The Walking Dead: Hearts Collide Chapter 36

Daryl Dixon held his arms wrapped tightly around Emma Townsdale's waist as the two finally rested after the course of events that had recently taken place. Emma enjoyed the moment as Daryl had another spontaneous act of romance kissing her tenderly and whispering how beautiful and amazing she was. His breath sent a warming sensation throughout her body as he continuing speaking quietly into it.

"I never knew someone could be so damn beautiful." Daryl told her smirking as Emma squeezed his wrists. Daryl was starting to see just how perfect the two were for each other. He thought back to their first encounter in Atlanta. Their camp had been swarmed with the dead causing Daryl and the other to flee back to the city. That day had changed his life forever. Rick had been reunited with an old friend, the group gained a valuable ally, and Daryl found the person who was becoming the love of his life. Hell, maybe she was already. He was changing slowly but progressively. When the outbreak had all started, Daryl kept to himself. Now, he could manage a small conversation with other members of the group. Well, everyone besides the bastard known as Jimmy. But even that stunt brought the two closer. In a way, Jimmy almost helped their relationship. But Daryl did not nor would he ever see it that way.

"Fuck Jimmy." Daryl thought. He planted another kiss on Emma's cheek. She giggled rolling over onto her side.

"It's funny how we would die for each other yet it somehow feels like we hardly know anything about each other." Emma smiled cradling Daryl's face.

"I know that you were in college before the shit hit the fan. You didn't know what to do with your life." Daryl lifted the corner of his mouth giving a sly smile. He felt proud about himself for remembering that detail. Emma's face winced. Daryl immediately ran through that conversation in his head. Emma had said she was a college student, did he hear her wrong?

"What?" He asked feeling stupid.

"It's just…when I told you that…I was lying." Emma admitted sighing. She lifted herself upright sitting against the cell wall. Daryl kept his hands locked around her keeping her close.

"I was in college at the time, but I had a career. I was journalist. I learned to keep my identity hidden so acting like someone else came easy to me. I wasn't sure how well I could trust this group so I kept my past hidden. It is stupid but old habits die-hard. There are people out there who promised to murder me no matter what. I figured that since the world had no authority, people connected to my cases would actually kill me. Rick was the first person I used my real name with." Emma rubbed the back of her neck obvious pondering the many thoughts scattering within her mind. Minutes passed without a word. Emma was clearly at a lost for words.

"Who else were you?" Daryl asked hoping the question would distract the awkwardness between them.

"Tessa Gertrude, Julie Holmes, Mary Thompson, and Leila Jackson. I changed my name with every new group I came across. I only joined two, so Julie and Leila stayed with me for a while. As Julie, the group consisted of three others who were siblings. All three of them died trying to escape a herd. The second group was filled with assholes." Emma stopped again looking away. "When I was Leila, this older guy named David grabbed me one night and forced me to do things. His girlfriend, Regina, found as and was convinced I came onto him. My scar is from her after she stabbed me." Daryl brushed a finger along the healed yet visible wound. "I fought for my life as she tried throwing me off the building we were camped out on. David tried helping her but I managed to free myself form their grips. I grabbed that knife and killed Regina. David screamed calling me a murderer as the rest of the group came over. Two of them tried shooting me but I was too fast. I kicked David over the edge of the building when he pulled on my hair. I didn't regret it until I had to kill another member of the group trying to run down the stairs. All the commotion drew walkers and the stairwell was swarmed. I jumped over the railing and practically hacked my way through a few walkers. I was in the middle of the street when I heard the calls for help." Tears slowly slid down her face. "I…I felt horrible and depressed for weeks. But one day, I knew I had to continue living. I never considered suicide because that's a permanent solution for a temporary problem. I didn't care that the dead were walking because life was worth everything. And now, you're a reason why I live." Emma looked to him with a sad smile. "I lied about my parents. I went home and they were gone already. My mom left a note for my brother Logan and me. My mom and dad went to Atlanta to be with my grandparents. I…that city was dead. I don't have much hope that their alive but I refuse to believe they're dead. Logan was a senior in high school and attached to his girlfriend's hip. I taught him how to use a gun; he can handle himself and protect his girlfriend Janice." She stopped again rubbing her arms. "Everyday I thought about Logan. I…I know he's out there. The question is if he's alive. I know he is…at least…I hope he is. No, he has to be. Logan is not a quitter, he's a fighter because he's a Townsdale." Emma smiled to herself. Daryl could feel the hope in her words. He had a totally new perspective over Emma now. She had opened up about her entire life, she trusted Daryl. It felt weird knowing Emma was not originally just some innocent girl who grew to adapt to the new world. No, Emma had been strong long before the dead started walking. And shit, she was one hell of an actor. Daryl had no reason to believe she was never telling the truth about herself. Emma knew that and used that to her advantage. Wow, she was one smart girl.

