Chapter 16

The survivors were herded into the RV that most of them came in. Glenn and Aaron helped carry Maggie inside and Rick and Michonne tried to help Daryl. His independent streak was no match for Rick and Michonne as they each grabbed him under an arm and forced him towards the vehicle.

Maggie was lying on one of the cushioned benches and Glenn was talking to her in a soft voice. Daryl wouldn't lie down so Michonne propped pillows behind him. He was still bleeding from the bullet wound, but they didn't have any medical supplies to help. She found an old towel that she pressed against the wound. Daryl glared at her and she silently dared him to stop her.

Rick took a moment to hug his son and count that everyone was aboard. His eyes met Michonne's for a moment and the strength he saw in them helped him focus. He then sat in Abraham's seat and hesitated before he started the RV. The sound of soft crying came from the back as Sasha and Rosita both still cried for the man they lost.

With a shaky hand, Rick turned the key and the engine started. As he drove the RV out towards the road, not one of them has yet to say a single word. The traumatic experience they had all been part of was too overwhelming for them. They were all simply shattered.

The road that had been filed with Saviors was now deserted. Rick drove slowly as not to jostle the ailing Maggie and Daryl. The still needed to get to The Hilltop so Dr. Carson so he could take care of two of his closest friends.

About a mile down the road he noticed a woman walking, but he ignored her. Michonne however did not. She saw the sign the woman held up, it said,

"Help. I'm Daryl Dixon's wife, Emma."

"Rick, slow down," she called out.

"I'm not stopping," he relied in a flat voice.

Michonne leaned over to a barely conscious Daryl. No way anyone would know Daryl's last name unless they knew him. She moved so she was now sitting in front of Daryl. "Daryl? Hey listen to me."

"What?" he growled.

"Did you ever have a wife named Emma?" she asked him.

Daryl instantly became more alert. "Emma? How do you know about Emma?"

Michonne knew it was true. "Rick, stop this damn RV right now. Daryl knows that woman."

Rick slowed the RV down until it stopped. "What are you talking about?"

Michonne had walked up to the front and squatted next to him. "I think that woman is Daryl's wife."

"What?" he exclaimed. "Daryl's not married."

"Have you ever asked him? She held up a sign that said she was Daryl Dixon's wife, Emma. How would she know his last name? And when I just asked Daryl, he reacted to her name. Look at him, Rick?" They both turned to see their friend struggling to stand and walk. Aaron and Rosita grabbed him so he wouldn't fall. He was too unsteady on his feet.

"Michonne, how do you know about Emma?" he shouted weakly.

"I'm going to go talk to her," Michonne told him.

Rick got up from his seat. "I'm coming too."

Emma's heart sank as the RV drove past her. She started to walk faster to keep up with the oversized camper. There was no way she was going to lose Daryl, not again. Suddenly she noticed the brake lights come on the RV slowed to a stop. "God, this was really happening," she thought. "Daryl. I'm going to see Daryl."

She walked alongside the vehicle and watched the door opened. A woman first exited, followed by a man. Before she could speak the woman did.

"How do you know Daryl?" the beautiful black woman asked her.

"I…I knew him before all this happened. We lived together, next to his brother and…we were going to get married," Emma told them. "Can I see him?"

"Hold on," the man said. 'You held a sign that said you were married to Daryl and now you're not? No, Michonne she's not getting in the RV. She's lying to us. It's just another trick."

Emma started to panic. "No, I'm not trying to trick you. Yes, I technically lied, I'm not his wife, but would you have stopped it if said girlfriend? He was the love of my life and he was planning on asking me to marry him. I found the receipt for the ring in his pants pocket when I was doing laundry. He went on an overnight job with his brother Merle, the creep, and the last I saw of him was that old two tone pickup of his driving away. I never saw him again in the chaos of this damn world. You all know that went from nothing to out of control instantly. I thought he was …dead all these years. Please…I need to see him." Emma knew she was rambling, but she tried to plead her case the best she could. These people could either let her go to Daryl or leave her stranded on the roadside. Her heart beat wildly in her chest.

Rick didn't say anything for a moment. Emma didn't realize it, but she had told Rick things that not many people knew, especially about the pickup. Not even Michonne knew that when he met Daryl he was driving the '73 Ford pickup that was two-tone. Plus she knew his brother. Rick looked up to the windows of the RV and wished Daryl was able to help him out here. He didn't want to believe her, but he did. He ran his fingers through his curly hair before turning back to Emma, "I'm going to let you come with us, but if Daryl gives me any hint that he doesn't know you or he doesn't want you there, you are gone. Got it?"

"Yes," Emma replied. "But it won't be a problem, he loves me."

Rick stood back and let her enter the RV. Michonne put a hand on his shoulder. "What changed your mind?" she asked.

"She knew his truck. Only Glenn, Carol, myself and Carl knew Daryl early on when he his old pickup. No one else would know that." Rick pulled Michonne into his arms and held her for a minute. "Are you okay?"

"Are any of us okay?" she sighed. They kissed before following Emma inside.

Emma watched as multiple sets of eyes zeroed in on her. She searched for Daryl amongst the people crowded into the camper. He was all she cared about. She easily found his crumpled form sitting on the bench seat, one of the women was helping to support him. Emma was instantly jealous.

