Chapter 31

BPOV

The next few weeks went by with much the same routine. I would meet Daryl and go hunt then most days head over to the prison. Rick and I were still at odds but most of the others seemed to be coming around. Carol had really started coming out of her shell when she started learning to defend herself, all the girls had. Amy, Beth, Carol, and Sofia all started training together, only asking me for something new or pointers when needed. It was nice to see them taking initiative to learn because a time would come when I wasn't around to help them. Not that I would leave them if I had a choice but I knew I couldn't be there all the time; it probably felt the same as Edward when he was trying to protect me, you just can't be everywhere all the time. But come to think of it, he sure did try; he would even send Alice into the bathroom with me… that poor girls enhanced senses… What did he think I was going to do, drown in the toilet?

Maggie and Glenn seemed to work out their differences. She would even be polite to me and wave; not that we were buddy buddy but hey, it was progress from her wanting to put a bullet in my skull. She didn't even bat an eyelash when Glenn would talk to me, or the new people in D block. Maggie seemed to start caring about more people than herself was her biggest improvement. I hopped it wasn't an act for Glenn's sake, because he was a love sick puppy all too willing to hand that leash over to her. The more I observed from a far though, she really seemed into him and not just playing the field until better players came along. It seemed they loved each other, sometimes it was sickingly sweet that it made my teeth hurt; or maybe I was just jealous. Thinking on it more though, that wasn't really it. I had never been the kind to want to parade around with the mushy nicknames and make out sessions in full view of everyone. There was a few times I thought we all were going to get a free show, but with Hershel's slightly annoyed looks, I'm sure they were going to get a talking to soon.

About a week after I moved out to the bunker, Daryl and I were hunting when I veered off course to go to the bathroom, making sure to let him know so he didn't come looking. Right as I was zipping up, I heard footsteps. I was about to turn around and ask Daryl what the fuck while I desperately kicked dirt over my pee puddle, suddenly embarrassed about bodily functions, when I saw a man coming towards me. Thinking back to Alice's letter, I fought to control myself from drawing a weapon and appear to be a meek shy girl; which probably wasn't too hard looking back, as I already had a slight blush going from being embarrassed while covering a puddle of pee… I hadn't worn my new holsters today, deciding instead to lather them up with saddle soap, letting them soak it all in to help keep them in top condition. The last thing I wanted to do was ruin what could be my last gift from Jasper, a very meaningful one at that.

I wanted him to think I was a weak girl that he could just take back to camp, but like fuck I was. It was his day to die I thought, especially after I noticed the scratch marks on his cheek; probably some poor girl trying to defend herself against him… or it could have been a dead one, either way he was set to die. Looking down at the LeMat in my boot where I had put it after undoing my pants to do my business, it was mostly concealed; falling down deep in my boot that was half way tied due to my rush to meet Daryl this morning. The man approached with caution, looking all around for anyone else, his drawn gun held slack in his hand. I picked up my bow and quiver and clutched them to my chest trying my best to look terrified, all the while hoping Daryl didn't show up right this moment. I needed to know where the others were without tracking his ass halfway across the damn forest.

He just looked like a rapist… it was a bad vibe, reminding me of the guys in Port A that Edward had almost run over in his car. Not to mention he absolutely reeked, like he hadn't thought to bathe since this whole ordeal started. I backed up a few steps when he got closer, seemingly getting ready to run when he stopped, "Hey girl, you ok?" he asked smoothly, like he really fucking cared. I could see the way his greedy eyes to in my clean flesh and neat hair. I nodded in a jerking motion, widening my 'big doe eyes' as Paul had once called them, trying to make myself look scared and nervous. Hook, line, and sinker; he was caught in a trap he didn't even know about. "What are you doing out here alone? Don't you have some people?" he asked slyly. Yea like I would really fucking tell you buster. I shook my head looking down, biting the inside of my cheek to help the on demand tears well up in my eyes, "I… I … lost them. We got separated… my sisters were with my mum last I saw, while my pa led most the biters away…. I've been trying to find the farm they where they said to meet, but…" I sobbed out in an Oscar award deserving performance. Boom, I set that hook deep as I caught the gleam in his eyes at the thought of finding my figurative mother and sisters with only my maybe alive father to protect them.

