Chapter Fifteen

"Well, I barely know if I'll be alive tomorrow

Let alone if the people I trust will stay

So all I'll need while I'm breathin' is to be content this evenin'

Find hope in tomorrow either way"

Hopefully by Zach Bryan

I laid on the pew cushions staring across the room to where the stranger was sprawled across the floor on his stomach, facing away from the wall. I assumed to keep his weight off the bullet still lodged in his ass. In the early morning light, when I could better see his face, I realized how ragged the man looked. Even with his eyes closed, I could see the dark bags under them. He was so skinny that his face was sunken in and under the baggy clothes, it was obvious that he was probably malnourished. His hands and legs were tied together as he slept under the large black cross.

Merle sat in an old wooden chair a few feet in front of him, eating a bag of Cheetos and looking unbothered. My eyes stayed on him for just a moment, taking in his relaxed shoulders and the peaceful expression on his face. I found myself thinking, not for the first time, how odd it was that I had such a soft spot for the man. Like he felt my attention on him, his eyes snapped up to meet mine and he sent me a wink and a small smile that I couldn't help but return.

I felt Daryl shift behind me, bringing my focus back to my current predicament. I didn't want to get up, but I needed to. The makeshift bed was uncomfortable, but I felt so warm and safe where I was that untangling myself from the sea of limbs that I was currently buried under sounded awful. Daryl was pressed tightly behind me. His chest was crushed to my back, his legs were slightly weaved through mine, and his arm was thrown across my waist. His face was buried in my hair, which I couldn't imagine smelled too good after the events of the previous night. Jax was curled into my front with his small arm thrown across the both of us. He had his face pressed to my collarbone and I could feel his soft, slow breaths skate across my skin. His knees were slightly digging into my stomach, but I didn't mind it, because I knew I had scared him last night.

I had passed out, in the least cute way humanly possible. Like, slid off the pew, landed on the floor, and definitely drooled a little bit. It was all awfully dramatic. Very "damsel in distress" type shit. I was only out for maybe a minute or two, but that was all it took for Daryl to get me and most of the group to surround us.

When I came to, Daryl had my head on his knees as he shook me lightly with wide eyes. Carol had a bottle of water and a bag of peach rings in her hands that she was thrusting in my direction. Hershel had knelt down on one knee to get my heart rate. Jax, who had been restrained by Merle, thought I was actually passing away. It was a whole lot. I had assured everyone that I was fine, even though I was ready to die from the embarrassment of it all.

All of it had been too much for my body. The adrenaline rush, the emotions, the physical exertion, the fact that I'd only eaten a can of Spaghettio's and a fun size Snickers bar all day. All of that added up to equal one big, theatrical fainting spell. Even now, just thinking about it made my cheeks heat up. It wasn't very bad ass of me to pass out less than five minutes after killing multiple zombies and taking a man captive.

I pushed aside the feelings of bone deep shame and the fact that I was not, in any way, prepared to deal with the bullshit we were destined for today, and slowly started to remove myself from the warmth that I so desperately wanted to stay in forever. Daryl let out a quiet grunt as I slipped away from him and Jax curled in on himself, but neither made any other moves.

As I stood up and looked around, I felt my heart sink in my chest. While the church had been old and extra creepy, it still had been kind of beautiful. Now it was just a wasteland. The doors were completely decimated and there were still a few bodies littered in the entryway. It looked like Abraham and Rick, who were still on watch, had attempted to move some of them out of the way for the most part, but that had only resulted in large smears of blood and guts across the old wooden floor.

As I bent to grab my gun from the floor, a low whistle caught my attention and I sought out the sound, my eyes connecting with Maggie's. She was standing up from where she had been sleeping next to Glenn. Her head dipped towards the front door before her eyes returned to mine. I nodded my head and started making my way towards the front, sliding the firearm into the back of my jeans as I went.

"Are we doing a girls trip outside to clean up? Because I'm coming if that's the case," Beth whispered to me as she strode up to my side, her blonde hair falling out of its ponytail.

