*Just a little reminder that Irving is Georgette's second cousin not uncle of first cousin. Since he is Daryl's first cousin that makes him Georgette's second cousin. The only uncle the girls would have would be Merle but unfortunately he's dead :(

They made their way quickly into Tennessee. It excited Georgette to be so close. She couldn't believe they'd managed to make it all the way here in one piece. It was night and they had stopped and found an old storage trailer to stay in. It wasn't much but they had their own blankets to set up on the floors to sleep and they would be safe. Irving had been able to keep up the entire way. They started a fire right outside the doors. Georgette climbed out of the back of the trailer and tossed Odilia the wire and pulled out the little rabbit meat that they had left.

"Gonna have to ration this out," said Georgette, "There's not much left." She heard Irving speak up and say

"Hold on a sec, I got somethin'." She turned and watched him reach inside a plastic garbage bag and pull out an entire leg of a deer. Georgette felt her mouth water and her stomach growl. He brought it over to the fire and they began to cut it up into pieces they could all eat. The dog hung back, watching them and hoping he'd get a cut. The others went inside the storage container to set up their beds. She and Irving remained by the fire, beginning to roast the meat over the fire. As she was turning it slowly so the flames would reach the other side she heard a heavy panting in her ear. She turned to see the dog over her shoulder, drool dripping down off of his droopy lips. She laughed and scratched his head, getting him to lay down next to her.

"He may look like a bully but he ain't." Irving sat on the other side of the dog. "I plucked him outta a bunch of rubble when he was a pup. All alone and whimperin'." His accent was like music to her ears. It brought back the dormant memory of her father's own accent.

"What's his name?"

"Thor." Georgette couldn't help but laugh and said

"Why not Buddy or Biscuit?"

"Not intimidatin' enough." She heard the others come out of the container and join them.

Once the meat was done they each took a piece and dug in. Smiling, Georgette decided to eat half of it and slipped Thor the rest. The only one to see it was Irving as the dog hungrily chowed down.

They remained outside for a couple more hours. Irving was the first to get up and go into the container. Thor quickly got up and followed him in. Georgette wished she could get him to open up more. He seemed like a great guy but troubled about something. She got to her feet and said

"I'm going in early, I'll see you guys tomorrow morning." She walked off towards the container, determined to try and get something out of him. She could open up to him and maybe he'd open up to her. She tried to be quiet as she approached, not wanting to startle him. She looked inside and was shocked to see him standing there in nothing but boxers. She could feel her face heating up and getting red. Georgette was confident about most things, but with men she was not. Angela had been the one to have given her "the talk" when she was around thirteen, but she had never interacted with a man until recently. When she had met Ares things had been different. He had started out as an enemy and she didn't feel any attraction towards him at all. But something was different with Irving. He was much older than her but that didn't sway her. She watched him as he pulled on a pair of flannel pants to sleep in. As he took a step back to get into the pant leg the light of the fire fell across his back. He had marks across it but she wasn't exactly sure what they were. Before she could get a better look he moved back into the shaded area. Maybe tattoos of some sort? She watched him grab a shirt and pull it over his head. She took that as her cue to enter.

"Hey," she said, making her presence known. He turned and said

"Hey, you comin' to bed too?" She found her sleeping bag still rolled up by the door. Irving had set his in the far left corner. Georgette went and unrolled it and then looked around for an empty space to lay. They were all taken. The first line consisted of Athena, Ares and Candice. The next was Irving, an empty space and Odilia. She felt her face grow even hotter as she realized she'd have to take the space next to him. What the hell was wrong with her? Sure he was handsome and he'd saved her life but she hadn't known him for very long. She walked over and lay the sleeping bag down and grabbed her pajamas. As she was pulling them out of the bag she heard him let out a laugh. She turned to see him leaning against the wall with his arms crossed watching her.

"Are those froggy pajamas?" the pants she had chosen were indeed a soft fuzzy pair of frog pajamas. She'd found them in one of the stores she and Candice had raided a year ago. Candice had thought they were cute so she'd grabbed them. They just about shared all their clothes so Georgette didn't really mind wearing them. They actually often fought over them on cold nights.

"They are," she said smiling, "They are the comfiest piece of clothing we own." He raised an eyebrow at her, clearly amused.