Just then a bird sounded, and a week ago I would've thought just that, a bird; but I knew better, Daryl was near by watching. The particular pattern was to say 'I'm here', for when we were hunting without speaking as to not scare away the prey. And Oh, was I looking at my prey; the sick SOB was going down, I just needed to bide my time. Pinpointing where the sound had come from, I held up my hand behind my back to hopefully get him to wait. "Well no worries princess, I can help you. It is pretty dangerous out here all alone. Never know who you can come across, especially with you being injured and all honey" he said with a nod to my boot. Princess? Honey?... I can't believe anyone ever fell for his shit, but then again, people in desperate times will do just about anything to stay alive. Yea, I was injured but I wasn't the fucking easy prey he thought me to be, not by a long shot.

"Yo..You would do that?" I asked him as timidly as fucking possible with a little bit of hope on my face, now to slide into home plate "I..I um.. I don't really have anything to pay you for your kindness mister. I haven't eaten since yesterday when my food ran out. I found this," I said holding up my bow, "last night, I can't seem to hit anything with it yet though… My pa has a lot of food though where we are supposed to meet, perhaps he could give you some for bringing me back, in fact I know he would…" Look at me being nice and proper; 'perhaps' I'll shoot him in the dick and let him bleed to death. Daryl seemed to figure out I was up to something and was silent as ever hidden in the trees behind me.

"Oh, princess, is it ok for me to call you princess?" he paused, smiling waiting on my answer. "That's what my pa calls me" I said with a blush looking down. The blush was real at the thought of how embarrassed I would be if Charlie really started calling me that, especially in front of the pack… the teasing would be never ending. His smile grew wider and a whole lot more creepy, "Well, Prinnnncess" he drew out "Why don't we go back to my camp and get something for you to eat. My brother is more familiar with this area, knows where almost everything is around here. If anyone can get you back, it would be him." Well wasn't he awfully convincing?

I nodded somewhat shyly with my head still downturned "Thank you so much, I really appreciate your kindness sir" I answered with as much enthusiasm as I could muster, which wasn't a whole lot, but maybe he would just think I was hungry and tired. He came closer, bringing his stink along with him, making me choke down my gag reflex. Good lord, the dead wouldn't even want to eat that… Hmmm what an experiment to try… getting off track Bella, nod and look happy. "Want me to hold that for you?" he swung his head toward my bow. Ugh… it will take me a week to get his stinky ass filth off of it, but I guess the outcome would be worth it, "Sure if you don't mind, I'm felling awfully weak today." I exaggerated this by rubbing my shoulder and stretching my neck after I handed it over. Oh how shitty it felt to play the damsel in distress.

There was another bird call, one I didn't really know, but it kind of sounded like 'what the fuck are you doin' was my guess as we started to walk away from him. It probably did look pretty strange, me handing over my weapon and walking away with some guy; I had no idea if he was close enough to hear us while we were talking, but then again Daryl had like fucking sonar ears and could hear everything it seemed. As we walked, I fiddled with the hem of my shirt, then motioned my finger behind my back at him in the come here motion when the other man wasn't looking. I observed my opponent as we went, locating any weapons and how fit he really seemed to be. He had a slight limp, favoring the right leg. A weakness to exploit if needed. I made my limp seem worse than it was, intentionally leaving tracks behind, not that Daryl really needed the help. He made small talk, asking for my name and other shit. I told him my name was Jenny, as I could not get that fucking song out of my head since last night… 867-5309 867-5309 Jenny Jenny… Focus Bella, he's still fucking talking. Goodnight, this guy was laying it on thick, "maybe our groups could come together, we would be stronger if we worked together…" blah blah blah blah… Maybe I was getting hangry, it was past lunch time, as it was taking all my self-control to not just shoot him now. Here Bella, eat a snickers, I thought wryly; what I wouldn't give for a damn snickers.

Jim, uh, Jack, or uh Jace… whatever the fuck his name was said we were getting close now. I took the opportunity to say I needed to use the facilities really quick, walking around a bush a little ways away from him. He didn't seem to be worried about me one bit, though I did catch him leaning over to get a better look, too bad for him though I picked a pretty dense bush. I picked up a stick and wrote a message for Daryl, 'Bad Guys, Kill. Save Women' was all he would really need to piece it together if he hadn't already. Even if whats his face came around and saw it, I could just kill him now and try to finish finding the camp myself, but I really wanted to get this shit over with now. Funny how a week ago, I had flipped my shit over killing Tomas, but it seemed these assholes wouldn't die fast enough; I really was fucking hungry… Maybe it was due to Alice's influence that said they need to go that I wasn't freaking out, or just because they were rapist. I remember how I felt in Jacksonville when the men came into the house, I would've killed them without hesitation after what they said if I knew I would've made a difference; but there were just to many of them and Alice said I would probably die. I needed to do what I was told to make it home was all I could think at the time, but now looking at this bastard out of the corner of my eye, I couldn't wait to rid the world of his filth.

