Hey guys, I am finally back. I hadn't had the energy to write latley and found myself a little lost with this story. But for the ones who are still following this story I wanted to write on. When I had finished this chapter I felt better and will defnitley write on. There are ideas in my head again and I will definitely commit my thoughs to paper :o) For now: Enjoy reading this chapter! Thanks for staying with Ella and the others. Have fun!

We had found a map in the white car. There were several marks but we had no idea what they meant. Maybe guard posts? Or hideouts? We decided to ask Aaron later. And while I truly meant asking, the others were more fond of the word interrogating. Our group split to drive the two cars back to the barn. Michonne, Glenn and Maggie where driving in the white car, while Daryl drove the camper with the rest of us. We had to make a bit of a detour to get back to the barn. But it wouldn't take as long as our trip on foot. And this way was more comfortable and saver than walking anyways. The camper was a silent vehicle, following the white car in a smooth speed. It was almost as cozy as Dale's had been. Dale … I hadn't thought about him in a while. What would have become of our group if they had all still been alive?

Don't mourn the dead, be happy you knew them. Now there are other people taking over their tasks.

Didn't we have same conversation already? I smiled looking to the back of the camper where Abraham was lying in an actual bed with cushions. He had found some funny words to describe him lying in bed and I wondered again how he had preserved his sense of humor.

Maybe he his hiding behind his humor. You have no idea what he had been like before the apocalypse. Who knows what had happened during the apocalypse. Did he have family?

My brother was right … I had no idea how he had met Eugene and Rosita. What was their story? I had grown from open-minded to a withdrawn grinch. And suddenly I was reminded of Christmas. Would we ever celebrate any holidays? If Aaron was right and they were living in houses surrounded by walls and people were having actual jobs … did they have a regular daily routines? Did they have a calendar? Did they know which actual day way today? I only knew a year had passed because it had been summer and winter again …

Overthinking is not helping! Look at what you got now.

Sitting on the table I still could not believe there was actual food in here. We had been starving and now there was so much. Was there really a place where we could survive, where we could live? Merle was sitting opposite of me finishing Abraham's can. We had all tried a bit of it and I must say: canned food had never tasted that good. Maybe knowing we had some food now enlivened my mood. Aaron seemed to have been speaking the truth. There was enough food for every one of us. Especially for Judith, the little girl needed to eat more to grow into a healthy strong girl. If Aaron had been speaking true about the vehicles, maybe the safe place was also true.

Never stop hoping. My brother chuckled.

But what if it was all a lie… some damn trap like Terminus. I felt invisible hands around my throat and the feeling of choking made it hard to breath. What if torture awaited us? It felt as if I would wear an invisible chain around my neck for the rest of my life. Maybe there were doctors … maybe I would get help at Aaron's village. I looked outside the window, trying to distract me from the invisible chain. There was a walker strolling through the woods, almost looking human in his Sunday best and a hat. If his bowls wouldn't be hanging out of his open sack coat, I would have believed this man was on his way to church. But it was a lie, he was dead and was rather going to a funeral. A lie … a wolf in sheep's clothing. Is that what was awaiting us?

"What ya thinking bad ass?" Merle interrupted my thoughts.

No … I tried to stop myself from negative thoughts. We needed a save place. "Is this for real?" I said absently imaging living in a house, taking a shower … There had to be at least one shower, Aaron had reeked of flowers.

Knock knock … you still don't know. Wait until you see it with your own eyes. It's like the Eugene-Washington-lie, don't raise your hopes too high. These were your words, I am only citing you here. But a shower would be nice, you guys almost look and smell like walkers.

Merle laughed at me as if he had heard my brother's joke. "Still hoping there is a safe place behind walls?" I looked at him and his tone changed. "Ya do remember the walls of the prison, the walls of Woodbury …" I slowly nodded. "Had there ever been any walls to ever save our asses?"

I looked front to the driving mirror to meet Daryl's eyes looking back at me. "No." I looked out of the window again. "But so far he told the truth. And wouldn't it be nice to finally have … something?!"

