Chapter 36

Dayna had finished her house calls and on her way back, she decided to stop at the house first to pick up a snack. She had missed lunch and her stomach was growling. She ate a little bit of some leftover casserole, before heading back to the infirmary. On her way out of the house she met Zach. He was reclining on the railing of the porch. He gave her a big smile when he saw her. This was unexpected.

"Hey," Dayna said. What's up?" She hadn't seen Zach in a couple weeks and she wondered why he was waiting on the porch.

"I saw you go in and thought I'd catch you on your way back out."

"How did you know I was coming back out?" she asked. It made her uncomfortable that he knew what she was doing.

"You usually work till five or so, so I hoped you'd be going back. I wanted to know if we could take that walk tonight. It should be nice clear night to see the stars," he asked with a devastating smile that didn't affect her at all. .

"Shit," Dayna said to herself. "I hate telling a guy no." She hesitated trying to come up with the best way to tell him about Daryl.

"Well…" she started to say, but Zach grabbed her hands and pulled her towards him surprising her so all of a sudden she was up against his chest.

"Expect more of this tonight," he said softly as he leaned down and kissed her. Dayna was so shocked that she let him kiss her for a few moments until she pulled back gently and put a hand on his chest.

"No, Zach we can't. I'm involved with someone…with Daryl. I'm sorry," she explained still in Zach's arms.

"I thought you and him weren't a thing?" Zach asked confused.

"When you and I last talked, we weren't but, that changed. I'm sorry," she said stepping out of his embrace.

"I'm sorry too. Daryl is one lucky man," Zach said sadly. "Good luck to you both."

"No hard feelings?" she asked.

"No, we're good. Thanks Dayna." Before Zach left Dayna thanked him again for understanding and gave him a kiss goodbye on the cheek. Zach was halfway down the steps when Dayna heard a roar of a motorcycle. Only Daryl rode a motorcycle here and no one would ever dare to touch his bike.

Dayna looked over and saw Rick staring at her from his front porch, not looking very happy. Daryl shot out from between the two houses on his motorcycle without even a glance in her direction. He sped towards the front gate and was soon out of sight. She heard him yell in the distance, "Open the fucking' gate!"

She stood there openmouthed confused on what had just happened. When did he get back? Why didn't he come to see her and why did he just leave? Dayna looked over to Rick, who still had a scowl on his face. "Rick, what's going on?" she called over.

"What's going on?" he spewed venomously. "You and Zach looked pretty damn cozy, that's what's going on. How could you do that to him?"

"Oh no!" Dayna exclaimed. "That wasn't it looked like. Ask Zach! Let me explain!"

Dayna ran over to Rick and he brought her inside to talk. Rick was furious at her for hurting his friend. He didn't dare say anything yet, as he knew wouldn't be very civil to her. He was going to let her explain first.

"There is nothing between Zach and me. There never was nor will be. Oh God, Daryl saw us didn't he? Oh God, Oh God! " Dayna cried. Before she completely lost it, Dayna knew that she had to make Rick understand. "Zach liked me, but I never encouraged him. He didn't know about Daryl and me since we happened so fast then Daryl was gone. Zach wanted me to go on a walk with him tonight. Before I could turn him down, he kissed me. I swear Rick I didn't kiss him back! He completely took me off guard and I tried to let him down easy. He's a nice guy, so I didn't want to hurt him," she babbled. Finally taking a deep breath, Dayna continued, "Ask Zach. Go find him. I know he'll tell you the same story, Rick. I love Daryl and would never do anything to hurt him. I waited over six months for him to get his head out of his ass about us, so why would I screw it up now? Oh God, Rick where did he go?"

Rick sat quiet for a moment, he tended to believe her. She had hurt written all over her face. He was about to say something when he heard his name called. Both he and Dayna turned and saw Michonne standing there. Neither heard her enter the room. "She's telling the truth Rick," Michonne said. "I know it."

"How?" was all he said.

Michonne sat down next to Dayna on the sofa. "First, all she could talk about was Daryl coming back from the supply run and how much she was looking forward to it. That wasn't a woman looking for another guy. Second, I heard it from Zach."

"He told you this?" Rick asked.

"Not directly. I overheard him telling Chris what happened and that he was sorry that it wasn't going to work out with Dayna. That she had let him down gently after he kissed her and that Daryl was one lucky son of a bitch." Rick knew he trusted Michonne explicitly and she would never lie to him. Dayna was telling the truth, even though the visual of what happened made it look completely different.

"Do you believe me now, Rick?" Dayna asked with tears in her eyes.

"Yeah, I do, but Daryl doesn't."

"When did he get back?" Dayna wanted to know.

"Just a little while ago. They finished up the run early and he was anxious to get back." Rick leaned in towards Dayna and said seriously "He even showered."

All was quiet in the room for just a moment and then they all burst out laughing. Michonne was the first to speak. "You know he's serious when he showers for you."

"Damn straight," Dayna smiled. "But seriously Rick, where could he have gone? I need to explain what he saw, wasn't what he thinks. I feel so bad as I know this is all my fault."

"I don't know where he went. He was coming out of the house and I was going in. We heard voices and looked over and saw you and Zach. He didn't say a word he just stared at you, then he vaulted over the railing to his bike and shot out of here." Rick realized that Daryl didn't even have his crossbow with him or even a gun. He was sure he'd have a knife on his belt as they never went anywhere without one, but Daryl hadn't planned on leaving the community so he didn't have anything else with him. "Be safe, brother," he thought.

"I'll ask the guards if they noticed which way he went and when he gets back to see me right away," he could see Dayna was about to argue. "Listen, he's too pissed off to see you. Me, he'll come to and I can explain it to him. Then I'll send him to you," Rick told her.

"I hate to get you involved in my mess, but thank you Rick."

"Go home and wait, that's all you can do at this point. He'll come back…eventually."

"I have to see Denise first, but after that I'll be at home. Get me as soon as you know anything, Okay?" she begged him.

"Will do."

Dayna stood up and hugged Rick and then Michonne who she also whispered "Thanks" into her ear. Then she slowly walked out of the house wondering how everything could have gotten so screwed up in such a short time. Zach had the worst timing ever!

In a daze she walked over to the infirmary and let Denise know the status of the patients she saw. She was so caught up with Tara being back, that neither Denise nor Tara realized how sad she was. Dayna left without saying goodbye and soon found herself in her room curled up in a ball on her bed. The tears that had threatened earlier now flowed freely. If she could just talk to Daryl, she could explain everything and if he didn't believe her, Michonne would help, so would Rick. If only she knew where he was…Daryl where did you go?