I did feel bad about pulling Daryl into this mess, about to get blood on his hands more than likely, but I knew he didn't care for the mistreatment of women either. I also knew even if I had told him to stay back, not to follow any longer, he would've stomped all over that and continued on. (Probably literally would have stomped on my scrawling in the dirt too) Not to mention with 6 guys hanging around it might get a little difficult not to get hurt myself, so a little back up would be nice.

The camp was well defendable; I'll give the assholes that. They had the higher ground next to a small creek with dense foliage at their backs; dense foliage that would bite them in the ass as soon as Daryl worked his way through it, basically coming in the backdoor of their camp. "Jason, what do you have there?" asked a guy just as dirty as, Jason, apparently, was his name. Listening to their conversation I looked around, trying to get a location on the girls so they didn't get caught in the crossfire, "Found this 'princess' just wondering through the woods. All alone, looking for her mother and sisters. Her father as well. I told her you knew this area the best and could help take her to find her family" he said with a fake smile. The other man's leer grew even more sinister, "Is that so? How about it babe, where did they say to meet up at? Maybe after lunch we could make it there before dark" he tried to persuade. Babe? He wasn't trying to sell it as good as Jason was, but I continued my timid and shy act, "I wouldn't want to put you all out, but I really am desperate to get back to my family, they must be terribly worried by now and I would hate for them to think me dead." I said as nice as I could. 'Terribly worried'… good lord I read to many old novels… "They said to go to my old friend's farm, The Greene's. My friend Beth lived there… I don't know if they made it or not." I told them, if only to entice them more at the thought of a possible other girl.

"I know exactly where that is, we were just there last week, looking for any survivors. There was a big fire over there so I don't know if your friend Beth made it or not. But if your family is in that area waiting on you, we can head out here in a minute." Just as he finished spewing his bull shit, a woman screamed out, "RUN!" was all she got out before she fell silent from one of the tents. "W..what was that?!" I asked backing away, but they didn't seemed phased, still sitting eating out of a can of beans. "She has night terrors about her family dying, talks in her sleep. Don't mind her." Said Jason. He wasn't really lying about family dying, I could see it in his eyes, but I knew she was awake. I could hear her struggle against someone else in the tent. "Oh ok. I understand" I told them softly, going to sit on a log across from them, as far as I could get without being obvious.

Eventually, another man came out of a tent and the 4 of us set off to the Greene's. They really did know where it was, heading in the right direction to a T. That left Daryl 3 guys and I had 3 guys. I had hoped only the two would go and 1 or 2 more would run out to see what the gun fire was about, but they did what they did. I knew Daryl was waiting on some kind of sign and I was going to give it in a big way. The knife in my medical boot had slid down further than I had wanted and I couldn't reach it easily. I pretended to trip, all the years of being clumsy taught me how to land with the least amount of pain, and grabbed my medical boot, slightly crying out.

The hour of them being nice and pretending was over, they knew were my fake family was and they didn't really need to drag me around for niceties. They laughed at me on the ground 'in pain', while asking "What's a matter 'Princess'?" one asked with a sneer. "Why don't we take your pants off the get a better look" suggested another. All the while, I pretended to be terrified to buy myself more time, "W..what? I thought you were going to help me?!" I trembled out, finally grabbing my knife, working it back toward the top of the boot where I needed it. "Oh no, Jenny," said Jason, walking further from me, "We just wanted to know where your family was to hopefully get your sisters, and maybe your mother too if she's a babe. Now your dad, we might make him watch what we do to them before we finally kill him… I always did like having an audience. But for now, we wanted to have some fun with you before the others back at camp. So fight all you want 'princess', I tend to like it rough" he said. I sighed out… geeez another Randall on my hands, got to lay out all the dirty work before they get to it.

