A/N Finally! They meet up again! Hopefully I'll be able to move things along a little quicker now. Hope you guys enjoy this one.
"Hey," Sam says, still a little dumbstruck, and her cheeks flush with embarrassment, or is that just the Georgia heat?
"Thanks for that." She motions to Chris, who is sobbing in her brothers arms.
"The hell are you guys doing anyway?" he cleans his knife off with a rag from his back pocket, he looks at Chris "Shouldn't you be tucked away, safe in bed somewhere?'
Chris just glares at him until Sam steps in "I don't think there is anywhere safe anymore. But I'm open to suggestions."
Daryl shrugs "Avoid people."
"Right, cuz that's sooo easy." Chris recovers, stepping away from Kyle.
"So far I've been just fine." he shoots back and turns to walk away "Don't need to be taking lip from some little shit. Never mind that I saved you life."
Sam jogs after him and grabs his arm, "Hang on. Listen, she's sixteen and scared. Give her a break."
Daryl stops and looks back at the girl.
"It's just them now. We're trying to find their parents." Sam explains "It's only a few hours away now."
"So whadaya want from me?" he asks, already knowing the answer.
"Come with us? You obviously know how to take care of yourself." Sam asks.
"I only came back here for supplies. My brother's waiting for me back at our camp." Daryl thinks about Merle, probably enjoying the alone time with his stash.
"Please? We could really use the back up." Sam all but begs.
He is quiet for a few long seconds, "Fine, I got nothing better to do."
"And your brother won't mind me borrowing you for a few hours?" Sam asks, recalling the abrasive older brother.
"Honestly, he probably won't even notice. Not as long as I bring back what he asked me for."
Sam heads back to Kyle and Chris "He's coming with us. Let's try a few more cars, try to fill the tank before it gets much later."
Kyle raises an eyebrow at Sam, but doesn't move "We still don't even know who he is."
"This is Daryl. Daryl, Chris and Kyle." she turns back to Chris and Kyle with a small smile "He's, uh, a friend."
Kyle looks at Sam skeptically, but accepts her answer "So how much gas did we get from that car?"
Daryl leans against their car and watches them figure out how much more fuel they need. He still can't remember what prompted him to agree to this. Something about that girl, she's a fighter. She probably would have talked him into it anyway.
"Daryl," Sam calls to him, waving him over "Kyle and I are gonna hit the cars over this way, I need you and Chris to get the ones over there/ we'll get as much as we can now, so we don't have to stop after dark."
"Hold up, I ain't no baby sitter." Daryl starts to argue against helping Chris, "I already saved her ass once."
"Exactly. I'd feel better if she goes with you," Sam explains "she'll have a better shot if more of those things show up. Sorry Chris."
Chris winces a little at the lack of faith, but offers Daryl a weak smile. Daryl sighs and grabs two of the gas cans "Let's do this, then."
Chris' gaze darts nervously around as she settles behind the car and starts the siphon.
"I got you covered, you just keep that gas flowing." Daryl reassures her.
The whole process doesn't take long, and they are back on the road before two, according to the car clock. They pass the time in a somewhat awkward silence, Chris keeps talking about their parents, and how she can't wait to see them again. Kyle starts rummaging around the cluttered floor of the back seat and hands Sam a square case.
She flips open the case and smiles at the small stack of cd's in her lap, "Score."
Daryl reaches over from the passenger seat and grabs the case off her lap "How bout you focus on the road, work on not getting us all killed."
Chris pipes up from the back seat "Why are you driving so slow anyway? We're the only people on the road. It's not like any cops are gonna catch you anyway. You're like a little old lady."
The three of them start laughing, and Sam even catches Daryl cracking a smile. Daryl flips through the small cd collection a few times before finally sliding one into the car stereo. The music that plays isn't anything that Sam knows, but as the singer starts crooning about a lost love, Kyle perks up a little.
"Hey Chris, this is that song Gram always used to sing. Remember?" she listens for a minute, but doesn't say anything "She's be doing laundry, or washing the dishes and singing this to herself. You don't remember?"
Kyle stares at her until something clicks for her, "Oh my God, you're right. I Haven't heard it in years, but that's definitely it."
The two of them sing along to the rest of the sing until Sam turns off the highway.
"Now guys, don't get your hopes too high. We don't know how bad it is." Sam reminds them.
They drive as quietly as they can, Kyle directing Sam to their house. The streets are deserted, of people anyway, empty cars and debris litter the streets. Sam stops the car in front of their house, the front door is open.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Sam asks, feeling uneasy "We could just keep going, go back with Daryl now."
"No," Chris answers without hesitation "no, we have to go in. I have to know if they're ok."
Kyle looks at the house, the open door and starts to shake his head "Chris…"
"No!" she shoves him away, hard. "They have to be ok. I need them."
