"How long has it been again?"

Rick glanced over at me as I spoke and then back to the view of the city ahead of us. "Two weeks."

I followed his gaze over the edge of the building the two of us were standing on. "Feels like a month."

"That's what not eating will do to you."

"I can make a run. Glenn will go with me, you know that."

Rick turned to face me again, looking me straight in the eyes and shaking his head no. "No. We need to get out of the city all together. Can't risk y'all anymore."

Glenn, Daryl, and I had been carrying this group in terms of food but even I wasn't sure how many more close calls we would have in these apartment buildings and complexes. There was never that much food; beans and rice here and there, canned veggies and stale chips- not enough to feed 6 grown men, 2 kids, and 4 grown women.

I took Rick's words into consideration, nodding and stepping away from the ledge. He followed suit and we took long strides towards the rooftop entrance. Rick opened the door for me and we sauntered down the stairs until we split ways to the separate apartments we were sharing with our families. The small apartment building was far out from the middle of the city and close enough to major highways that we could get lost if need be. It had been quiet here but we were running low on everything.

There were four floors and Rick would take over the second, not that hard to escape but not able to be ambushed. Four apartments were on the second floor and after blocking off the front entrance with two couches, the group had split the apartments up. Amy, Andrea, and Dale were living together. Glenn, Daryl, and I. Rick, Lori, and Carl shared a two bedroom with Carol and Sophia. And then T-dog and Shane. There were two two bedrooms and two one bedrooms so it was a pretty obvious split.

I walked into our place where Daryl was splayed out on the couch with his hands tucked behind his head. The living situation made me feel like he was my teenage son. I pushed his feet off the couch and took the space they were occupying, making Daryl grunt and sit up.

"I guess we're getting out of here," I announced, leaning back on the couch and getting comfortable.

"About damn time. Get closer to the woods- maybe find some deer, more squirrel. Tired of going days without eatin." Daryl stood up immediately at my words and started to pack up his things.

"I think we're gonna sleep here tonight."

He shook his head. "Nah. We need to get gone now. Can't take another day of twiddling my thumbs on an empty stomach."

"Rick told us not to but I think we should go out and get some dinner. It's been a full day since some of us have eaten anything. You see that locked up corner store? Glenn and I have been tryna get in there for days."

Daryl turned back to me, definitely intrigued. "Why can't y'all get in?"

"Need something to break the lock with. Roll up the gates and we're home free. I figure we didn't clean out all the apartments on every floor. Someone has to have bolt cutters, right?"

I could see the thoughts processing behind his head. "All we need is two wrenches. Jam 'em in there and you got bolt cutters- easy."

Damn I'm stupid for not thinking of that. Then again why would I ever think of something like that. "Let's do it then. Dale has wrenches for sure."

Daryl nodded and grabbed his crossbow, doing whatever the hell he did to it to get it ready for going out. I went to the bedroom we were using in the apartment and swung open the door. Glenn was sleeping, which he had been doing a lot more of due to the basic lack of energy. Sometimes it felt like Daryl, Glenn, and I ate the least trying to feed everyone else. I climbed onto the bed, taking a second to admire Glenn's beauty before I gently began shaking my boyfriend awake.

"Huh?" Glenn asked with his eyes halfway closed. "What's happening?"

"Daryl found a way to get into that store," I explained. I gave it some thought- he did just wake up. "We're going but you don't have to."

"No, I'm up!" Glenn shouted, rolling over in the bed and hopping up. I watched him stretch and walk back and forth in the room getting the kinks out of his legs. "You're not going alone, I'm ready."

After putting on his shoes and his baseball cap, Glenn was ready to go. I changed to put a long sleeve underneath my top and long socks to cover my ankles. I hated having my ankles and wrists exposed, they just seemed like the most vulnerable spots to me.

"You tell Rick?" Glenn asked Daryl and I as we stood at the door. The two of us stood silent, the only noise was the sounds that came with readjusting the bags we had on our back. Glenn sighed, "you have to let him know."

"He's not our dad," I said. "He doesn't want us to go."

"So we're not telling Rick?"

Daryl and I shared a look, neither of us saying a word to answer Glenn again. He rolled his eyes, throwing his head back in annoyance before grabbing the bat he had leaning against the door. I grabbed my mini fire ax from off the dresser and tucked it into the side pocket of the bag I had placed on my back. Daryl chuckled to himself at Glenn's stress, swinging the wrenches he now had on his fingers. The three of us walked out of our place and didn't tiptoe but definitely took light steps to the back stairwell door, taking cautious steps down the stairs until we were out the door.

Thankfully the corner store was maybe two blocks and we could easily just walk there. It was a peaceful and silent walk with not too many walkers to bother us, Daryl quickly disposing of them with his crossbow. Once we arrived at the building, Daryl put his wrench idea to the test and made work of the small lock holding down the gate of the corner store. I was all smiles as soon as I heard that thing break. We would have access to so much shit in here, all thanks to little ole me. I was forever feeding this group.

Daryl rolled up the gate, there were some glass doors that were of course locked. He looked back at me. "We can break em."

"That risks all the roamers in the area coming straight here." Glenn disapproved, shaking his head.

I sucked my teeth, moving my head to the doors and pressing my forehead against it so I could peer inside. The shelves looked practically untouched and full of snacks and basic household items. We had to get in there. "I think we should risk it. Look inside, Glenn. Jackpot."

