I hope you all enjoy this chapter, its a long one and I had fun writing it.

Reviews are greatly appreciated :)

Chapter 4

The Atlanta survivors were all crowded around the campfire ready to have a celebratory dinner and drinks after Shane had told them about Sam taking out two Walkers by herself. Carol and Lori automatically were in mother mode, making sure she was alright while Carl eagerly questioned Sam for every detail while Andrea congratulated her; she was pleased she wasn't the only woman who could hold her own in the group now.

As the group began to prepare the feast of deer which Daryl had hunted earlier that afternoon, Shane and Sam shared a look of passion and secrecy, no one had any idea about their own celebration they had embraced after the kill.

Sam sat down next to Glenn and Maggie, of whom she had grown close to since coming to the farm, and as she peered at the faces around the fire, one was missing.
"He doesn't socialise much, does he?" Sam nodded in the direction of Daryl who was by his tent, away from the others.
Glenn shrugged, taking a bite of his dinner
"He's not really a people person... keeps to himself especially now after what happened with Sophia.."Glenn stopped suddenly looking sad, the memory of the little girl coming to mind.

Sam had been informed that Daryl had been out in the woods and swamps pretty much every day, except for when he had fallen down a rock cliff and accidently shot by Andrea. Sam got up from where she was sitting, and began walking away making Shane pop up and walk over to her.
"Where are ya goin?" He whispered as he lightly traced the buttons on her shirt which he had earlier ripped off.
Sam giggled, swatting them away from him playfully
"I'm getting Daryl to join us, after all he did catch the dinner... you'd think he would wanna have some?" She asked rhetorically and propped up an eyebrow, leaving Shane to watch her walk away.

Daryl was sitting up against the trunk of a tree, sharpening his hunting knife when he saw Sam approach him.
"Hey" she lightly said but he didn't reply "We're all having dinner, sort of a celebration really..." She added a bit embarrassed the thought that they were fussing over her.
"I heard bout' ya takin' out the Walkers... what'd do ya want, a medal or sumthin?" He added coldly. Sam sighed, crossing her arms "How about you join us..." She asked after rolling her eyes and sighing.
"Don't ya get it? I like my own space that's why I moved away from em' I don't get along with people." he answered honestly and Sam furrowed her brow "I don't believe that" she said back to him.
Daryl looked up and Sam had only just realised that what she had said sounded a bit harsh "What I mean is..." Sam said trying to redeem herself
"I know what you did for Carol and her little girl...Sophia..." just hearing the little girls name hit a nerve... he had failed Carol and he thought it was his fault Sophia died... he couldn't save her...

"I know guys like you Daryl." Sam stated trying to form some sort of apology, grabbing Daryl's attention and making him look up at her
"Oh yeah?" he said sarcastically getting to his feet, obviously annoyed and frustrated at Sam sticking her nose in other people's business and making him think about Sophia.
Sam tucked her hands into her denim shorts pockets and kicked a rock on the dusty ground
"What I meant is that you just don't give people a chance to get to know you. If you did, they'd see how great you really are". Daryl cocked his head to the side, what the hell was she on about?
"I know I've only been here a few weeks, but I can see what kind of man you are. I'm good like that, at reading people".
"Oh yeah?" he answered smugly "And what do you see about me?" he asked, calming down, curiousity getting the best of him.

Sam thought for a second, giving him a hard once over, making him a bit self conscious.
"You don't like to let people in because you're afraid of getting hurt. You don't bother trying to make an effort and just put up barriers so no one will try to get to know you".
Daryl took in what she had and suddenly he was standing in front of her, his temper boiling up "What are you? A shrink or something?!"He spat the words at her but Sam took it lightly, half smiling at his comment... he was on the right path.
"I studied Psychology as a part of my Criminology degree..." she explained.
Daryl looked impressed for a split second but then his face turned sour "Who knew Barbie could even read" He retorted, not caring for this conversation anymore. He didn't like to have his brain picked apart. S
am definitely heard the venom in his voice and couldn't help but hit back "Ohhhh, and that coming from a redneck?" Sam said, making out she wasn't offended. Daryl had thrown back in her face, her old high school nickname; she was surprised he even remembered but still ticked off.

Sam waited in silence, but gave up and began to head back to the others when Daryl ranted at her "You don't know anything about me!" He ranted and she let him " and I'm not some guinea pig ya can do experiments on!"
Sam held her hands up, giving up... it was obviously a mistake trying to talk to him. He stepped forward and his voice darkened
"I don't need to coming over here all the time, trying to get to know me or whatever., I don't need anyone... let alone you!"
Dam, Sam had hit a nerve and she thought she was getting somewhere with this one but apparently, he was more damaged than she thought.

