Chapter 32

Time passed quickly at Terminus. It was constant work, keeping everyone safe and fed. As well as the prison survivors there were almost 30 other survivors rescued from the containers. There was also over 20 people locked up, the original inhabitants of Terminus. Nobody wanted to kill them but they were too much of a threat to release. Daryl and Eleanor were out daily trying to bring in meat as well as going on supply runs with the others. There was also watch duty and the general maintenance of the fences and buildings. They had managed to sort out their differences, Daryl accepted that Eleanor getting hurt wasn't always his fault and decided he had to stay. At least then he could be there to try and protect her if she needed it.

Since that day in the forest, when they had kissed they had hardly had a moment to themselves. There was either someone else around or they were just too tired to want to do anything other than sleep. Even though everyone knew they were together, they were still unwilling to show affection in public. Maggie and Glenn were quite happy to hug and kiss in front of people but it wasn't something they were comfortable with.

Daryl was more bad tempered than usual and even Eleanor was getting snappy. They had managed to find a few minutes to themselves, sneaking into an unused room near the cooking area but before they even managed more than a hello the door had opened and one of the children had rushed in, looking for Eleanor.

"I hurt my hand, can you make it better?" the six year old had sobbed, tears in her eyes.

Daryl had snapped at the child, making her cry harder, then Eleanor had yelled at him and they'd both stormed off in opposite directions.

Rick decided that something needed to be done. He found Eleanor brooding alone, sitting at a table, picking at her meal.

"I need you and Daryl to go on a run" he informed her, settling into the chair next to her with his own meal.

She shrugged "Okay, anywhere special?" she forced down a mouthful of food.

He didn't look at her as he casually said "It looks like we've pretty much cleared out this whole area of supplies. Need you two to take one of the vehicles and scout out what's further afield. Maybe take a couple of days, find somewhere to hole up for the night." She glanced up at him and he innocently returned the look, a small smile on his lips. She blushed as she got exactly what he was implying.

"You gonna be okay with that?" he asked, no longer hiding his grin.

"Hell yeah" she jumped to her feet, returning the grin, too happy to be embarrassed any more. She hugged him and kissed his cheek.

"You're a good man, Deputy Grimes" she rushed off to find Daryl.

The next morning they were preparing to leave. Daryl was checking their weapons and she was packing spare ammo and food. Maggie and Beth were helping, teasing her about the road trip as they called it. Michonne strolled over.

"You off somewhere interesting?" she asked, before Eleanor could reply Maggie spoke up.

"Rick's sending her and Daryl off to scout out new supplies. Told them to take a few days." She raised her eyebrows suggestively, as Beth giggled and Eleanor looked embarrassed.

Michonne looked from one to the other, then let out a shout of laughter.

"Rick's sending you out for a dirty weekend!" she bellowed. Eleanor cringed as heads turned towards them, she could see the smiles and knew others were thinking the same. There was a loud clatter and they turned to see Daryl had dropped his crossbow and was blushing as he fumbled to pick it up. He'd obviously heard Michonne as well.

Eleanor gave up all pretence it was a supply run and winked at Michonne.

"We've been tryin' to find a minute to ourselves for weeks. I'm not passing up this opportunity for some quality 'alone time'" She told the three women.

"Damn, I hope you need more than a minute or you're gonna be real disappointed" Michonne joked, causing more laughter.

Eventually they were ready, the car was packed and Eleanor was behind the wheel.

"Have fun" called Carol as she opened the gate for them. Eleanor floored the car and they shot out onto the road with a squeal of tires.

"Way she drives, they'll be dead before they have any fun" Michonne muttered, as she helped Carol close the gate.