Author's Note: Thank you Lila-Renee and bigtimerushlover101 for the reviews of the last chapter. I have been having a lot of fun discussing our hatred for Andrea as well Miss Lila(: For the last chapter I wanted to give credit where I forgot to, the song at the end was "It Will Rain" by Bruno Mars. Such a good song, sorry I forgot to say that before. Like I said in my other story it is harder than I expected to juggle two stories at once but I am honestly trying my best.
Enjoy loves! xoxo

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO.
GONE.

"I can't believe I'm being dragged on this stupid road trip." Taylor grumbled from the back seat, Rick glanced at her from the other side and gave a softhearted half-smile. They needed an extra person to gather as much supplies as possible and nobody else volunteered, he knew it would be easy to convince her to go; though now with how miserable she looked he wasn't sure it was such a good idea.

"Oh come on Tay! It's not stupid! It's nice to get off the farm every now and then," Glenn quipped from the front passenger seat, grinning back at her when an idea popped into his head. "How about some music?"

"No," she rolled down the window and held her arm out, letting the air blow by and pull some restraint on it. She already knew Glenn would choose some form of rap music and she was not really up for it at the moment. After her and Daryl's tryst the night before Maggie had walked in on the tail end of it and apparently told Glenn. She only assumed this due to the fact that he had not stopped smirking at her since that morning. Now she was trapped with Daryl who was obviously there for it, Glenn who knew about it, and her ex-boyfriend who she really didn't want to know about it.

"Awhh, too bad." He began to flip through the CD case that had been relinquished to him by Maggie before they left for the trip. Maggie kindheartedly suggested some music was taken to get the edge off that she was sure Glenn would force on Taylor. Daryl looked in the rear view mirror, adjusting it slightly so he could see the pout the blonde was wearing. She peered up and frowned deeper, purposely showing him how agitated she was quickly becoming. He shrugged lightly, just enough for her to pick up on, as his 'sorry Glenn is pissing you off'. She rolled her eyes and went back to staring out the window, counting the abandoned cars as they passed.

"Okay, track number oneeee..." Glenn pressed the play button and when only silence came through the speakers, pressed hard on the fast forward button. He let it go and chuckled as they lyrics came through. He began to sing along giving Taylor a few glances and nods in Daryl's direction every so often.

"Cause I may be bad, but I'm perfectly good at it, sex in the air, I don't care I love the smell of it. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but chains and whips excite me!" He gave her a sideways glance before fully turning to face her. "I heard this rumor that you really like this song. Something about S and M-"

"Shut it off!" Taylor unbuckled her seatbelt and lunged forward at her friend, who at the moment, was not proving to be so friendly. She knew he was only doing it to get under her skin, and that her cousin probably played a small role in the ensuing torture. One of Daryl's hands flew off the steering wheel to block the small gap between the seats, forcing Taylor to stay back.

"I can't play babysitter n' drive. Rick?" He flicked his eyes up to the rear view mirror again, signaling for Rick to take over. He nodded and slowly peeled her away from the front seats.

"I asked you to come so you could help, not get in a fist fight with Glenn." She threw herself back into the seat, crossing her arms over her chest and shooting Glenn another death glare. "Is something wrong? You seem to be on edge today."

"Yeah she is."

"I'm going rip your throat out." Her words came through gritted teeth, trying to control the urge to lunge again. She flipped her hair over her shoulder and took a few deep breaths before looking back to Rick. "I'm fine, really." He let his hands slid off her forearms, releasing her slowly to be sure she wasn't going to attack again.

The rest of the ride was uneventful, Daryl stealing sympathetic glances at her the whole way, along with Glenn's snarky glances to match. They finally pulled up to an empty shopping mall, one that was made up of shops in a long strip, verses in one large building. It seemed to be deserted, but there were already a few walkers coming out of the crevices at the sound of the engine dying.

"We gon' split up?" With his crossbow wielded he exchanged a look with Rick who simply nodded his head. Rick gave a slight nod to Glenn who tagged along with him quickly after, being careful to give Taylor two ridiculously exaggerated thumbs up before jogging to catch back up with his partner.

He turned around to walk backwards a few steps, cupping his hands around his mouth to mouth the words 'safe sex'. Glenn spun back around swiftly to fall in line with Rick's pace, leaving them behind.

A hand fell on her shoulder and a low growl startled her, jumping back and panting as the decayed body fell just behind her. Her hand flew to her chest for a few steadying breathes, before she withdrew the knife from the sheath around her boot. She slid the arrow out of its head and handed it back to Daryl with a shameful blush burning her cheeks.