I laughed and nodded my head. "That's what I was heading outside for. You're welcome to come."

Rick and Abraham quickly stepped aside as we approached them, allowing us to pass. The rain had, fortunately, come to an end, but the ground was still wet. The bottom of my boots kept getting stuck in the mud as I walked, and I assumed, from the quiet protests that fell from both Maggie and Beth's mouths, they weren't faring much better.

After venturing into the treeline to relieve ourselves, we were all able to make it to our respective vehicles to retrieve a change of clothes. We set up shop between Abraham's truck and the SUV Daryl and I had been in with a couple gallons of water. We stood together, attempting to clean ourselves the best we could with minimal water, body wash, and paper towels, while simultaneously trying to hide behind the truck so no one could see us.

"So, last night was crazy," Beth said, glancing up at me as she brushed through her hair, "I didn't know you could fight like that."

"She headbutted the Governor like it was something she does every Tuesday," Maggie said to her sister with her eyebrow raised, "And if you had seen the state she left those men in who took her and Rosita, you would know she knows how to defend herself."

I shrugged my shoulders, my face heating a little as I focused on scrubbing some dried blood off my arms. "I know some stuff."

"Some stuff?" Beth asked incredulously, "You nearly pole vaulted over those walkers and took off like an Olympic runner after that man. And then drug him back. I think that's more than 'some stuff'. And I wasn't the only one who didn't know she could fight like that. I think most everyone was a little surprised."

I let out a loud laugh at the same time as Maggie at Beth's expression. "Adrenaline makes you capable of some crazy things."

Beth deadpanned me with another look that made me want to burst out laughing. "I've had a few adrenaline rushes, but that never turned me into Wonder Woman."

"Oh, please. Wonder Woman?" I chuckled.

"Beth trips walking through the woods," Maggie grinned, "Anyone that can walk a straight line seems like Wonder Woman to her."

"You keep making fun of me and I'll make sure you never have a single second of alone time with Glenn for as long as we live," Beth shot back at her sister.

I shook my head as I retrieved the gun from the back of my pants and placed it in the driver seat of the SUV. Bending over to change out of my crusty jeans into a pair of fresh ones, I looked up at the sisters with a grin. "You guys are hilarious."

They went back and forth for a moment until Maggie's face turned serious and she focused me with a concerned look.

"Are you okay, after all of that yesterday? You seemed like you were having a bad day and I know none of what happened was helpful. Plus, I know you didn't get any sleep. I could see you staring at the ceiling."

I raised my eyebrow at her, wondering how she had seen me from across the dark church.

"I could see down the aisle," she explained, "Moonlight was on you and you didn't once close your eyes."

I nodded my head slowly. "I feel better today. I just don't think I'm a huge fan of being on the road."

None of it was a lie. I did feel exceedingly better today and I did hate being out here. There was obviously more to the story, but they didn't need to know what that story was.

"How come you didn't sleep?" Beth asked as she pulled her hair up into a high ponytail.

"Just restless," I responded with a shrug.

I grabbed my toothbrush, squirting some toothpaste on it, and began scrubbing at my teeth.

Maggie's eyebrows pinched together. "I think you've been getting restless a lot since everything happened with that group. I've noticed Daryl hasn't left your side much since it happened."

I glanced up at her, keeping my face blank and talking around the toothbrush in my mouth. "Yeah, just a little shaken up is all."

She sighed and started changing her pants. "I'm not going to force you to talk, but just know that I'm here if you need someone."

"She's a good listener," Beth offered.

I gave them a small smile around my toothbrush. "I'll keep that in mind."

Doubt filled my mind as I continued aggressively brushing my teeth. I wanted deeper connections with these people, but I had spent so long building walls strong enough to withstand nuclear blasts around myself that telling anyone literally anything felt impossible. Even before all the lives, when I was just me, I'd had trouble telling people things about myself.