Chris dissolves into sobs, still staring at the house. Kyle tries to comfort her, but she pulls away. Daryl catches movement on the second floor, and prays that Chris didn't see it too.
"They're here!" Chris all but screams "In their room. The curtains moved, I saw it."
She bolts from the car before anyone else can talk her down, Kyle reaches for her and grasps empty air. Chris disappears in to the house yelling for her parents.
Daryl is the first out of the car and takes off after Chris. The others follow him into the dark house. Kyle pushes last him and heads straight up the stairs. They stop short in the doorway when they see Chris curled up on the bed, sobbing.
"It wasn't them." she admits to Kyle when he sits next to her "They're not here. The stupid hall window was open."
Kyle pulls her onto his lap "Shh, It's ok. Maybe they left, went somewhere else. We should see if they left us a note or something."
Chris nods and wipes her face. "We should get some of our stuff too."
"What's left of it." Daryl says from the doorway "Front door was busted open, looks like looters got at the place."
Sam gives him a sharp look, but he just shrugs, "Daryl and I will go check downstairs, look for notes or something. You guys grab whatever from your rooms, and meet us back at the front door in ten, ok?"
"So what was your plan after this place was a bust?" Daryl asks, leaning on the kitchen counter after he and Sam clear the bottom floor.
"Honestly, I have no clue. My mom and sister are back up in Boston, so probably work my way up there, try to find them." Sam chokes back a small sob when she thinks about her family "Stick to the highway, get back to them soon as I can."
"That still the plan?"
"I don't know. I don't know that it's worth it. I don't want to say it's hopeless, but…"
A scream from upstairs stops any further conversation. Sam rushes up the steps, taking them two at a time. Kyle yelling joins the screaming from the open door at the end of the hall. They burst into the room and see Kyle trying to pry one of the crazies off Chris, even as it continues to gnaw on her arm. Daryl shoves Sam aside and rips the thing off Chris and rams his knife through it's eye. Kyle collapses at his sisters side.
"Why did she" Chris stammers, clutching at her bleeding arm "Kyle, why did Mom do that?"
"That wasn't Mom," he chokes out "that was a monster wearing her face. She loved you, she would never hurt you."
Sam comes back into the room with towels and presses them to Chris' arm to try and slow the bleeding. Daryl helps her, grabbing a belt off the floor and securing the towels with it.
"That doesn't look good." he whispers to Sam "There's a big chunk missing from her arm."
"I know" Sam tries to hold back tears "it's not. The disease, whatever it is, it's transmitted through the bites, so even"
"Even if she doesn't bleed out, she'll turn." Daryl finishes, Sam nods, tears welling in her eyes.
Chris lies on the floor, the monster, once their mother, lies dead near the door where Daryl dropped her.
Kyle holds his sisters hand and brushes her hair back from her face.
Sam turns away, unable to hold back her tears "We have to tell him, we can't let her turn, become one of them."
Daryl nods "You go sit with the girl, I'll talk to Kyle."
Sam sits next to Chris, taking her hand from Kyle "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have let you come in here."
Sam can see the blood already soaking through the towels. Chris is ghostly pale, but she tries to make Sam feel better.
"You were just trying to help. Without you we would still be sitting in that stupid hotel, waiting for the Army to come." she tries to laugh, but her eyes start to lose focus, she doesn't have much longer.
"There's gotta be something we can do." Kyle pushes away from Daryl "I can't let her die! She's my baby sister! For Christ's sake"
"Man, I'm sorry, but the only think you can do now is sit with her until she goes and keep her from becoming one of those things."
"I can't. I just can't." tears start rolling down his cheeks,
"Kyle" Sam brings his attention back to his sister "come hold her hand. I don't think she'll be conscious for much longer."
Kyle drops to his knees and takes her hand from Sam "Chris, I'm so sorry. I should have protected you. I should have been there."
He sits so she can rest her head on his lap and he strokes her hair. Sam can hear him singing softly to her, the song from the car. She pulls Daryl out into the hall, just outside the door, giving him privacy.
"Beyond the sunset, oh blissful morning
When with out savior, heaven is begun
Earths toiling end, oh glory dawning
Beyond the sunset when day is done"
Sam covers her mouth to quiet her crying, but her body shakes with it. Daryl just stares at the wall in front of him, unsure of what to do.
"I want to know each step you take, that I may walk the same
For someday down that lonely road, you'll hear me call your name
Should you go first and I remain, one thing I'll have you do
Walk slowly down that long, long path, for soon I'll follow you"
Kyle is crying too hard to finish the last two lines of the song, and that's when Sam knows she's gone.
A/N The song Kyle sings is Beyond the Sunset-Hank Williams