"I ain't never seen a grown women wearing froggy pajamas."

"I'm twenty-one," she said playfully, "I've only been an adult for two years give me a break." She heard him still laughing to himself as she left the container. She went back outside and changed behind a couple of trees. When she came back she found him already inside his sleeping bag. Thor was curled up next to him snoring. He had his back turned to her and she figured he was asleep as well. She quietly got into her sleeping bag. And turned so she was facing his broad back. She closed her eyes and heard him say

"'Night." Surprised he was still awake she jumped a little and said

"Good night."

Beau felt like a fucking idiot. What he was doing was totally against everything he'd ever thought. He walked through the dark, his trench coat flapping around his knees as the cool night air washed over him. He knew the woods like the back of his hand and knew exactly where he was going. He reached her house and looked up at the back of it. He knew her room was the window furthest to the left. It was dark out but he managed to spot a few medium sized rocks on the ground. He didn't want to accidentally break the window; he could only imagine what her mom would do to her then. He tossed the rock at her window. It pinged off and he threw another. She appeared at the window, looking confused. When she recognized him he saw her face light up. She pulled open her window and leaned out.

"What are you doing?!"

"I came to ask you something."

"Hold on I'll be right down!" She quietly shut her window and disappeared. A moment later she came around the house, still in her light blue nightgown. He could obviously see her nipples through the material and he had to force himself to look away and calm down. "What's up?" Her face was red with excitement.

"I just came to ask you something. In about an hour there's gonna be a party in the gym and I was wondering if you wanted to come along."

"I would love too!" He knew she'd never been to one. Her mother would never allow it.

"Good," he said, "It'll be fun, just dress up in a dress or something." Her cheeks got redder and she looked down at her feet.

"Um, I don't have any dresses or anything fancy really." Beau was no expert on womens fashion but the attire of the girls who attended were either slutty or pretty. He didn't want her looking like a slut so getting her nice dress would be the best way to go.

"Well we could get you something in town."

"You mean in town like the general store?"

"No," he said, "Like the town that we get supplies from on our runs. The general store's only gonna have basic clothes." He knew it was dark out but something inside of him wanted to do everything for this girl.

"Is it safe? How would we get there?"

"I'll take you," he said, "You'll be safe with me."

Annalise felt wild, she couldn't believe what was happening. One moment she was stuck in bed, listening to her mother snore nosily from the next room and now she was sneaking out with Beau. They moved quickly through the woods as he held her towards the parking lot where they kept the ATVs. Her thin nightgown wasn't doing much to cover her up but she didn't care as she ran after him. The ATVs were all lined up and Beau jumped on the nearest. He pulled a key out of his pocket and stuck it in the ignition. It started up with a roar. She just stood there, still not completely believing what was happening.

"Hop on," he said, patting the space behind him. She slowly climbed onto it and was pressed to him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and held on tight as he backed out of the space. They rode down the rode to the entrance gate. When they approached it the two people that manned and guarded it pulled it open for them to go out. It felt weird riding out in the open. Dangerous but exciting at the same time. She hadn't been out of the village in months and she had forgotten how run down and bleak things were outside of the walls. They passed through several neighborhoods and the dilapidated houses got to her. A long time ago, families had happily lived inside them, not knowing what was coming. They saw few walkers. The last hurricane had happened two months ago and that had washed all of them out for the time being. They'd slowly creep back in over time only to be washed out with the next storm. She closed her eyes and pressed her face into his back, enjoying the wind blowing through her hair and being this close to him.

They reached town a couple of minutes later. It was completely dark and not a sound could be heard but their footsteps as they got off the ATV. The streets were strewn with debris from all of the past storms. Some of the buildings had completely collapsed.

"I think there's a girly store over here," he said, walking off to the left. She laughed and said

"A girly store?"

"Ya," he said, "With all the stuff that women like."

"What do we like?" Beau's face contorted into a look of hard thought.

"Pink stuff, bows and frills." She laughed again and said

"Well I don't like any of that stuff, my favorite color is blue." He kicked in the door.