I was the queen of one-sided, surface level conversations. You want to tell me about your day? Perfect, I'm all ears. You want to discuss TV shows or movies or books or music? Bring it on, I'll talk your ear off. You want to tell me how shitty your boyfriend is or how terrible your boss is treating you? Get comfy, because we're about to have a bitch fest so intense it would make Ozzy Osborne blush. Oh, but you're asking about my parents or my childhood? They were great, it was great, everything was great. You want to know why I seemed so off today? No reason, just tired. You want to talk about why I get so panicked in the dark that I can't even force my eyes to shut sometimes? Not panicked, just restless, it's fine.

There was a reason that Merle and Daryl were the only ones who really knew much of anything about me, even if they didn't know the full extent of it all. They could handle that information. Whatever fabric their souls were made of was the same as mine. Our stories, while far from the same, had similar origins. They wouldn't look at me differently if they knew that the patchwork of scars on my back came from my parents. Daryl wouldn't touch me like I was breakable because he knew I was afraid of the dark and the reasoning behind that was probably something traumatic.

I spit the toothpaste to the ground and glanced between the sisters for a moment. They were quiet as they continued to clean themselves up. I took a shallow breath as I slid my toothbrush back into the Ziploc bag I kept it in.

If I wanted deep connections with people, I needed to make them. My real life had been miserable. Everyone stayed at arms length and that had done me no favors in the end. I'd had no one when I'd died. The only person that had really even cared had been the boy I'd saved. I didn't have friends or family that had mourned my loss for a lifetime.

I'd gone to my funeral once, which had been a surreal experience. I hadn't had anyone close to plan it, so some of the other teachers I'd worked with had organized the whole thing. I'd been labeled a hero by the small town for stepping in front of the gun that was meant for James. People who I hadn't spoken to since high school had shown up, talking about how I would always be missed. A "boyfriend" from college attended, claiming I was the love of his life. Other teachers spoke about how the lack of my presence would be felt in the halls for years to come. None of them meant it.

This was my do over and while wildly different from my real life, it was my chance to have a family. To have actual friends. I couldn't tell them everything, particularly about my past lives and the fact that this whole thing had been a TV show, but I could work on letting people close. I would work on it. I didn't want to live a half life again.

"I'm afraid of the dark," I said quietly, my voice wavering slightly at the admission, "It's hard for me to sleep sometimes because of it. Having Daryl close helps, for some reason. I'm not totally sure why, but it does. I think it's because I feel safe around him."

Maggie's eyes softened as she looked at me while buttoning her pants. "Has it always been that way? Or just since all of this started?"

I took a breath. "Since I was a kid. I didn't have an easy life. Some... things happened to me. Anyway, I got over it for a while, but being locked in that room and hearing what those men had planned to do to Rosita and I brought it all back. I'll be fine. It'll just take a little time to adjust again."

Maggie's eyebrows drew together again. "If Daryl isn't able to be by you at night, you can come sleep by Glenn and I. I don't mind. I know it's not the same, but you're always more than welcome."

"By Zach and I, too. Daddy makes us sleep with enough room for Jesus to fit between us, so there's plenty of space by us," Beth said, her nose wrinkling as she talked, "His words, not mine."

I tried to hold back the laugh. I really did, but it was no use. A loud belly laugh bubbled up my throat and out of my mouth. Maggie quickly joined in, looking like she had also tried not to laugh at her sister with no luck. Beth blushed and eventually realized how funny the moment was as she started giggling softly.

"He always told me the same thing when I'd have boyfriends over and we'd watch a movie downstairs," Maggie eventually got out with a shake of her head. A stern expression pulled her features tight as she started mimicking Hershel, "Now, the two of you make sure there's enough room for Jesus between you on that couch. You wouldn't want him to feel left out."

We finished cleaning up, put away our dirty clothes, and started making our way back to the church. My chest felt lighter today and a soft smile had become permanently fixed on my face. Not even the fact that the sky still looked heavy chipped away at my mood.

