*I do not own anything or anyone you recognize from the show or comics.*

A/N: I didn't realize it had been so long since I had posted a chapter on here. I completely forgot that I had even written this chapter until I looked at the story. I had intended to upload this chapter, or at least get a few chapters ahead, but I fell out of the mood to write and just recently moved into a new place. But now that season 5 of TWD is almost upon us, I am feeling the urge to write again.

Chapter 41

A month and a half had passed since Adrian and Daryl had made up and alot had changed since that night. The counsel members had been decided. Daryl, Carol, Hershel, Michonne, Sasha, Glenn, and Adrian.

The group still went on runs, more often than not since the size of the group kept growing. They had decided to bring in any new people they had found but only after they had answered three questions and answered to their satisfaction.

How many walkers they had killed. How many people had they killed. And if any, why.

Most people answered to the satisfaction of whoever had asked the questions. The field had been cleared out and they had decided to build a few shelters for select animals, such as pigs and a surprisingly healthy horse that Michonne had found. They had also decided to use a large section of the field to grow crops.

They had managed to get seeds for a number of plants and crops on one of the earlier runs, although with the weather getting colder they wouldn't be able to actually start planting anything until Spring. Adrian knew all of this but was still concerned so she called a counsel meeting.

"So, what's this all about?" Glenn asked that morning. "I called this meeting because I've decided to go on a run. A big one." Adrian told them. They were all surprised to hear of Adrian's plan. "Why? Don't we have plenty of supplies already?" Sasha asked her.

"Right now? Yes, we have plenty of supplies. But I've also been crunching some numbers. At the rate that we're adopting people, the supplies won't last us long. With every person that we take in we have less to give to the people that are already here. Each person needs food, water, summer or winter clothing if they don't have any, bedding, standard weapons." she told them, letting it all sink in.

"I know during the winter we hit alot of places while moving around. But I checked out a map and found a place about a day's ride from here." Adrian said. "But what if somebody's already went through it? Wouldn't it just be a waste of time then?" Carol asked her.

"Even if it has already been hit, the size of this place is huge. It could be hit ten times by ten different groups and still have plenty left over. I think this place if really worth a shot." she said looking at them.

"She's right." Hershel said. "Seems every time one of us goes out on a run, we always bring someone back. We can never have too much of anything these days, especially food and weapons. I think her going on this run is a good idea." he told them.

"So who all's goin' on this trip with you?" Daryl asked her. "Just me and Kale." she said. "Kale? Why just him? If you're going on such a big run, shouldn't you bring more people?" Sasha asked her.

"Back before I joined the group, they were camped jus' outside of Atlanta. Now the group back then wasn't as big as it is now, twenty people at most, maybe, but even then they still needed supplies that the woods couldn't give them. Now we all know that large places are a big no-no. But Atlanta was the only place they had to go to but they always only sent one person. Him." she said to Sasha, pointing to Glenn.

"Glenn was only one person, going to such a dangerous place alone to get whatever was needed at the time. But Glenn was fast and only had to watch out for himself. And that's why I'm only taking Kale. I trust Kale to know what to get, he's good at being quiet and staying out of sight. He knows how I work, how I think on a run. He probably knows me almost as good as Daryl." she said looking at the silent man.

"How long do you think you'll be gone?" Carol asked, everyone seeming to be on board with the run now. "A few days, maybe. I wanna get as much as I can while on this run." she answered. "What will you pack everything in? You can't bring much of anything back on that bike a yours." Daryl asked her.

"We'll take my bike there and pick up something while we're there that will hold everything we need." she said. "When will you leave?" Hershel asked her. "I've already got Kale packing his things and grabbing us some food and water for the road. I'm going to pack what I need after we finish up here." she told him.

"Well, we best let you go so you can get on the road soon." Hershel said getting up from his seat. Everyone else took Hershel's que and stood up to leave as well. Everyone wished Adrian and Kale well on their run and she accepted them as she left the meeting room.