Wrapping my hands around the sides of my boot, where my knife and LeMat were ready to be grabbed, I laughed at them… I couldn't help it. It was just a stereotypical bad guy thing to do, lay it all out there on the line, keep running their mouth.They seemed slightly startled by my reaction, looking a little weary now. "You all talk to damn much? You know who else talked to much? Randall. Right before I bathed in his blood" I said the last part as I threw the knife for Jason, hitting him in the eye just like I intended. The LeMat fired at the same time taking the other down, the third man left standing. By the time I turned my gun to him, he had his on me and pulled the trigger. The bullet grazed my arm causing my shot to go low and hit him in the chest. I fired again, getting him in the head this time, making him go down like a sack of bricks. That wasn't so bad I thought, as I looked at my flesh wound. Daryl must have heard that, so after retrieving my knife, I ran back the direction I came, the best I could run anyways, to go help. I couldn't help but think along the way that Jasper was right, this gun sure was accurate.

Arriving at the camp, I approached as quietly as I could, with caution. Peeking over a ridge I saw Daryl looking pissed off in some kind of hostage standoff with the last man left alive. The others had bolts sticking out of their heads lying on the ground. The other women were gathered together in the tent looking on helplessly. Daryl had his bow raised, muscles taunt with tension, ready to fire at the man who had the last woman pulled up against him, hiding behind her with a knife to her throat. I couldn't shoot without fear of injuring the woman and neither could Daryl.

Now I'm not saying my plan was a good one, but the standoff we were in was getting ridiculous. The guy couldn't think of a plan and just kept shifting on his feet, trying to figure out how to get away from Daryl. Putting my gun in the front of my pants, I slowly crept up the ridge, watching every placement of my feet to keep the dirt from shifting. After reaching the top, I slowly stood and controlled my breathing, then started to creep forward slowly with my knife in hand. It would have to be timed perfectly for the woman to walk away intact. Daryl didn't seem to agree with my plan if his body language was anything to go by; his jaw was clenched and he kept shifting his weight, but never looked directly at me, to keep the man's attention on him.

Almost directly behind him I raised my knife getting ready to do three things all at once; knee him in the nuts from behind, stab him in the right shoulder with my left hand and break the knife out of his grip with my right. All without slicing the poor girls throat open. Kneeing him and stabbing him at the same time had the desired effect, his grip faltered and the knife flew away with a flick of my wrist. His grip must have faltered on the girl too because she wiggled her way free and made a mad dash for tent with the others. When he had reached to pull the knife out, he tipped over right on top of me "You stupid fucking BITCH!" He had his hand wrapped around my neck when he screamed out again, "FUUUUUCK!" Reaching to pull out my pistol I leaned up slightly and almost busted out laughing again, even in my current predicament, when I could see the arrow stuck in his ass. Daryl really shot him in the ass…

Pulling the LeMat, I placed it under his chin and fired; and holy shit, the hammer for the 20 gauge must have caught on my pants because that's what fired. Jasper was once again correct in saying it had some zip to it; not only that, but it was loud as fuck right next to my ear. Daryl was standing over us with a knife, ready to stab the bastard just in case the giant hole in his head didn't do the trick. His mouth was moving but I couldn't hear a damn thing, just a high pitched whine. He pulled the arrow out of the guy's ass, and pulled him off of me. Getting up I stumbled slightly, feeling a little off balance, but regained my composure for the most part. I was able to hear an echo of Daryl's voice, catching things like "Grab tha stuff ya want 'n leave tha res'. With all that noise, walkers will be showin' up quick."

The women still seemed a little skittish of a man at the moment so I went up to Daryl and grabbed his hand in mine; united front and all that. He tensed for a moment until he realized what I was doing. Trying to talk while hearing yourself echo was difficult, "He's good. He isn't like them. We have a good, safe place; with people of all ages, including children. If…" I stopped to shake my head, trying to get rid of the echo and the whine in my ears, "If you don't want anything from here don't worry, we have extra stuff for you. You won't have to do anything for it, just help out with chores when you can or what you're good at… You would be free to leave whenever you please and would even be provided with a weapon. This is Daryl, and I'm Bella." I said with another shake of my head, when Daryl was suddenly in front of me. He reached out slowly and lifting my sleeve to look at the wound where the bullet grazed me. "You ok?" he said all slow like, trying to make sure I understood.