As Sam stared into the flares of fire, she thought to herself about Daryl and couldn't figure out why she kept trying to get to know him. I guess in the end, Sam always has a thing for g lost causes... well helping people in general... that was after all why she had began studying Criminology.
She wanted to know why people did the things they did, and she wanted to know how she could help them and prevent bad things from happening. Sam sighed heavily, and picked up a bottle of wine which had been brought out for the celebratory drinks and began sculling it back. Maybe Sam needed to stop thinking about other people now, she had more important thing to think about – staying alive, surviving.

An hour later, Sam had pretty much drank the whole bottle and the group had noticed the drunkenness behaviour. As Sam got up to fetch herself another bottle of wine near the RV and Shane snuck up behind and tickled her.
"Quit it!" she said with slur and pulled away from him
"Why don't you come and sleep in my tent tonight?" he asked, with a cheeky look on his face.
Sam bit her tongue "You'd like that, wouldn't you?" she asked, something in her tone made her sound as she was pissed off but Shane ignored it and he nodded enthusiastically
"Yes. Yes I would" he replied without a seconds pause.
Sam shook her head, taking a gulp of wine as Shane frowned in confusion "Whats wrong with you?" he asked. Sam pointed over at Lori who was sitting with her husband and child, talking to the rest of the group
"So how long have you been in love with your best friends wife?" she said with all seriousness, feeling completely used.
"I'm not an idiot and I'm definitely not blind" Sam didn't wait for him to say anything, and walked off back to the group, Shane was gobsmacked.

By the time Shane had returned back to the fire, there were was only Sam, Andrea and T Dogg still there and having sensed the tension, the two of them got up and left. Shane knealt down on his knees next to Sam as she looked into the fire, sipping the wine
"Look I don't know why your upset... theres nothin' going on with Lori and I anymore..."

"What? And you think that makes it any better?" Sam replied looking at him "You made me feel like such an idiot, I saw the way you looked at her tonight and I can't believe it took me this long to realise it!"
Sam said getting up from the log, tipping the wine over on the grass. Shane stood up, putting his hands on both her shoulders
"Your drunk, let's just go back to my tent..." He suggested, with a sly grin. Sam steps away from his grasp, shaking her head
"Don't touch me!"
Shane moved a tad closer, and Sam repeated the same words but he wouldn't stop until he heard someone clear their throat.

Daryl appeared out of nowhere, and was standing with his arms crossed over his chest with weary eyes
"Everythin' a'ight ere?"
Shane sighed, infuriated that the redneck had interrupted "Nothing that concerns you Dixon". Sam slapped his hand away from her, picked up the wine bottle off the ground and stormed off to the direction of Daryls camp.
Shane clenched his jaw, watching Sam walk away but did nothing as Daryl eyed him without saying a word.

When Daryl had followed Sam back over to his camp, she was throwing her hands up in the air and continued to drink around his little fire he had going on. He sat up against the tree, watching her with little amusement until Sam spotted him looking at her with the faintest smile.
"What are you gawking at Dixon?" She slurred again, losing her balance and fell on her ass. Daryl chuckled, making his way next to her and took the bottle from her hands.
"What's goin' on with you and Shane?" he decided to ask, taking a swig from the bottle. Sam turned to him, with a vacant expression and her eyes glassy and her mouth turned up into a lazy grin
"Whats it to youuuuu Darrrryyyyyllll" Sam asked with a lot of unnecessary hand movements "Why do you carrreeeeeee?"
Daryl answered quickly, keeping his cool "I don't care".
Sam laughed suddenly, more like a bark catching Daryl off guard as she whisked the bottle from his hands and was only inches away from his face
"You do care!" She drunkenly squealed with a high pitched tone "You just won't admit it" Sam said looking into his eyes, and moved an inch closer but lost her balance and fell straight into Daryls lap and looked up at him.
"I know you care" Sam swayed, her eyelids dropping and Daryl knew it was time for her to sleep so he picked her up in his arms, moving her into his tent.
As he placed his leather jacket over her upper body, Sam smiled up at him "You have the best eyes" she managed to say before her head hit the pillow and she was asleep. As he took the bottle from Sams hand which she had managed to hold the whole time he'd carried her to bed, Daryl couldn't help but shake his head and smile down at her.

The next morning, Sam awake to a pounding headache and found her clothes had been laid out for her in Daryls tent. Her oversized maroon flannelette jacket flowed over her denim shorts and Sam threw long wavy blonde hair up into a messy bun as she made her way out of the tent, back to camp.

