Big apologies! I know it has been forever. I could give you some excuse about being busy and having writer's block on top of that. Okay, so it would be the truth... but, I'm sure you guys don't want to hear my lame reasons. ;) But I do have one good reason: my birthday! I spent a good week celebrating! Now, I won't tell you how old I am, but I will say this: I am a lot closer to 30 than I would like to be. Womp, womp.

Welcome new readers! I am so excited to have you here.

Joker is sexy: I'm honored that you wrote a review! I usually don't review other stories either... unless I truly feel invested in them. So, I understand and am flattered that you not only read the story in 2 days, but also wrote a grand review! I hope I continue to deliver nicely for you.

GraceXElisabeth: You might have written the longest review I have ever received. Thank you! I admit, sometimes I wish I was Leah as well. ;) I do want to develop the relationship with Maggie and Leah! Especially now that Dale has left us, I think Leah will be looking for more people to reach out to.

LadyMithrellas- I love getting into people's heads. ;) Also, I don't think I could ever turn Daryl into a talkative, lovey- dovey, googoo eyes wimp. That's not him at all. I would hate myself for doing that. However, I do think that he would be somewhat affectionate and emotional. Especially since he never really was taught how to handle his emotions well, I see him handling the feeling of being in love with a lot of passion. I think he feels more intensely then people realize. Thanks for reading!

Thank you to all my regular readers and reviewers as well! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 36

"What if it's a dead end?" Glenn asked, while peering at the sign. His gun was loosely hanging from one hand while the other held on tightly to Maggie's hand.

"Can we afford all that gas?" Lori chimed in while shaking her head.

They were clustered in a tight group around the Sweet Peach Bed and Breakfast sign, waiting not so patiently for Rick to make a decision regarding their next step. Leah stood closely to Daryl, holding onto her small gun tightly and perceptive of the open space around them. They were vulnerable and needed to make a decision quickly.

"Leah and I can go scout it out on the bike," Daryl offered to the former sheriff. "Just a quick pass over. No sense in using all the cars."

"No," Rick said immediately. "The group sticks together." Then he paused and studied Daryl. It seemed as if he was pondering the idea. He ran a hand over his face and took a step away from the group, making his way to the edge of the road where he stood looking out into the woods the surrounded them. His wife wrapped her arms tightly around their shivering son and watched him, almost cautiously as if she was terrified of his next move.

Leah pressed against Daryl and whispered into his ear, "Should you go talk to him?"

Daryl grunted and let his eyes travel over to Rick whose shoulders were tense and rigid. Leah's heart went out to their leader, the weight of his failing marriage and death of Shane was enough to break anyone. But, Rick had the added responsibility of keeping ten other people alive. Without a word, Daryl strode over and began to whisper quietly with Rick.

While they discussed, Leah peered down the narrow that led to Sweet Peach. Lined with bright orange and red trees, it looked safe and almost serene, but that didn't mean a thing. Looks were deceiving. Always.

Maggie came up beside her and took a look down the road for herself. "The prison idea scares the shit out of me," she confided quietly.

Leah nodded in agreement. "Me too. Daryl is all in though. I think the guard towers of promise of weapons sold him. Did you see all the geeks roaming around that yard though?"

Maggie nodded. "I bet there's hundreds more inside."

Leah wrapped her arms around herself, trying to keep the heat in. "It's a ridiculous idea. Suicide."

"Glenn wants to go back to the prison too," Maggie said. "He got in the car saying that it was a bad idea and then seemed to change his mind as we drove. Said something about the fences being perfect to keep walkers and other people out."

"I'm more excited about the possibility of a bed. Shows where our differences lie, I guess. And I just want to eat," Leah gave a slight, cynical laugh.

Maggie gave a slight smile. "Cheeseburger and fries."

Leah groaned, "Lasagna."

"Strawberry cheesecake."

Leah ran her hands over her now flatter stomach, still not completely flat, but noticeably less. "You know, I was a size 12 before all this started. I've never been small; this just might be the thinnest I have ever been. The curse of being a baker. Now, we might be onto something The Apocalypse Diet."