"Oh yeah …" Merle leaned forward. "Some girls would be nice … some big tits for …" I interrupted his sentence by standing up. I rolled my eyes and walked over to Daryl and sat down next to him. "I hadn't finished!" Merle chuckled behind us. I wasn't in the mood for that kind of talk. I was too much into Aaron's story … maybe a bit too much for my own good.

I put my feet on the dashboard. "Are you fit to drive?" I asked him looking at my hands in my lap. "You haven't slept at all." My left hand kind of hurt since it had trembled. There was a slight prickling in it ever since.

"I'm good." He had one hand on the steering wheel, the other rested on the door and his eyes were fixed on the car in front of us again. "What's wrong with your hand?"

So he had seen my trembling hand. "Nothing." He grunted in disbelief but didn't push me on it. I massaged my hand looking outside. No way was I going to tell him I was torn between afraid that torture was awaiting us and imagining living in a house with a shower. I was just a crazy person who didn't know what to believe.

You're not crazy. After all that has happened it is normal to cast doubts on a save place. My brother piped up again.

And hearing my dead brother in my head wasn't crazy at all …

"We're going to be fine." He reassured me. "If not that place, we'll drive through all the states with this camper." A weak smile emphasized his words.

I had the feeling he only tried to cheer me up. "I had never passed more than two states."

"Is that so?"

"I saved the money for a bright future." I laughed ironically. "What a waste." If I had known the world would go to shit I would have used the money to travel around the world, to see ballet in Russia, all the art Paris could offer, to see if Barcelona was really that stunning, and I had always wondered if the beaches in Thailand were really the most gorgeous.

"Ya had looked like some person that travel a lot to me."

"What does that look like?"

"Ya approached us with knives in your hands, messed with Ed and Shane, ran into a city full of walkers alone … a tough ass bitch. Thought you had gained experience around the globe."

I sniffed. "Didn't have to go far to learn these things." I remembered working at the bar and dealing with drunken shitheads. "But it would have been nice to see at least another part of the world than Georgia." I walked down memory lane seeing all people I had worked with, people I had admired, friends and family. Maybe I shouldn't have tried to live my dream that hard. In the end it hadn't worked and never would.

"Which states?"

"Hm?"

"You said you've only been to two states."

Was he trying to distract me? He had been awfully quiet and absent the last days. But after last night … the storm and walker attack … he had somehow changed back into the Daryl I had known. I had thought he was mad after he had left after Rick's story, that he would crawl back in that shell I had known so well myself. But he hadn't … he was actually talking to me, distracting me. "I only showed off." A chuckle escaped my lips. "I had only seen Jacksonville … and saw a bit of the sea at … I don't even remember the town's name anymore." The talking reminded me of another car ride we had been doing. I had laid my head on his shoulder, I had taken his hand on another ride. I looked to his hand on the steering wheel and up to his face.

"What about you?" He raised an eyebrow at me. "How many states have you seen?"

"Ya askin' that question a damn redneck?" The crocked smile appeared on his face, the one I loved so much. "Know your audience."

What was going on? Was the food poisoned? He had changed almost overnight. I wouldn't dare to ask him what was going on. He would only shut me out again. I was glad he was not turning on me. "Do you ever wanted to go some other place?" Maybe he did believe in Aaron's words. Maybe there was a gleam of hope in him.

"Always knew the back of my house better than any other place."

"Ya talkin' about that shitty woodland behind our ruin?" Merle sat down between us.

"You never spoke of your home." I said to Daryl.

"Ya never asked." He gave back.

"He would always run into the woods when I came home with a chick." Merle went on ignoring the conversation between me and Daryl. "My lil' bro is a hiking douchebag." Merle laughed.

"Cause ya were annoying as hell."

Merle laughed and took another can. "Don't open it!" I took the can out of his hand. "Leave the rest for the others. We have already eaten one." He looked at me with a mad glance. "We are a family, we share." I told him with a more sensitive voice.

"Is that some slogan you caught on the way?"