Glenn did as I said, looking into the store. His mouth dropped open, practically drooling at the things before him. "Ok"

I pulled out the fire ax and cocked back, throwing it forward with all the force I could. The door cracked immediately with a loud thud and cracking noise. I smiled back at the boys. Daryl nodded approvingly while Glenn sat looking anxious, constantly checking our surroundings. I smacked the glass again, the noise echoing in my ears and making my hand vibrate. The cracks spread even more, the shatter looking like it was any second from breaking. One more swing and it did just that, creating an ear piercing noise as the shards dropped to the floor and cracked into a million pieces. To make matters worse; the burglar alarm went off and it was loud.

We shared a concerned look before Daryl reached inside and unlocked the door from the inside, "C'mon!"

We ran inside, taking off our backpacks and zipping them open. Daryl ran to the back of the store where the counter was. "I can probably turn this shit off," he announced, fiddling with stuff under the register.

I nodded and started swiping things off the counter, any perishable I could find- I wasn't even reading the labels of anything. The alarm was making my heart pound in my ears, I could barely process what was going on. Glenn ran next to me and handed me a shopping bag that he had found. I zipped my bag shut once it was full to the brim and started packing things into the grocery bag. The alarm clicked off and the ringing subsided, calming me just enough to slow my pace in movements.

I looked behind me at the sound of loud stomps, Daryl was kicking a door in the back of the store, trying to break it open. "Daryl what are you doing?!"

"We lock this bitch back and make ourselves a back entrance, we can come back later. Damn!" He kept kicking as the door refused to budge, but that man was not giving up.

"Walkers!" Glenn shouted, catching my attention. There was a large group headed right for the tiny front entrance. I picked the bag and threw it over my shoulder, shouting for Daryl and running out of the door. Glenn was taking care of the closer walkers and gave me time To get out unscathed. "Where's Daryl?" He asked frantically.

I looked back into the window of the store. Daryl had kicked the door open alright but he was fighting walkers that had been in a back alley and were now pouring into the store. "He's going to get sandwiched in!" I shouted.

"What do we do?" Glenn asked, he was jogging away from the store, his hands full of bags. I looked at the store and at the way we would easily just get out of there and make it away with all these goods. But Daryl couldn't handle all this by himself.

I dropped the bags with a grunt and sprinted back towards the door, ax in hand. I start hacking away at the walkers from behind, getting their attention enough where they turn to get the closer piece of meat that I was. I took out walkers on my left, right, and front, slashing them over and over with strenuous grunts of pain as I did.

"Maj!" Glenn ran to me and joined my side, the two of us taking out at least twenty walkers with ease. As soon as the storefront was empty I hopped over the bodies and into the store. Daryl had climbed behind the counter, taking out walkers with a blade he had. There were at least eight bodies on the ground that he had taken care of, and Glenn and I took out the other five or so that were left.

"Are you okay?!" I asked him immediately, panting out heavy breaths. I raked my fingers through my hair that was hanging in a ponytail and leaned my body on the counter. I could barely breathe.

"I'm straight. Y'all good?" Daryl climbed over the counter and kicked the geeks on the floor out his path so he could pick through the shelves with ease.

"I'm fine. Babe?" I looked back at Glenn who was now standing in a guard position at the front door.

In between breaths he answered, "I'm fine I just didn't think you would drop everything and run in like that. Why would you do that?"

"I'm not leaving anyone behind anymore. Ever," I looked Glenn straight in his eyes as I spoke, keeping my face as serious as possible.

I glanced at Daryl who was watching the interaction between the two of us. When he noticed my look he said, "I woulda had it anyway."

"Thank God you didn't. Now can we go so we can get the fuck out of here." I stormed out of the store and grabbed the bags I had dropped. Daryl packed his bag up and didn't say another word, thankfully.

Glenn and I took a couple steps ahead of the store, waiting for Daryl to finish his little plan of keeping the store on lock for our group. It was a good idea to keep the rest of the things here and come back for them; our group could hold out a couple more days rationing the shit we found and to be honest I was enjoying the apartment dynamic.

Glenn Couldn't take walking in silence; I had a feeling he was fuming but I wasn't exactly sure why. The minute Daryl was somewhat ahead of us he said, "look I'm not upset that you ran into a crowd of walkers to save Daryl but you didn't say anything. And you're always trying to save people, and you get reckless. You don't even notice that they can get behind you. You almost got yourself bit-again."

I took a couple seconds of silence to take in what he was saying. I wouldn't know if he was right or wrong, so I would have to take his word. But considering he said the same things the night with Jacqui, I was going to shut up and listen. "I'm sorry."

"I told you I'm not mad. Just be more aware," Glenn said, stopping in his tracks to kiss me on the forehead. I nodded, giving him a cheeky smile and continued walking.

We pulled up to the apartment, cautiously making our way up the stairwell and then to the second floor. Glenn, Daryl, and I began banging on the doors of everyone's apartments, shouting for them to come out. Rick opened his door quickly, a concerned look sitting on his brows.

"What's all this?" He asked, noticing the bags we were carrying right away.

"We went on a run," I answered, carrying the bags into my place with the rest of the group in tow. Sophia and Carl were in the front, looking the most curious out of everyone.

"I asked you not to do that," Rick reprimanded me, "and you didn't tell anyone- anything could've happened."

"Well it didn't- and now we have food and drinks. And I'm starving. I'm sure everyone else agrees, right?" I looked between our people, no one wanting to make direct eye contact or give Rick a reason to argue. I nodded approvingly and started pulling the food items I snagged out of the bag along with Glenn and Daryl.