Maggie snorted back laughter as Rick called the group back together.

"We're going to check it out," he announced, referring to the bed and breakfast. "If we're lucky it's empty and hasn't been looted. If we're lucky. I sure as hell hope we are, it's our only shot besides the prison."

Leah shuddered.

Rick continued. "Daryl's going to ride up first. Hershel, you follow and I'll take the rear. Take it slow, take it easy. We don't want any surprises. If we run into any trouble, we turn around. If we get split up, we head back towards the prison. That is our rendezvous point. Does everyone understand?"

There was a murmur of "yes's" that ran through the group.

"Most importantly, do not use your guns if you can help it. You never know when another herd might be passing nearby." The end of Rick's sentence trailed off quietly.

The group surrounding him nodded in quiet understanding.

"Hey," Rick said as almost an after thought. "I know we're all hungry. We're exhausted. Scared. But, we can do this. We can stick together. We can fight. We're close to something. I can feel it."

The loaded up back into the cars and Leah swung herself behind Daryl on the bike. Her body was starting to hurt from the long distances on the back of it, but she wasn't going to get into a car. No way. She needed him close. The powerful motor rumbled underneath her when he started it up and pulled into the front of the pack. Leah wrapped her arms around Daryl's waist and buried her face briefly in the crook of his neck, closing her eyes and saying a silent prayer as they slowly turned down the road.

Daryl kept himself alert as he navigated the bike in the direction the sign was pointing. He didn't want to be caught off guard by anything, yet he was keenly aware of Leah's breasts pressing into his back and her hands settled low on his waist. They hadn't been together since proclaiming their love. There was no doubt that the love had been there before the three little words were spoken, but now that they had Daryl needed Leah. He needed to feel her body moving under him in a way that no woman ever had.

Plus, they were long overdue for make up sex. . Hopefully where there was a bed. And some privacy.

He gritted his teeth and tried to push back any unnecessary thoughts, other than keeping them safe and getting them to their destination

The paved road tapered off into a much smaller gravel one-lane road Daryl took the left turn that the signs were directing him in. The two cars behind them followed, their tires crunching the gravel. The change in terrain caused the bike to bounce ungracefully and Leah tightened her thighs around the motorcycle and arms around Daryl to gain better balance.

He felt her reaction and glanced back briefly before trying to keep the bike as steady as possible.

Leah peered up ahead over his shoulder, looking for a glimpse of what they hoped to be sanctuary.

Instead, her eyes met a lone walker hurling itself down the road towards them. His hollow eyes focused on what he hoped to be his next meal and he moved quickly towards them despite the fact that his left leg was dragging unnaturally behind him. Leah felt hopeful even though the freaks sights were locked on her. With the recent turn of events and walkers traveling in packs, just one was something they could handle. One was better than the hundreds that were back at that prison.

Daryl stopped the bike and let it idle while he hopped off and swiftly loaded his crossbow. With one single shot the walker was easily dispatched and fell ungracefully onto the rocks.

"Cover me," Daryl said back to her.

Leah raised her gun and scanned the woods while he jogged up to the body to retrieve his bolt.

"See anymore?" T-Dog asked, sticking his head out of the passenger's side window of the car behind them.

Leah shook her head as Daryl ran back to the bike. "Looks like just the one."

"Let's keep moving," Daryl said over the roar of the bike. "Cain't be that much further."

He was right. Just around the next bend in the road was a bridge, connecting the gravel road to a smaller gravel driveway. In the distance a large yellow house sprawled along what used to be a finely manicured lawn. A decent sized wrap- around porch circled the house and almost said, 'Come take a load off and drink some sweet tea while you sit on my rocking chairs.'

Daryl crossed the bridge that led to the bed and breakfast, which still sat a good 200 feet away, and brought the bike to a stop. Rick pulled up next to him and leaned out of the driver's side window.

"We walkin' or drivin' from here?" Daryl asked him while casually dropping a hand down to Leah's knee.

