Fifty! Okay, so on a side note, you guys don't know how badly I wanted to do a Fifty Shades of Daryl Dixon for my 50th chapter, but let's face it, we're not there yet. Lol.

Many hugs to FanFicGirl10, Rea Josette, Dalonega Noquisi, DarylDixon'sLover, JDempsey23 and the Guest Reviewers! Several of you have been reviewing my story for quite some time now and I love you guys for it. Also, a huge Daryl hug goes out to FanFicGirl10 for reviewing (I think) every chapter I've written and to JDempsey23 who wrote one of the greatest reviews I've read so far.

Also, a howdy and welcome to Ismatyca, ashtyn2188, ilovekevinjonas1, flaengo, Zerohazai, jjanders1, bunamydoh, WardenN7, Miss Avengers, Machina Malice, JDempsey23, Serveza (great name!), destroya85, identity88, HeroJustInTime90, crystal2326, Mmrpiper, CrossingRubyCon, TamiMikaelson, WeLiveTheNow, courtnieduffel, Jaded21Lillies, HazelHeart97, trinitee64, Mirrii, and Z Oreo. Thanks to all of you for following and/or favoriting my story since I've been on hiatus. Much love to you all. I'm so glad to have you along for the ride and I hope to hear from some of you very soon.

So, now that I've thanked you guys (sloppy Daryl kisses and meaningful glances to anyone I might have accidently left out) I hope you enjoy the 50th chapter of Better Off. :)


Chapter 50

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Daryl asked, tossing a few bags of equipment and weapons into the back of the car and shutting the lift gate. "You don't have to come if you don't want to."

"Yeah, I'm sure. It's my fault Hershel's so low on everything anyway," Melissa uttered, thinking back to all the antibiotics, pain medication and who knows what else he must have used to save her life.

"No it ain't," Daryl gently insisted, reminding her that she hadn't shot herself.

She nodded then looked down, remembering that he was right.

"You got the list?" Michonne asked as she approached the car. She reached for the door handle of the back passenger seat, her sword in her hand. Daryl knew better than to ask her to place it in the back. He was sure it would make the journey on her lap and he was fine with that.

Daryl nodded, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out the folded piece of paper and held it up so Michonne could see it. He looked down at Hershel's delicate handwriting and frowned. Nothing on the list had been crossed off despite their previous efforts. The day before Maggie and Glenn had gone on a run to the closest pharmacy, which was in the next town. They were fairly confident there wouldn't be anything left by now, but they went anyway. Daryl had offered to accompany them, but they insisted on going alone. He wasn't really sure why. Unfortunately, as feared, they came back a few hours later with nothing, not even gauze, and Daryl hoped today's attempt would be more successful.

Today they were going to a hospital and a veterinary hospital, both approximately twenty to thirty minute drive from Hershel's farm. The group was fairly confident that the hospital would already be cleaned out, leaving very little if anything at all, but they felt it was worth checking out, if not for the supplies, for the diesel fuel which they needed for Hershel's generators. That idea, however, didn't sit well with Melissa.

During their discussion she had brought up the possibility of other survivors either living in the hospital or keeping a watch on it, waiting for someone to come along so they could rob them of their car, weapons, maybe worse. After their recent experiences with what other people were capable of the idea of scavenging a location where the likelihood of running into other survivors made her think it was more likely that her group would run into trouble than find anything that made the trip worthy of their time. She didn't even bother bringing up her fear that there could be a high propensity of walkers there. The group discussed it for a while and, while Melissa made some valid points, they ultimately decided that it seemed less likely anyone would be hanging around the hospital so long after everything started and that it was at least worth a look. Daryl was the one who brought up the idea that there could still be diesel fuel in the hospital generators and Melissa couldn't deny they could use that. Destination number two was Hershel's idea and everyone thought it was pure genius. Hershel knew that there would be medications and supplies in the veterinary hospital that they could use and the group felt more confident that it could be a successful run as the likelihood of other survivors thinking of scavenging an animal hospital for supplies seemed smaller. At least, none of them had thought of it until now. She hoped they were right.

"Where's Ty?" Daryl asked Michonne and he refolded the list and shoved it back into his pocket.

"He's right here," Tyrese answered walking behind Daryl to the driver's side of the car and climbing into the back seat.