Feeling relieved and brave once more, I nodded then slowly hugged him, "Thank you for helping Daryl. I couldn't have done it without you." He stood stiff as a board as I hugged him, then reached his hand up to pat my uninjured shoulder. I guess that was the best hug I was going to get out of him, but that was ok; I don't think he had a lot of experience in that area either so he did pretty well. After I absorbed some of his warmth, I let him go and went to retrieve my bow that I would probably have to wipe down with bleach a few times to even come close to getting the stench off. The women were a little more at ease, probably due to our display of… well kind of affection. Daryl had already put down two dead ones by the time they were ready to go. They had made up their mind a lot quicker than I thought they would, but I guess anywhere was better than here.

The trip back to the prison was relatively quiet, the women whispering amongst themselves while Daryl led the way and I brought up the rear. I was relieved to be able to hear again without an echo. I had been a little worried that I had done permanent damage to my ear drum. The women would steal glances at me here and there and go back to whispering. I felt like I was in middle school and barley resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I understood part of it though; they were going somewhere new from the terrible place they had been and I'm sure they were glad to see a woman that seemed to have some kind of control of the situation they were in. They had no idea what they were walking into but did so because they didn't see any other options; I hoped Carol really helped these women. Maybe even the whole crew, being Beth, Amy, and Sofia, could help teach them a thing or two about what it takes in the new world.

They were really hesitant to go into the gates until they saw Carl and Sofia playing out in the yard, along with Maggie and Glenn walking around holding hands. After they witnessed the family like environment, they decided to at least give it a shot. I let Daryl go deal with Rick and to explain the situation to most of the others, while I made my way over to Carol inform her of the situation we rescued them from. I learned the girl's names while introducing them to Carol; Micha, Susan, Sandy, Carrie, and Natalie. Some of them thanked me profusely, making me blush and stand there awkwardly, while saying it wasn't a problem, while a couple stayed quiet. Making my escape from their extensive praise, I walked around to find Daryl so we could get the jeep to collect the things for D-block.

He seemed surprised that there were more totes to be collected, but nodded none the less and went off to get Glenn. Glenn's eyes were wide once he realized the room they cleared before was once again full. They hadn't said much the whole trip, but they didn't seem upset either. When we arrived back at D-block, I pulled Daryl to the side once more to tell him a few things; like the group that would show up in about two weeks with Tyreese, the location of the backhoe along with the idea about the pits to which he seemed intrigued. Right after I had turned to leave for the night, I called him back "Hey, Daryl… Thanks again. I know I caught you off guard, but I didn't think that was going to happen today… I guess I just lost track of time…Thank you for following and doing what you did."

" 'S no problem" he said with his almost standard reply. "No Daryl, really, thanks to you, those girls have a safer place to call home and no one around to hurt them like those guys…" he quietly interjected "Nah', that's thanks ta you" while shaking his head slightly, but I refused to drop this. "Do you really think I would've come back alive by myself? You didn't have to follow or come looking for me, but you did. You tracked my crappy trail all the way there and .." He stopped me once again "Could'a jus' follow'd the smell" making me do a very unlady like snort and bust out laughing. He smiled along with me with a soft chuckle and I guessed that was all the acceptance I was going to receive from him tonight. "I know right? I think I'll have to bleach my bow few times to get the stench off" I told him with a giggle. I was thrilled to know he had a sense of humor like I did. And just like that, I added another thing I liked about him to the ever growing list of qualities that made him amazing.

Things continued going smoothly with the small hiccup of Tyreese's group showing up and scaring almost everyone, but thanks to Daryl, every one chilled out and let them into D-block. They had picked up the wood stoves for the prison and were set up to start using them any day since the weather had changed. The pits to help keep the pressure off the fence had been dug and it had been one hell of an experience. Even though I read the manual front to back at least a three times, I wouldn't have ever made a good construction worker. After I finally figured out how to get it to go forward, I carefully stayed on the dirt trail the best I could as to not leave any more tracks leading to the prison.

There was a lot of dead built up at the fence when I arrived and they turned toward me as I pulled up on the giant rumbling machine. Mowing them down was easier than mowing grass, well I guessed that it was, since I hadn't ever mowed grass before either. When I started trying to dig the holes (in front of the large audience that had built up in the yard) I pressed the wrong button or lever or something, that thing was like a bucking bull; similar to when I put my truck in the wrong gear. Needless to say I cut the engine as Oscar came running out, saying he had extensive experience in the field if I would like him to take over. I basically threw the keys at him with a blush and said "Have at it!"