"Cans of spaghetti, sauce, pasta noodles, macaroni, ravioli, macaroni, noodles, poptarts, boxes and bagged rice chips, corn, green beans." I listed, practically making everyone's mouth water. I threw some poptarts at Carl and Sophia, and handed out little 25 cent chip bags to everyone else. Everybody started snacking immediately.

"Yeah I grabbed a couple of the sodas, juices, and water in there. There's more. So much more of everything." Glenn said, pulling out all of the hot drinks he had stolen. My eyes locked in the strawberry lemonades he was pushing down our counter as if he was setting them aside for me. He knows me so well.

I opened up a stale honey bun and started pulling apart to eat slowly. I didn't like candy but I enjoyed glazed savory things, and honey buns just so happened to be my favorite and I was setting them aside for me as well- hey! Scavengers always get first dibs.

Instead of food Daryl was taking lighters, batteries, cigarettes, deodorant, wipes, soap, tape, bandaids- literally all kinds of household items and even menstrual products. Amy blushes, reaching over and grabbing both a pack of wipes and a pack of pads. Being the friend that I am, I grabbed some for myself too just so she wouldn't feel too weird about it and put them to the side.

"Where's this store at?" Shane asked, placing his hands on his belt and giving us all a once over.

"Down the road a ways. Can't be more than three blocks," I answered in between chews. "Ain't much but better than nothing. Frozen foods all gone and moldy for sure so I grabbed what I knew would be safe for sure. The chef boyardee- we can definitely clean out the rest of those."

Rick nodded, assuming his little leadership position, "alright. I'd prefer if y'all let someone know next time you venture out like that but I appreciate it. Thank you."

Specifically he nodded at me I guess because we had a talk where he asked me not to leave, but I did good for the group and that was all that mattered. There wasn't that much to go around but Glenn and I did get enough to snag everyone their own personal can or plastic cup of food. Most of us were eating this shit fake spaghetti tonight but Glenn was the odd one out and decided to eat a personal macaroni, reminding me always that he did not like marinara sauce and was happy he could choose.

Daryl had lit the gas stove with a lighter, boiling some bottled water for Glenn and then he took a can opener out of the counter and started opening cans of spaghettios to pour into a different pot. "You making dinner is not something I would've expected," I joked.

Taking a seat at the counter, I placed my head in my hands to watch Daryl. I was so hungry I didn't even need my food warm at this point. Daryl took out seasonings from the counter and said, "best believe I know how to cook some spaghetti's."

"I would be concerned if you didn't know how to cook cans of spaghetti." I laughed, earning a side eye in response. It was so easy to annoy him especially since we'd been living in way closer quarters in the past two weeks.

My boyfriend walked into the room from outside where he had gone to take a wiz and sat beside me at the counter. "God, I'm so bored. These people were the most boring people on the planet. Nothing to do in these damn apartments."

"We almost died earlier," I reminded him-also reminding myself that I had to smell rank. My sleeves had blood spatter all over them and I was sitting in the kitchen. I definitely needed to change.

"Almost dying is getting boring too." Glenn hung his head like a kid who just got in trouble no doubt rethinking what he just said. This was crazy coming from someone just trying to tell me how I should be more careful. Typical Glenn. Not being able to survive without video games even though he was damn near living in one right now.

I pulled him in for a side hug, kissing his temple for comfort. "You'll be okay."

"Unh Unh, don't start that shit." Daryl protested almost immediately.

"You act like we just show PDA all the time. We barely kiss in front of you," I protested. I got up and grabbed the macaroni cup to make Glenn's food for him. I just had to have trust and faith that Daryl wasn't gonna fuck up something like canned spaghetti.

After giving Glenn his food, I sat down and let Daryl serve me his seasoned spaghettios. I stirred my food and got to eating, noticing the kick of flavor immediately. It was actually good. Growing up not having much food I definitely understood being able to make some 1 meals taste fake gourmet.

"It's good," I complimented, throwing Daryl a smile. He nodded in response, leaning over his food and eating peacefully to himself. The sun was starting to go down, and without any light or candles that didn't leave much to do in this place. It was great that Daryl found batteries because maybe we could get flashlights or other battery operated lights. I could see setups like this working, where we could keep a small place to keep our family safe and actually indoors and just build upon that. It kind of gave me hope.

It felt like the first thing in the morning when Shane beat on Glenn and I's bedroom door, forcing us awake and out of bed. That man didn't even give us a chance to stretch and get out shit together before he started his demands, "I want y'all to gon ahead and show me where this store is, the sooner we clean it out the better."

Glenn was too tired to even give him any attitude back - I on the other hand was pissed to be woken out of sleep so rudely. "Why the hell do you need to wake us up and ask that shit now?"

"Listen man I'm just tryna get there before anyone else does. We need the rest of that stuff -what y'all got and all ain't gon cut it for too long." Shane pressed us, leaning against the door frame and placing his hands at his hips.

I gave him a deadpan expression. I was going to snap in a second. I looked over at Glenn who looked like he was going to pass back out. I bet Shane could just barely sleep, sitting in his bed or couch- however they did the sleeping arrangements -just stressing over Rick and Lori being right next door. His lack of sleep and jealousy fueling the idea to wake Glenn, Daryl, and I up was just so disrespectful especially considering what we did yesterday. Killing walkers like that was fucking tiring.

I stopped and thought for a second. Yeah I was going to go off. "You are so fucking rude for trying to come in here and tell us we didn't get enough- so wake us up and tell you where we went so you can finish the job for us? And to have no respect for our sleep- are you crazy?"

