Chapter 36

Lovely day for walker camo

"I'm going to go straight to the shower." Gordie muttered. "I'm tired of smelling like a dead man."

Archer had to agree. They were absolutely filthy. She had never felt so disgusting in her life. When Fort Charles came into view, they picked up their pace. "Showers and then food."

"Oh god, food. " Gordie started to rub a hand through his hair but stopped himself. His hands were still covered in gore.

In fact, they were both pretty much covered in the dead. When the walkers attacked, she and Gordie ran for the bridge and dove into the canal. The current in the canal carried them away swiftly but they had to cross to the North side of the canal to escape the walkers following the storm. Of course, there were others coming up from the South, but they hid in the treetops until the worst of the storm passed.

Knowing that the walkers in the area would have been whipped up by the active weather, they set about creating "walker camo". They stripped the first walker they killed, Archer taking its shirt and boots, Gordie donning its pants. Then they slathered themselves in its guts. It was foul business but the fact that she didn't vomit seemed to have impressed Gordie.

"We have to approach the fort carefully." She warned. "We don't want them thinking we're walkers."

"Agreed."

They followed the road up to the gate, pausing to wave a few times. She knew that everyone would be worried. They'd taken a circuitous route home to ensure they evaded the other people in their attempted kidnapper's group. They'd also had to spend the better part of a day hiding on top of a truck when a herd passed by.

Instead of heading to the gate, they went straight to the beach. There was no way they were going to go inside with that much walker on them.

Through the ordeal, Gordie seemed to come around. He wasn't exactly chatty with her, but he was a heck of a lot less gruff. He was helping her scrub some of the walker out of her hair when she heard she heard Michonne's voice.

"Hold it right there. State your business." She'd come down from the gates with a few others, they were well armed.

"Is that anyway to greet a friend?" Archer yelled back.

"Emma? Gordie?" Michonne's voice was filled with disbelief.

"What, don't recognize us under all this walker?" Gordie pulled another piece out of her long hair.

Michonne was smiling now. "Come on, let's get you to the showers."

Daryl was absent when she arrived at the fort. Emma had been looking forward to seeing him, but was advised he was on a run.

Both Gordie and Emma were tired and wanted to get clean as quickly as possible. They decided to throw away propriety and shower at the same time. There were curtains separating them and that was really enough. When they emerged, Sheila had deposited clean towels and clothes for them.

Smelling of soap, they were herded into the kitchen to eat and Joel gave them both a once over. Michael's eyes shone with joy when he saw her. He sat next to her while she ate, one arm wrapped around her shoulder.

He told her how Daryl and Rick had found the bodies and their equipment. Michael told her of the funeral they had held a few days before her return.

"When's Daryl due back?" She asked, anxious to see her lover again. It was the thought of his embrace that had kept her going. Emma never felt safer than she did in his arms.

"Daryl went out on a circuit this morning." Michael explained. "He should be back soon. Rick's been going with him. Cap didn't think Daryl should be left alone out there."

"He took your loss bad, Em." Joel advised her solemnly.

When she finished eating, she wanted to check on Churchill and then wait at the gate for Daryl. Michael tried to talk her out of it, telling her she should sleep. Archer shook him off. He followed her to the stable on the pretense of keeping an eye on her.

Churchill whinnied and bounced in his stall when she arrived. "Hey boy." She patted his nose over the stall door and slipped him the apple she'd nabbed from the kitchen. "Miss me much?" He snorted, greedily eating the fruit as the stroked his ears.

"Sal will be glad you're back. Churchill's been more ill-mannered than usual." Michael laughed, leaning on Tank's stall.

A shadow crossed the doorway to the stable. Archer looked up from Churchill to see a familiar outline.

"Hey Daryl."

"Emma." There was so much emotion in that one word it startled her.

She stepped closer to Daryl. "I missed you."

He crossed into the barn and fell to his knees in front of her. Wrapping his hands around her waist, he buried face in her stomach.

Daryl was shaking.

She stroked his hair. "Hey, easy. It's okay." She said softly, hearing Michael beat a quiet retreat from the stables, closing the door behind him. "Everything's okay."

Emma knelt down and wrapped her arms around Daryl's shoulders. He hugged her tightly, his beard scratching against her neck. "God I wish you knew how much I missed this." She sighed. "How much I missed being in your arms. It's all I could think about at night."

Daryl's face pulled away from her shoulder, his eyes searched her face in wonderment. "Thought you were dead."

"I know. Michael told me."

He leaned in and kissed her softly, placing a second kiss on her forehead. "I love you. Don't ever die again."