Chapter 43 – Daryl

I need to get to Lauren as quickly as I can, but I have to be smart about it. Once I got out of town and past the stations that kept the walkers out, I was in dangerous territory. I can't fly down these dark roads as fast I'd like to go. I could barely see what was in front of me and nothin' off to the side. I was passing scattered walkers along the road and weaving around many more. The herd that started all of this was never far from my mind. If I came across them, I wouldn't stand a chance.

Finally, I made the turn down the road that the strip mall was on. The only light I had was from the headlight on my motorcycle. Everything else was close to pitch black. I could barely see remnants that the herd had passed through. The moon from up above helped when it wasn't blocked by clouds. I stopped the bike in front of the sporting goods store and grabbed my crossbow off the back. With a flashlight in one hand and my crossbow up and ready I knew I'd have to search the entire store. I had to find her one way or another. When I entered through the broken front doors, I saw the packages of bolts Lauren had tried to get for me laying in a pile on the dirty floor.

Fuck. This was all my fault. She was looking for bolts for me and even though I hadn't asked her to do it, she knew I needed them. Damn it! She may be dead and all for what? Me? She wanted to do something for me. I didn't deserve it or her.

My determination and luck got me through the store. I took out more walkers than humanly possible. Not a sign of her. I see that the back door is open and look out there. I see walkers and walker bodies but nothing else. I scout out the left side of the building, then work my way down the right. No sign of her, but she had to have come out the back. Too many walker tracks covered up any footprints that may have been hers.

I need a new plan, so I run around the building and head back to my bike. I start it up and slowly ride down the street looking for a sign…for anything. "C'mon Lauren," I say to myself. "You know I'd come looking for ya, show me where you are. Fuck it babe, where are you?"

I rode down the street checking out the right side and then back looking at everything on the opposite side. Something caught my eye and I stopped the bike. I looked at a window in front of an insurance building. A huge smile came across my tired face. There was a heart with an arrow through it and my initials. I had found Lauren.

I knocked twice on the door, waited and knocked a single time. The door flew open and she jumped into my arms almost knocking me over.

"I knew you'd find me, I knew it!" she cried.

"Of course I would," I told her my voice thick with emotion. I had almost lost her and that would have killed me. I brushed away her tears and looked her at her. My eyes were locked on her hers. "Don't you ever do that again. You hear me? Don't you scare me like that. I can't lose you… I…love you."

I was so afraid to tell her, but I had to. People had betrayed me my whole life, but she hadn't. Did she love me back? I think my heart stopped for a second while I waited for her to answer.

A huge smile spread across her tear stained face. "Daryl Dixon I have loved you since Hershel's farm. It's about time you told me."

I held onto her like my life depended on it…and it did. She was the reason I woke up in the morning, the reason I lived and breathed. I had never had a person like this before in my life and I never would again.

"I'm a guy, aren't we supposed to be a bit slow?" I said laughing at her. Then turning a bit more serious, I said, "I've never said that to no one else…no one and I don't plan to…just you."

"I love you so much Daryl," she softly said to me, "But let's get the hell outta here."

I kissed her deeply, but quickly. "Let's go." Together we climbed on my bike and she wrapped he arms around me tightly…just the way I liked it. The engine roared to life and we took off…back to our home and our life together.