Adrian went to her cell since she had more of the things she needed in her cell instead of the one she often shared with Daryl. Adrian wasn't worried about packing any clothes other than one other set of jeans and a long sleeve, along with the jacket she was wearing.

Adrian was counting out arrows when she felt that tingle run up her spine that could only mean that Daryl was watching her. She always got a small tingle whenever she felt someone watching her but the tingle she got from Daryl was different, which was how she always knew when it was Daryl.

Adrian turned to look at him but said nothing, knowing that he had something on his mind. "I don't like that you're jus' takin' the kid." he told her. "I know. But you also know that I'm right in that we're more likely to be successful on this run with less people. More people means more attention and probably noise." she said as she placed all of her arrows in her quiver.

"And besides, he's a man now. He's ready for this. He'll watch my back if we get into any kind of trouble." she told him as she went through her knives to decide which ones to bring. She decided to bring her matching kukri knives for Kale, he had learned to use them and was pretty good at handling them, her hunting knife, and her KABAR.

She strapped her hunting knife to her thigh, her KABAR in her boot, which took her some getting used to at first, her quiver to her back, and was looking around for her gun when she seen it appear inches from her face. She looked over to see Daryl holding it out to her, a somber look on his face.

"You left it under your pillow this mornin'." he told as she took it from him. "Thanks, love." she said as she put it in her thigh holster. She then stood up and looked at Daryl, saying nothing at first.

Then she walked up to Daryl and placed a hand on his cheek as she leaned in close so he would look her in the eyes.

"What's wrong, lover?" she asked, a small teasing smile on her lips.

"Nothin' really. It's jus' that the las' time you went out on a run where I didn't go, you, Maggie, an' Glenn got taken hostage. Jus' worried that somethin' is gonna happen an' you won't come back." he confessed.

"I'll be safe and I'll come back to you. I promise." she said before she leaned in and gave him a reassuring kiss. She broke the kiss and turned to grab her bow off of her bed. She pulled the bow strap over her head so it rested against her back and grabbed Daryl's hand as she walked out of her cell in search of Kale.

She found the boy outside by her bike, which was thankfully a two seater. She tossed him her kukri knives and told him to put them on before he put his backpack on, which he did. Most of the original group was outside to wish them a farewell, save for Maggie and Glenn who had guard duty from the watch tower and nobody wanted to disturb them, not the people who knew what they were really doing anyway.

Adrian and Kale said goodbye to everyone as she started her bike and drove down the road to the front gate, which they had managed to rig quite nicely with a pair of solid steel doors and spiked fences to keep the walkers at bay.

They waited as Daryl opened the gate and they took off as soon as the gate was opened enough for them.

Adrian and Kale stopped six hours in to take a short lunch break and to use the woods if they had to go. Soon after they had eaten taken a short break they were back on the road again. They made it to the outskirts of the town around dark and decided to find someplace safe to sleep for the night.

After looking for half an hour they managed to find an abandoned camper trailer that Adrian decided to call base camp. The layout of the trailer was quite simple.

The bedroom was to the right of them as they walked through the door, a small space that looked like a chair or something used to sit, to the left of them was the dining table, the kitchen, through the open doorway was a small sink to the right and a set of bunk beds to the left while the bathroom was through the closed door.

Adrian decided to let Kale take the big bed since he was a good foot taller than her now, while she took the bottom bed in back. They woke up a few hours after sunrise and, after being told they were setting out on foot, decided to stick together until they were safely in town.

"The first thing we need to do is find a big truck and get as much gas as we can. That will probably take the longest." Kale said as they slowly made their way into town.

"Alright." Adrian agreed.

It didn't take them long to find a large black Tahoe, which as luck would have it was full of gas and had the keys in it. "If only everyone were so helpful." Adrian said she decided that they would bring everything back to the vehicle instead of moving the vehicle and risk drawing attention to them.

They raided houses for a few hours, which more often than not didn't have alot of food or water, if any, but they did find medicine, clothes of all sizes, a weapon here and there, and even some hygiene supplies.

