36

After a little more traveling, the days drawled into weeks. The group was making a routine out of their searches for places to live in and even finding more necessary materials—food, any kinds of vitamins Hershel thought would be necessary for Lori, clothes, shoes, whatever it was they thought would be necessary. It was still a little hard, since most of the houses had been raided before they had shown up.

The group felt anything but lucky sometimes, that in the weeks they spent jumping from place to place, there had been a slight increase in the walkers they encountered, but not enough for them to get too worried. Though they seemed successful in their search for places to stay and in the essentials they needed, there was still great concern over Lori's pregnancy.

Her stomach had gotten bigger, and she talking about how she could feel the baby move.

Since Lori's stomach was getting bigger, it was starting to get a little difficult for her to walk, and her relationship with Rick and Carl hadn't improved at all. Carl was still snappish with her; Rick was still keeping his distance, only communicating with his wife when it was necessary or if there was a severe enough issue with her health.

Which was rare.

With all the house jumping they did, there was a little glimmer of hope of possibly finding another survivor. Though the possibility of any survivors being allowed to stay in Rick's group seemed highly unlikely. It was hard enough keeping the others alive, if there was the slightest chance that there were other survivors in the houses or even in the open...it would cause a lot more tension between the group members.

Though the idea of having another member join the group seemed to be a hesitant one, Aibileen thought the idea of another survivor joining them wasn't a bad idea at all. There would be some difficulties, but when she had joined the group, she quickly found a position and used that to help her continuation in survival and helped the rest of the group survive, as well.

Aibileen liked to think that if there were other living people out there, they'd be able to prove their usefulness somehow.

But Rick didn't want to risk it.

"We're having a difficult time as it is," Rick had said. "I understand what you're saying, Aibileen, but we can't just keep bringing people in. They could be dangerous."

"Daryl's gone up ahead to search for a place to stay for the night," Rick said.

Aibileen nodded. She and Daryl's relationship had been perfect in the past couple weeks. While before their relationship was kind of awkward, both of them trying to keep it as innocent and friendly as possible, there was a spark that ignited and the two of them seemed to show more affections around each other, but mostly in private. As wonderful as it had been, finally being able to demonstrate some form of affection toward the hunter, Aibileen still wasn't sure what to call the relationship they shared.

"Let's hope he finds a place soon," Aibileen said, "the sun's goin' down."

The heavy clouds that had hung in the sky for so long were beginning to thin, and the group was starting to see bits of the real, blue sky underneath. It felt like forever since they had seen a little bit of sky.

"How's everything been going with Hershel's lessons?" Rick asked.

Over the past weeks, deciding to broaden her field a little, Aibileen had asked Hershel if he could teach her some of his expertise when it came to medicine. He taught her as much as he could, but mostly how to take care of Lori. Since everyone in the group had a job to do, and Aibileen's mostly consisted of hunting with Daryl on occasion or fixing the cars when the time called for it, Aibileen wanted to be more than the 'mechanic' or the decently-trained (thanks to being on her own before joining Rick's group, and a little help from Daryl) 'hunter'.

Aibileen was convinced that if something happened to Hershel, God forbid, or if the group got separated in some way, she'd like to have some training in medicine. Even Carol had taken up an interest in Hershel's teachings.

She was still learning, but Hershel had mentioned how quick she was to pick up on things.

"It's goin' well," Aibileen said, smiling. While Daryl was gone, looking for a place to stay, the group had hung back. Only her and Rick were outside their vehicles, the others were told to stay in by Rick. "It's always nice to learn somethin' new."

Rick nodded wordlessly.

Aibileen glanced up at the sky. Daryl had been gone for a while, and the group was getting restless. Rick had gone back into his car, T-Dog taking his place. Rick had tried convincing Aibileen to go back into the vehicle she shared with Glenn and Maggie but she convinced him that she could handle her own.

"I don't want you getting sick," Rick said sternly. "It's dangerous enough out here, you coming down with a cold wouldn't make things easier."

Aibileen only gave him a strained smile. "I don't get sick easily," she said reassuringly. "Don't worry about me. Go spend time with Lori and Carl. They need you."

Rick had sighed at that and left reluctantly. Aibileen was stubborn in her own way.

"Whaddya think's taking Daryl so long?" T-Dog asked.

In the past few weeks, Aibileen's and T-Dog's relationship had gone very well. The two of them became very good friends.

"I dunno," she answered with a half shrug. "Maybe he ran into some walkers."

"Hardly any walkers been seen out here," T-Dog said, frowning slightly. "Can't imagine him running into a lot."

Aibileen nodded.

After a couple minutes of silence, a distant sound echoed. It sounded almost like Daryl's motorcycle.

A sense of relief washed over Aibileen when she saw the hunter ride up on his motorcycle, but felt her heart stop in her chest when she noticed that there was someone sitting behind him. A scowl was deep on Daryl's face as he stood up from his motorcycle and revealed a young woman, probably a year or two younger than Aibileen, sitting behind him. One of the hunter's bandanas had been wrapped around her eyes and she sat stiffly on the hunter's bike.

"Found her wanderin' out there," Daryl muttered to Rick, scowling at the girl on his bike. "Put a gun to my face and started threatenin' me. Said she was lookin' for her cousin but got lost."

Aibileen walked over to the girl on the bike and gently placed on the girl's pale skin. She was cold to the touch, shivering against Aibileen's hand.

Looking back at Daryl, she noticed Rick and the hunter looking at her and the girl on the bike. Aibileen turned and looked at the blindfolded girl. Gently tugging the bandana down, Aibileen's eyes widened.

Crystal blue eyes widened to the size of saucers at the sight of Aibileen Martin. Running a hand through her ashy blonde hair, the girl let out a misty breath in almost disbelief at the sight before her.

"Selena?" Aibileen sputtered.

"Aibileen?"

Author's Note:

Sorry if it feels like this chapter was a bit rushed, but I was asked by a reviewer if, maybe, I could speed things up a little. You know, getting closer to the prison arc. And I tried to apply that to this chapter, so I hope you at least found this chapter decent. Let me know what you guys think!

And what did you guys think of a new character being added?

Selena's character will be explored more in later chapters, and the development of Aibileen's relationships with the members of Rick's group will be seen in flashbacks in future chapters, as well.

If I could own the 'Walking Dead', I would be the happiest person in the whole world! Unfortunately, I do not own the 'Walking Dead'. I only own Aibileen and Selena, any other characters I add to the story, and any fillers I put in.

Leave a kind and helpful review!

Thank you.

Susan Strong