"I have never heard you guys talking that much in this camper than the whole time we have been on the road." Abraham suddenly stated still lying in the bed.

"Why don't ya better shut up?" Merle didn't turn around.

I ignored the both of them. "So you lived near the woods." I tried a conversation again looking at Daryl. It suited his whole appearance. That must be where he got his hunting skills from.

"Yeah." He seemed to recall his past, maybe his house. His eyes weren't fixed on the car in front of us anymore but somewhere else.

Before this conversation could deepen, we arrived at the barn. We all excited and went into the barn cautiously, maybe still having Rick's words in mind that it was all a trap. But our friends were fine. No one was harmed, not even Aaron who was still leaning on a pillar handcuffed. I went for the camper again, followed by Abraham and Daryl to carry some of the cans inside. In the end we gathered almost all the canned food in the barn.

I walked out to grab the last useful stuff out of the barn when Merle joined me. "Don't ya wanna know what's going on?"

"What are you talking about?" I turned around not entering the camper.

Merle sat down on the hood of the white car. "Don't ya wanna hear what Officer Friendly orders?"

I had to smile. Rick really ordered us around, but he was the leader. I guessed someone had to take out the trash. That sounded way too familiar …

You are here on your own free will. No one had told you to get the last pieces out of the camper, it was your own idea. Plus: You moved your damn ass pretty slowly as if you do not want to take part …

I shrugged my shoulders. Rick would do the right thing, he always had. Even if I wasn't so fond of his methods, he had always led us to a better place. "We'll go to this place, no matter what." I finally told Merle. Most people – including me – wanted to go, so we would go.

"And who is that 'we'?"

"Come on Merle. What's going on?" I sat down on the stairs of the camper opposite of him. He starred at me a long time. I kept on starring back. "Is that some kind of staring contest?" I smiled. His eyebrow rose slightly. "Stop it." He looked back at me and I kept on smiling. He didn't seem to know what I was talking about. "Stop trying to lure me to the outside."

"Ya read right through me princess." He spat to the ground. "But still we are here and they are over there dreaming their master plan."

"We are in this together. Why don't ya get that asshole?" I tried his accent and he laughed at me.

A branch snapped and we both raised our weapons. Was someone there? Did the friend or friends of Aaron follow us up to here? I nodded to Merle and we slowly made our way into the woods. I had the small gun Carol had given to me in my hands while Merle had his stump-knife raised and in his other hand he had a small gun. I still wondered where he had that from. We walked left and then turned right to circle back. There was no one there. "Maybe it was the one Aaron had been talking of." We looked around to only see nothing. "Maybe he bolt when he saw us coming?!" I whispered to Merle.

"Maybe." He gave back, his eyes on the ground.

"You see anything?" The ground was still wet, but he didn't seem to follow a track. His head turned too often left and right. "Maybe we should head back and tell the others." I kneeled down to look for shoe prints or any human tracks too, but the fallen trees and dead walkers around us made it pretty hard to tell if it was a human foot print or a slurping walker. Suddenly dead eyes starred back at me. A head was hanging in the branches right next to my face. There was merely a bit of its neck left and a shoulder. The mouth was slightly opening and shutting. No clacking sound, yet I took out my knife to stab it.

"Not trusting good ol' Merle, heh?!" He snickered.

I stood up and wiped the blade of my knife at my trousers before I put it away. "Let's go back Merle, before they call the cavalry." When we were almost at the barn we saw Michonne and Rick on the white car deep in conversation. Merle held me back from approaching them.

"What did you hear the first time you stood in front of the walls of Woodbury?" Rick asked Michonne. It was hard to hear his words and it was even harder to hear her answer. I couldn't hear Michonne's reply, but Rick's when he talked on. "And outside of Terminus?" The terms Woodbury and Terminus made me shiver again. The images of fucking Phillip and human carcasses flashed my mind. Michonne shook her head. "Some time tonight, we'll be outside his camp's walls. And without seeing inside, I'm gonna have to decide whether to bring my family in." So we would go tonight, not right now. I sighed, with family he was talking about Carl and Judith not the group. But I did understand his intention. "I'm not sure if anything could convince me to go in there. But I am gonna see."