She knelt down in front of him and gently pushed his hair out of his eyes. This was her Daryl. The rough and tumble man that stole her heart years ago and she never let go. "Daryl?" she said softly.

He slowly opened his eyes and raised his head. Was she real or was she a ghost? He had thought her dead all these years. He sluggishly lifted his hand to cup her face, "Emma, you're alive?"

Everyone in the RV quietly watched the touching reunion. "I've missed you so much, Daryl," Emma told him with tears streaming down her face. She wrapped her arms around his waist and held him for the first time in almost three years. Emma released him and sat next to him on the bench. He smiled at her, before passing out. The woman who was on his other side caught him. Together and with Aaron's help they laid him down on the bench.

"Rick, get us out of here and to Hilltop," Michonne called out. "Daryl's passed out and Maggie doesn't look any better."

"You got it," Rick answered quickly and got the RV started down the road.

"What happened to him?" asked Emma.

"Dwight shot him," the Hispanic beauty that was on Daryl's other side told her. "I'm Rosita."

"Fucking weasel," Emma said under her breath. "Sorry, I'm Emma. What is Hilltop? Is that where y'all are from?"

"No," answered Michonne. She didn't want to say where they were from until she knew Rick was okay with it. "Hilltop has a doctor there and that's where we were taking Maggie. Let me introduce you to everyone." Michonne told Emma everyone's names, plus introduced herself. "Tell me more about you."

Emma knew this wasn't just a curiosity question, so she told them everything about her. First, she explained again about her and Daryl. Then she told them about how she ended up as a Savior. "Even if you guys hadn't stopped I would have kept on going. I couldn't stay there any longer."

"Why not?" Rosita asked her.

"Negan. I've been trying to stay hidden from him since I got there. He's notorious with the women, in fact he has 'wives' multiple wives and I wanted no part of that. But tonight I made a mistake. When I realized that was Daryl I had to get closer to see him better and Negan saw me. With the look he gave me I knew he would come searching to for me, so I had to go. Hopefully, when he doesn't find me, he'll forget all about me." Emma hesitated for a moment and then turned to Michonne. "I don't know anything about Daryl's life these past few years, can you tell me anything? What's he like now? Is there…anyone in his life?"

Michonne didn't want to compromise her friendship with Daryl, but what Emma wanted to know wasn't really private. "He's a great guy, but very much a loner. Rick and Glenn have been with him pretty much from the start. I gather he was a bit angry back then with kind of a big chip on his shoulder, but he's different now. He's very much a part of all of us as anyone is, and he'd put his life on the line at any time, which is how he got shot, but he's always been kind of sad. At least that's how I see him."

Emma was very surprised. That wasn't the Daryl that she knew. Sure he was shy in the beginning when she first met him, but he never had a chip on his shoulder and sad? Her Daryl sad? That wasn't the man she had fallen in love with. "Wow, doesn't sound like the Daryl I knew. I mean we're all different now, how can we not be, but that wasn't how he was before. Where's his brother, Merle?"

"Dead," Michonne told her. Even though Merle redeemed himself at the end, Michonne never liked the man.

"Poor Daryl," Emma sighed as she looked at his unconscious form. "He drove us both crazy, but Merle was all the family Daryl had left. Okay, this is my last question." Emma said softly. "Is Daryl involved with anyone now?"

Michonne smiled at her. "No. I've never seen him even show any interest in a woman."

Emma's heart sang. If he had moved on from her, it would be difficult if there was another woman involved, but there wasn't. She turned and saw that Rosita was still holding the towel to Daryl's wound. They had him lying on his side so they could access it on his back. "I can hold that for a while if you want?" she offered to Rosita.

Rosita didn't want to give up helping Daryl. It gave her something to do so she didn't think about Abraham. She had loved the big obnoxious guy even after he dumped her for Sasha. Helping Daryl helped her forget the sight of what was left of Abraham after Negan killed him. It was absolutely awful. However, Rosita wasn't a selfish person and apparently Emma and Daryl had been separated for a longtime, so she wasn't going to keep them apart. "Sure. Come over there and we can switch places. Just hold this tight against him."

Even just touching him this way was wonderful for Emma. As she held the bloody towel to his wound she tried to look him over the best she could. She never forgot the man he was and she took in the changes. He did look older, he was in his early forties now. His hair was definitely much longer and shaggier, he always wore it quite short before. She brushed it out of his face and even though it was dirty and covered in blood, Emma leaned over and kissed his cheek. She still loved him. He just had to survive until they got him to the doctor, she couldn't bear to lose him twice.


A/N - I love how everyone is trying to figure out where this is going. We're back into the apocalypse, but this is a Daryl story, remember that. What if the loner, chip on his shoulder, never getting involved with anyone guy...was that way because he had lost the love of his life when this all started? Could be why he was angry at the world and why he never got involved with a female like the rest of them did. Right? Maybe?

Thanks for everyone that's reading and commenting! I try and respond when I can. If you post as a guest, I can't answer you - like WallkingAddiction just want to say thanks for the thinking I'm good enough to write for TWD. I'm not, but i appreciate the love.

Happy reading!

Walker Witch