A/N Many many thanks to my wonderful reviewers! Only a few chapters left now - please let me know what you think...

Chapter Fifty-two

After sitting with Carl until his son fell asleep, Rick strips out of his jeans with a jaw-cracking yawn as he climbs back into bed with Erin, moving with deliberate ease so as not to wake her. She mumbles a soft greeting in her sleep but never opens her eyes with true consciousness. He curls around her form, tucking his thighs against the backs of hers and gently pressing his arm to her belly as he fills his hand with her breast, embracing it like the favorite stuffed toy of a sleeping child, taking comfort from its presence.

"Nnn, baby." She moans softly, but still doesn't wake.

"Shh…, I'm here, honey." He leaves a tender kiss behind her ear as he recalls the conversation they'd had an hour ago. He knew she was just trying to bring him out of the funk he'd been in, but he was so set in his wallowing ways that he really didn't think she would succeed. But she had proven once again that he is nothing but putty in her hands. Jeez, he couldn't believe how quickly his body had responded to her and her saucy words. He never stood a chance. Slightly aroused again, he nestles his thickening cock against the cleft of her rump, and drifts away on an echo of lust…

A strong saltwater breeze stirs the white curtain that frames the sliding glass door, opened up to the spacious balcony overlooking Tybee Beach. Warm sunlight brightens the room as a flock of gulls fills it with song, a squawking melody on the wind that floats into the cozy bedroom. The light blue sheets covering the king-sized bed are bunched beneath him as Rick releases a healthy groan. Holding two handfuls of auburn hair, he watches Erin's beautiful jaw-line moving up and down above his groin. "Oh yeah, that feels so good, Red," he murmurs softly as the Atlantic Ocean rumbles with another incoming wave.

A soft hum against his erection sends a sweet vibration through his thickness and down to his balls. He sucks in a breath when she tightens her hold on his nuts and presses a finger against a strangely sensitive spot behind them. With her lips focusing their efforts on the tip of his cock, her tongue cleverly plays at its tiny divot as her hand moves up to stroke his length. Then faster and faster she glides over him, her mouth following the path of her hand, pumping and squeezing and devouring him whole.

He can't keep his hips from moving beneath her, thrusting slightly upward through her parted lips. She circles the base of his arousal with a firm grip and strokes his flesh with gentle licks. Another lustful hum sends a tremor through his sensitive skin when she takes him to the back of her throat once again. "Baby, don't stop." He closes his eyes, getting lost in the burning pleasure of her mouth…

"Rick?"

He opens his eyes and the salty air is lost to the grass and hay freshness of a farm.

"Honey?"

Erin's voice cuts through the echo of seagulls and he turns his head to see her leaning up on her elbow next to him, her hand resting on his chest as the moonlight glosses her hair with silver and highlights the expression of amused curiosity on her face. He stares at her, caught somewhere between a beach and a barn as his dick raises the sheet below his belly.

"Are you okay, babe?"

"Yeah," he says tightly, trying to clear the cobwebs from his dream and ignore the blue aching of his balls, now that he knows that this dream was his alone.

"Are you sure?" She leans down, bringing her face close to his. "You were moaning." She says the word so close to his lips that he can taste the warmth of her breath on his tongue.

"Was I?" He swallows hard, trying to read her tone in the darkness.

"Uh huh," she purrs seductively. "What were you dreaming about?"

"I don't remember."

"That's too bad," she says softly. "I heard my name and I'm curious to know what I was doing to you."

"Oh." Jesus, what the hell did I say? He continues to feign ignorance, not sure how much he had actually revealed and how much she will be able to guess. Knowing their connection, she probably knows it all even if she wasn't a part of it. "Did I sound… happy?" he asks, striving to sound vague.

He can see the ghost of a smirk in the moonlight. "Very," she replies with a whisper against his lips, her tone light and teasing as her palm rests hot upon his hard-on. "And I can see you are still happy."

He cradles her face between his palms. "You make me very happy, Red," he says as she begins to stroke him through his underwear.

"I like making you happy," she whispers in the darkness, the words a salve that soothes his soul as he feels her hand at the hem of his boxer briefs.

"You do, honey. Always." He lifts his mouth to hers and angles his chin, slipping his tongue between her teeth when she opens up for him. She kisses him back with heat and heart, a blaze of passion in his arms that only intensifies when she breaks away to trace a trail of kisses down his neck.

"Is this what you were dreaming of?" She continues a slow, steamy path down his chest and abdomen.

"Maybe." He swallows deeply and gently pulls the ponytail tie from her hair so he can feel her lustrous curls flowing soft against his knuckles. Her beautiful face glows in the moonlight, a blush of fervent determination on her cheeks as she moves his underwear out of the way.

She takes him to the back of her throat, continuing his dream and loving him in a sensuous rhythm as he holds her hair back in two clenched fists. He watches her now as he'd watched her then, enthralled by the beauty of her jaw as she works him into an inferno of sensation. "Easy honey, it won't be long."

Her reply is a hum against his most sensitive skin before she lifts her chin to give him a provocative look full of wanton mischief. When she dips her head again, she moves faster along his length.