As she approached the camp area, Lori and Carol were putting some clothes on a line to dry while Dale, Glenn and Maggie were talking besides the RV. Sam looked around for the others, but gathered they off to doing their own things but really she just wanted to see one. "How's the head?" Lori asked with a small grin which she shared with Carol. Sam shook her head "I feel horrible, and so embarrassed."
"Don't be" Shanes voice from behind startled her "You had your first real kill, you were celebratin" He said, making out nothing had happened the night before. Lori and Carol could both sense the hostility in the air as Sam and Shane looked at each other. Sam chose to ignore Shane's comment, and continued to talk to the other ladies "Where is everyone?" Sam asked, trying to sound casual and not as though she just wanted to find out where Daryl was.
"Ricks inside with Hershell and Andrea and Carl are doing a sweep" Carol answered her as Sam nodded.
"Daryls gone hunting down near the swamp..." Sam turned on her heels and headed down towards where Lori had pointed, still ignoring Shane's presence.

Sam had made it probably a mile away from the farm down in the swamps, her head still wasn't clear from the drinking the night before when a crunching noise caught her off guard.
"What the hell are ya doin' out here? I could have killed ya!" Daryl snarled as he lowered his cross bow which he had pointing at Sams head.
"I came looking for you, to apologise for last night..."
"Really? You had to do that now?" he said and realised how harsh it had sounded when Sam looked down at her feet.
"Dont worry bout it' we all do crazy shit when we're pissed drunk" He said still looking at her and then, it had all happened so quickly, Daryl hadn't had even heard it but Sam had seen it come up behind him.

A male Walker with a large build reached his arm and turned Daryl around fast, making his loose his balance and fall to the ground. Sam screamed out as Daryl hit the dirt hard, his cross bow falling from his hands and landed a few metres away from him. The fall must have been harder than what Sam had thought because Daryls eyes were closed, and he was lying motionless.
The Walker stood above his body, baring his yellowed teeth at him but his attention had turned to Sam once she had screamed. The walker was now running towards her and Sam fumbled backwards, trying to lead the Walker away from the lifeless Daryl. But for some reason, Sam had only made it a few metres away when the Walker had caught up to her
"Daryl!" Sam screamed, trying to wake the redneck, hoping for him to come to her rescue.

A second glance at Daryl showed he was slowly coming too, touching the back of his head where he felt blood. He sat up slowly, his head pounding and he looked around as he heard screams echoing.
"Shit!" he uttered under his breath as he eyes caught sight of Sam being backed into a cliff rock with a Walker nearly on top of her.

Sam felt behind her for anything to use as a weapon, he the Walker cut off her chance of getting away. Something pointy touched herfinger tips and immediately Sam grabbed it and held it up defensibly – sure it was just a middle sized stick but hey, what other choice did she have?
The Walker pounced on Sam, she knew she would only have one shot at this if she didn't want to be its meal. Sam aimed the stick right into the Walkers eye socket, impaling it as hard as she could. Blood spurted but it only slowed it down for a split second. Sam thought surely this was the end, but her thoughts were cut off from the sharp sound echoing through the air and landing in the back of the Walkers head, causing more blood to spurt out.
The weight of the Walker was too much for Sam, and it had fallen face first onto her. Sam laid on her back, with the limp creature on top and she began to freak out from her near death experience.
"Get it off!" Sam squealed "GET IT OFF ME!"

Daryl ran to her, picking up the Walker effortlessly with one arm and chucked it to the side. Sam was half up right, panting and trying to catch her breath as she stared at the Walker lying dead beside her. Daryl pulled out the arrow from the back of the Walkers head, wiping it on his clothes before propping it back with the rest of his arrows.
He knelt down and touched Sam on the shoulder to make sure if she was alright. The adrenaline was still pumping through her veins, making her instinctively react and attempt to get away from whatever had touched her, not realising it had been Daryl.
"Hey calm down girly, it's jus' me" He said holding up his hands to show he wasn't going to hurt her.

This was the second time Daryl had saved her life and Sam didn't know how to show her gratitude, so she let him help her up still trying to catch her breath.
Daryl checked her up and down, looking closely at her body "Did ya get bit? Or scratched?" he asked, genuinely sounding concerned which took Sam back, making her think that he actually cared.
"No" She replied blankly and he nodded staring at her through his piercing blue eyes but quickly looked away. As he turned to walk away, Sam called out to him "So you do care!" Daryl stopped, looking over his shoulders
"Ain't bringin' back a Walker ticking time bomb"
he retorted in a half joking manner before walking off again, making Sam jog to catch up to him.

Will Daryl let Sam in? or will he continue to shut her out?

Should Sam give Shane another chance?

To be continued...

Please review! I really would like to know how the story should pan out. Who thinks Sam should go back to Shane and give him a chance or just keep going with her and Daryl for now?

Also would you guys liek to see more interaction between the other characters or just keep to focusing on Sam/Daryl or Sam/Shane?

Ideas/advice/any sort of comments are very much appreciated! Share the love so I can continue this story 3