"Are you okay?" Emma asked brushing her fingertips along his cheek. Daryl had not realized his staring at been directed at her. There were so many words he wanted to speak but they would not come out. He was bad with words. Instead, he acted on instinct. His hands cupped her face and he peered deeply into her eyes. The lust was a monster within him, every ounce of his body wanted Emma. Slowly he leaned in keeping Emma's head still. His eyes closed as his lips were inches from hers. Finally, they touched, a hunger awakening in Daryl. Emma's hands locked behind his neck as their tongues tangled. The kiss was passionate, soft, smooth, and unhurried. A feeling rushed through Daryl as he lightly pulled Emma to rest on top of him. That moment then, Daryl knew then that the warmth he felt towards Emma was not insecurities. It was love.

"I can't believe this actually worked." Addison huffed examining Hershel's missing foot.

"It was a ballsy move, but at least it saved his life." T-Dog replied wiping at his forehead.

"Y'all going to keep talking about my leg, or finally talk to me?" Hershel Greene teased, a small choked chuckling ending the sentence. Inside the older man's cell was Addison, T-Dog, Patricia, and Beth.

"We're here for you, Hershel." Patricia laughed patted his sweaty head with an old rag. "How you feeling?"

"Like hell. But guess that's better than being dead and feeling nothing at all." Hershel smiled, letting out a small cough.

"I'll get you some more water." Addison offered exiting the cell. The source of their water was currently unknown to Addison. If anyone knew, it would be Rick. The man was most likely in his cell comforting his worrisome wife. Addison admired Lori Grimes. Even with the threats outside, the woman stayed strong and wanted her unborn child. But, the immediate fear of Lori dying while giving birth or even after crossed the mind of all the survivors.

"Addison!" A voice called. Down the stairs rushing came Jimmy.

"You alright?" Addison asked trying to be quick. She continued on walking towards Lori's cell. Hershel's was just three cells down, and with the lack of privacy, everyone would be capable of hearing Jimmy. The fact was proven true when Dale poked his head out of his cell. He gave Addison a look questioning if she was safe. She nodded turning around to face Jimmy.

"Jimmy, can we talk later?" Addison asked, bluntly.

"I just thought I would keep you company." Jimmy gleamed reaching out for Addison's hand. The teenager yanked her hand away glaring at the male.

"Jimmy, we need to talk another time. I'm busy." Addison whispered through grunted teeth. Jimmy nodded, his smile slowly fading. He turned on his heels and practically sprinted back to their cell. That cell was the only place he felt safe, Addison almost thought it was pitiful.

"Mind me asking what that was about?" Dale asked standing beside Addison.

"I said I didn't hate him and now he thinks I love him." She replied rolling her eyes. The boy's sanity was becoming hazy, but maybe he could find it again. Addison just needed to get Hershel water. That was her current and only task at the moment.

TWDTWDTWD

Rick Grimes emerged from Lori's cell. Everyone knew to be cautious and avoid Jimmy. So when Rick the threat addressing Addison, the issue needed to be investigated. Addison approached the sheriff slowly.

"Mind telling me what that was about?" Rick asked.

"Jimmy just…he's confused and he thinks I'm his 'new girlfriend.'" Addison rolled her eyes running a hand through her hair. "Everyone hates him. I said I had no reason to hate him yet. In his head, I guess that means I love him."

"He's dangerous." Rick warned. "Stay away from him. I'll get him out of your cell tonight."

"If Jimmy is so dangerous, then why the hell is he still here?" Addison challenged. "I don't trust him either, but if no one in this group does, why keep him around?" Rick pondered for a second taking in the words. At first it had been too inhumane to just rid of Jimmy, but the group had done the same exact thing to Derek, Addison's brother.

"Because he's lost." Lori spoke. The pregnant woman stood in her cell entrance, one hand rested upon her stomach as the other held onto the prison bar for support.

"I don't like having him around, and it's not easy to sleep peacefully knowing his around. But he's just a kid. He's gullible. Weren't we all at his age?"

"I'm his age." Addison inputed.

"And clearly you've more brain than he ever will." Lori smiled. "Now, I'm not saying we trust him. I'm just saying that we have to understand why he did the things he did so we can move on. "

"Lori's right." Dale agreed. The older man had peeked into the conversation from one cell down.

"It's how we keep our humanity. Randall was a threat, but we stayed humane in that situation." Dale continued.

"Yeah, and that almost had Amy killed, and Emma twice." Rick objected. The sudden thought of having Jimmy around repulsed him. Addison made a good point, why the hell was Jimmy still around?

