Hey guys! I am so, so, so sorry that it's been so long. I always told myself that I wouldn't go without posting for months on end but sometimes life happens and nursing school has really been kicking my ass! But I think I'm past my writer's block and I have a good idea of where I want this story to go, so please stick with me! Thanks for all your patience :)

- JN

Chapter Four

About an hour and a half later the outlets Daryl had described came into view. From what Kerri could see there was a Wal-Mart, several chain restaurants, a CVS, and plenty of clothing stores. The parking lots had a handful of walkers ambling around who turned when they heard the two vehicles approaching.

It only took the group a few minutes to clear the lot they were in and then Daryl deemed things safe enough for them to split up.

"Me and Kerri are gonna head to Wal-Mart first while y'all clear the pharmacy," he directed, adjusting his crossbow on his shoulder.

"Alright," Michonne replied, "Yell if you guys need help."

Daryl simply nodded before turning in the direction of the store. Kerri hurried to catch up before falling into step beside him.

"We gotta keep this quick," he began, never taking his eyes off the boarded up doors of the store, "We're gonna grab food first then if it's safe we can head back for more."

"Okay," Kerri answered, pulling her pistol from the waistband of her jeans.

Once they were inside the building Daryl hit the handle of his knife against an empty shopping cart a few times hoping to draw out any walkers hiding in the many aisles of the store. Two of the undead lumbered out, groaning louder once they realized there were potential meals at the front of the shop. Daryl took them out quickly with his crossbow and frisked them for any weapons when he went to retrieve his arrows. He pocketed a small handgun and then nodded at Kerri to follow him.

Kerri had to admit that it felt strange pushing around shopping carts in an abandoned Wal-Mart. Walking through the aisles of a grocery store was such a normal thing before the apocalypse, something that most people grumbled about doing, but now this store could mean a great deal about how well the people of the prison survived over the next few months.

The pair moved down rows quickly grabbing anything they might find useful. The store still had a surprisingly good amount of canned food which they piled into the cart. Boxes of pasta went in next and so did random condiments that Daryl said might make some of their blander meals for bearable, especially come winter when fresh meat was harder to come by.

Soon the cart was full and the duo moved to the front of the store.

"Seems okay in here," Daryl commented, "Might as well take 'nother cart around and see what else we can get."

"Alright," Kerri answered, pulling a second cart out.

Their next go around the store went just as smoothly as the first, Daryl even consented to moving away from the food and said they could grab some of the toiletries and clothes too.

After they had filled the second cart they decided to take their haul out to the vehicles and check on the others. They found Michonne, Sasha, and Bob loading up their mini-van with several shopping baskets full of prescription bottles as well as miscellaneous gauze, band-aids, and ointments.

"Find anything good," Sasha asked, turning away from the van.

"Hell yeah," Daryl said, pushing his shopping cart towards the SUV, "They ain't touched nothing in there really."

"Maybe we could all go back in together and get a few more carts full?" Michonne suggested, closing the door to vehicle.

Daryl nodded and after the SUV was loaded with their first round of groceries, the group headed back inside Wal-Mart.

Almost two hours later they had filled six shopping carts with everything from baby clothes and formula for Judith, office supplies to use in their little "school," and a few pieces of furniture to make the prison more like a home plus plenty of toiletries and extra food. When they unloaded everything the mini-van was just about full, even with the back rows of seats folded down.

"We can fit plenty more in tha' SUV," Daryl said as he took a swig from one of the water bottles.

"Those restaurants are probably our best bet," Michonne responded before putting a spoonful of applesauce in her mouth.

Daryl nodded in agreement, "Well let's hurry up, we only gotta few more hours of daylight left."

They moved through an Applebee's that still had a few walker patrons inside, a Ruby Tuesday's that was totally deserted, and a Cracker Barrel with a handful of undead inside. The haul from them was good, but not nearly as plentiful as the Wal-Mart had been. And by the end of it everyone was exhausted.

Daryl and Kerri stood by the SUV sipping water when Daryl pointed to a store across the parking lot.

"What's that?" he asked Kerri, shielding his eyes from the sun.

Kerri looked up, blinking against the brightness in her face. "That's Home Goods; they have stuff to decorate houses inside, furniture too."

"Why don't 'cha head over a find somethin' to make ya cell a little nicer?" he questioned, "It's bad 'nough we gotta live in cages, ya might as well make the best of it."

Kerri was caught off guard by his kindness, she hadn't even thought of picking up anything for herself on this run. She was worried that with her being new to the group that picking items like bed sheets and pillows might make her seem selfish when there were much more important items to fill the vehicles with.

"Uh…I don't want to take up too much room," Kerri answered, trying not to seem rude.

"It ain't no big deal," Daryl said, rubbing the back of his neck, "We still got a lil' room for some stuff."

Kerri could tell that he was second guessing his decision to ask about her decorating her cell.

"Well, I mean, if you're sure it's not gonna take up too much room I guess I could use some blankets at least. Those mattresses are thin as hell."

Daryl gave a little half smile at her comment on the beds at the prison and the pair walked into Home Goods together, ready to clear any walkers and to hopefully get Kerri something to make her jail cell a little more homey.

Kerri wasn't picky about her choices for her cell; she grabbed the first twin sized pack of sheets she saw along with a blanket and two pillows. However, on her way towards the door she stopped to look at a small porcelain elephant. Elephants had always been her favorite animals; in fact riding an elephant had been one of the items on her bucket list before the world fell apart.

Daryl saw her eyeing up the little decoration and walked around her, grabbing it off the shelf. Kerri lifted her eyes up to him and gave him a questioning glance.

"I'll carry it for ya, so ya don't break it on the way to tha' car," was all he said before turning and striding towards the exit.