I turned to Merle. He hadn't seen Terminus, but he knew Woodbury. He knew a lot had happened on the way, but didn't know the whole story. But looking back at Rick … he had his trauma too. He didn't see a safe place in Aaron's home. Sounded like he didn't believe there was anything left to save us.

That is a bit exaggerated, don't you think.

Maybe … and suddenly I saw the Rick I had met at camp again. I had felt like this way at prison too … a connection to Rick. We had lost too much, but this had to stop. Losing people had to stop. Rick did the things he do for his family. I looked over to Merle … and that was exactly what I would be doing too. I would fight if we had to but if that place was in fact true and save, we would hang in a while longer. I smiled to myself.

"What the fuck are ya smiling about?" Merle spat. "Thought Terminus was some trap."

"It was …" I swallowed the memories. "The people there only wanted us dead. They lured people in to eat them."

Merle laughed out loud with dark eyes. "I wondered when people like that would cross our path. Damn cannibals …" When he said the word cannibal I saw Gareth in front of me and Mary … how she had tried to kill me and how they had wanted us all dead. They had even come for us and killed Bob. And in the end they were dead, and somehow the same was true for Sasha. "What the heck happened there?" He grabbed my shoulder and forced me to look at him. "Ya paled …"

"It was madness … I have seen dead bodies hanging from the ceiling, they tried to kill us only to have something to eat. It is where we had been reunited with the others …. At least something good came from it."

"Never loosing that attitude, do ya?!" Merle grinned. "Is that where you got that scar from?" He pointed at my throat.

I immediately grabbed for the bandana at my throat and it was still in place. He couldn't have seen what was underneath.

Yet he is not blind. What fool is wearing a bandana and long sleeves on a hot summer's day?!

"No."

"Will you ever tell me?"

"Tale for another time." I said and stepped towards the barn again. I would never tell him anything as long as the memory was hidden at some dark place in my mind.

Daryl approached us. "Where have ya been?"

"We heard someone … or something." I looked back into the woods. "But we didn't find anything." Turning back to Daryl Merle was already off lighting a cigarette. I began to be curious where he had gotten the cigarettes. "Thought it was Aaron's friend."

"He is not willing to take us straight away. So we leave for his place at night." He told me what had been decided.

"So you finally think it is a good idea?"

"I never said it's a bad idea." He came closer. "But this barn smells like shit and if there is something better, why not enjoy something less foul." There was a small smile on his face. He mentioned for me to enter the barn. "Let's eat something."

"So we are definitely going?"

"We're leaving at night." He told me and I remembered Rick's words to Michonne.

We followed the white car on Route 23. Glen was driving the white car with Michonne, Rick and Aaron in it. The others and I were in the camper. I wondered why we didn't take the Route Aaron had told the others about.

Abraham was driving this time, Rosita was sitting next to him. Merle was lying in the bed sleeping and all the others had found a place to rest too. I sat on the floor next to Carl who held his sister. "She looks good." Judith was sleeping with rosy cheeks. She looked so peaceful.

"She finally had something to eat and clean water to drink."

"And hopefully it will stay like this forever." My eyes found his.

"We will." Carl was determined.

"When I first met you, you were a school boy … how old were you … 12?" He nodded. "Now look at you at 15 years, more mature than some of us." I gave him a smile.

"You still think I will be leader some day?"

"I don't think that … I know it." I put my arm around his shoulder. "Because you …"

Suddenly the car came to an abrupt halt. I crashed into the cupboard next to me, trying to hold Carl and Judith as good as possible to protect them.

"What's going on?" Sasha screamed.

"Walkers!" Abraham retorted. "We have to drive around."

I didn't understand the fuss Maggie made, my ears were ringing. The camper moved on and still she argued. "What's wrong?" I stood up holding onto the cupboard next to me blinking the stars around my head away. Then I saw what was wrong. A horde of walkers were in front of us, but Abraham drove left. Rosita told him how to drive looking on a map in her hands.