"You didn't seem to have a problem sending Derek on his way." Addison interjected.

"Jimmy is only here because of me." Someone voiced. The four turned around to see Beth standing just behind Dale.

"None of y'all will admit it, but Jimmy is still here out of pity for me." Beth went on. "You see me as this weak little girl, but I'm not. I can learn to handle myself just fine, and I don't need a boyfriend to comfort me. I broke up with Jimmy because I saw how he was affecting the group. I don't want anything to do with him but I don't want him dead either. And he will be dead if he's out there on his own. So don't keep Jimmy out of pity, keep him because you, Rick, you believe he should be around. And if you don't, then send him away." A tone of confidence voiced Beth's words. Rick had never saw Beth as weak, only naïve. But at this moment, he could not imagine why. The girl was capable of acting on her own. She's managed to survive the undead this long, granted she's had some help. But there are people whom currently walk as corpses who had friends and a family to protect them. Maybe, maybe this girl was a survivor. All eyes were upon Rick awaiting his final answer.

"Damn it." Rick cursed himself. The two options were both tempting. Sending Jimmy away kept the group safe. Keeping Jimmy meant having an extra hand, but giving him a weapon would never happen.

"Why don't we have another vote?" Dale offered. "We voted with Randall, we could vote again."

"That's actually a good idea." Lori approved. Addison nodded her head in agreement. Beth stood there, silent and still.

"Are you alright with voting?" Rick shifted the final answered over to Beth. The girl held a momentarily glance with each individual.

"We vote." Beth concluded, a small smile forming.

"Tonight, we'll sit everyone down and decide." Rick added, nodding. "As for right now, we need to get the other vehicles inside. Dale, take Carl into the guard tower with you. Beth, get Maggie and Glenn into the next. Addison, grab Carol, Daryl, T-Dog, and Emma and tell them to meet me by the front entrance."

Carol's truck was the last vehicle to enter the prison grounds. Carol exited the driver side as Emma did the passenger. Daryl was examining his motorcycle as Rick and T-Dog conversed near the toppled over prison bus. Dale and Carl had taken to the guard tower at the front gates while Maggie and Glenn occupied the tower within the prison fences. Emma and Carol joined Rick and T shortly followed by Daryl.

"That was the last of them." Carol told referring to her truck.

"Good." Rick gave a nod. "I think the next order of business is to load up these corpses." He gestured towards the officially dead walkers the group had taken out the first day around the yard.

"It's going to be a long day." T noted.

"Best to get it out of the way now." Rick proclaimed.

"Where do you want the pile to be?" Emma asked.

"Before we do that, we should get Maggie and Glenn to help." Carol suggested looking towards their guard tower.

"I haven't seen them since we got out here." Emma noticed.

"Hey Glenn!" Daryl shouted. "Maggie!" The five members waited for Glenn and Maggie's response. After about a minute, Glenn came into sight, shirtless and buttoning his pants. Carol and the others let out small laughs seeing the awkwardness of Glenn.

"Yeah?" Glenn replied just barely audible.

"We need ya help." Daryl informed, snickering. "Coming?" Carol lightly punched Daryl's arm as Emma and Rick let loose a loud laugh.

"What?" Glenn asked not picking up on the joke.

"You coming to help?" Daryl reworded his question, still smiling.

"Yes!" Maggie answered peeking her head around the guard tower door. Her head was messy, but she did not in the slightest seem embarrassed. She pulled Glenn back into the room and shut the door.

"Fucking love birds." T chuckled.

"That's exactly what they were doing." Emma teased. The five erupted into another roar of laughter.

"Rick." T-Dog said. Carol turned to see Rick's smile fade away. Standing just past the inner fence was Axel and Oscar.

"I thought you had them in another cellblock." Carol remembered feeling the need to be cautious.

"Daryl, T, come with me. You two stay back." Rick instructed walking towards the prisoners.

"What do you think they want?" Emma asked.

"No idea, I just hope they're civil." Carol replied.

"Those two aren't that bad. It was Tomas and Andrew that were crazy."

"They tell you why they're in prison?" Carol wondered.

"No, that's why I don't trust them. For all we know, Axel could have been a serial killer and Oscar a rapist."

"Which one is Axel?"

"The blonde one."

"Well, I don't think we can trust them. Didn't Rick say they knew Tomas was going try killing us?"

"Oscar somewhat admitted to it, though I'm not he necessarily knew. Axel kept denying it."

"So we have possible liars." Carol observed.

"Now I feel like they were in here for tax fraud." Emma joked nudging Carol. The woman smiled watching carefully. Maggie and Glenn rushed out of the guard tower standing just behind the two prisoners. No action had taken place yet by either side. Axel seemed desperate from where Carol stood.