Rick rubbed his chin and surveyed the land. Off to the side of the house sat another building. It looked like another smaller house, but it could also be a shed. Leah had seen plenty of sheds that people designed to look like smaller replicas of their homes. She didn't doubt that this place had need for a lot of outdoor storage, it probably had beautiful gardens at one point. Now they were terribly overgrown, debris blew all over the yard. There were no cars to been seen and no movement. It didn't seem as though anyone had been there for a very long time.

Rick finally spoke, "Drive up closer. Then we'll get out and take a look around."

The doors and windows were boarded up. Someone had loved this place enough that they hoped to come back to it one day. Leah wondered where they had gone. Had they fled to Atlanta in a panic only to find death? Or where they holed up somewhere else? Fighting to survive each day just like they were?

The thoughts diminished as Daryl pulled the bike up to the porch steps and turned off the engine. Without the steady rumbling of the motor, the quietness was magnified.

Rick had already stepped out of his car and held his weapon at the ready, "Hello?" He called out in a booming voice. "Hello?"

Daryl, who was scanning the ground, shook his head. "Ain't no fresh tracks around."

Rick gave him a nod and slowly climbed up the white, expansive steps. While he tried to peer past the boards and into the windows, the rest of the crew piled out of the cars and stood semi- circle and on guard.

"Glenn, Hershel, T-Dog," Rick whispered. "Walk around the house. See if it's clear."

Leah found herself holding her breath as she watched them disappear around the corner. She double checked her gun for ammo, but didn't cock it for fear that it would go off unnecessarily and draw more attention than was needed towards them. She still wasn't completely sure of herself when it came to handling the weapon. Daryl tiptoed up the porch steps after Rick and crouched under a window, trying to catch a glimpse inside. Unable to see anything, he moved to the front door and examined it before giving the doorknob a rattle. Locked.

"Walker," T-Dog's voice could be heard from the back of the house, followed by a loud thwack.

"Got 'em," Glenn replied, breezily.

Beside Leah, Maggie let out a quiet sigh of relief.

A few, short moments later they rounded the house and Rick raised an eyebrow. "Everything okay?"

T-Dog nodded and slung a bloodied bat over his shoulder, "Walker was missing a leg. He wasn't going anywhere anytime soon."

"Windows are boarded up all around the joint," Glenn added. "No idea if it's empty inside or not."

Rick looked back to the boarded up doorframe and gave a small nod.

"Only one way to find out," Hershel noted.

"There's a crowbar in the wagon," Rick said and looked to Carl. "Grab it quick, son."

Carl made quick work of retrieving the tool and handed it off to his dad proudly.

Leah watched as T-Dog and Rick struggled to loosen the hastily thrown up boards. Beads of sweat popped up on their forehead and they grunted as all their weight was used to pry the thing open.

"We gotta bust the whole thing down," T-Dog said once the boards had been removed and thrown to the side. "Unless someone has some lock picking skills we don't know about."

"We can't bust it down," Rick mused. "If we end up staying we're going to need that door."

"Walker!" Came Carol's frantic whisper.

Leah whipped around to see a slow moving, growling walker headed their way from the surrounding woods.

"Hurry!" Lori hissed at her husband while grabbing Carl tightly.

"Just one geek," Daryl chided her as he hopped off the porch. "Ain't nothing we can't handle. Fucker's probably been wandering 'round here for months."

With one swift movement, he sent a bolt whizzing through the air and easily dispatched the walker before running to retrieve the bolt from his oozing forehead.

Now there was a stronger sense of urgency to get into the house just as fast as they could. The fact that they hadn't heard any moans from inside was encouraging and Leah began to bounce on her feet nervously as she waited for the door to the large house to open. She could almost taste the fear and excitement of what awaited them on the other side.

Daryl returned to the group and put a hand discreetly on the small of her back in a feeble attempt to calm her nerves. When his fingertips ghosted against her spine Leah looked up, searching for the comfortableness and safe anchor that his steely eyes provided. Before she could get lost in them she heard a loud bang.

Locked door be damned. They had gotten inside.