Wild game had been plentiful so far, keeping everyone well fed along with the dry staples from Alice. Daryl and I still hunted together almost every day, especially since the counsel was formed at Daryl's request. He didn't like taking peoples decisions out of their hands and thought it should be more of a group effort to decide things for all of them. It was like a huge weight was lifted from him after the first meeting; he looked well rested for once, younger even, and not so stressed. He smiled more and actually seemed to be enjoying being a part of such a collective group. He had fought for me to be on the counsel, though he didn't need to, as the only person to object was Rick; but I turned them down knowing I had too many other things on Alice's list to be concerned with the inner workings of the prison.

Daryl was getting more comfortable with me and we started to share a few personal things about ourselves with each other. He didn't seem to mind when I touched his arm when he made me laugh or the small hugs I gave him when I could work up the courage to give them. He would offer his hand when we were crossing rough terrain, and even had taken to teaching me to use his crossbow. Those were some of my favorite days, being caged in his big muscular form, watching his biceps flex from the weight of the bow… Some days I had to pinch myself so I could actually pay attention to what he said so I didn't seem like a moron when I needed to remember the tips he gave. I was a decent shot, but the bow was slightly too heavy for me; and not just because I liked the view and the heat when he helped me hold it.

Things changed the day before my boot was set to come off. I knew that because after the first week when we saved the girls, I had been marking the days to keep track. I couldn't wait to get that itchy thing off and wear my new boots. Daryl and I had agreed to meet earlier than usual to track a large deer we had come across signs of, hoping to feed the group for Thanksgiving; well at least what we were calling Thanksgiving. We had tracked most of the morning, until we finally came up on the large buck. I stood back, letting Daryl take the shot himself, hoping he would feel proud for once, of his contribution to the group's family meal. He was getting ready to fire as I watched him flex his trigger finger, when a large tree limb fell, making the buck take off like the devil was on his tail. Disappointment was evident on his face, but he took it in stride and started track again.

"You know, I never thought I would say this in my life, but that was a nice rack" I said to Daryl, trying to lighten the mood. It worked, as he snorted and his deep soft laughter filled the air. Once again we had come upon the buck, by a creek drinking water, with a perfect, clear shot. I waited for Daryl to raise his bow but it never happened. I turned to look at him like 'hurry it up' when he nodded in my direction. I mouthed 'What!' at him and he once again nodded at me. Signing silently in exasperation, I knew I couldn't change his mind, so I raised my bow with an arrow nocked. And wouldn't fate have it, right as I was about to let it fly, the ground we were standing on, on the other side of the creek, just gave out. Daryl reached out and grabbed my arm, keeping me from falling face first into the water; instead, we both just slid down with the crumbling dirt, on our asses.

I looked to him and he looked to me. We hadn't heard one creak or groan from the ground below before it gave way, same with the tree branch. It just suddenly gave way at the wrong moment; nature was interfering at the worse possible times. Two seconds later with either occurrence and the buck would've already been down, or at least shot and it wouldn't have mattered. So we both got up and dusted ourselves off, me taking a moment to remove my medical boot and pour out the dirt inside with a slight glare on my face. What the fuck was happening?! Then we both set off in the late morning sun to track once again…

As we were walking, it was Daryl who finally broke the silence, "Ya know what they say don't ya?" he asked, with a small smirk on his face. Thinking about it for a moment, nothing came to mind, so I looked to him and shook my head. "Third times the charm" he said with a hopeful smile. I couldn't help but to giggle at his simple explanation for the events of the day so far. "I sure hope so, otherwise we should start rethinking our career choices" I laughed out. He smiled and we both kept on tracking.

It was early in the afternoon before we came upon the buck again; and wouldn't you know it, we made a big ass circle. The prison was in view, just barley through the trees, as we spotted the buck eating acorns under a tree. I looked to him and he looked to me; we both nodded to each other at the same time. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at him and motioned with my hands for him to go ahead, but he shook his head no. Dammit. Looking up I eyed the tree branches carefully then turned back to him with an exaggerated slow nod, from him to the deer. He shook his head no once again, making me want to scream out loud but then he looked to me and jerked his head in his direction. When I didn't move he lifted his hand and moved his finger and curled it in a come here motion. I slowly made my way over to him trying desperately not to blush due to a dream I had when he did exactly that…

When I got closer he held his cross bow with one arm and held the other out to me. I couldn't believe he wanted us to take this shot together… everyone was depending on us to bring home the bacon, or well… venison in this case but still. Not one to reject an offer to be in his arms, I stepped in, once again soaking up the heat his body just naturally emitted. He put his arm around me and gripped the bow, taking almost all its weight. I held my left hand over his on the stock, and he put his right hand over mine on the trigger. This seemed to be the only time he didn't notice the way our bodies were touching or how close we were; his cheek to my ear, chest up against my shoulders, and I could feel his muscular thigh just slightly on my ass. I loved the way he always smelled of leather with just a hint of tobacco, the way his breath on my neck made my legs feel like jello, and the feel of his strong arms around me, arms that never trembled no matter how long he held the bow.