"Never had a reason to come in here so look out for any walkers." He gave her a dagger and then they went inside. It was damp inside and she hoped all of the clothes weren't ruined. As her eyes adjusted she saw several racks of clothing. There didn't seem to be any walkers around but she kept an eye out just in case. She moved through the racks, looking for the dresses. She found them on the other side of the room. She pulled out a few she liked. Beau saw her turn around with them in her hand and said

"All done?"

"No," she said, "I gotta try them on first."

"They'll all look great on you," he said, "Let's go."

"No," she said, "I wanna pick one out."

Seeing he wasn't going to win he stopped arguing and let her lead the way to the fitting rooms. He'd never been so subservient to anybody in his entire life. Before she could pull open the door to the dressing room he checked inside, making sure it was clear. While she got changed he checked the others, finding them all empty. As he sat down in a chair she unlatched the door and came out. She was in a pretty blue dress. It was strapless and had a tight torso that flare out at her waist and went down to her knees.

"I really like this one," she said, turning towards the dirty mirror to look at herself.

"You look beautiful," he said, watching her. She really did. He wasn't just saying it cause he thought she was hot, she really was stunning. She blushed and said

"Thanks." She went back in and tried on the next dress but it was clearly no contest to the other and they ended up walking out with the first blue dress.

Irving woke up to complete darkness. He remembered where they were. Someone must have shut the container door after coming in last night. He blinked a couple of more times and then realized he was in a much different position then he had been last night. He could hear Thor snoring behind him and now he was up against Georgette. He could feel her slender body curled into his large one. He could hear her even breathing and could tell she was still asleep thank God. He gently backed away and pressed up against Thor. What was this girl doing to him? She was a lot younger than him. He recalled her telling him she was twenty-one last night. He wasn't exactly sure of his age; he stopped keeping track a long time ago. He knew he had to be in his early to mid forties. The last time he'd let anyone get this close to him had to be years ago.

The memories of her made his stomach twist up in pain. She used to curl up to him at night, saying that she knew nothing would happen to her with him around. That had been a massive lie. He remembered the day of her death so clearly.

Irving ate breakfast slowly, still half asleep. He'd been up all night on his guard shift. The walls around the building were stable but they always put someone out there to keep watch. He felt someone lean over and kiss his cheek. It was Shay. She took a seat next to him and said

"Morning how was your shift?"

"It was alright," he said, "Reckon you got a good sleep without me hoggin' the bed?" She laughed and said

"I did, but it was cold. I missed you."

"Missed you too," he said, turning to her and smiling. She leaned in a kissed him softly on the lips. He'd never thought he'd find someone to love. With his past he wasn't sure he ever knew how to love, but Shay had shown him otherwise. When he came to the group years ago, he had met her and liked her almost immediately. She spent a lot of time taking care of the kids they had there. She played games with them and tucked the orphans in at night.

He finished up his breakfast and stood up. They both headed towards the yard. The old office building was the only building they lived in but it was big enough. The group wasn't huge yet and hopefully over time it would row and they'd expand. The cool fall air washed over him relaxing him a bit. He could see the children playing further down in the yard near the wall. It seemed like a perfect day and then in a matter of seconds, the illusion was shattered. It all happened so fast. The wall toppled over. He wasn't sure what had happened. It was made heavily packed cinderblocks, bricks and the base they had used was a car. The car stayed in place while the cinderblocks fell over. A huge group of walkers burst through. Shay took off towards them, her long black hair behind her. Several others dropped what they were doing and ran towards the chaos. Irving ran after Shay, a wave of terror coming over him. He watched her grab onto one of the children swinging them around and out of the way of a walker's grasp. In exchange the walker took a large bite out of her shoulder, ripping the muscle and large arteries up and out of her body. She screamed and let the child go, who ran up the hill.

"No!" He ran towards her, beating off the walkers with his knife. He reached her and scooped her up in his arms. He turned and ran for the building. He felt dizzy and light-headed. It had to all be a dream. He brought her back inside and into their bedroom. He placed her down on the bed and frantically looked around for his belt. He knew there was no way he would be able to amputate the bite, it was too close to her neck.

