handed it to me, "Grabbed a few mags just in case too, those are in my bag." He had already prepared, I was a bit surprised.

"Thanks I appreciate it" I told him as I double checked the magazine in my gun to make sure it still had a full seventeen rounds and it did. I pushed the gun into the holster on my outer thigh and clipped it into place so it wouldn't pop out when I was walking.

I climbed up into the truck and pulled the door closed behind me and he hopped into the driver's seat and once we were outside of the gate, we were on alert for the dead and the living that roamed the town that surrounded our little safe haven.

"So what'd he say when you told him?" Spencer asked after pushing a CD into the player that was obviously built into the system of the truck, it was classic rock and it made me smile.

"Oh, that's right. He said that if I get hurt in any way then he'll have your ass"

"Of course he said that" Spencer chuckled and tapped his hands on the leather steering wheel "Don't worry, if I thought this place was gonna put you in danger then I wouldn't have asked you to come."

"Every place is dangerous" I told him and he stopped tapping.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I've got your back though"

"Same here."

The drive took about an hour and a half because one of the roads we were supposed to take was too crowded with walkers so we took an alternate way. "There it is" Spencer muttered as he pulled into the parking lot. He was right; the place was completely boarded up.

"Park off to the side, there" I pointed

"Why?"

"Just in case someone decides to be going by, doesn't see the truck" He nodded as he started to drive the truck near the alley by the trees.

"Smart thinking"

"Common sense" I said

"Ouch" He laughed and I grinned and hit his arm playfully "Come on, I'll show you where the boards were lifted."

We both hopped out and I pushed my bag under the seat and he locked the doors and pushed the keys into his front pocket. I kept my hand on my gun while we walked around the back through some bushes and he took down two walkers that were stuck to the tar. "There" He pointed and I turned around and looked at what should have been the back door to the small shopping market, the whole door was boarded with wood but there was a space just above the door where a window was at one point. "I'll boost you up, just climb in and unlock the door from inside." That sounded way too simple, he didn't even know what was inside.

"You're going to boost me up?" I asked him

"Yeah, if I could have reached it I would have done it but I'm pretty sure I'd cut my hands open if I even tried" I nodded and took in a deep breath to shake off the nerves as we positioned at the door and he crouched down and spread his hands together so I could step onto his palms. I put my hand down on his shoulder and took the step up and I balanced myself before he started to lift and I jumped up and wrapped my arms on the sill of the window and peered inside of the dark market. It looked empty from my eyes but it was so dark…

"How's it look?" Spencer asked

"Not too bad" I said as I grabbed the small flashlight from my waist and shined it inside of the place and yeah, it looked empty and pretty untouched. I banged my hand down against the wall under the window and waited as Spencer grew impatient with holding most of my weight. Once there were no walkers coming towards the noise, I pulled myself up more and climbed through with the flashlight between my teeth so I could grip onto the top of the door so I wouldn't go crashing to the cement floor.

Sliding down on the glass, I jumped down the three feet and turned around to make sure there was nothing there and I found the lock on the door and turned it. I tapped on the door so he would know it was unlocked and he pulled but it didn't open. I pushed against it as he pulled but it wouldn't budge. "Are you shitting me?" I muttered in disbelief to myself. How the hell was I supposed to get out of here now?

"I'm gonna go grab the axe in the truck to break some of this wood up. Grab what you can inside, alright? Yell if you need me!" He called through the door and I sighed.

"Hurry up!" I called back and then turned back around and turned the light along the aisles and pulled the knife from my waistband and started to walk deeper into the store.

A few of the shelves were turned over so there had to have been people inside of here at one point, but I hoped it was before the boards had gone up. When I heard groaning and hissing, I cursed myself for jinxing it and I kicked at an overturned shelf and waited for whatever walker was inside to show itself but it never did but the hissing got louder wherever it was.

I found it trapped under another overturned shelf, it was a woman at one point but she looked like she had been here for a long time and had been a walker trapped inside of this place since the beginning. I leaned down as she reached for me, ignoring her bony hands, I pushed the blade of my knife into her forehead and her arms dropped to the ground.

The hard hit of the axe against the wood outside startled me and I cursed under my breath "How are you doing in there?" Spencer called over.

"Fine" I yelled back "Place has a bunch of stuff, might need to take a couple trips." I emptied a box at one of the counters and started to fill it up with canned goods and whatever that wasn't expired yet and in a small town like this, about 40 percent of the stuff had expired.

I had filled up two boxes of food when he had finally broken free and then he hit the butt end of the axe against the glass and it shattered onto the ground and he climbed through. "Damn, I guess this place was a goldmine" I nodded

"Well come on, start filling up boxes" He put the axe against the wall and grabbed a box and started to fill it up with random things that we would probably need in Alexandria.