"Pay attention, Tay." Daryl shook his head at her, using two fingers to signal to the dirty, clearly already looted grocery store. She scrunched her face and rolled her eyes once his back was turned to her, but followed closely behind him.

"I highly doubt there's anything left here," she whispered, shaking blood off her hand that she hadn't noticed from his earlier kill.

"Just look n' fill yer bag." He didn't even bother turning around. They both took calculated, careful steps as they went down the aisle. Daryl had thought it was common sense to stay near him, but Taylor took it upon herself to split from him. She was clear across the store, pushing the double doors open to the storage center. It was quiet, too quiet for her liking. She rolled the handle of the knife in her hand, the light cascading in from the window catching it and causing a brief glare. Taylor held her hand up to shield her eyes when it was snatched; she prepared to stab when his face came into view.

"So's we meet again liddle blondie." Merle's snarl showed perfectly in the suns direct light. He pulled her closer, his eyes narrowing and the smirk growing.

"Why do you keep popping up everywhere?" She whisper-shouted, wrenching her arm from his grasp. Unlike last time they encountered each other, he let her go, with one exception, he came around behind her with the knife to her throat. "And why didn't you go to the farm-"

"I'm juss bidin' my time." She examined his missing hand to the best of her ability, the new gadget that looked like something out of a futuristic sci-fi movie standing in its place. He watched her eyes fall to it and smiled. "Didn' tell ya 'bout it last time?" When she didn't speak he continued, "the Governor set me up with it. Got nice people, nice digs, nice weapons."

"The Governor?" She moved slightly in a feeble attempt to get the pressure of the knife off her jugular. She was intrigued though, he hadn't mentioned this person last time.

"Yessum. He's the man 'round these parts... can tell ya right nah he ain't gonna take kindly ta yer sheriff friend." He took a step closer, causing her to stumble and take one forward as well. He walked in front of her now, keeping the knife on one of her pulse points. "Probably juss kill 'em. All of 'em. You too, unless he wants ta keep ya for other reasons," he ran his hand through her hair and she spit in his face, an arrogant smirk on her lips. Merle wiped his face and chuckled with a bemused grin. "This how yer gon' treat yer old pal Merle?" He lunged forward, grabbing a fistful of her ponytail. She was about to scream when someone elses shout stopped her, Merle as well.

"Taylor!" Daryl's call echoed through the doors, he must have been close. He let the hair fall from his fingers and took a step back.

"I checked tha farm out, ya got a nice little set up... the Governor wants it. He'll be comin' for it liddle Blondie." He winked and started to take steps backward to the exit. "I'll be gettin' my baby brother ta join us, then he'll kill all y'all. I'll tell the Gov to keep a eye out fer ya." He stood at the back door with the burnt out 'EXIT' light hanging above it. "He'll be comin'," he repeated. The last thing she saw was the snarly smirk on his face before he disappeared into the sunlight, the door slamming shut behind him.

"What the hell are ya doin'?" Taylor was pulled back to reality when Daryl's hand wrapped around her arm, tugging her towards him. She jumped and looked up at him, her eyes searching wildly around them. "What's goin' on?"

"Nothing, I just... I... got caught."

"Got caught on what? What are ya talkin' 'bout?" He looked around her, unable to find anything that she would have been snared on. He gave her a once over and quirked an eyebrow at her. "Ya okay?" She nodded slowly and walked in front of him, her head down the whole time. She had indicated that she was okay, but she most certainly was not.

Who was this Governor? And why did he want the farm? Was it because of their land, the animals, the weapons? He just wanted everything they had? Why had Merle found them a second time and not gotten Daryl yet? Was both he and the Governor tracking them? Her mind was racing with too many questions to count, but there was one thing she was sure of: the Governor was bad news.

"What took so long?" Shane raised both eyebrows simultaneously, looking to each of them in turn. His body was in its usual defensive position, both hands on the hips, legs in a firm stance, eyes beginning to narrow. Taylor noticed he didn't seem mad, but exhausted.

"Just had more ground to cover than we initially thought," Rick pushed gently past him and started to go indoors to drop the supplies off when Shane's voice stopped him in his tracks.

"We need someone for the night shift," he motioned over to the abandoned rooftop of the RV. "T-Dog's infection is looking pretty rough and he ain't looking good. I told him to sleep it off. I would cover but my ass has been sitting up there since you left." His explanation surely made sense as to why there were dark circles growing under his eyes. Rick sighed with the knowledge that he wouldn't be sleeping that night, just like the one before that.