"Oh, God," he groans through gritted teeth. Closing his eyes, he struggles to keep his body in check as she resumes her ardent attack.

"Mmmm…" she moans around him and his brain goes numb as every blood vessel in his body seems to race to the party at his pelvis.

"Baby stop. I'm so close," he utters, knowing that he is losing the battle of self-control. Another hum vibrates against him and he realizes that she has no intention of stopping. Holy fuck. Instead of fighting the tide, he cradles her head as gently as he can manage and throws his chin back as he lifts his hips, filling her mouth as he gives into his release. "Unnn, God!" He can't help but continue to buck slightly as her throat works to take it all in.

His besotted heart beats a shuddering tempo against his ribcage as his legs lie weak and useless. "Sweet baby Jesus," he wheezes, gripping her shoulders as she crawls up his body. Wrapping his arms around her back, he crushes her to his chest, amazed at what she had just done. "My God, Red, you're unbelievable."

"Are you complaining?" she asks with a Cheshire grin.

"Not at all!" he laughs as his heart begins to slow. "It was just… unexpected. I mean, I've never…" he trails off on a timorous breath, his admission floating on the sultry air between them.

"Yeah," she says softly, filling the quiet that surrounds their heavy breathing. "That was new for me too." She gives him a sweet smile as she traces a fingertip along the edge of his upper lip. "I just wanted to do something nice for you."

"Jesus, you did." Cradling her head once more, he pulls her in to steal a kiss.

She lays another soft kiss on the cleft of his chin and begins to roll away. "I'll let you go back to sleep now."

"Hey, not so fast." He tightens his arms around her to keep her in position, lying against his chest with her legs straddling his hips. He massages the plump curve of her ass and then works one hand between them, stroking her through the thin cotton covering her center, already damp with need. She lifts her hips to give his hand more room and he slips inside the hem of her panties, caressing the hidden treasure just inside her folds.

She buries her face in his neck and he feels her teeth against his shoulder as a soft mewling moan rumbles from her chest. Sinking two fingers deep inside her, he finds her incredibly wet as she squirms against his hand. "It's not gonna take you long either, is it?"

"God no," she groans into the crook of his neck.

He whispers words of love and seduction as he works his fingers over and inside her, touching and teasing until he feels her walls flutter and clench around them.

Arching her back, she presses her forehead into his jaw as she grinds against his hand, riding out her orgasm before melting limply into his chest.

He holds her close with one arm curled around her shoulders, the other moving to lift the hem of her red tee shirt to give him access to the smooth skin of her back. He rubs a warm palm along her spine and feels a puff of heat against his throat when she releases a long sigh of satisfied bliss. "Yeah, I guess those endorphins do work pretty good, don't they?" he says with a smile as he presses his lips to her hair.

"Mmm, thanks for that," she replies with a soft murmur and he can practically hear her sleepy grin in the darkness.

"You're welcome, sweetheart. Let them take you away now."

Her drowsy reply is a soft whisper against his neck. "As long as you come with me."

"Always."

Rick squints into the rising sun as it peeks through the clouds just above the treetops in the east. The darkness of his dismayed heart is reflected in all the concerned faces standing before him at the bumper of Dale's camper; the faces that had been holding out a thread of hope that they would find sanctuary in Savannah. But now that Otis has just informed them that he'd heard the same rumor from different sources about the coastal city being overrun, they are back to the debate of exactly where they should go.

He had every intention of taking a small group to check out the city this morning, and actually seeing and smelling the saltwater of Tybee Island, but after the big man's warning, the discussion is once again back to whether they will head north to Charleston or south toward Daytona, or move further inland and stay away from the coast altogether. The majority so far seems to be in favor of the coast, but it's a very narrow margin above those that want to stay inland. He himself is leaning toward the coast, but he's afraid that he is making the decision based on his own personal desires over what would be best for the group. Unfortunately, there is no way to know exactly what would be best for the group. And the uncertainty of it all is killing him.

"I don't think we have a choice, Rick," Morgan says, speaking for the inland team. He lowers his voice with a glance toward the house where Otis is headed and adds, "Aside from taking the farm by force."

Dale, also an inlander, quickly lifts a hand in rebuttal. "Which we have already agreed is not an option," he says vehemently before Rick can respond.

"No." Rick shakes his head, refusing to even consider the temptation. "If we start going down that path, we'll lose what little humanity we have left." He scans the crowd, meeting the eyes of the people who have come to mean the world to him, gazing from fearful green to troubled brown to uneasy blue; the eyes that have put their trust in him to clear the anxiety that clouds their vision. Though Erin isn't part of the gathering, he can hear her voice in his head, telling him to swallow his own fears and lead them out of the darkness and into some kind of light that they can believe in. Because sometimes the glimmer of false hope is better than the desolation of no hope at all. And maybe, just maybe, he will actually succeed in finding a future for his flock. And that is the message he is getting from Erin, from the echo of her soul and all of the faith that it has placed in him. He looks upon his family and friends with conviction in his eyes, an assurance that he hopes will keep them moving forward; a promise that, at the very least, will keep them from giving up.