"Alright, from here on out, we search every store we find." Adrian told Kale.

When Adrian had told Kale that they were going to hit every store they could, Kale didn't think she literally meant every store. They went through pharmacy's, gas stations, sporting goods, and, Lord had he prayed when he seen their last stop, a Walmart.

Adrian had sworn him to secrecy on that one.

It had been ballsy, and a risky move, going into such a possibly dangerous place and it made sense to him why she had wanted to bring the vehicle when they pulled up to the doors. There hadn't been as many walkers in the store as they had thought there would be but they had still spent a good hour killing all of the walkers that they could find before they started gathering supplies.

Adrian's risk had really paid off since no one else had been crazy enough to hit such a dangerous place. They had to carry out bag after bag, most of the the bags they had gotten there . They managed to really rack up on the canned goods, drinks, medicine, even vitamins, weapons, clothes, and bedding.

"Alright." Adrian sighed as she tossed in her last bag. "One more spot and then we can start heading back to the prison." she said wiping the sweat off of her face. "Seriously? Adrian we got enough. We're good, lets just go." Kale said to her.

"Just one more. We can never have too much these days. A small place. I promise." she told him as she climbed into the driver seat. They drove around for a few minutes before they spotted a Dollar General that looked promising as there were, miraculously, no walkers around.

"Alright, when we get in here, you go to the right, gather anything you see we can use. I'll go to the left and do the same. But just in case, be quiet." she as she palmed her trusty hunting knife. "Yeah. Yeah. I know. I'm not that kid you saved anymore." Kale said, giving her a look that screamed sass.

"Yeah, well just remember. You're never to old for an ass kicking." she said grinning as she slowly pulled the door open. Once they were in, they slowly walked in and listened to see if they could hear any walkers. They didn't hear anything so Adrian signaled for Kale to go his way while she went hers.

Kale grabbed a basket from the floor and walked away. Adrian smiled and did the same. 'Boy sure did grow up on me while he was gone.' she thought as she grabbed a few things off the shelves. But then she noticed the body of a walker laying on the floor a few feet from her.

Adrian walked up to the walker, knowing that it was dead from the pool of black blood on the floor. Adrian knelt down beside the walker and looked at the blood before she touched her fingers to the black goo. 'Fresh.' she thought to herself as she wiped the blood off her fingers and cautiously looked around. 'Better be careful then. Seems like we're not alone.'

Adrian was picking through the nail polish when she heard glass crunch. Adrian quickly grabbed her bow, knocked an arrow, and spun to her left. Adrian had clipped a small flashlight to her bow and quickly clicked it on to get a look at the large, dark figure standing ten feet from her.

The man was tall, six feet if not more. He was also well toned by the look of his arms alone. He had short brown hair, tan skin, and at last two days worth of stubble gracing his handsome face. He was wearing an olive green t-shirt, tan cargo pants, and black combat boots.

He had a knife strapped to his left thigh, which was still in it's sheath, a handgun strapped to his right thigh, and another handgun in his hands, pointed at her face, also shining a light on her.

"You the one who killed that walker?" Adrian asked, wanting to make sure that this wasn't someone new. "Yeah. Who're you?" he asked, Adrian still kneeling on the floor.

"Adrian. Hunter. And you?" she asked the stranger. "Lucas. Bradley. Are you here alone?" he asked her.

"Lucas Bradley..." Adrian said, saying the name to herself. The name was familiar to her and then she got a closer look at the stranger. "Luke Bradley? Jackson Bradley's older brother?" she asked, slowly standing up.

"Do I know you?" he asked. "Yeah. I lived a few houses down from your parents house. Jackson would come over to play with Seth, remember?" she said, lowering her bow.

"Seth? Seth Hunter? He was Jackson's best friend." Luke said, lowering his gun.

"It's alright, Kale. I know him. Put the gun down." Adrian said shifting her attention to the young man behind Lucas.

Lucas turned to see a young man of about nineteen or twenty standing behind him with a shotgun pointed at him.