The clouds were intensely dark and you couldn't see any bit of the sun. I crossed my fingers that if it was going to rain like it had the previous day, that I might be able to make this work in my favor somehow.

As we approached the gaping hole that had once been the doors, I heard voices floating through. From the tone and volume, it sounded like a fairly calm conversation.

As we stepped into the church, I saw the entire group awake and standing around the center aisle, listening as Abraham spoke.

"We need to keep good time today. We're already two days behind schedule, people," he said, throwing his hands up in the air, "Two days!"

Before I could stop the intrusive thoughts, they spewed out of my mouth on a mocking gasp. "Not two whole days! Whatever are we going to do!?"

Abraham fixed me with a look as a few laughs sounded. "You kicked some ass last night and just woke ready to fight again, Goldilocks?"

"I'm always ready to fight, Sergeant," I said with a grin, making my way through the group to get to where Daryl and Jax were standing side by side.

I rounded Jax, standing behind him and putting my hands on his shoulders, giving him a light squeeze. He dropped his head back against my abdomen and looked up at me with a large smile.

"Apparently," Abraham sighed, the corners of his mouth tilting up slightly.

"Can everyone be fed and packed within the next forty-five minutes?" Rick asked, his hands on his hips as he looked around the group.

Heads nodded.

"I feel like it should be mentioned that the sky looks pretty dark and the clouds look heavy. There's a very real possibility it could start storming again," I said before everyone dispersed.

"Then we'll be three days behind schedule and we'll all get to witness Abraham's head spontaneously combust," Rosita called out, making everyone snicker.

"I'm glad saving the world in a timely fashion is a laughing matter to you yahoo's," Abraham murmured, although I could hear the humor in his voice.

Rick stepped close to me. "Can we talk real quick?"

"Sure can," I agreed, patting Jax's shoulder before pointing to where Carol was packing up some of the food, "Go help Carol while I talk to Rick. And then I want you to eat and get cleaned up before we leave, alright?"

He nodded his head and sprinted across the church to the woman.

I felt Daryl's presence beside me as I turned towards Rick. "What's up?"

"You brought him in," Rick said, gesturing behind him to where the stranger was still laying on the ground tied up, but obviously awake now, "What do you want to do with him?"

"I don't want to kill him," I said instantly with a shake of my head.

"I'm not sure I'm too fond of that idea myself," Rick said quietly, turning to look at the man.

I had stopped enough from happening that Rick wasn't as jaded as he had been in the show at this point. He was still trying to hold on, just a little bit, to the man he had been trying to be at the prison, and that was working in my favor right now.

"Good. I'm going to pull that bullet out of him and bandage him up. I'll untie him before we head out," I offered.

"He tried to kill us and you're gonna patch 'im up and send 'im on his way with a smile?" Daryl said, irritation evident in his tone.

I glanced over at him. "He has kids, Daryl. I'm not saying what he did last night or the two times before was okay, but desperate times call for desperate measures and all that. I wouldn't have chosen the path he did, I don't think, but I would do some questionable shit to make sure Jax and the others are fed."

Rick nodded his head. "Same. I have done some questionable shit since all of this began."

"Whatever," Daryl said, rolling his eyes.

I looked up at Rick. "Hey, I'm sorry for snapping at you last night. It's not an excuse, but I was just having a bad day."

Rick grinned with a raised brow. "No apology necessary. Happens to all of us. Just standing up for your boyfriend."

"Oh, for fucks sake," Daryl mumbled, wrapping his hand around my arm and tugging me towards the back of the church as Rick chuckled behind us.

"What's wrong?" I asked innocently as he dragged me behind him, "You don't like being called my boyfriend, Daryl?"

"Quit it, Goldilocks," he grunted and I was confident I could hear him roll his eyes.

Everything after that went pretty quickly. Daryl stood over my shoulder as I fixed up the man, whose name I learned was Clay. Clay actually wasn't terrible to talk to. He was pretty funny and he took the pain of me fishing the bullet out of his muscle like a champ. Luckily, it didn't go too deep and didn't come close to any major organs.