"Gang's all here," Daryl uttered. He looked back at Melissa, pausing briefly, giving her one more chance to stay behind. It only took him a split second to realize that she wouldn't. He nodded gently and watched the corners of Melissa's mouth rise as she turned and climbed into the front passenger seat. Daryl felt himself smile in turn. He couldn't deny that on the inside he was delighted to have her with him again, but on the outside he rubbed his fingers over his lips, wiping his smile away. He hit the hood of the car twice with an open hand as if to say let's do this and climbed into the driver's seat.

As they drove down the empty roads Melissa lost herself in her thoughts. It had been over a week since she started feeling better and since then she'd offered to take care of Judith full time, forfeiting her previous contributions of going on supply runs and hunting with Daryl. Carl had even found an old crib in Hershel's basement which Melissa insisted Rick set up in her room and Jude was now with her pretty much 24/7. Rick had made it clear that she didn't have to, that they would all contribute and take care of her, but Melissa and Jude had formed a strong bond. Nobody could deny that. She knew she didn't have to, but in her heart, it was what Melissa really wanted.

As a result, between her recovery and her new role within the group, it had been weeks since she'd gone on a supply run or hunted with Daryl. He still saw her every day, but it wasn't like it used to be. He hunted alone, which he didn't mind, and when he went on runs he was almost always with Michonne or Tyrese, sometimes both. Even though Michonne was a fucking badass and he felt confident she'd have his back any day it just wasn't the same. He couldn't deny that he missed having Melissa around. The way she was able to read him was unlike anyone else. She'd gotten so good at it, in fact, that sometimes all he had to do was give her a look and she did exactly what he was thinking as if she could read his mind. She even moved just like him.

Duh, dumbass, Daryl thought to himself, dismissing the thought that his connection to her could be anything more than the result of his teaching her everything she knew.

Even though Daryl missed having her with him he embraced her new role. Partially because she was so damn good with Judith, but mostly because he thought she was safer that way. He would never have admitted it to her but as much as he missed having her with him part of him felt more at ease knowing she wasn't as exposed as she used to be and he had allowed himself to grow used to no longer having her around in that way. He was surprised when she volunteered to go with them to gather medical supplies, but he understood why she did. Even though it wasn't her fault that she'd gotten injured, most of what was left of Hershel's supplies had been used to save her life and make her comfortable and she felt strongly that she should be included with the group to help replenish their stock. Daryl felt he had little choice but to respect that as he would have felt the same way and he couldn't deny that he felt exhilarated at the notion of having her by his side again. She may have been out of commission for a little while but he had little doubt about whether or not she could handle herself if she ran into trouble and part of him couldn't wait to see her in action again, to feel the understanding between them, to see the look in her eyes and a gentle nod of understanding when she realizes what he needs her to do without his having to ask.

Daryl's eyes wondered to Melissa, sitting next to him in the front seat. He looked at her left hand, tucked between her thighs. Her right elbow rested on the door and her lips were pressed into her knuckles as she stared out the window. He glanced at the messy braid that hung over left shoulder and down her black jacket. He smiled gently to himself. A lot of his memories with her included her hair falling out of a braid on one shoulder or another. He fucking loved that braid.

Nobody said much and they still had a little ways to go. Melissa sighed gently, wishing the car wasn't so quiet. Quiet meant thinking and thinking too much made her nervous. She wanted to strike up a conversation to get her mind off the unease in the pit of her stomach at the thought of what could be waiting for them at that damn hospital but she couldn't think of anything to talk about. This wasn't exactly a group that would enjoy playing road trip games. Melissa grinned softly to herself against her knuckles at the idea. I spy a walker. I spy blood. I spy the end of the fucking world as we know it.

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Daryl playing with the radio with one hand. He checked to see if there were any cd's in the player. There wasn't, so he started scanning radio stations.

As she looked back out the window Melissa's attention was brought to a church ahead. As they passed she read the church's sign next the road.

No reason to fear

Luke 2:1-20

Melissa blew a puff of air out her nose. Wanna bet, she thought. She was sure the idiot who thought that quote seemed appropriate for the apocalypse was scared shitless as he was bitten into by a walker, maybe a few. Now he's probably out there somewhere eating people. All traces of the man telling others not to fear would be gone, leaving him to become the very definition of fear himself. It's that ironic? Melissa shook her head. I've got to start thinking happier thoughts.