"Baby, calm down," Glenn groaned, putting an arm around me and trying to pull me into him. I was not having any of Shane's shit this morning.

"Look let me tell you something-"

I cut Shane off, ripping the covers off of me and standing up so I could get close to him. I heard a tired protest from Glenn but I didn't care. I stood right up to Shane, his tall and large frame was definitely towering over me but I did not back down- even as he gave me a slow and appalled once over.

"Don't tell me anything- how about you get out and wait for us to tell you where the store is or go out there and look for it for yourself. Because this is fucking rude!"

"Excuse me?" He sounded like he couldn't even believe that anyone was talking back to him besides Rick.

"Excuse nothing- you would've been swallowing your spit last night if it wasn't for us and you decide to wake us up to try and force us to do as you say? Fuck off!" I grabbed the door handle and began closing it on Shane's face. He put his hand out to stop the door from closing on him, rambling out little mumbles as he did. "You need to go!" I shouted.

Shane stepped back and let me close the door once he heard how loud I was willing to get. I turnt the lock on the room door and went to the window to pull back the curtain. The sky was barely blue- I don't know how to tell time from the sun but I just know that shit wasn't right. I gave a big stretch, squeaking out in pleasure as I did before throwing myself onto the bed.

"You know this means I'm gonna sleep in some, right?" I said, cuddling into the sheets. Glenn lied back down and looked at me, smiling as we locked eyes.

"I don't blame you." He placed a kiss on my forehead, placing his hand on my head and smoothing my hair down. He kept soothing and pecking at my face, making my body feel warmand tired pretty quickly. I embraced Glenn's love and shut my eyes so I could fall asleep.

When I woke up I was alone and the curtains were pulled back with the windows open. A cool breeze was blowing in the room but I still woke up in a sweat, sticky and gross. I rolled out of bed and grabbed a jug of water we collected for hoe baths. Rain water did not make me feel clean but it was better than the quarry water and I just take what I can get.

With clothes and a washcloth in my hand, I left the room, noticing Daryl's absence right away as well. Weird. The smell wafting from my pits was enough for me to prioritize grabbing a bar of soap and making my way to the bathroom. With some haste, I stripped, poured some water down my body, wet a washcloth, and lathered it with soap. I scrubbed at my neck, face, body, and then added a little more soap and water for my private parts. Once I was mildly satisfied with my wash, I poured water strategically to get the soap off of my body. I sniffed my underarms. Much better.

Stepping out the shower, I slipped on some underwear and a tank top. In the cabinet I took out the lotion and spray deodorant I had been hiding. A couple definitely lived here before and the female presence on the household was strong. I used a lot of her feminine products to keep myself grounded but everyday I thought about when the simple everyday things would expire and become obsolete. I didn't see things going back to normal after the CDC mess.

After fixing myself up I pulled on some short shorts and decided to rock with the tank top because of the heat today. I guess thank god for the deodorant.

I was in the process of braiding my hair in two French braids when I finally heard some sign of life, and it did not sound good. I swung the bathroom door open and was greeted by the sight of Daryl and Glenn storming away from Shane who was blasting off out the mouth of course. Rick was here too but was listening to the argument more than interacting with them.

"You sure you locked that store up man? It ain't making no sense how everything is gone," Shane rambled, getting right in Daryl's personal space.

"What is going on?" I shouted before they could get into a full blown argument. The men looked at me, Rick making a motion for me to come to him.

"Let's go on the roof, to not worry anyone," he said calmly but assertively, motioning for the rest of us to follow him.

"Man I'm tired of this motherfucker questioning me like I don't know what the fuck I been doing," Daryl spat out, "I already told him what it was."

"Man, your story ain't making no sense. This is why I wanted to go there earlier. Ain't no way y'all locked up that store and it's cleared out next day." Shane argued, looking between the three of us with accusing eyes.

"What is the problem?" I repeated, now giving Shane a death stare. He was never this annoying before Rick became the leader of this group.

Rick shut the door and hushed everyone with cautious hands. He turned to me, "the store, it's cleared out completely. Can't be a one man job."

My jaw dropped, I couldn't even hide the shock in my tone, "in less than twenty four hours?"

Glenn nodded and answered me, "Shane thinks someone is watching us-"

"Probably know exactly where we stay at. Y'all shouldn't have gone alone-it wasn't your call." Shane cut him off, still being an ass in the way he was speaking to us.

"And he thinks he gon tell another grown man how to feed himself," Daryl snorted, sitting down on the couch and leaning back.

"I doubt someone is watching us. Maybe the store." I tried to reassure Shane but he wasn't having it, still mumbling about what we should've done, like he wasn't trying to get Rick to punish us or something.

"We need to get out of here, playing house- get back on the road, I'm telling you Fort Benning. We need to get on the road." At Shane's words, I immediately knew the issue was Rick and Lori being safe in that place right next to him, shackled up and "playing house." I still hadn't told Rick about what I saw, even though it was hard it just wasn't my business.

"Leave somewhere safe to go somewhere not guaranteed?" I questioned, furrowing my brow in confusion, "that doesn't even make sense."

Shane was pleading with Rick now, "you been saying yourself it ain't safe. City is running dry. Hard to get water that ain't falling out the sky. Cmon Rick."

Rick looked him in his eyes then looked away in thought. I trusted Rick and his means of making decisions so I was okay with what he chose even though I was hoping he didn't agree with Shane. And I appreciated how he included me- the only woman- in the way he contemplated making these decisions.