He told me about his two sons and his wife. He had been a framer before the world fell apart. When I asked why he hadn't moved them from the area if this place was so scarce on food, he told me it was because his oldest son "didn't react well to change" and "the only way he communicates is very loud". As I taped some gauze over the wound, I told him about the used car dealership three miles west of where we were that he should go to for a vehicle and the Piggly Wiggly outside of Rome that I'd seen when we were headed here.

After I'd helped him stand up, I'd fixed him with a serious expression and asked him about St. Sarah's, which I only remembered the name of because I'd rewatched the episode where the group found Gabriel as a woman named Sarah Bauer, a structural engineer in California. I'd actually rewatched the entire show then and had spent the entire time rolling my eyes at the poorly constructed wall that surrounded Alexandria and making notes in my head about how I could do it better. It was honestly very annoying.

Clay did know where St. Sarah's was, surprisingly enough, and gave me solid directions on how to get there. It was only about twenty-five minutes north of us and I could use that to still get us to I-75, which would stop Abraham from throwing a fit. When I handed Clay a couple bags of food I had fetched from the SUV and let him know there was a candy bar and some gummy worms in there for his kids, the man had gotten misty eyed.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked me.

"Because she's too fuckin' nice to people who don't deserve it," Daryl muttered, which I promptly ignored.

He was wrong. If anything, I felt like I had kind of been an asshole since I'd been here.

"For your kids. And because I'm going to choose to believe you weren't always this way and that going forward, you won't do this to people again," I said, fixing him with a hard stare, "Because I can say with all the confidence that you won't be shown this same kindness by the next group you fuck with."

He nodded his head slowly. "I won't. I promise, I won't."

Again, I wasn't sure why, but a part of me believed him. Maybe it was some kind of naive optimism, but I was going to hold onto it today.

"If you ever make it to Virginia, I hope you find me again. Sans walkers, but with the kids and wife in tow next time. There are communities surrounding the capital. Safe, with walls and food. Do not, under any circumstances, go into the city. But if you're feeling like you can get there, we'll take you in, just so you know," I said sincerely.

He bobbed his head up and down again before fixing me with a lopsided smile. "I'll see what I can do. Thank you, Scarlett. Not for shooting me in the cheeks, but for everything else."

I couldn't help but laugh. "You're welcome, Clay. For everything, including the bullet, because I feel like you needed it."

And with that, Daryl and I left the man standing under the large back cross, looking like a sad, hillbilly version of Jesus. Not Hilltop's Jesus, but the actual one.

When we exited the church, Daryl looked over at me with raised brows and a bewildered expression.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothin'. Nothin' at all, Broadway," he chuckled, taking a step towards the group, who were waiting for us by the cars.

"Daryl, wait. We need to get to St. Sarah's. He said-"

He stopped, looking at me and cutting off my sentence. "I know what he said and I already got it planned, woman."

"You do?"

He tilted his head and deadpanned me with a look that told me to not ask anymore questions.

That movement alone struck me dumb for a second. His shaggy hair had fallen slightly into his eyes. Eyes that, even when he was serious, like right now, looked at me with a softness that made butterflies erupt in my stomach. And his arms. Good God, it should be illegal to walk around with arms that look that good. I loved that he cut the sleeves off of all his shirts, because it would be a travesty to hide those from the world.

And like I was suffering a serious case of verbal diarrhea today, words flew out of my mouth before I could stop them. "You're really handsome."

A flush crept across his cheeks and his head righted instantly.

"Come on, lovebirds! We ain't got time for the two of ya to be starin' into each other's eyes!" I heard Merle call out followed by a round of laughter.

I stood inside St. Sarah's thoroughly confused.

The church looked just like it had in the show. Large wooden front doors, white walls, wood floors and church pews, a bathroom to the right and office to the left, eaten cans of food lined against the back wall. All of it was the same. All of it except Father Gabriel, who was nowhere to be found.