"Irving stop!" Her stern voice got him to stop pacing in absolute panic. "It's gonna be ok." He went over to her and leaned down so he was on her level. She placed her hand on his cheek and rubbed her thumb over it affectionately. "Everything's gonna be fine." He wanted to tell her it wouldn't be, that she was gone, there was no way of getting her back and that infuriated him. He wanted to kick and scream but he contained himself, knowing he needed to stay strong for her. He took her face in his hands. Her eyes were already starting to fade out as she bled all over the sheets and pillow. "It'll be ok." Her voice was strained now. "I love you."

"I love you too," he said, tears filling his eyes. He kissed her one last time and watched the life leave her body. He knew what he had to do. He pulled out his knife and quickly plunged it into her temple, fearing that if he waited he wouldn't be able to do it. He gently wrapped her up in the sheets and picked her back up. He had to leave, he couldn't stay here anymore. He left through the back entrance. Once he was a few miles away and found a shovel in an old tool shed he buried Shay's body.

Georgette woke up and was slightly disappointed to see that Irving was gone. Only Odilia and Ares were still sleeping. Rubbing her eyes, she got up and pushed open the door, looking out to see the tree of them gathered around the fire cooking breakfast. Irving saw her there and said

"Mornin'," He held out a piece of venison to her and gladly accepted it, taking a seat next to him. Her sister looked up from the fire and said

"How was your sleep?"

"Good," said Georgette, "It's pretty nice in there."

The others woke up and ate. They quickly got back on the road. They were so close. If they didn't reach Georgia by nightfall Georgette was going to be extremely disappointed.

As they had done with most cities, they avoided Nashville and took a detour around it. During a break Irving joined her by the river as she soaked her feet.

"Used to live 'round here."

"Really?"

"Yup," he said, "That's how come I know so much about the back roads." Georgette tried to pry further into his life and said

"How'd you end up in Kentucky? Just decided to move north?"

"After everythin' went to hell I figured goin' north would be best. The walkers slow down in the cold." Georgette decided to reveal a bit about herself, hoping it would encourage him.

"I lived in Georgia when I was little," she said, "But got moved all the way to Wyoming." He looked up at her with a confused face.

"That's pretty damn far."

"Well life fell apart in Georgia so we had too."

"Is that why you're comin' back down here? To find your old life?"

"Sorta."

When they got back to the town Annalise quickly changed. She had picked out a nice pair of black flats to go with the dress, not liking how heels felt on her feet. She felt extremely nervous as they approached the gym doors. She could hear the loud buzzing sound of people talking. He must have sensed it because he turned to her and said

"Don't worry I'm here for you." When he pushed the door open she saw the gym filled with people, all young adults. Beau pulled her inside, shutting the door behind them. Like her, most of the girls were wearing summer dresses. She saw bottles of alcohol getting passed around and even saw someone smoking something towards the back of the room. Beau brought her over to a table full of food and drinks. He picked up a beer for himself and then one for her.

"Try it," he said, "It's good." Her mother had told her about the evils of alcohol. He opened it up for her and handed it to her. She sniffed it cautiously and then took a sip. It tasted so disgusting she almost spit it back out.

"That's gross," she said, her face scrunching up in disgust. He laughed and said

"Well more for me then." As they stood off in their own corner Annalise observed the room. It wasn't a dance of any kind but more of a big social event. People were talking and getting drunk. She noticed how nobody approached Beau to talk to him. She had always assumed he had lots of friends. The adults admired him as Vince's second hand man, but no one at the party had come up to him yet. Not wanting to insult him she didn't ask about it and instead said

"So what do you and Vince do together?" He seemed to stiffen at her question.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean like what kind of duties do you have?"

"Well we go out on runs a lot," he said, "And discuss plans for the town and things that need to be done." As they continued to chat they didn't notice Vince lurking in the crowd. He moved in between people, watching the two of them. Beau had clearly not gotten rid of her like he asked.

When Georgette saw the glorious sign that read "Welcome to Georgia" she jumped up and cheered. The ATV was still moving and she painfully fell back onto her ass but nothing could kill her excitement. They had finally arrived. All of their hard work and close calls was for this. She knew not to expect success in finding her parents right away. Hell it could take months but she knew they were finally in the right place. When they pulled to a stop Candice jumped off of the ATV and ran towards Georgette and body slammed her with a hug. She couldn't help but cry out in happiness. They had made it. Alive and in one piece.