"I'll do it," Taylor offered meekly. She knew she had too many things, question mostly, running through her head to get a good nights sleep anyway.

"You sure?" Rick turned to her with a grateful look, he was truly bone-tired.

"I'll help her." Maggie stood up from the rocking chair, letting it bang lightly against the house in her absence. She moved over to the creaky railing and sat lightly on it.

"You're both sure?" He repeated the question to make sure they knew what they were getting into. Sitting up in the RV staring off into the field for all hours of the night was a weary task, boring if you asked most people. Since they'd been at the farm they'd only have a handful of run ins with walkers and none were after dusk.

Both girls nodded with weak smiles, he shrugged and sent them both thankful smiles.

"Much obliged," he smirked at them, and as if they were sisters instead of cousins, they both rolled their eyes in unison.

"Mhmmm..." After everyone parted and Maggie was already on her way to the RV, Daryl grabbed Taylor's forearm, pulling her back to him.

"Ya sure ya don't want to come stay in my tent tonight?" She used the same eye roll as earlier and couldn't help the giggle that escaped her.

"Daryl Dixon," she mock gasped and placed her hand on her chest, "are you trying to seduce me?"

"Why, are you seducable?" His tone stayed steady but his eyes told a different story. The moonlight shone on them both, making his eyes sparkle. Taylor wanted nothing more than to take him up on his proposition, but she had already made an agreement and she wasn't going to ditch Maggie for a guy. She knew how horrible it felt in the past when they were younger and Maggie had done it to her. She laughed and shook her head at him.

"No, I'm not interested."

"Hmm," he shrugged carelessly and smirked. "That's not what you said last night."

"Oooh okay. Byeee." She pried his hand from her and jogged over to the RV, carefully climbing on top so she wouldn't make too much noise and wake anybody up that was currently sleeping. Maggie glanced up at her and handed over the night vision binoculars; where Shane and Andrea 'found' them was still up for debate but they didn't care because they were actually useful. Taylor scowled and ripped them from her hands, pouting and setting them on her lap.

"Why do you get the gun and I get stupid binoculars?"

"Becauseee, I'm entertaining you. I could have left you up here to rot by yourself all night but I am offering my cousinly services-"

"What do you want?" Taylor narrowed her eyes at the brunette, already knowing she wanted something. It was suspicious that she had volunteered her sleep to begin with, but now she was boasting about it.

"Nothing," Maggie looked away over to the main camp site where Daryl was putting the fire out. The flames died quickly as the bucket of water hit it with an audible sizzle. The moon and stars were bright enough to cast the shadows in appropriate enough angles to see some movements. He looked over at them for a few seconds before going to his own tent. "What's uhh," she grinned over at the blonde now. "You never told me about it you know."

"Told you about what?" Her sigh was loud and drawn out on purpose, already knowing what Maggie was trying to pry into. She held the binoculars up and gave a good sweep of the land, there was nothing but motionless cows and crops. She lowered them and looked over at her companion who was grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

"Come on Tay." When she didn't say anything she adjusted the rifle and her smile grew. "Glenn's great. Well, at first he wasn't but after the first few times he's improved-"

"Oh my god I don't want to hear any of this!" She quickly covered her mouth realizing that she had shouted. She let her hand fall silently and shook her head whispering, "seriously Mags, I don't want to know that."

"Why not?" She practically whined, giving Taylor a pleading look. "Come on, spill. You're like a sister to me, that's what sisters do. We talk about this shit."

"You talk to Beth about her and Jimmy?" Taylor was skeptical and her tone proved it.

"Yeah, well they haven't done anything that intense yet, as far as I know, she hasn't really been talking to me much. But before... yeah." Maggie let the sentence fall and silence hang in the air for a few minutes, letting Taylor mull everything over before speaking again. "Do you love him?"

"What?" She pretended to not hear at first, looking over sharply at her. "Of course I do."

"No Taylor, I mean, are you in love with him?" Maggie paused, a smile spreading across her face. "Would you take a bullet for him?"

"I took a fucking arrow for him, I think that should answer your question." She raised the binoculars once more, scanning briefly then dropping them when there was no new movements.

"So you're in love?"

"What? No. No, no, no, no. It's- that's, it's just complicated. Pshh, you should be keeping your eyes out there, you're supposed to be on walker duty."

"So are you. And you can hardly string a sentence together," she let out a low whistle, "damn, you got it bad. It's cause he popped your cherry isn't it?" Maggie could barely hold in the laughter from knowing how pissed off she was making her cousin. It was just too much fun, Taylor got flustered over him so easily.