"I'm about fucking tired of churches," Abraham grumbled from his seat.

Daryl hadn't had to do whatever it was he had planned to get us here, because not even two miles from the turn off to the church, the rain and wind started beating the shit out of us. Again. Somehow, it was even worse than it had been yesterday. Luckily, Merle had been close and "found" St. Sarah's for us to wait out the storm in. Given, he'd had clear instructions on where it was, thanks to talking with Daryl before we left.

Abraham was on the verge of having an aneurysm from not making any progress. Rick was pacing around from window to window, like Clay was about to pop up with another group of walkers. Hershel was flipping through one of Gabriel's bibles on the front row of pews. Daryl was cleaning his crossbow with Jax sitting beside him. Merle was kicked back on a bench, looking like he didn't care about quite literally anything that was happening. The rest of the group was spread throughout, talking.

Outside of Abraham, no one else really seemed too bothered by the sudden stop. They were probably more irritated that I had made them bring the tubs in from the back of Abraham's truck, if I was being honest. I wasn't going to let our stuff get ruined or stolen, though.

I was annoyed more than anything, by the lack of Gabriel's presence. I didn't even know what else I had been expecting, though. Nothing ever just went easy here.

I plopped down next to Merle and let out a sigh.

"Y'alright there, angel?" He asked, looking over at me from where he was sprawled across half of the bench.

"I'm irked."

He let out a loud guffaw. "Irked? Who talks like that?"

I sent him a glare. "You just combined three words into one to ask me if I was okay and you're going to make fun of my vocabulary?"

"Alright, pompous ass. Why are ya irked?" He asked and then stuck out his tongue like a toddler.

I imitated his expression before answering. "You know why, hillbilly ass."

He sat up, scooting across the bench until he slid his right arm behind me. My shirt snagged on one of the buckles to the device he kept over his amputation, but he quickly shook it loose and leaned close to my ear. "He'll pop up at some point, angel. And if he doesn't, can't say ya didn't try."

"But what if he doesn't and then he dies or he's just wandering around for the rest of his life on his own and then we-"

Merle raised his left hand and actually placed it over my mouth. "Stop it. Yer doing that thing where ya spiral outta control before ya start on some big long rant. It's not yer job to fix everythin' or even save everyone, ya hear? Ya've done enough at this point that ya should just take a breath when ya can."

I deflated instantly. He was right. Of course it wasn't my job, but that didn't mean I wasn't going to make it my responsibility.

He pulled his hand back and I dropped my head onto his shoulder, sucking in a big breath. "Look at that. I took a breath."

"Smart ass," Merle chuckled.

I grinned as I twisted against the man, putting my feet up on the bench and pressing my back against him while resting my head against his shoulder again. We sat there in silence, listening to the sound of the rain hitting the windows and the chatter of conversation around us. Eventually, I felt my eyes drifting shut.

I don't know how long I slept for, but it wasn't near enough to prepare me for the commotion that woke me up. The sound of yelling and Merle moving out from behind me caused me to sit up on the edge of the bench and start rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

It took me a few extra seconds to fully process the scene in front of me.

Daryl had Eugene, of all people, pinned against the wall, his forearm shoved into the man's neck. Eugene's face was red as he tried to push Daryl off of him, but Daryl wasn't budging an inch. At least not until Rick grabbed one of his arms while Merle, who had sprinted the few feet across the church to his brother, grabbed the other and hauled Daryl back. Abraham and Rosita quickly took up defensive positions in front of Eugene, who was grabbing at his throat like he couldn't breathe.

I shook my head and jumped to my feet. What the fuck is happening right now?

"Calm the fuck down!" Merle bellowed to Daryl, still pulling him back.

I'd obviously seen Daryl angry on the show plenty of times, but seeing it in person, to this extent, was a whole different thing.

"No, fuck you! And fuck that stupid prick! Tryin' to make promises to a kid that he can't fuckin' keep!" Daryl yelled, jerking against Rick and Merle in an attempt to get back to Eugene.