"If you find any medical supplies, I'm sure Pete would appreciate it" Spencer suggested.

"Already ahead of you" I called over from my aisle as I tossed the small boxes of bandages into the box at my feet and then I looked at the tube in my hand and I pushed that into my inside pocket of my jacket and then found a needle that went with it. Scanning my eyes along the shelf, I found the box I was searching for and put that in the other side of my jacket and zipped it up so the items wouldn't fall out. I filled up three boxes of medical supplies, mostly bandages and alcohol bottles but it was going to be appreciated and that's all I was looking for.

"Fuck yes" I heard Spencer say about a half hour later and I glanced over as he picked at the keys on the wall and started to unlock the back door and then there was more growling and Spencer was yelling.

I acted quickly and pulled my gun from my holster as he was pushing as a very large walker attacked him, his mouth trying to chomp on Spencer's face. I aimed and shot him in the head after he pushed him away enough so I knew I had a clean shot and Spencer dropped him to the ground.

"Thanks" He said as he looked back at me and I nodded.

"I don't know how you've survived out here for this long scavenging by yourself" I told him honestly "Rule 1 of entering a new, locked room is to always check through the window before you enter, ya know just in case there are things that want to eat your face off on the other side."

"I wasn't thinking" He said as he kicked the door open more and stepped over the dead walker "But look" He said as he came back holding a box and when I put the flashlight on the side I started to laugh.

"You almost got yourself killed for a box full of beef jerky?"

"Beef jerky never goes bad, plus there are two boxes of this; I don't think most of the kids have ever had beef jerky" He said as he put the box on the counter.

"Okay, yeah they kind of need it" I said and he laughed as he grabbed the other box and put it with the other. "I'm gonna start loading some of these into the back of the truck"

"Yeah we should, less of a hassle to start doing it now rather than later" He agreed as I grabbed two boxes stacked on top of each other and I climbed through the broken window of the door walked back through the bushes and tossed the boxes onto the truck bed and he came back with three boxes.

We loaded the back of the truck for the next hour and even ate a few beef jerky sticks along the way. It was a peaceful day and nothing happened other than that walker that almost got Spencer in the office. It was simple and we got out of there hours before I thought we would. It was one-thirty in the afternoon so we'd have time to go back after unloading the truck bed at Alexandria.

"You guys made out, wow" Reg, Spencer's father said, as Nicholas and a couple more of the men helped unload the back of the truck after getting in at three.

"We couldn't grab it all; there are about ten other boxes we couldn't grab so we're gonna head back" Spencer said as I walked out of Olivia's where the pantry was and where they'd go through everything while we were gone.

"Are you sure you need to go back? It looks like you've got enough son" Reg said and then he looked over at me.

"Yeah I'm gonna head back, we left the beef jerky" He said and I shook my head.

"Aurora, I really appreciate it that you went out with my son to get all of this for the community; I know that they'll be grateful" I smiled at his words.

"It's no problem, whatever I can do to help and it was easier than most of the runs I've been on. When are we headed back out?" I asked Spencer.

"I'm gonna go, no use in having two people grab the rest"

"I don't think that's smart" I said "I know we cleared the place but that gunshot could have drawn out some walkers."

"I can handle it" He said and I hesitated but nodded.

"Alright, I guess I'll help sort the boxes until you come back. Don't eat all the jerky, dork" I said and nudged his arm when I walked by him and he laughed. I heard my name come from Reg's mouth when I was leaving the two but I didn't care to know what they were talking about.

"I think you earned yourself a box, grab whatever you want" Olivia said and I shook my head.

"I don't need a full box" I said "We grabbed for the community, not for ourselves."

"Okay but you're not walking out of here empty handed, Aiden's bringing over his van so we can load in the medical boxes" I nodded and made sure to push those near the door so it'd be easier for him to grab and get out so I wouldn't have to deal with him.

"Do you mind if I grab a box of these?" I asked her as I picked up a small box of bandages and she nodded "Still not used to shaving…" I played it off and she grinned.

"Totally understandable, here…" She said as she unloaded the cans and handed me the empty box. "Grab whatever you want" I put the bandages inside of the box as well as a few of the cans and a couple boxes of noodles as well as the bars of chocolate I found for Noah.

I walked back to my house after and slid the box up onto the table in the kitchen and put the cans into the cabinet and the bars of chocolate in the fridge. I unzipped my jacket and pulled the supplies from my pockets and walked up the steps to the bathroom and put those in the cabinet for safe keeping.