"No!" She dropped her voice to a whisper again after the small outburst, "stop. You know I wasn't a virgin when we- just shut up."

"Wait, you're not pregnant are you? You haven't taken any of our condoms." Her eyes went wide as she scanned for a reaction from the infuriated blonde. "Did he pull out?"

"Oh. My. God. Shut your face immediately." She crossed her arms over her chest, looking away now and grumbling under her breath, "you should now, busting in on us."

"Calm down, I didn't see anything." Maggie waved her off and snickered again, unable to contain the hilarity of her cousins embarrassment. Once her laughing ceased, she grabbed her stomach as the pain in her abs grew. Her tone returned to normal now, "how was it anyway?"

Taylor let out a dreamy sigh making Maggie roll her eyes and mock a gagging sound. "Incredible? I think he was really trying to channel his romantic side. I mean... it's just not how I picture it going down with him, you know?"

"Of course. You do it once and it's great, I have to go through like five test trails before it got good." Maggie flipped her hand in the air to show her frustration and ignored the latter part of her cousins question.

"You're such a drama queen." It was finally her turn to laugh, Maggie had always been slightly overdramatic, no more than Taylor, but still 'dramatic' nonetheless.

"Oh coming from you, who almost faints every time he's around."

"I do not." She frowned and gave her cousin a disapproving look who only smiled cheekily back at her. No matter how much she insulted her, Taylor could never stay mad for long. Maggie's words couldn't have been more true, she was like a sister.

"I haven't gossiped like this since high school. It feels good." The brunette ran a hand through her hair and motioned for Taylor to do another check; she did so obediently and looked back over. Maggie's lips twisted into a small smirk. "The only problem now is every time I look at him, I'm going to picture him naked."

"Yeah... welcome to my life."

"What are ya doin'?" Daryl approached Taylor cautiously, she had just finished linking up the horse trailer to the back of the truck. It had already been ready to go, just needed a few adjustments, and she apparently took it upon herself to do so. It was just after sunrise, the milky colors of orange and yellow still mixing together roughly in the sky; way too early for manual labor. Too early for Taylor anyway.

"Getting the trailer ready." She huffed and leaned against it, looking at him with a strange look that he'd never seen before playing in her eyes.

"I can see that..." He stepped up closer, getting a better look at her, a quick once over showed that she was awfully pale and looked ready to faint. "Why?"

"So it's ready to go." She pushed herself off the trailer and began to make her way back to the stables. At first he just stared dumbfounded, unable to really grasp what the hell she was doing in the first place. After she had gotten pretty far away he jogged quickly to catch up with her.

"Ready to go where?" He walked next to her, slowing his pace so it met her sluggish one.

"Anywhere. We need to be ready to leave." She didn't even bat an eye as she said this which only made him more perplexed. Once inside the stables she picked up a bale of hay and started to walk out.

"Why are we leavin'?" He blocked her path and she sighed loudly.

"I had a dream-"

"When did ya sleep?" He questioned, not following anything that was happening. "I thought ya had night watch?"

"Rick came out later and let me and Maggie go. Told us to go to bed." She tried to walk around him again but he kept predicting her every move. "I had a dream the farm is going to be overrun by walkers. We need to be ready."

"That's crazy Taylor." He threw the hay out of her hands and let it topple to the ground. "The farm ain't gonna be overrun and we ain't leavin'."

"Yeah, it is. I had the dream about it, but it wasn't a dream, it felt so real..." She looked at him with honesty deep seeded in her eyes, he could tell she wanted him to believe her. But it was too crazy, how could she just predict something like that? He took her by the shoulders and looked closer, just as he'd seen earlier she was paler than usual- a lot, there was sweat forming on her brow, and she looked drained. He took one hand and felt her forehead almost wanting to instantly jerk it back as he did.

"Holy shit, yer hot."

"No, you're hot. What? No." He couldn't help but smirk at her ridiculous comment.

"Do ya even know what yer sayin' anymore?" He led her over to the bale of hay and tried to get her to sit though she continued to stand.

"No, but I'm fine." He pointed to the hay and she reluctantly sat.

"Ya need to get some sleep, some rest. Ya look like yer gonna pass out." He shook his head at her and realized that maybe that explained her weird behavior and sickness, she was just tired, really really tired.

"No." She shook her head, causing the hair to shake with it, some of it sticking to her neck from the sweat that was starting to cover her. She began to shake and held her arms to herself.