"Maybe we should go over there." Carol recommended.

"You read my mind." Emma said already walking away. Emma stood beside Daryl as Carol went to T's side.

"We'll do anything to be a part of your group, mister." Axel begged.

"Our deal is not negotiable. You can live in your cellblock, or you can leave." Rick replied.

"I told you this was a waste of time." Oscar said. "They don't trust us. They're no different then the assholes who shot our boys." Oscar turned his attention towards Rick. "Do you realize how many friends we had to drag out? These were good people in shitty places. They had our backs when assholes tried fucking with us. We're not like Tomas and Andrew, but we've all made our mistakes to end up in prison. I'm not a saint, but I've paid my due and I deserve to be free. There ain't no fucking way I'm going back into that cellblock." Carol felt a small sadness for the man. Not everyone belonged in prison, mistakes happen. But she still could not trust him. He was a prisoner, his crime was still unknown, and he was in a group that had wanted her and the others dead. Rick inched his way towards Oscar.

"Fine." Rick said.

Emma Townsdale forcefully slammed the prison fence shut. With a swift movement, the lock had been set. Axel and Oscar stood just a foot away on the other side of the fence. Rick had decided to kick the prisoners out as they had betrayed the agreement.

"Please don't do this miss! We're good people!" Axel pleaded. Emma looked between both men keeping a blank expression.

"Shut up Axel, we'll be fine." Oscar coldly said. "People like them will never forgive."

"We've forgiven plenty!" Emma snapped.

"Then why is that kid still treated as a fucking criminal?" Oscar shot back.

"Eavesdropping, nice." Emma rolled her eyes.

"Pretty hard thing to miss when your group is in a constant screaming match about the fucking kid."

"It takes time to forgive, Oscar." Axel tried.

"You don't know what he did." Emma said.

"He's a kid. What the fuck can he do?" Oscar tested.

"Emma!" Rick called. Emma turned around to see Carol, Daryl, Rick, Maggie, T-Dog, and Glenn staring at her. Daryl was already approaching.

"What the fuck are you saying to her?" Daryl growled wrapping a protective arm around Emma's waist.

"Oscar wasn't being offensive!" Axel defended. "Mr. Daryl, please don't make us leave!"

"Stop begging Axel!" Oscar yelled. "They don't want us here."

"Fuck no we don't want you here." Daryl agreed.

"Daryl, let's go." Emma whispered. Daryl looked at being the urge to protect.

"Get the fuck out." Daryl demanded. Daryl gently pulled Emma closer taking a step back. Emma followed in his lead joining Rick.

"What did they say to you?" Rick asked.

"Axel was just begging to stay." Emma told rubbing her arm.

"And what about Oscar?" Daryl observed that Oscar had also spoken.

"Oscar…he wanted to know why we couldn't forgive Jimmy." Emma answered.

"How do they know about that?" Carol questioned, a look of worry coming over her face.

"We're they spying on us?" Glenn wondered.

"They could hear us." Emma explained. "This group is loud as hell when they argue. All the fighting over Jimmy, Oscar and Axel could hear it."

"Even when isolated the boy stirs trouble." T-Dog examined shaking his head. "We should have sent him packing with Addison's brother."

"Should have left that asshole back at the farm." Daryl snarled.

"You know we couldn't do that." Rick said.

"He's just confused." Glenn added.

"Jimmy was always gullible." Maggie remembered.

"We already promised Beth-" Rick went on.

"Don't mind I trust him." Carol interjected looking over her shoulder. "Hey guys." She whispered, a shock of joy in her voice. Emma turned her attention in the direction Carol looked off to. Just outside of the prison walls was Hershel. The man was on crotches and being escorted by Beth, Lori, and Carl. Addison, Dale, Jacqui, and Patricia were nearby watching the miracle. Emma noticed Jimmy leaned against the prison entrance. Emma smiled as Hershel hobbled on his crotches clearly determined to each the inner prison fence.

"You got this daddy!" Maggie encouraged.

"Yeah Hershel!" Glenn shouted.

"Woo!" Emma cheered.

"Come on Hershel!" Daryl roared.

"Walkers!" Carol screamed. Emma's happy expression slowly faded away. Just beyond Hershel and quickly swarming was a walker herd.

I am so sorry this chapter took so long! My schedule just got so busy and motivation was lacking. But I can assure you that chapters will be more frequent! Thank you everyone who supports this series, it means the world to me. As always, follow, favorite, review, and recommend!

The Walking Dead returns October! My goal is to have this series caught up to the season four finale by then. No promises, but wish me luck!