"I don't like the idea that other people are out there, they might know where we are. We don't have enough space or supplies to welcome other people-"

"If they waited for us to leave and raid out that store- it can't just be one person. If they were friendly, why would they do that?" Shane cut him off, always being the pessimist.

"They could've been scared, they could've been right across the street tryna get in that store their damn selves- why do we have to assume the worst?" I tried to argue but I'm sure Shane had zoned out my voice by now.

Rick was still pondering on the idea and that was obvious on his face and the stress sitting on his tight posture. Finally he said, "maybe it is time to try to get to Fort Benning. We did say that after the CDC and we ended up right back in Atlanta." He paused, "we'll get back on the road this morning."

Shane nodded, satisfied with Rick agreeing with him. The rest of us didn't move a muscle. I was okay with going back on the road, as dangerous as it was- it was true that we wouldn't be able to stay here forever. Did I believe in the military base? Absolutely not. But I couldn't do much but go along.

Rick gave us a nod, and then made his way out and Shane followed shortly after. I locked the door behind them and sat on the couch by Daryl. He glanced at me for a second before getting up and beginning to pace. He started venting, "I was hoping longer we stay in the city, might run into Merle."

"You think Merle would stay in the city? I don't believe it," I said, getting up myself and leaning on the wall. "I'm okay with leaving, but just living here gave me the idea that something could be normal. Better than being on the road."

"Definitely going to miss being able to sleep in a bed," Glenn chimed in, groaning. "I want to get some sleep early, just so I can remember what it feels like to be comfortable at night."

I watched the stressed expression sitting on Glenn's face, completely enamored with him even looking like that. I always had a thing for nice, soft spoken men- possibly because it was exactly the opposite of my childhood -and Glenn was everything I had wanted of this nerdy and loving, happy go lucky guy. His beauty was just a plus.

I started feeling hot, a throbbing in between my legs making me blush. With a new rush of excitement and admiration fueling my energy, I skipped to my boyfriend, grabbing his hand and giving him a wink. "That's a good idea."

Glenn glanced at Daryl who was observing us from his spot on the wall still. "What?" He asked cluelessly.

"Nothing," I hummed out, throwing Glenn a knowing look. He couldn't even control the little smirk that forced its way onto his gorgeous full lips. Personally I feel like Daryl was just playing dumb but I did not care, pulling my man into the room and nudging the bedroom door shut. Immediately I threw my arms around his neck, hiking up a leg to give Glenn leverage to pick me up. He did just that, giving a smill grunt as he hoisted me up and placed his hands on my ass. I pressed my forehead onto Glenn's, just taking in the moment to lock into his soft, kind eyes and study his pointed, delicate features.

"I love you so much, I feel like I don't say that shit enough. But you're so perfect- I'm so thankful for you," I said to him, placing a kiss on his lips. A huge smile stood there when I pulled away, his face red from the blushing I caused.

"I love you, too. I've never been so happy. I dont know when I'm going to be able to cuddle you again- waking up to that beautiful face was the best part of the last two weeks." Glenn took a few short steps to the bed, where he gently placed me down at the edge and got onto his knees between me.

I leaned back and placed my weight on my hands, breathing out slightly as I said, "I miss being home so bad. I miss pizza nights, movie nights, minecraft nights- remember when our boss got pissed because the pizza shop across the street posted pictures of us eating there?"

Glenn started giggling from between my legs. "We were so high- I tried to tell him that we didn't know where we were."

I started cracking up as well, "He wouldn't let us take home food for like a month. I swear I almost ordered from that shop again."

We laughed as we reminisced, and I adjusted myself to look down at my man, combing a finger through his hair and giving a small, hopeful smile. "The only thing that isn't going to change is you're going to have me forever. You know that, right?"

Glenn nodded, kissing at the inside of my thigh softly. His hands found their way to the button and zipper of my pants before he looked up at me asking, "can I?"

"Of course, baby," I answered, opening my legs more to give him access. Glenn pulled at my pants and I lifted my body so they slid down my legs, the only things separating us being my panties. The feeling of his breath on my underwear made my face get hot, my heart pounding as I anxiously waited to see what he would do next.

He placed kisses atop my panties and right on my clit, earning a soft moan from me. Knowing Daryl was just in the next room, I cupped at my mouth and laughed, making Glenn smile before continuing to kiss on me, a wetness starting to form against my panties.

Using his thumbs, Glenn pulled at the cloth and exposed my sex. I kept a tight hold on my mouth once I felt his fingers parting my lips and playing with my wetness. Of course after three years my boyfriend was confident in exactly how to touch me and I was completely at his will, spreading my legs even wider without even needing him to say anything.

I jumped at the feeling of small kisses on my pussy, having to keep my mouth shut even tighter as I felt his tongue begin to lap at my clit. Glenn stuck to rapid and light flicks, my body burning up with arousal. I had to let go of my mouth, using my hands to grip the sheets as I threw my body back, completely succumbing to the overwhelming feeling of his tongue on me.

"Glenn," I breathed out, using my other hand to run my fingers through his hair. He stopped and looked at me, saliva and my juices running down his chin. I moved to run my thumb over his swollen and flushed lips, just admiring how handsome this man was. "I want you."

I reached down, gripping the denim of his pants and pulling him up. Making quick work of the buttons and zipper, I pulled his clothes down as well, releasing his erection that flipped out of his pants. To return the favor I gave his head a small kiss, taking it into my mouth and pushing down the length of his shaft, my eyes watering as he touched the back of my throat.