"Listen," he begins, commanding their attention with a tone that carries a bit more than the strict authority it once held as a police officer. Loud and clear and rich with emotion, he speaks from his heart to theirs. "Wherever we go, we will survive if we just stick together. We travel together. We scavenge together. We fight together. And we will live… together. There's a place out there somewhere for us. We'll find it. Whether it's Daytona or somewhere else. And we'll sleep at night with a clear conscience because we didn't give up our souls in search of that place. We'll fight anything that threatens us." He locks onto the impressionable young eyes that are so much like his own. "But we'll do it with a degree of the compassion that we were born with. Because if we lose ourselves completely, then what are we fighting for?"

A few murmurs of agreement accompany the nodding of every single head in front of him. Erin would be proud. He hears the distinctive thwack of a screen door behind him and he watches every chin pivot toward the sound, a sheen of desperation shining bright in their eyes once more.

"Here they come," Aaron says.

Rick turns to see Erin and Maggie coming down the porch steps. He can't see their expressions at this distance but if it was good news, they would be walking a whole lot faster to spread the cheer. Though he wasn't holding out much hope, his heart still sinks a little with the disappointment.

"I'm sorry, Rick," Maggie says when they reach the gathering. "We couldn't change his mind."

He can see the regret that shimmers through the tears that she is fighting to hide as she walks into Glenn's open arms. "Thank you for trying, Maggie," Rick says, entwining his fingers with Erin's as she steps to his side and slips her hand into his.

"So, when are we leaving?" Erin asks him with a restless expression that holds a large grain of excitement inside the thick measure of concern. "And did you figure out who's coming to Savannah with us?"

"Well, Savannah is off the table again," he replies, hating the disappointment that he can't keep from his voice. "Otis is convinced that it's overrun so we've decided to give up on it."

"But what about the dream you had last night?" she asks, sounding somewhat alarmed at the change of plans.

He coughs to cover his own surprise at the mention of his dream. He tilts his chin with a wary air. "What about it?" he asks tentatively, his nape prickling with nerves of flustered discomfort.

"You were back at the condo on Tybee. That must mean something."

Lifting his brows, he sends her a look that begs her to drop the subject. "But you weren't there this time."

"You had another dream about Savannah, Rick?" Dale asks, sounding extremely interested. "Why didn't you say anything, son?"

"I didn't think this one mattered because Erin didn't share the dream with me."

"Maybe I did," she cuts in. "Maybe I did but I just didn't remember it once I woke up."

"You would remember," he says under his breath, praying that she won't reveal the sexy details that she was quick to discover upon his waking.

"But it was still a dream about Savannah, right?" Dale asks.

"Yeah."

"Well, your dreams have gotten us this far. Maybe we should continue to follow them," the older man says, apparently changing his mind about staying inland.

"We also lost T-Dog on the way," Glenn says sourly, filling the role of devil's advocate.

"Which also brought us to this farm with the tree and the windmill that Carl dreamt about," Kelly says. "I miss T-Dog too, Glenn, but I also believe that we were meant to find this place. And that never would've happened if we hadn't followed Rick's dreams. We've come all this way and it's only what – another hour to the coast now?"

"An hour with clear roads," Morgan chimes in. "With all the trees down after the storm, it'll take longer."

"But the hurricane didn't hit as hard up here," Erin adds quickly. "Maybe it won't be as bad as you think. And we'll never know if we don't at least try."

Rick gazes at her, enamored with her enthusiasm and the strength she has to fight for their dreams. He feels a slightly joyful tug of relief raising the corners of his mouth. "You really want to go to Tybee, don't you, Red?"

"Yeah, I think we should. We need to see it for ourselves, Rick."

He's seen it many times in his head, behind the hazy mist of daydreams. Ever since they'd dreamt of their walk on the beach with her clinging to his back, he's imagined them there, kicking up the sand as they chase each other in and out of the water with the seagulls soaring overhead. He gives her hand a loving squeeze, wanting nothing more than to feel the soft grit of smooth white sand beneath his feet as he braces his arms behind her knees while she clings to his shoulders. "Yeah. Maybe we do need to see it for ourselves." He breaks away from her heartwarming gaze to find his lieutenant, leaning against the camper at the edge of the group. He'd been silent up to this point, letting everyone argue for one side or the other while he'd kept his opinion to himself. Now it's time to find out exactly which side he is on. "What do you think, Daryl?"

The hunter lowers his thumbnail from his teeth as he pushes away from the camper. With all eyes now on him, Rick watches Daryl roll his shoulders in an uneasy shrug, as if he is brushing off the weight of all the stares aimed in his direction. He takes two steps forward and then looks up to meet Rick's eyes. "What the hell, I say let's go for it," he says. "And if it don't work out then we can ride the coast a ways. If we still can't find nothin', then we move inland."

Rick dips his chin in appreciation, relieved that the matter is settled, and comfortable with the final decision. "Sounds like a plan." He turns to search the crowd for the team he will take to Savannah. "Alright then. Jesus, Michonne. Daryl." He gives his friend another nod and then glances back at Erin. Squeezing her hand tightly once more, he smiles down at the spark of joy in her eyes. "Okay, Red. Let's go."