I put my knifes in the drawer in the bedroom and wrapped my hair back up into a pony tail before leaving the house and walked over to Aaron and Eric's garage and ducked under the large door that was halfway open. Daryl was on his back working under a motorcycle that looked so much like it would work now than it did a couple days ago.

"You're back?" Daryl asked as he hopped up onto his feet "What happened?"

"Nothing happened" I smiled as I glanced over at Aaron, he had been helping him with the bike. "It just was easier than we thought, piled all of the things into boxes and we headed back; Spencer is heading back to grab the rest and didn't need me."

"You're not hurt?" I shook my head

"Not a drop of blood on me" I said as I pushed my sleeves up to my elbows, "How's the bike coming along?"

"Almost done, should have it running in a couple of hours" Aaron said.

"That's great news, oh and even better news for Mrs. Needermier"

"You found her a pasta maker?"

"We did, now we don't have to hear about it anymore" Aaron laughed

"I have to go tell Eric, here" He said as he handed me the tool kit and I smiled as he left me alone with Daryl.

"Everything went fine?" Daryl asked as he went down to the same position I found him in and he grabbed a tool from the bag I was holding.

"Yeah, only two walkers in the place and most of the stuff was salvageable" I sat indian-style beside him as he worked and my eyes stayed on his greased up hands while they moved along the engine.

"We're gonna head out tomorrow if it works tonight" He said after a few minutes of silence and I nodded, his blue eyes glanced at my face for a reaction but I wasn't going to give him the one he was looking for.

"Alright"

"Alright?" He asked

"Yeah, what? Did you want me to yell and say it's too soon? That doesn't solve anything"

"Kinda got used to ya yellin' at me" He mumbled as he sat up and wiped his hands on the rag that was on the seat.

"Well I'm trying not to from now on, you're a grown man and can do what you want" He put the screw driver back into the bag on my lap "But if you are leaving tomorrow then don't stay here until two in the morning, I want at least one dinner with you before you leave."

"I can do that" He said as he leaned over and kissed my lips quickly before pushing himself to stand.

I ended up at the house, showered and dressed in comfortable clothes as I cooked dinner. Daryl came in just after eight and I glanced over at him while he kicked off his boots. "Bike's runnin'" were the first words out of his mouth.

That meant that they'd be leaving tomorrow morning, god dammit. I wished that the bike wasn't working but I guess lady luck wasn't on my side today. I nodded towards him and turned the stove back on to reheat the already made Chicken Alfredo. I had made myself a bowl without the chicken because I still couldn't stomach the taste of any type of meat but it smelt delicious.

After he came down from upstairs all washed up, I slid his plate over to him and grabbed two beers from the fridge and sat down opposite him at the island in the middle of the kitchen. "What time were you two going to head out?" I asked as he dove into his meal.

"Around eight. Still going with the group to the warehouse?" I shrugged

"Might be, depends"

"On?" He asked as he leaned back in his seat with the beer bottle to his lips.

"If I feel like it or not, Spence said I might be useful in the watch tower" He nodded "So I might stay here and keep an eye out."

"S'not a bad job, rather you be here anyways" I smiled from the corner of my lips and nodded.

"I had a feeling you would."

We finished our dinners and two beers each with some easy conversation and Noah ended up joining us around nine to eat two bowls of the Alfredo. "Oh, I grabbed you something on the run today" I remembered as I hopped off of my stool and opened up the fridge to grab the Crunch chocolate bar.

"How in the hell did you find this?" He asked as he opened it and took a large bite, making a small noise of approval once it hit his taste buds.

"We made out pretty good today; I actually got a lot of food…" I opened up the cabinets "So you can't complain that I never go to the pantry to restock" I grinned at him sarcastically and he rolled his eyes, "But I'm sure you'll find something to complain about."

"Hey!" He said and I laughed, Daryl shook his head with a small smirk as he grabbed another beer.

"Just speaking the truth" I mumbled with a smile as I put my dishes into the sink and then fingers were on my sides tickling me and I started to laugh, while batting his fingers away. "You're so going to pay for that" I said as I turned around and grabbed the sink hose and pulled the trigger and the water sprayed out on his face.

I let the trigger go and he stood there soaked, "I can't believe you just did that" he said as he wiped his face with the bottom of his t-shirt.

"I told you you were going to pay" I said and then he attacked me, trying to get the hose as he started to tickle my side again. The hose was spraying wherever and all over the kitchen and I knew I'd have a mess to clean up tomorrow but right now I was having too much fun to care. He got the hose and turned it towards my face and I sputtered out water from my mouth and then ducked the water was cut off.