Keeping my lips tight, I pulled back until I was right at the tip, using my tongue to swirl around the top, getting a soft groan in response. I started massaging his length, creating a rhythm with the bobbing of my head and hands, being driven the sound of Glenn murmuring, "Fuck! Fuck, you're so beautiful."

It only took a couple minutes before the salty taste of his precum filled my mouth, causing me to pull back but keep stroking his dick, getting myself into position on the bed for him to get on top of me. Glenn grabbed himself and buried himself inside of me with one quick thrust, I moaned for him, arching up and squeezing my walls to grip at him.

Glenn grabbed my hips and created a rhythm with his pumping, our heavy breaths and the sound of flesh smacking against each other filling the room, almost getting drowned out by the sound of the bed rocking against the floor. We kissed deeply, and I threw my arms around his neck, holding him close against my chest as the pressure in my stomach got heavier.

I kept my moans quiet and against his ear, giving little kisses on his neck that earned me a couple groans of pleasure. I moaned out an, "I love you." Before pushing my hips up to roll them against Glenn's, matching the long strokes he was using to bury himself inside of me. Glenn moved his hand to find mine, enclasping our finger together and squeezing his eyes shut, just using his ragged breathing to communicate his pleasure.

I brought my other hand down to massage my clit in circular motions, the motion giving me prickles under my skin. Unconsciously my muscles flexed around Glenn as my climax began building, creating a fire deep in my stomach.

The combination of stimulation quickly became too much, a yelp of pleasure escaping my lips combined with a rush of heat washing over me as I let go, succumbing to my orgasm that splashed onto Glenn. I twitched underneath him as he kept pumping through the flow of my release, making low cries of pleasure in my ear as he fought his own climax.

I bit down on my lip to hide my whimpers, squeezing Glenn's hand as he started moving in a merciless rhythm, slamming his head against my nerves, giving me this burning feeling of another orgasm coming. My back shot up, arching against my boyfriend's chest as I squeezed around his length, moving my hand to grab his hips and hold him still inside of me as I flexed my walls.

Glenn let out a small cry of pleasure and I felt the warmth of him cumming inside of me. That alone gave me another rush of satisfaction, letting out one long moan as I came again. We both huffed out some heavy breaths before Glenn dropped down and lay flat on my body, his chest expanding and falling in the same rhythm as mine.

We were on the road early the next morning. I didn't have many protests or anything to say at all because of how good I was able to sleep throughout half the day and the night. I was up early and packed and in the RV which now occupied Dale and Glenn, and I in the front seat while Amy, Andrea, Shane, and T tried to make space in the back. Shane, Daryl, and T had to abandon their own vehicles to spare the gas we were running very low on. Daryl drove his brother's motorcycle instead now while the rest of the groups were in Carol's little Cherokee truck.

Glenn was using a map to give Dale directions while I sat in his lap to give others space in the back. Amy was in the front, sitting on the ground and letting me put French braids in her hair while we passed a paper with tic tac toe games all over them.

We had only been on the road for about two hours, the convoy being led by Daryl even though Glenn was studying that map like he knew how to read it. Well maybe he did let me not underestimate my baby like that. Amy passed me the paper and pen we were playing with and I observed where she put her X before drawing in a circle.

Amy thought she was so slick but I kept stopping her every time. We had tied like five times in a row by now and every pass of the paper brought on little giggles between us. It felt like we were in each other's heads. I guess this is what it was like to have such a close girlfriend. The fact that if Amy and Andrea were never on a road trip down here when everything got crazy means I would've never met her - maybe might've never met Dale - it just blows my mind. I could see the impression Dale had on Glenn easily as well. We went from barely being around anyone but ourselves to creating these bonds with strangers we were surviving with. I couldn't say I didn't like it- especially as someone who grew up in a large family.

I went back to trying to make a waterfall braid in her hair, until I felt the RV come to a stop. I looked up as Dale exclaimed, "oh jeez."

The highway was blocked off, an eighteen wheeler turned over on its side stopping anyone from getting any further. There was a really tight space between that and another car that I was sure the RV could die through but who knew what else was blocking the way. Glenn sighed and looked back down into the map, no doubt searching for another way. Daryl had dipped in between the cars and was pulling back up to the RV driver side window. Dale looked out at him and asked, "see any way through?"

Daryl only gave a short nod and pulled off to turn around again. I stood and got a better look out the windshield at the wreckage blocking us. It just seemed way too risky to continue from here on out. As if he was reading my mind Glenn hummed, saying, "maybe we should turn back around- there's an interstate bypass-"

"We can't spare the fuel," Dale said quickly, shutting down all possibilities of that. I glanced at the tank. We had less than a quarter of a tank. Felt like we were running on fumes already. Shane came to the front to observe what was going on and Amy took his seat in the back. I sat back down and watched cautiously. There was nothing left to do but try and swim through these cars in hopes of the path clearing up. I remember the rush to get out of the city- this was just the aftermath of that I guess.

It felt like a graveyard, an eerie feeling settled over me at the sight of the open doors on abandoned cars, cars flipped over, families that looked like they never made it out of the cars and just died right in the seats. A shudder took over my body as something formed deep in my stomach that just made me feel like this was a mistake.

Always the wise one, just as we were creeping forward through the wreckage, a loud pop came from under the hood, smoke following the sound as the engine sputtered and we were forced to stop. I hopped up and stretched, knowing we were going to be stuck here for a while because of how bad the engine of this damn RV was.

Dale parked and got out, motioning for us all to follow him out of the vehicle. Rick and his group were already parked and out of the car, coming around to meet us in the front. With his audience now Dale started ranting, "I said it, didn't I say it? A thousand times- dead in the water."