"Route 16!" Rosita said and pointed somewhere on the map. "Drive left and then follow this street."

"We have to help the others!" Maggie again yelled.

"There is no way we can get through them." Rosita stated. "I saw them driving on in high speed. They must find a way out. We can meet them here." Again she pointed to a map and I wondered how she knew where to meet. Rick must have had a plan B … and Rosita and Abraham seemed to know exactly where to go.

I looked out of the window to my right. It was damn dark, only the headlights highlighted the dark trees around us – and of course the walkers. And then I saw something … something was towering dark above the trees. What was that? Suddenly a red light gloomed in the dark sky … was it a flare gun? "There!" I told the others, Abraham and Rosita had seen it too. Carl joined me on the window. "A signal!" I saw a water tower in the distance highlighted by the flare.

We drove on towards the water tower and were soon welcomed by forlorn houses and streets. Some walkers roamed around snarling silently as if they were going to sleep. I starred outside while Abraham drove on slowly. Everybody tried to watch out of a window to look for the others.

The night seemed endless like our drive. My eyes tried to see things I hoped for, but there wasn't really anything I was hoping for except to see Glenn and the others again. Every whitish car we passed raised my attention, but it was never the white car I was looking for. A group of walkers was slurping slowly over the concrete floor. They seemed just as hungry as we had been days again. Their movements was so slow we could even easily outwalk them. But I was glad we were in the safe camper. Suddenly one of the walkers walked pretty fast into an alley. His limping walk wasn't as slurpy as it should have been. "Stop the car." Maybe it was someone of Aaron's group. Maybe it was 'the other one' he had been talking about.

"What?" Daryl turned to me to look out of the window too.

"There was a person …" I told him and Abraham stopped the car. "Maybe it is one of Aaron's group."

Daryl stood up and I followed him. He stopped at the door to look at the others. Maggie stood up too and followed us out of the car. We raised out guns while Daryl took one long knife in one hand and dagger in the other, his crossbow on his back. We walked together almost in a circle, covering each other's back.

"Where did he go?" Daryl asked eyeing the group of walkers to our right who approached us now slowly. Gladly it seemed it was the fastest they could move. I took my beloved knife to stab one of the walkers in the ear and right through the head. The killing went smooth, they really must have been dead for years. We killed all five walkers in the blink of an eye and turned back to the alley.

"I don't know if it was a he, but a shadow moved pretty fast that way." I pointed with my bloody knife towards the alley.

Suddenly a scream for help echoed from the buildings. Daryl was first to run into the alley. Maggie and I followed to see a man surrounded by walkers. He was trying to fight the walkers with a stick … a stick … like wood could help in that kind of situation. What did he think he was fighting, vampires?

Humor alive again? My brother scoffed in the back of my head. So you feel better now, more safe? More hopeful? I ignored the sarcasm and killed the walkers with the help of Daryl and Maggie.

"Thank you!" The man exhaled loudly. "If you wouldn't have come, I would have been dead by now." He smiled thankfully.

He was not afraid of us … he seemed to know we were not going to hurt him. "Are you Aaron's friend?" I asked bluntly.

"Yes, yes I am." He still smiled. "I am Eric." He held out his hand but we just stared at him. "Oh, I forgot you have trust issues … ehm … I mean that's not a big thing … it is just that …"

Daryl stepped forward and Eric moved back but his ankle gave way and he fell to the ground. "Are you hurt?" I asked him.

"I happen to be not that grade outside the walls. The damn roamers …" He laughed to himself. "But what the things you do for love, right?" He looked to Maggie and me.

I was glad Rick wasn't here right now. I didn't know if he would have trusted Eric or just shot him. His whole personality was funny. Weird funny. He was clumsy as hell and for what I thought gay … and madly in love with Aaron. He followed him and they followed us. You had to be crazy to follow us …

Like you when you followed them to Atlanta?

"Yes, you have to be madly in love for this kind of stuff." I gave back and wondered why my brother didn't retort.