We both took a breath and slowly let it out before squeezing the trigger. We hit the heart perfectly and the buck almost instantly dropped to the ground. I was so excited that I couldn't help but to turn around and jump onto Daryl in celebration. My legs had wrapped around his waist and his arms reached out so I wouldn't fall or bring us both tumbling over as I set my hands on his shoulders. I cheered in celebration, laughing happily, while he smiled at my silly antics. That is until he was suddenly looking at me with such intensity did I realize the position we were in. The smile slowly faded from my face as I looked him in the eyes. He hadn't dropped me yet, so I didn't think he was angry; no, I think we were both feeling the same thing. Want. With the pace of a slow snail, I slid my hands slowly toward his thick, corded neck and slid up into his hair with my thumbs caressing the scruff on his cheeks. His ice blue eyes pierced deep into my soul as I started to lean forward into the kiss, and then contact. He felt like fire under my lips, coarse but so soft at the same time, so wonderful I thought I might combust. But then it got even better, he started to kiss me back. His large hand gripped the back of my head, tangling in my hair that had started to come unbraided. I gasped in pleasure and his tongue slid against mine; my hands pulled him closer as I tried my best at my first French kiss. If I thought I might combust earlier, I was wrong; now I could feel the fire burning throughout my whole body even more as his hands tightened around me. My lungs started to burn but fuck them; I could live on just this feeling, his taste, and the way his hands felt on my flesh. I couldn't help but to let out a small moan as he sucked on my lower lip… and that's where it ended.

He shoved me away, gently, but still shoved me away none the less. He took a few steps back and a moment to run his hands down his face before hitting a wound that had been hit multiple times before, but not in a very long time. Rejection. "Look girl, You and me ain't … no, I ain't.. You don't …" he kept starting and trailing off. The white noise of devastation rang in my ears, my eyes welled up, but still I tried to play it off… "I.." stopping to clear the sob out of my throat, "I get it, OK. I'm not good enough or what you want. I uh.. I… I have to go" The wound I thought had scared over ripped open and I lost myself to my misery that I brought upon myself. Yanking my bow from the ground, I turned tail and ran; trying not to let the tears fall until I reached the bunker. In the back of my mind, I felt a small sliver of guilt at the thought of leaving Daryl there alone to get the deer to the prison; but he had a tarp to drag it on and the prison was within view so I shut that thought down and continued to run. Ironic how my whole body was burning minutes ago and now, only my eyes burned with the hot tears that already began to fall.

DPOV

Taste sweeter than honey still swarmed my mouth. My whole body felt the tremmbl'n effects of her. Sentences left unfinish'd "You and me ain't good. I ain't any good. You don't want to get involved with tha likes of me." It was like I got ta go ta heaven then crashed straight inta hell. Guilt ate at me, 'bout her not think'n she good 'nough for me… If she only knew the scars I carried both inside 'n out; a bullet she dodged. At least if she thought I didn' want her, she would move on, 'n find a good man. My chest hurt at tha thought, but I pushed it 'way like everything else, and set ta do what need'd ta be done, start'n with this deer.

Soooo… sorry. I know it isn't what you wanted, but I warned you. Slooooowww burn, like a snail. Yea, Bella's gone a little emo. I did my best with this chapter because in reality I wanted to skip this chapter and move to the next one but it needed the foundation of this one. The next chapter… will probably be an emotional rollercoaster.

As to some of the questions:

Kore353: Any other crossovers? Yes I have one in mind that I have started then stopped because I needed to research a little more but Bella Swan/ Peter Quill is a story I plan to write when I get the details hammered out. I also had an idea for a one shot kind of a lemon with Bella and someone I'm not wanting to say just yet.

Anchalee: Some events in the walking dead timeline are being followed, but the further it goes and the more I change, it will be made up as I go.

Other bunker person, have to wait and see

Does Rick need to be punched in the face, fuck yea