"Problem, Dale?" Shane asks, walking around and surveying the area. It was almost as if he didn't see the smoke piling around the RV engine. He had really been pissing me off lately.

"Just a small matter of being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no hope of-" he cuts himself off, realizing what he's about to say is stupid. We all look at Daryl, digging in some person's car.

"If you can't find a radiator hose here.." Shane trails off.

Daryl is pulling random supplies from the back of a Winnebago truck, picking through to find whatever was useful. He says, "there's a whole bunch of stuff we can find."

"Siphon some fuel from these cars for a start," T says, walking off. Everyone starts throwing out suggestions at what we can find but I'm still uncomfortable with going in a bunch of dead people's cars -some with the people still in it- and taking things.

"This is a graveyard. I don't know how I feel about this," Lori reads my mind and I nod my head at everyone. Nobody pays attention, though, just getting right back to splitting up to find what they could. I sigh, throwing a small smile at Glenn who had a grimace on his face at the idea as well. I gave him a peck on the lips. He was going to stay with Dale so I thought I'd make myself some type of useful. The idea still gave me the heebie jeebies, though.

"Hey Majesty," Carol called for me, using a hand to beckon me over. I placed my hand in my pockets and made my way to where she stood with Sophia. I hadn't talked to her in a long time.

Just as I was kind of expecting her to say, she started with an apology, "you know, I never apologized for all that happened with Ed."

"I was a little pissed but, you don't have to apologize for him. At least y'all are safe now and it will never happen again, right?" I threw her a smile and patted her daughter on the head. I was way over that situation but I mean I did appreciate her apology- I wasn't an asshole.

"Yeah, you're right," she glanced at Sophia, pushing her ahead towards Carl a little before whispering, "it's like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders."

"Listen," I started, "if I was you I would take all that anger that I know you built up over the years dealing with that man and put it all into keeping that girl alive. You and her. If you survived that shit for years you can survive this. My dad was the same way. When my mom got away we didn't have shit but she made it work- she kept us fed, clothed, and she raised us right."

Carol nodded her head, her thin smile staying on her lips as she took what I was saying in. We walked up near Lori who was standing with the kids and she turned to meet us halfway. She looked stressed as hell, I couldn't even lie. "Y'all ain't go through nothing yet, have you? Tryna find some pads- my cycle should be coming up here soon."

Carol and I said no and I walked ahead of them to pull the keys out of a car in front of us, using the button to pop open the trunk for them. I heard Lori call out to the kids to stay in eyesight. Like kids they were way ahead of us being curious and not necessarily listening to their moms.

"I'll keep an eye on them," I told Carol and Lori who just gave me some nods and kept digging through the car. I took a couple steps away and closer to the kids, keeping them in my peripheral vision as I got into another abandoned car. There was a pocket knife left right in the passenger side. I guess that was a small score. I snatched it up and examined it before slipping it into my pocket.

Carl and Sophia were talking and laughing to the other side of me. They were so cute together- even as kids I was definitely shipping them. Sophia was a year or two older but that didn't matter any- I could tell Carl had a little crush on her.

"Majesty, look," Carl called for me once he noticed I was looking at them. I walked over to where the pair stood looking in the back of a pickup truck and saw playboy magazines in the trunk. The kids let out a fit of giggles when I grabbed the magazines and gave them a puzzling look.

"What the hell is wrong with y'all?" I chuckled, throwing the magazine back into the truck. "Come on, let's get closer to your moms."

Just as I turn around I see Rick yelling in a hushed tone for us to get down and under the cars. "Majesty, grab the kids!"

I did as I was told, snatching them up and forcing them both under cars. I scanned the area for Glenn, but instead of seeing him I saw a large horde of walkers making their way through the highway. It was like they had appeared out of nowhere. I got under the car with Sophia, grabbing onto her of them as she whimpered. I tried my best to hush her up while locking eyes with Carl who was by himself right across from him and holding a hand over his mouth. I felt Sophia grab onto my shirt and bury her head in my back. I was trying hard to keep them both calm since I did say I would watch them. If only Carl was with me, I would be devastated if something happened to him.

It was even harder to focus with my heart beat pounding in my ears, the idea of not knowing where Glenn was scaring me more than the walkers. I had never been this far from him near walkers and I had never not at least said I love you if I was going to be this away from him. This just wasn't making any sense to me on how the hell this horde had come from nowhere and now had us trapped.

They were moving so slow, or there were just way too many. I couldn't tell the difference at this point. The only solace I had was knowing that there was no screaming going on for right now and that the kids were being made comfortable by the idea that I was the only adult near them. I give Carl a smile, slowly nodding and using the hand I didn't have on Sophia to give him a thumb up. He gave me his own thumbs up back and kept still and quiet. Good.

There were a few shuffling of feet that went by, and we stayed still for what felt like forever waiting to see if that was the last walker that was going to pass. I looked at Sophia who let me go and pat her head, "it's okay," I said.

She took my cue and started to crawl from out the car, making my heart sink. "No!" I yelled, reaching for her, but she was already up from under the car and had let out a little screech as three stragglers approached her. I got myself out from under the car as I heard her screams and cries. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.

I rolled out from under the car, pulling out the knife as another walker charged at me. I grunted, putting all my force into the swing as I stabbed it into the walker's eye. Its growls filled my ears as I stabbed it again before letting it's body drop and turning to see where the little girl had gone.

