A/N Hey everyone! Hope y'all had a nice Christmas for those who celebrate it, and an enjoyable day off for those who don't. Chapter 40, didn't think I would be able to keep it up for this long, but here you go! Let me know what you think! See you again in a few weeks! Enjoy, and much loves3
"Whatchu so worried bout? You were so excited to get back here." Daryl glances at her.
"What if no one's left? What if there's no group to come back to? Leaving them was such a bad idea." she fidgets nervously in her seat.
"Stop it!" he scolds "How many times we gotta go over this? Huh? Rick is a good guy, good leader. He kept everyone alive, they're fine."
Sam nods and chews on her lip, still worried. What if the group has changes, and they're not welcome anymore. Just the thought makes her heart ache, people that have become her new family not wanting her back, or just not being around. She stared blankly out the window, preparing to mourn her second family.
Daryl slows the jeep and pulls into the development. It's not crawling with walkers, the first good sign. He cuts the engine and carefully inspects all the visible houses for signs of movement before suggesting they get out.
"You sure this is the same place they said on the sign?" she asks, worried.
Daryl suppresses a groan and is about to risk honking the horn when a face appears in one of the second floor windows of the house they are in front of. It looks familiar, but disappears too quickly to recognize.
"Hey." he gets Sam's attention "That house over there. Someone in there. Couldn't make out who though."
Sam starts to unbuckle and reaches for the door handle. Daryl stops her "Hold up a sec. We don't know it was them, who ever it was will mostly likely gonna come outside, so let's wait, alright?"
"Ok, sorry. I'm just so excited to see everyone again." she takes her hand off the handle and glues her eyes to the house Daryl pointed to. The front door starts to open slowly, inch by inch.
Sam almost bolts out of the car when a very pregnant Lori opens the door all the way and waves them inside. Daryl pulls the car into the driveway and before he can put it in park, Sam is out and running towards Lori. He shakes his head at her, but a tightness in his chest, that he didn't realize was there, eases as he watches them
. Sam turns back to Daryl and takes her pack from him. He nods hello to Lori and looks at Sam "You gonna help me unload our shit? Or do I gotta do it all myself?"
She smiles "You're the guy, you got it, right?"
"Yeah, right." he looks at Lori "Where do we put our stuff? An where's Rick an the rest of the group?"
"The living room's fine. They went to check a few of the stores we saw going through town, see of there's anything left we can use. We're running really low on everything." Lori says with a sigh.
"Then it's good we brought some stuff back with us." Daryl leaves his pack on the living room floor and goes back out to help Sam, "Seems like they're all ok, but they're pretty bad off. We gotta find somewhere safe soon."
"Lori looks like she's about to pop. They've gotta be looking for some place." Sam points out.
"We'll talk to Rick when he gets back, see what's up." Daryl says quietly, not wanting to offend Lori.
"How long have you been here?" Sam asks Lori.
"Just this morning. We haven't been able to stay anywhere more than a night or two." Lori sighs "There's herds everywhere, and it's so hard up keep going without circling back. And it's so hard for me to keep up with this pace."
"Here." Sam hands her a piece of dried meat "You look like you could use this."
"Thank you.: Lori says and takes a bite "They should be back soon. Hopefully they found some food. We have hardly anything left."
"We can add what we have to it." Daryl glances at them from his post at the window. "Better n nothin."
Sam smiles at him, but Lori is too busy devouring the bit of food Sam gave to her.
Daryl spots the rest of the group emerging from the back yard of the house across the street and has Lori take his post, so they see someone they immediately recognize first.
"There are herds all around, chasing us away, cutting us off." Rick explains "Sometimes we only get a few minutes rest, especially in areas that were more populated. We've lucked out in the woods a few times though, been able to rest a whole night."
Sam looks away, feeling slightly guilty about the easy winter they had up north.
"So most of the area around here is all tapped out?" Daryl asks, trying to work out where to go.
"We tried not to clean out every house so we had something in case we get driven back to the area. But with what we got today, and what you and Sam were able to add, we can push a little farther out, try somewhere new."
Sam looks away from the conversation when Maggie comes up to her and gives her a hug.
"Things have been so crazy, I'm so glad you're back. You have to tell me all about it when we have time."
"Yeah, definitely." Sam smiles, happy to have everyone back "Let's go see if we can help them figure out where to go."
"If there are more herds out here, the cities might be more clear, you guys try and go back there at all?" Daryl asks, looking at the map.
"No, it may be more clear now, but we don't have the gas to spare to go back and find out." Rick explains.
"Plus, it was already scarce when we used to go there before." Glen points out.
Just as they let the group know where to go, Daryl spots the first few walkers entering the development.
"Time to go." he says, which gets everyone moving at a fast pace.
"Daryl, come with me. Everyone else load up the cars and be ready to move." Rick says, heading to the door.
"Whats up?" Daryl asks, following Rick.
"Nothing to worry about. Just thought you might want this back." Rick quietly opens the garage door, letting the light fall on Merle's bike, he claps a hand on Daryl's shoulder "Didn't think I'd forget, did you?