"Where is Aaron?" He asked.

"He is with Rick and some of our group. We lost them on the road." Maggie told him. Daryl gave her a look but she ignored him.

"If he is with Rick he will be fine." Eric smiled once again.

"It is very odd to hear things like that from a stranger …" I still had my knife in my hand. Eric seemed to be okay but this didn't mean there was a whole other story behind this façade.

"I know, I know … but …" I stood up and winced in pain.

Maggie looked at Eric. "Your foot looks broken."

"I …" He was out of air and sweat was all over his forehead. He must be in pain. "I fell down and …"

Maggie went down on one knee to inspect his ankle. "It is definitely broken."

"When we're back I will go to the infirmary. They can fix that." He told us. Infirmary? Sounded like they had a whole city build up behind walls. Before I could ask, he hobbled to a door wincing. "We have to get inside. I will tell you everything."

"Ya think we just follow ya inside?" Merle suddenly stood behind Daryl.

"Merle, right?" Eric stated with a careful smile. "I know this is all strange … but once we are inside, I will explain."

"Aren't you afraid of us? That we have killed your friend?" Maggie asked.

Eric's friendly face didn't change. "If you are here, he must be alive. He would have never told anything about the location."

I looked over to Daryl who stared at Eric. "Please, let us go inside and I will declare myself."

Again I exchanged glances with Maggie and Daryl. "We have to stabilize the ankle." Maggie told us.

"Does none of you think this is strange?" Merle stepped in. "That fucker could be telling a story and …"

"We will help him." Maggie told him with force. She didn't want his opinion and took Eric's arm to help him walk.

"Oh princess, did I shit in your cornflakes?" Merle straightened his back.

"He needs to be treated." She told him. "Is there any danger in this building?" She looked to the door Eric had pointed at before.

"No!"

"If there is anything fishy, we will hurt you more than your broken ankle." She told him and supported his walk.

"I will get the others." I told Daryl and walked back to the camper. Daryl nodded and I walked passed Merle who joined my step while Daryl followed Maggie. Seemed Eric really had something trustworthy that even Daryl wasn't as tensed as I would have thought he would be.

"Come on … this is strange … a light, a guy who needs help and you don't think this stinks?"

Abraham was standing in front of the camper. "I don't know … but Eric seemed trustworthy." Merle sniffed at my retort. Before he could say something I went for Abraham and told him to drive into the alley.

While Maggie stabilized Eric's leg, he told us all about their 'mission'. They were looking for survivors who were trustworthy enough to bring back to Alexandria. A funny name … I immediately thought about the Egyptian city, saw high bright stone walls and the sea. The way he was talking was funny and he made me smile. He deeply cared for Aaron and I wondered if Aaron could forgive us for treating him the way we had done. If this was all true … there would be a light at the end of the tunnel.

You mean a light at the end of the apocalypse.

I saw Daryl walking out, most likely to guard the door. While Eric still talked on I stepped outside joining Daryl in front of the door. "Hey!"

"Hey!" He retorted.

We waited for a sign of the others and of course took watch. I watched a walker roaming in the alley not sensing us at all. He didn't even sense my knife flying straight at him. It killed him right in the eye.

"Not too bad!" Daryl grunted next to me.

"Your brother taught me well." I retorted approaching the walker to take out my knife. I kneeled down and eyed the walker He looked pretty similar to Jess … I caught my breath. Then I quickly took my knife and stepped back. This wasn't him and I planned to never see him again. I didn't even want to think of him ever again. Daryl nodded for me to join his side. We stood next to each other and I leaned into him closing my eyes for a minute. "You trust him, don't you?"

Daryl let out a sigh. "We'll see when we see it."

I sniffed at his sentence because we stood in a dark alley at night. What was there to see? "Not believing anything you don't see with your own eyes, heh?!" I looked up to him and thought about God. Some believed in God without seeing him ever too. Why did they believe in something impalpable? My mother was so religious that it had been normal growing up with God but at some point it all stopped.

Daryl looked down on me. "What?"