She looked over at Daryl's fingers on the scan button then up at him. She made eye contact with him and he watched one corner of her mouth rise into a small smile to show she appreciated his efforts. She started to look back at the road when she thought she heard something other than frequency noises.

"Wait, go back," she said gently, leaning forward in her seat and placing her hand over his.

Daryl didn't think he heard anything, but he allowed her to take over the radio controls anyway. He placed both hands on the steering wheel, he was driving after all, and his eyes went back and forth between watching the road and her. He watch her squint her eyes as she scanned her way through the stations. The look on her face was one of extreme concentration. Her eyebrows furrowed, her jaw set, her mouth pushed into a straight line. She turned the volume up higher and scanned the stations once more, but there was nothing.

"I could have sworn I heard something," she uttered, looking up at Daryl as if to ask if she was crazy. He offered her a small, but comforting nod, telling her that it was okay.

"What frequency are you on?" Tyrese asked.

"FM," she answered.

"Try the am stations," Tyrese suggested. "Maybe there's something there."

Melissa leaned forward and switched frequencies to a.m. A very loud, high pitched beep filled the car. Melissa screamed and covered her ears out of shock, then turned the volume dial down as the beep sound ended and a recorded message came on.

"This is the test of the Emergency Alert System.

If there had been an actual emergency official messages would follow the alert tone.

This concludes this test of the Emergency Alert System."

Melissa looked wide eyed at the faces of the others in the car. They were all breathing heavily, their bodies tense, and it was clear that she'd just scared the scrap out of everyone.

She couldn't help the laugh that ripped through her. She laughed at the ridiculousness of it all. The looks on the other's faces, the fact that an alert system test had just scared the pants off of some of the toughest people she'd ever known, the fact that it was only a test. She laughed so hard she was afraid she would pee herself. She looked around the car. The others were smiling. They looked relieved, but not one of them was laughing like she was. Didn't they get it? She suddenly felt the need to explain.

"If…. IF there had been an actual emergency," she laughed, throwing her head back. The dead was coming back to life and eating people. They outnumbered the living by more than Melissa cared to imagine. She couldn't think of a bigger emergency than that.

The sounds that came out of Melissa's mouth were fucking gorgeous. Daryl loved her laugh and this was moment was no exception. He couldn't suppress his own smile and looking in his rearview mirror, it was clear the others couldn't help themselves either.

"Ohhhh, shit," Melissa sighed at the end of a laugh. She took a deep breath. "Sorry guys." She wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes and giggled a few more times, looking in the backseat. Michonne's mouth rested against the knuckles of one her hands, but not well enough to conceal her smile. Her shoulders bounced slightly in silent laughter. Tyrese, on the other hand, didn't try to hide his smile from her. He grinned widely and winked at her. Melissa then looked at Daryl. His eyes met hers and she mouthed the word sorry. He smiled softly and, much to her surprise, he reached to her lap and wrapped his hand over the top of hers, squeezing her hand in his. She immediately felt the expression on her face change and she was sure she looked as shocked as she felt. She looked down at his hand on hers. She wasn't sure why he did what he did. Maybe to ease her tension? She had after all, just scared the crap out of herself too. But whatever his reasons, she still couldn't believe he did it. She looked back up at him to see his eyes were still on her. She smiled again and looked ahead at the road, gasping suddenly at what she saw.

"Daryl STOP!" She screamed.

Daryl suddenly let go of her hand, put both hands on the wheel and slammed the car to an abrupt stop. There was no air in Melissa's chest. She stared ahead in horror, so frightened by what she saw she forgot to breathe and the pressure from the seatbelt and their abrupt stop didn't help the situation.

As if the walkers that blocked the road straight ahead weren't enough, the hills ahead allowed them full view of the thousands of walkers that scoured behind them. It was the biggest herd any of them had ever seen.

Melissa finally inhaled, relieving some of the pressure in her chest and looked at Daryl. His eyes met hers and for the first time she noticed that he looked as frightened as she was sure she did.

"Go," she whispered shakily.