Sophia had made her way into the woods with the walkers right on her trail, and I took a deep breath, taking off after her shouting her name. This girl was running so fast I could only see remnants of her blonde hair moving through the trees as she took us and the walkers deeper and deeper into the woods.

Over the sound of branches whipping me as I ran I heard a loud thud, making me use the little energy I left to give myself a sprint burst and catch up to where Sophia had fallen in a small clearing. I got there just as one of the walkers caught up, it fell to it's knees to grab at her and all I could was scoop her up before she got bit and sprint farther away.

I was only like 140 pounds and I was not making it far with this 12 year old girl in my arms- and those walkers were not letting up. It felt like a couple more had accumulated from somewhere in the woods and were following us as well. Maybe I could've handled three walkers but not five. Not with Sophia crying right here. To make matters worse I had completely lose my entire sense of direction and had no idea where we were. Fuck fuck fuck fuck.

I dropped Sophia, huffing and puffing as I spoke rapidly before the walkers got too close. "You need to run, I can't carry you anymore."

She nodded, holding the doll I had given her before tight to her chest and we started running again. I was so out of breath I was glad to see we had gotten to a pond. I stopped running and grabbed the girl, hushing her whimpering with my hand.

"You have to hide." I looked around and spotted a dam, immediately pushing her into the little crevice of it. "I have to lead them away."

Immediately she began protesting but I hushed her, "we can't keep running. I don't even know where we are right now. Just stay right here, I'm going to take them away and I'll find you by following the river back up."

At the sight of the walkers I kissed her forehead and pushed, splashing, jumping, and clapping so they could follow me. To say I wasn't intimidated by five walkers while I was just defenseless would be a lie plus I was completely out of breath from carrying a preteen on as a 5 '4 woman who lived on pizza.

I followed the creek, taking off running as the walkers got close enough to completely forget about Sophia. I just had to remember this path. Fuck. I was a city girl. I didn't know anything about the woods. This was the first time I really have felt so panicked about a situation where I was completely alone.

I took a second to look back, it felt like I had no distance at all on the walkers. Without me looking forward my foot caught on something and I fell face first into the mud and leaves. I groaned a little, ignoring the pain to push myself up and look at what I had fallen on. A geek with half its face missing sat there chewing on a dead animal and as soon as it saw me- I was its new target.

I had absolutely no distance now, and with six walkers hot on my trail I used my last bit of energy to run to a tree with particularly low branches and grabbed on, hoisting myself up with a loud grunt. I continued to pull myself up the tree till I got far enough where the walkers couldn't grab at me.

I mean I was safe but I was definitely stuck and to make matters worse I did not want Sophia to run off without me. I was such an idiot. I don't know what the hell I was going to do. Ok. I reached up and climbed higher into the tree just to try and get a view of my surroundings. Nothing but green and trees.

Maybe a little higher. I reached up, gripped onto a branch and used all my strength to pull up. The twig snapped under my hand, my heart immediately dropping and I let out a loud scream. The worse ran through my mind as I dropped between the branches using a last ditch effort to grab onto something. The heavy branch I used to sit on before stopped my fall, knocking the wind out of me but I still clung onto it like a damn monkey. My leg stung and I observed it- the bark had cut my thigh all up and prickles of blood were forming on my skin where the skin was missing. And my shoe was missing

With the walkers much closer, I felt one grab at my hair that was hanging freely and start tugging. I groaned, pulling my head up against his grip until I yelped at the pain of my hair being ripped out.

The branch I was on began cracking. I had to get back up- if I fell again I was falling right into the pile of walkers waiting for me. I fixed my position, kicking at the dead as they reached for my legs and quickly got back to a sitting position. Continuing my climb, I only reached for the steadiest branches this time and decided I might as well try to lose the walkers in the trees if I was gonna do anything.

Once I got in a better position, I shimmied to the edge of a trunk and reached my arms out to grab onto the next tree. I pulled my weight over and successfully got onto the next tree. Getting myself into a safe position, I let go of a breath I didn't know I was holding. Fuck. Okay.

I kept on with this little shimmy, moving slowly, safely, and cautiously- noticing how fast the sun was coming down as well. It was fine. I'd just keep pushing. Maybe I'd see water running back to that creek I had left Sophia in.

It felt like I had gotten between 15 trees, the sun was setting and I didn't even know what direction I was going. I was lost. Like completely utterly lost with no sense of where I was. Walkers were definitely long gone but with no sun I had no clue what was below me. I didn't know if I could sleep in a tree. Maybe if I could tie myself to it. I don't know.

Finally I got to a tree where I could see the sky much clearer. I decided to make my way up that one, being way more careful to use my bare feet to grip the bark and only grab onto steadier, thicker tree trunks. I got pretty high, and clearly started hearing a sound of rushing water underneath me. I took the chance to shimmy to the edge, through the fading sunlight I was able to see waves folding over each other far, far beneath me. It was a ravine. If this is what the creek was leading to, that meant I was the complete opposite way. Not what I was hoping to see.

I groaned, squeezing my thigh where blood had not stopped trickling down my leg. I was ignoring the pain that was burning my leg up with each movement and blow of air that was following me. I can't believe I had gotten so far into the woods. If only I could tell Glenn I loved him one more time.

I closed my eyes, just imagining what it would be like right now if Sophia didn't run. If I didn't follow. If I didn't promise to keep an eye on them. If only…. I opened up and looked down at the ravine again. I could barely see the water, that's how deep it was. Maybe I could sleep in the tree and find my way back in the morning… it didn't seem too far fetched.

Then the branch below me snapped.