"Shit, sorry man" Noah said and I glanced back at Daryl who had been leaning against the fridge watching us with amusement. His shirt was sticking to him because when I ducked the water shot his way.

"I think it's time we stop" I mumbled as Noah pushed the hose back into the slot on the sink.

"You're probably right, well I guess I don't need a shower now" He said as he raked his fingers back through his hair.

"Guess not… I'm going to clean up, you go and dry off" He nodded as he wrapped his arm around the back of my neck and hugged me and we squished together as I hugged him back. As he walked away, Daryl tossed me a towel and I wiped my face off and dragged it back through my damp hair. "Sorry about that" I said over to him as he grabbed another towel and put it down on the hardwood floor to dry it off.

"For what?" He asked "You were havin' fun, don't think I've seen you laugh like that."

"He was always the one to draw that out of me" I whispered "When we first found out that there was another kid out there after my mom died, I was on my dad's side. My mom and I never really had a great relationship, but I tried to stick it out with her when she was going through chemo and after it came out in her will that Noah was out there and that she wanted the kids to know him, I didn't want anything to do with him."

"Wouldn't've thought it right there" He said "So when did ya finally think of him as a brother?" He asked as he crouched down and wiped up the water alongside me.

"When I was nineteen, and he was thirteen. He would follow me everywhere, when I had friends over he'd always chime in and I know I was being a bitch most of the time to him but I just didn't want this kid bugging me; so him and Izzy became fast friends because they were only a year apart in age. But there was the one day when these kids were picking on him from coming from a white family, they were calling him all types of names and pushing him around. I was picking up Izzy and he was supposed to be going to track practice, but I don't know what came over me; I got out of the car and protected him. Safe to say those kids never picked on him again once I called their parents-"

"You were one of those?" He asked as he looked up at me

"What? They were bullying my little brother, I know it was probably different in the south where you grew up but in Chicago there's a better chance of getting kids to back off by calling parents and being a rat than throwing fists. We came from a higher middle class family so when we found Noah and he started to live with us, our whole white neighborhood had a different color added to the mix, we were outsiders because of that for a while and I was sick of it." I picked up the wet towels and tossed them into the sink and leaned my lower back against the counter "Noah was still annoying but eventually I became a big sister, and once those ads came out of my sister and I and I started to weed out who was really my friend, Noah was the constant and he's a really great listener, like really good" I shook my head with a small smile "I went through a lot of bad breakups and he let me talk his ear off until I finally realized that my life wasn't going to end because of a stupid guy."

"How many are we talkin' about here?" He asked and I smirked

"Ummm, six or seven until I met my last boyfriend who I was with for two years" I wrapped my hands around the end of my shirt and let the water drain from it and his hands slid underneath it and traced along my skin and I giggled. His chin pressed into the crook of my neck and he kissed my cheek "But you're definitely my favorite boyfriend of all."

"Eh"

"Still don't like the word?" I asked

"Don't mind it, just not used to it" I turned around in his arms and wrapped my hands to the back of his neck. "You're my girlfriend" He said and I grinned.

"Wow, you actually sounded pretty confident" He shook his head and pressed his forehead against mine, his fingers going up to my necklace and his index finger slipped inside of my dad's ring. "Have you ever thought about getting married?" I asked him in a quiet voice, nervous of what his answer would be.

"Nah" He said simply "Especially now, sure Maggie and Glenn's was nice but we ain't them" He whispered and his fingers fell from the necklace. "But ya never know" He shrugged as he let me go and he took a few steps back to head upstairs for the night.

"What does 'Ya never know' supposed to mean?" I asked him

"Ya never know, if this place is still standin' in a year I might have to make an honest woman outta ya" He turned around and a huge smile graced my face.

"Honest woman out of me?" I asked and ran and jumped on his back. He caught me but stumbled a few steps; his arm came up to hold under my ass so I wouldn't slip.

"That's what I said, why are ya freakin' out?" He asked with a short laugh as he walked up the stairs slowly.

"You can't stay stuff like this and expect me to not be a girl"

"Forgot you were one" He said and I hit his back playfully which caused him to chuckle again.

"You're an ass" I said as I got onto my feet and spun around him to get inside of the bedroom first and I was about to close to door but he pushed it open with him strength and I giggled as he tackled me onto the bed.

"I'm bein' sweet to you and you're callin' me names" He shook his head as he kissed my temple.

"What if I proposed to you right now? Would you say no? I might have to make an honest man out of you" I said as I looked up at him while brushing his hair out of his face.

"Don't do that"

"Would you say no?" I asked him

"Just don't do it" He mumbled against my lips and kissed me and nipped on my bottom lip so distract me from marriage talk for now.