Daryl immediately shifted into reverse and began backing up. He wasn't sure where the walkers behind them came from but it was obvious he was running over a few. He cut the wheel and stopped, attempting to turn around the other way. The first wave of walkers caught up with Melissa's side of the car then and she got an all too close glimpse of a very disturbing looking woman just the other side of her window, her hands on the glass, her mouth wide open, desperate to bite into her. Melissa hit the lock button on her door even though she was sure the car was already locked just as Daryl finished cutting the wheel back to the left and slammed on the gas, hitting and running over a few more walkers in the process.

It took a moment for Daryl to catch his breath. Another couple of seconds and he wasn't sure they would have made it out of there. He looked in the rearview mirror, watching the size of the herd shrink until it had disappeared. Everyone in the car breathed heavily as he hauled ass away down the road. Melissa shifted in her seat, looking out the back window then leaned her back against her seat and closed her eyes, taking a deep full breath. When she opened her eyes Daryl was looking between her and the road. He caught her eyes and nodded his head. They were okay.

"What now?" Michonne asked from the backseat.

Melissa shook her head. "That was the only way."

"What if we wait a day or two for the herd to pass then try again," Tyrese suggested.

"We wait a day or two and it's possible that herd will pass right through Hershel's property," Daryl pointed out. They weren't that far from his house. Maybe twenty minutes driving time.

"He's right," Melissa realized aloud. "The walkers are headed in the direction of Hershel's. And after seeing us it's likely they won't be changing paths anytime soon."

"We probably just led them right to us," Michonne pointed out.

Melissa looked at Daryl. His eyes briefly met hers and a quiet understanding passed between them. They both knew they would have to go back and tell the others that they couldn't stay at Hershel's. Melissa held his gaze until he looked back at the road and she started to lean back in her chair to do the same when she noticed a sign behind him. She did a double take and kept her eyes on the sign, reading it as it passed Daryl's window, then Tyrese's and finally the window in the back.

No reason to fear

She suddenly had the urge to check the radio again, realizing this was about where they were when she thought she heard something. She checked to make sure the volume was low, having learned that lesson, and scanned the FM channels again when she heard what sounded like part of a word break through. She looked at the others and it was clear they heard it too. She moved her fingers from the scan button to the dial so she could have better control over the channels and heard the sound again. She turned the volume up and turned the dial back and forth between two stations. The signal didn't seem to play clearly on either of them and if she went too far either way she heard nothing. The message was choppy and barely audible, but it was there. And for a second they all heard it.

. . .

"What does this mean?" Glenn asked.

Melissa looked around the room at everyone. They were back in Hershel's living room, empty handed, having just told the others about the approaching herd.

"Could mean we need to high tail it outta here. Could mean nothing at all," Michonne said.

"Can we wait it out here?" Tyrese asked. "Isn't it possible they can still change directions? If they do come we have watch patrols. If we see them we'll leave."

"I don't wanna take that chance," Rick said, shaking his head. "We've battled a walker herd here before. A much smaller one than the one you saw. We failed. Lost some people. I don't wanna do that again. Especially not if this herd is as big as ya'll say it is. They'd swarm us in no time at all. We wouldn't stand a chance."

"I say we track 'em. Can't hurt to know for sure where they're going, either way," Daryl suggested.

"That could be more dangerous than helpful," Melissa uttered. Daryl looked to her from across the room as if she were a traitor. She gave him an apologetic look and he understood… She didn't want him anywhere near that herd. What if he got caught up or trapped somehow? He'd never make it out. He'd seen for himself how big it was.

"From a distance, then," Daryl conceded.

"The way I see it we've got two choices," Hershel interrupted. "We leave for a few days, let the herd pass through, keep a safe distance from them and eventually make our way back here. Or… we leave and we don't come back."

"Where would we go?" Maggie asked.

"We found sanctuary before," Hershel pointed out. "We can find it again."

Sanctuary.

Of course.

"There's one more thing," Melissa added. She watched as everyone's eyes moved to her. "We heard a message on the radio. It was a recorded, most likely playing on a loop. It was hard to make out. The signal was choppy and barely audible, but we managed to hear three words... Answers. Survivors. Sanctuary."

The room was quiet for a moment and Melissa allowed the silence, giving the others time to process the same thoughts she knew she had the first time she heard the message.

"You didn't hear anything else?" Rick asked finally.

