Hey everybody! May I give a warm welcome to my new followers? WELCOME! Here is a new installment! Don't worry things will be picking up soon! I'm taking my time with this story :) enjoy and review! I do not own any of the Walking Dead.

Chapter 19

Her mouth felt full of cotton when she awoke. The swampiness of her mouth making her head buzz. Her eyes fluttered open slightly, vision still a little blurry. She blinked her eyes open completely and found her eyes focusing on the ceiling of the RV. Night had fallen and the RV was illuminated with the dim light of a camping lantern.

She heard a muffled voice but she was still stuck staring at the ceiling, scared to move her head even a fraction with the fear of being dizzy again.

"Blake," she heard again.

"Come on now, sis," the words penetrated her ear canal. She finally tilted her head slightly to the left, realizing that her head wasn't as jumbled as it was….however long ago it was since she was last on her feet.

"There she is," she was greeted with her brother's warm smile, his white teeth contrasting against his dirty light brown skin. "Freaked me out for a bit there," Tanyon spoke as he got on his knees next to the bed. "Wanna drink?" he asked.

Blake nodded her head slowly, still cautious of sending her vision into a tail spin. Tanyon helped Blake sit up slowly and gave her the water bottle.

"What the hell happened," she asked, opening the bottle cap and starting to chug down over half the bottle.

"You passed out on us from heat exhaustion. Freaked Andrea the fuck out," he said with a chuckle. "I thought I'd be the one passing out considering," he pointed to the bandage that was sealed to his skin with tape.

"How's it feel?' she asked, placing the water bottle in the space between her crossed legs.

"Like shit, but Daryl found some pain killers in his brothers bike. His brother had to have been an addict. He had class A pain killers, meth, meds for the clap," Blake cringed at the idea of that man having sex with anybody.

"He's a nice dude, Daryl," Tanyon said. "Fixed me up well, probably would be half dead or at least hurting a lot more if he didn't help me out," he said.

"Yeah, he's definitely a card," she said while swinging her legs over the edge of the tiny bed, the coils digging into her butt in a very uncomfortable way. Her feet hit the floor and she realized her shoes weren't on.

"Here," Tanyon said, reaching doing to grab her worn out brown boots. "Took them off because you were overheated. You need to stay more hydrated, it's hotter down here than it is back at home," he said.

"I know, T. I was just overwhelmed I think. That fucking herd, Tan, I've never seen so many congregated like that since Atlanta," she said, putting her head in her hands.

"That blew my fucking mind too. They moved in tandem. It's like they were a pack. T-Dog saved my ass back there, Bea," he spoke, shaking his head at his inability to keep himself safe in that moment. "Shit, I didn't even know where you were, I started panicking," he said rubbing his hands along his thighs. He sat back up and took a seat on a stool across from the bed.

"We stayed in that van till they passed, then I came back and christ, Tan, you were covered in blood. All I saw was red. When I left you and Daryl I went to Andrea and," Blake's breath hitched and she jumped off the bed, tipping side to side till she gained her balance back.

"The kids, T," she said as she began to head to the door of the RV.

"Wait, Bea. Just… they didn't find them. Don't act hysterical now, the mothers have done enough of that. Shane struggled keeping Rick from going into the dark to track them down. Daryl calmed him down I think though. Said it was pointless looking in the dark because they could muck up the trail or get themselves killed. They are going to go out in the morning," Tanyon finished, sitting Blake down at the RV table.

Blake shook her head and rubbed her palms into her eyes. "Jesus Christ, Tan. They're just kids, what are they 10? 12?"

"Yeah, they're just babies," Tanyon said. "But we'll find them," he said, placing a hand on his sisters arm.

"I'm gonna step outside for a bit, I'll be back shortly. I wanna get decent rest before tomorrow," she said as she stood.

"Alright. Be careful, if you start to feel even a little woozy let someone know. We don't want you to push it or you wont be able to do anything," he said as he started to head to the back of the RV.

Blake stepped out onto the pavement of the highway, looking left and right for the rest of the group. She saw Glenn and Dale on top of the RV taking watch, T-Dog was sitting on the ground next to the RV, Daryl was smoking a cigarette a little ways off, looking out into the woods as if he could peel away the branches with only his eyes.

Blake walked toward Daryl. She was always nervous when approaching him, his demeanor was rough, but his stance leaning against the car was so casual as the cherry of his cigarette lit up his face. She placed herself next to him against the car and crossed her arms, not speaking a word to him. Blake looked up at the stars, amazed by how much beauty she could see but knowing when she looked back down there was only destruction and sadness.

"Finally got your ass up, huh sleeping beauty?" Daryl spoke as smoke left his dry lips. The cigarette smoke wafted up Blake's nose, making herself eager to grab a smoke herself. She snorted at Daryl's comment.

"What? You think I'm a beauty? I'm so flattered, Dixon," she said with exaggeration.

"Shuddup," Daryl said, flicking his cigarette over the Honda that was across from them. He too crossed his arms and leaned back into the car.

"I'm gonna go out with you guys tomorrow to find the kids. They have to be out there somewhere. Fucking horrible they'll be out there tonight," Blake said, staring out into the blackened wilderness that had become more than just a habitat for cute woodsy creatures.

"We're leavin' at the ass crack of dawn, so be ready," he said.

Blake nodded her head looking to her left realizing that the parents of the missing children were no where to be found. "Where's Rick?" she asked.

"He took a walk down the road," he pointed past RV. "Shane tried tellin' him it was a dumb idea to go walkin' 'round in the dark,".

"It kinda is. But, I understand why," Blake commented. "I'm gonna see if I can find him. I want to see how he's doin," she said as she pushed herself off of the truck they leaned on.

"Shouldn't go out there by yourself either," Daryl said as he finally turned his head to look at her straight on.

Blake was stunned by his strong physique, his brown hair growing longer as the days go by. If someone told Blake she would have been attracted to a dirtied up redneck in Georgia she would have laughed in their face. But, if she knew THIS was the man she was going to encounter she would've tried to find him sooner. His scruffy goatee complimented the roughness of his face, his eyes as dark as the night sky that surrounded them.

Blake realized she was staring and lightly coughed nervously. "Uhm, yeah. I won't go far out, just a few cars to see if I can get a glimpse of him. Thanks," she said as she began to step away. "Talk to you later, Daryl," she said, turning away from him. He grunted in response and she smiled at his wonderful and wide vocabulary.

Blake paused next to T-Dog, who was reading a book with the soft glow of the camplight coming through the open RV door. "Hey, dude," she said as she squished her hand on his head as if there was hair there to ruffle. He smiled up at her, the gap between his top two teeth kind of reminding her of her own fathers.

"What's up?," he said.

"Nothin'. Gonna try and find Rick," at that she looked up at the top of the RV.

Blake gave a small wave to Glenn as she took a few steps away from T-Dog. He waved back, looking exhausted in the lawn chair he was crashing in.

"Where you going?" Glenn spoke softly.

"Lookin' for Rick. Can you see him from up there?" Blake asked, looking up at her Asian friend.

"Yeah, I saw him sitting on a car not too long ago," he said as he brought a pair of black binoculars up to his squinty eyes. "Yeah, he's still there. You going to talk to him?" Glenn asked.

"Yeah, I wanna check on him, let him know I'm good to go tomorrow to look for the kids," she said. She bowed her head as she thought of the two scared children trying to hide together in the woods in the pitch-black night.

"I'll watch your back while you guys are out there," he said.

"Thanks, G" she said back with a small smile. With that she began to walk through the abandoned cars to their leader.