Chapter Five

Summer's POV

We pulled up to the camp and everyone began climbing out of the truck. Andrea helped me down and my biker boots hit the ground with a loud thud. I made my way over to Rick and stayed close to him. I was nervous. We slowly made our way over to the people.

"Dad!" I heard and saw a young boy with brown hair run toward Rick. Rick took off at a run and collided with the little boy and began to cry. A woman with brown hair came running over as well and engulfed both of them in a hug. The sight brought tears to my eyes. Rick had found his family.

I shuffled nervously from foot to foot scanning the area for Daryl. I didn't see him anywhere. I began to panic. What if something happened to him while everyone was in the city?

"Summer!" Rick called to me and I made my way over to him and his family.

"Summer, this is my wife Lori and my son Carl," he said, "guys this is Summer Dixon."

"Summer!" Lori said and hugged me like she'd known me for years, "Daryl told me all about you. He thought you were dead! He's going to be so thrilled to see you!"

"Where is he?" I asked, the panic present in my eyes.

"Out on a hunt," she replied and I could feel my panic diffuse.

"Thank god," I said, "It's so nice to meet you, by the way."

"Likewise," she said and then turned to an older woman, "Carol, can you grab me one of the chairs? This poor girl needs to sit, she's shaking."

The woman grabbed a chair for me and I sat down, grateful to be off my feet.

"Thank you, Carol," I said, "I'm Summer by the way."

She glanced at Lori and Lori nodded. Carol bent down and hugged me.

"It's great to meet you, Summer. Your husband is a good man. A bit anti-social, but good none-the-less. Although, how you put up with that insufferable brother-in-law of yours I'll never know," Carol said.

"I honestly don't know how I put up with him either," I said with a slight laugh.

I was soon introduced to everyone in the camp and apparently everyone knew who I was. As the day turned into night we all sat around the fire eating dinner. I kept glancing at the woods waiting to see Daryl walk out of them. As we were sitting around the fire Rick was telling everyone his journey which I had heard on the way to Atlanta.

"So Summer, what's your story?" a man, who's name I learned was Shane, asked.

"My story?" I asked.

"Yeah," he replied, "what happened to you before all this happened?"

"Well, lets see," I said, "I met Daryl when I was twenty-one at a local bar. We started dating not too long after that. He proposed a couple years later and we got married a little over a year ago. I found out I was pregnant and two months a go he left early in the day to go pick up the crib we ordered and when I woke up the world had gone to shit. I locked all the doors and windows and pack two survival bags, one for myself and one for him. I left his bag and crossbow on the bed and grabbed a few guns, some ammo, and a hunting knife for myself and held out for as long as I could waiting for him to come home. Two days passed and I got over run. I knew I needed to go or I wouldn't have lived so I fought my way out and got to my car. I drove for miles trying to find him but there were walkers everywhere. Eventually I ran out of gas and continued to wander through the woods, figuring that's where he would be hiding since he could hunt. I couldn't find him. Eventually I found a farm and sat down to rest and that's when Rick found me."

"Well, you two were lucky," Amy said, "finding each other and then finding our camp where both your families are."

"Definitely lucky," I said and smiled at Rick who nodded slightly in return.

Everyone continued talking and I didn't take my eyes off the woods. I could feel the tension building again. Why wasn't he back yet? What if something happened? What if he was bit and out there on his own?

"He'll be fine," I heard Dale say next to me, "Every time he's gone hunting he's been out all night. I suspect it's because when he's here he doesn't sleep."

I nodded knowing Daryl did things like that. But it didn't help me calm down much.

"Lori, why don't you show Summer where Daryl's tent is. She looks like she needs some sleep," Dale said.

Lori got up and motioned for me to follow her and I did. She shoed me where the tent was and I thanked her and said goodnight before going inside and zipping it up. I could tell her shared the tent with Merle but I could easily figure out which side was his. I took my shoes off and pulled out my wedding photo album before curling up in his sleeping bag. I began flipping through it and started to cry. All the emotions I'd been feeling since this all started finally came out. I closed the album and curled up against the pillow. It smelled like him. I started crying harder and eventually found sleep hoping when I woke up he would be there next to me.