"Nothing … I am just thinking about …" If I would say God would he be freaking out?

"Yeah?" He wondered.

Suddenly a whistling sounded through the alley. Daryl immediately stepped forward and whistled too. I followed him into the alley to see Glenn, Rick and Michonne approaching us. Daryl went for the door and knocked. I hugged Glenn tight. "Are you okay?" He nodded into my shoulder.

The door opened and Maggie and Carl stormed out knowing their beloved must have arrived. I let go of Glenn so he could reunite with Maggie. Michonne nodded towards me but I couldn't resist to take her into my arms too. We had all just been reunited with a glimmer of hope in our minds … another separation was inconceivable.

Aaron ran passed me. "Eric?" He didn't wait for any of us to answer, but entered the building quickly shouting his name.

We all went inside and I heard Aaron talking to Eric. I sighed happy, for we all were reunited as were the both of them. "What happened?" Daryl asked and Glenn opened his mouth to answer but Rick went after the voices of Eric and Aaron. I looked over to my so called lover and thought about our many reunions …

So-called lover? Laughter arose in my head. I heard Eric and Aaron kissing … when was the last time you … I shook my head to not hear the end of the sentence. Kissed?

We heard them talking while we looked at each other or to the ground. The one's of us who had heard Eric's story felt their reunion was special. Glenn looked a little baffled to Maggie who leaned over to him to tell him our story.

"Excuse me." Suddenly Aaron stepped into the room again. "Excuse me." He asked for attention and stepped into our midst. "Thank you!" You could tell from his wet eyes how thankful he was. "You saved Eric. I owe you. All of you." He looked around, found all of our faces. "And I will make sure that debt is paid in full when we get to our community. When we get to Alexandria." He smiled and I saw Maggie smiling at him too. We had saved Eric together but she had been the one knowing what to do, stabilizing his foot. "Now I am not sure about you, but I'd rather not do any more driving tonight. Maybe we can hit the road tomorrow morning."

"That sounds fine!" Rick stated behind him. He blocked the way into the room where Eric was still in. "But if we're staying here for the night you're sleeping over there." He pointed right to the corner where Merle and I were standing.

"You really think we got to do that?" Maggie tilted her head. It wasn't really a question, she already liked Eric.

"It's the safe play." Rick retorted and looked at Aaron. "We do not know you."

"The only way you're gonna stop me from being with him right now is by shooting me." Aaron told Rick. His voice was not mad nor was it emotional. He was just stating the facts. A man in love. I smiled.

Merle elbowed me. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing … just reminds me of something."

You're thinking about your foolish actions when love-drunk? My brother chuckled. I slightly nodded to his words still smiling. This man would get to his love no matter what … This was real, real love, this wasn't an act. I couldn't think of Aaron's story to be not true.

I looked up again to see Glenn and Rick talking to each other. In the end they let Aaron walk into the room again to join his friend. Rick only wanted us safe, so he talked to Daryl and Glenn about the situation and who would be taking watch. And I finally exhaustion made me yawn.

"So ya going to take a nap princess?" Merle searched his pockets for a cigarette. I still wondered where he had found them, because he never seemed to run out of these nicotine sticks.

"What happened to the less pretty nicknames?" Since we felt safe in here, everybody was more relaxed.

This is not the time to relax … it never is and maybe never will be. Someone always has to watch … you have to watch each other's back. He was right, another Woodbury was not going to happen. This damn phrase had become something like a mantra to me.

"Get some rest." Daryl's raspy voice was suddenly close. "You look like you could use some sleep."

"Nice way to say you look like shit." Merle laughed.

"Okay." Was all I said, because I felt the exhaustion of the day. There were no beds around, not even mattresses, nothing to lie down on. Daryl took my hand and pulled me to a corner. Wordlessly we slide down the wall and I rested my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes.

"Who is tacking watch?" I asked tired to the bone.

A low laugh escaped his lips. "Carol and Rick are first to take watch."

"Okay." And knowing someone was watching over us, I fell into a dreamless sleep.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Have a great weekend and see you soon ;)