"No," Melissa said softly, shaking her head. "The signal was gone in no time. It barely came in at all."

"That means it's coming from far away, right?" Maggie asked.

"But not too far to be picked up," Rick answered. "Maybe a few hours at the farthest."

Glenn shook his head, resting his elbows on his lap. "Could be a trap," he suggested.

"Doesn't matter," Daryl cut in. "Whether we wanted to check it out or not we wouldn't know where to go."

"I've been thinking about that. What if it's that safe zone we heard about at the prison?" Melissa suggested, thinking back to things she'd heard from some of the survivors.

"That's a rumor," Daryl argued.

"What if it's not?" She pressed back gently.

Daryl ran a hand through his hair and took a breath. "Trap or not we have no idea where that message was coming from. We don't know if the safe zone is real. If it is, we don't know for sure that it is where they said it is and even if everything we've heard is true we don't have enough supplies to travel to Virginia."

"We could pick up supplies along the way," Melissa suggested. It wasn't that she was completely sold on the idea either; she just felt it was worth talking about. "We've done it before."

"And you remember how hard that winter was," Daryl said calmly, never taking his eyes off hers. "Out on the road, moving from place to place, we barely made it and we didn't even travel that far from here."

"Exactly," Melissa agreed, looking at him so intensely it caused Daryl's eyes to burn. "What if there's nothing left for us in Georgia?"

Daryl paused. Just as Melissa thought he was getting ready to say something he, instead, crossed his arms over his chest. He brought a hand to his mouth as if to silence himself and looked away from her. Melissa sat back in her chair, suddenly realizing that she and Daryl had just taken over the conversation as if nobody else were in the room. She looked at the others. No one said a thing. The room was dead silent. The silence seemed to continue forever and Melissa wondered if she'd just said something the others hadn't considered before or expressed a fear that was already on everyone else's minds. Either way, she wondered if maybe she shouldn't have said that.

No, she thought to herself, it's about time we talk about this.

"Look, we all knew this was temporary," Melissa sighed, wishing it wasn't. She enjoyed living on Hershel's land as much as anyone. "Hershel's right. We need to find sanctuary. Somewhere safe, protected, where we can make a real home for ourselves. We don't have the protection here that we need and we're finding less and less supplies in this area. What's the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Christ, the other day we sent Maggie and Glenn to a place we knew had already been picked over. We knew they would probably return empty handed and they did. We've got to start thinking differently."

She waited for someone, anyone to say anything. But no one did. She bit her lip, growing angry at the thought that nobody seemed prepared to deal with the inevitable.

"This is a conversation we need to have," Melissa said firmly. She looked around the room and waited, but again was met with silence. She rubbed her eyes in frustration and leaned on her elbows, pressing her hands to her forehead and closing her eyes.

"She's right," Maggie suddenly uttered without taking her eyes off the floor. Melissa looked up, suddenly realizing she wasn't alone. "What if it's time to move on?"

As Melissa scanned the room she remembered that this wasn't an unreasonable group of people. Of course they understood her. Maybe they just needed time to process it all.

"Look, I say we forget about the radio message and the safe zone for now," Rick finally said. "We can discuss it again at another time. The pressing issue is what to do about that herd." Rick looked around the room. "I think Hershel's right. Either we leave for a few days and come back… or we go for good. Either way we should probably start packing some things up. From the sounds of it if the walkers stay on their current path they could be here as early as tomorrow."

"So what do we do?" Glenn asked.

Rick looked around the silent room and realized everyone's eyes were on him. He looked at the floor, moving his hands to his hips. He wouldn't be the one making the decision. That wasn't the way their group worked. Not anymore.

"We vote," he said. "Leave and come back in a few days or go for good. Either way we'll all be together. What's it gonna be?"


Wow. Decision making time! What do you guys think they should do? Also, how about that hand holding in the car, huh? I hope you all didn't think that was too out of character for Daryl, but the Daryl in my story is going through things that "show Daryl" is not and is going to start growing, expanding and acting in ways that "show Daryl" hasn't and likely never will, but I'm working to continue to keep him as true to himself as possible. Sweet of him to try to calm her in that way, in my opinion. And we haven't seen the last of what Sweet Daryl is capable of. :) Stay tuned!