"Ya either get yer ass to bed, or I'll make ya." He didn't have time to follow through with his threat as her eyes fluttered shut and she slumped over, almost falling off the bale of hay completely. He dodged forward and grabbed her just in time before she hit the ground. Didn't he warn her this would happen? He grunted and thought to himself snarkily, women never listen.

"She's burning up." Hershel took his hand away from her forehead and grabbed a thermometer from the kit that was splayed out on the night table beside the bed. He slipped it in her mouth and let it settle under her tongue for a few seconds before it beeped with its signal of completion. "One hundred and three." His tongue clicked against the roof of his mouth as a show of 'its not good' without actually saying it.

"What do we do?" Maggie sat on the bed, her hand clasped around her cousins as tears filled her eyes. She was scared, terrified really. Taylor had told her all about the signs that people showed just before turning. "She'll be okay, right?"

"Maybe it's just a bug." He offered, a frown creasing his mouth together.

"A bug? From who? We're the only ones around here." She felt the tears release and begin to stream down her face, no one really needed to say it at this point, it was looking grim.

"Maybe..." Hershel looked solemnly at Daryl whose arms were resting on his legs, his hands covering his mouth. He was slumped over and looked deep in concentration, though Hershel decided to say it anyway. "Maybe she's been infected."

"When would she have gotten bit?" Daryl mumbled through his hands, worried that she was sick, but not believing that she could be turning as they spoke.

"I don't know." He shrugged and the frown deepened, he didn't want to think it either.

"Oh no..." Maggie started, her hand tightening around Taylors. "Last night when Rick took over, she was walking towards your tent-"

"She never came to my tent." Daryl looked up now, worry beginning to actually etch onto his features. None of this was looking or sounding good, he didn't like any of it.

"Oh no," the brunette repeated, shaking her head. "I was going to say I didn't see where she actually went. What if... what if she went off and a walker got her?"

"It could have bit or scratched her, she just didn't want to tell anyone?" Hershel looked down at his niece was sad eyes, he was saying the words, but certainly not wanting to think any of them could be true.

"We would be able to see that." Daryl protested, getting more anxious with all these scenarios everyone was playing out. Hershel nodded gravely at this, walking to the head of the bed and slightly moving the collar of her flannel. There were four prominent, bright red scratches, and they definitely appeared human.

"I... this can't be right!"

"She said somethin' 'bout the farm gettin' taken over by walkers. A dream or somethin'... but she said it was almost real. That mean anything?" Daryl offered, trying to put the pieces together to form any picture except the one they were coming up with.

"Hallucinations?" Hershel shook his head slowly, everything that Rick had warned him about the way people changed was just in his minds eye.

"What do we do?" Maggie shot up from the bed, clasping her hands to her face as she started to cry harder.

"The line's pretty clear. Zero tolerance for walkers." Andrea appeared suddenly, leaning against the door frame. A small smirk tugged at the corner of her lips but she tried to hide it.

"What?" Maggie lowered her hands, looking between Daryl and Andrea.

"That's what you said, right Daryl?" The sneer on her face was visible now and Daryl clenched his jaw in an attempt to not say anything. "Oh? It's different now? The line's not so clear anymore?" His fists tightened as she pushed on, trying to send everyone off the edge and nearly being successful.

"Are you suggesting we kill my cousin?" Maggie began to take deliberate steps closer to the blonde who stood firmly at the door.

"Well that's the rule. We had to kill my sister. Jim couldn't stick around. That's the rule. Zero. Tolerance. For Walkers." Maggie shoved her back into the next room, her face burning red with rage.

"Those may have been the rules before but this is our farm, our house, and the rules are different." Just as she was about to send her a right hook Rick came busting in the door. He glanced between the two but didn't ask any questions, quickly making his way into the next room. He looked between Daryl and Hershel, his eyes momentarily setting on Taylor but still having no time to ask anything.

"What happened?" Daryl stood up noticing the panicky look etched on Rick's features. Andrea and Maggie had joined them in the room, curious to Rick's entrance.

"The farm..." he took ragged breathes as he attempted to find a good airway. He had run too far too fast. "It's... we have to go."

"What? Why?" Hershel's eyes, along with Daryl's, Rick's, Andrea's, and Maggie's all turned towards the window. What they saw floored them, Daryl especially. Taylor's dream was right after all. A hoard of walkers was bursting at the seams of the fence trying to get in. The whole length of the fence was lined with one bloody, growling, gnawing, decaying body after the other, all moaning to get their hands on the tasty meals before them.

"Holy shit." Almost everyone with the exception of Rick and Hershel spat out simultaneously.

"We have to leave the farm, now."