They kept going for a couple of more miles before finally stopping at a house. Everyone was in a good mood and they cooked up the last of the venison for a feast. Adding to their luck even more they found a full bottle of wine to drink. Athena, Ares and Candice settled for one glass each but she, Odilia and Irving drank as much as they could. Georgette wanted to celebrate and would give herself no limits on indulgment.

They sat up laughing and talking. By her third glass Georgette couldn't see straight and she could barely contain her laughter. Odilia was also in full swing, the two of them feeding off of each other's silliness. Irving lasted much longer than they did but soon he too started to speak in slurs. One by one they retreated to bed until it was just three of them left. Odilia eventually passed out on the couch and it was just Irving and Georgette left.

"So you came here for your parents." He'd figured it out when Candice and Georgette had discussed it earlier.

"Mhm," she said, "All the way from Wyoming."

"That's crazy," he said, shaking his head, "You must reallya loved 'em."

"We did."

"Where'd they go?" She was done getting asked questions. She scooted closer to him and said

"I'll tell you if you tell me what your deal is." He laughed and said

"Whaddya mean what's my deal?"

"Where are you from?"

"I toldya Tennessee."

"No," she said, looking up at him from beneath her eyelashes, "I mean what's your story." He was silent for a moment and said

"I grew up in Tennessee with my dad." She could see a dark emotion in his eyes. Hatred maybe? "Left that bastard behind as soon as I could, got my own place. When things went to shit, I got outta there and headed north like I toldya." She continued to stare at him waiting for more. "Nauh," he said shaking his head, "Now it's your turn." She complied and said

"I was born in Georgia and my parents and I lived in a walled village. Then one day some bad people came and tore it down. My sister and I got out with a woman we knew but not sure off what happened to our parents. We were held prisoner for a couple of days somewhere and then we escaped. The woman who had us used to live in Wyoming and decided it'd be safe to get far away." She looked at him, waiting for his next part of the story.

"I found a group in Kentucky," he said, "Nice people, needed more help so I thought it'd be good to stick around. I was safe there." His eyes shifted and he seemed to get nervous. With emotion in his voice he said "Met a lady there and we wanted to start a life there with each other." He took a deep breath, looking like he was on the verge of tears. "Then the place got invaded and she got bit. I had to leave so I ran off, found that warehouse I was in and decided to stay there." Georgette could hear the absolute pain in his voice. She saw him shut his eyes and squeeze them together to keep the tears at bay. Without thinking, she wrapped her arms around him and said

"I'm sorry that happened to you." She snuggled her face into his neck and said "But you got us now, we could be your new group." He looked up at her. In her drunken stupor she smiled and said "I really really like you Irving, like a lot." And in that moment his lips were on hers.

They left the party a while later. It had been alright. She and Beau had gotten to know each other quite a bit more. She was still surprised that no one had approached them, but she brushed it off, the excitement of having of snuck out with him overwhelming her. He brought her back to her house. She was sure her mother was still asleep. If she wasn't she'd be raising hell in the whole town trying to find her. She turned to him and said

"Thanks for taking me out Beau; I had a ton of fun."

"Me too." Her heart leapt in her chest when he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. She felt her whole body start to tingle. He could see the shocked and amazed look on her face and he said "Goodnight, I'll see you tomorrow hopefully?" She nodded, feeling like an idiot.

"You will."

Thanks DarylDixon'sLover, carld178, stateofgrace-xo, Dianaa and all the guests for commenting :) Ok so they've finally reached Georgia. Next chapter with the girls in it will be a BIG chapter that I know you will all love lol.

Again a note about Georgette and Irving's relationship, I view it as totally fine. I mean I could throw in the stereotypical joke about the south and incest but I'm not going to do that because I'm actually from the north and I believe that cousin marriages shouldn't be that frowned upon. I've always been taboo in my writing and beliefs. It doesn't mean I'm all for incest, I find the idea of a relationship between brothers/sisters, fathers/daughters, etc. repulsive and would never write anything like that. If you look at the law cousin marriages are actually legal in most states and there's typically nothing wrong with it genetically. It all may have something to do with how constantly I read historical romance novels lol nine times out of ten the two main characters in those stories are related in some way. If you don't like it then please don't flame my inbox or send me hateful reviews.

Thanks for reading,

Wanderlustt