Because I have no self preservation instincts, I stepped directly in Daryl's line of sight, not even two feet from him. "What happened?"

His breaths came out in short bursts as his wild eyes started to focus on me. His face was red and his mouth was set into a snarl.

It took him a few seconds before he responded. "He was talkin' to Jax about his fuckin' cure and now the kid thinks that lyin' piece of shit is gonna fix his dad."

It took him a few seconds before he responded. "He was talkin' to Jax about his fuckin' cure and now the kid thinks that lyin' piece of shit is gonna fix his dad."

My mouth popped open slightly. Anger flooded me, but it was all self directed. This was my fault. I didn't think about how the promise of a cure would impact the people, especially Jax, who might have someone they were thinking could be saved by Eugene.

"I didn't promise-" Eugene started.

"I'll kill 'im," Daryl bit out, trying to pull Rick and Merle off of him again.

"And what if he did promise that? He can actually do it! You just attacked the one man in this world who can pull us out of this shit!" Abraham yelled at Daryl, the color of his face nearly the same as the color of his hair.

Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck. This was going downhill and I was still half asleep.

"He don't know shit! He ain't got no fuckin' cure! There's no way out of this! He's been usin' yer ass the entire time and ya didn't even realize it!" Daryl screamed back.

"How about all of us just take a breather and try to calm down?" Rick suggested, letting out a grunt when Daryl bucked against him and Merle again.

Merle was uncharacteristically quiet until Abraham called Daryl a not very nice name and then he started towards Abraham himself. I scrambled into action, finally getting pulled out of the panicked stupor I had been stuck in.

"Everybody stop! Stop it right fucking now!" I yelled as I came to a screeching halt in front of Merle, who almost completely bowled me over.

Merle looked down at me, his mouth set in a tight line and his eyes flashing with the anger I knew he must have felt.

When I was confident he wasn't about to bob and weave around me to get to Abraham, I looked around at everyone who was watching me now. I hadn't actually thought much past just making them stop trying to kill each other, so that was unfortunate, but I put on my best "angry teacher voice" and started coming up with shit as I went.

"I'm going to need all of you to just hold your shit together, do you understand me?" I demanded, my tone more confident than what I actually felt in that moment. "Daryl, you're not going to kill Eugene. Use your words, not your fists. Abraham, quit calling people names like that. You're a grown up, so act like it. Merle, you're not beating anyone up today, so quit puffing out your chest like a damn gorilla. And Eugene..." I let out a sigh, running my hands over my face. I didn't want them all to find out like this, but we were already in too deep. "Eugene, just tell everyone the truth, man."

The only sound that could be heard after that was the rain beating against the building.

My eyes settled on Eugene who had straightened himself to his full height and was pulling indignantly on his shirt. "I don't appreciate being called a liar. Now how about you apologize for the slander and we call it square?"

I wanted to laugh for a second because I remembered him saying the same thing to Rosita when he had tried to stop them on railroad tracks and help Glenn and Tara in the show, but I kept my face serious. Daryl, who wouldn't know anything about why I thought that was so funny, let out another frustrated snarl and tried to rush at the man, but Rick was somehow able to hold him back.

I mentally prodded myself to focus. I needed to fix this. Now.

"There's no cure, Eugene. I know that, you know that. We're not going to leave you behind or fail to keep you safe just because you don't know how to fix all of this, okay? Because there's no way for anyone to fix it."

"You would not know. I cannot discuss specifics with you, as it's classified information, but-"

"Eugene!" I said, letting out a groan and fully turning to the man, "Stop it. You never worked for the Human Genome Project. You don't know the people in DC. Please, just tell everyone the fucking truth so we can all move on with our day. If this keeps up, you're going to have people marching into DC on a suicide mission and that'll just be more deaths that you are responsible for."

His face turned slightly red and I could see sweat beading at his brow line.

Rosita's head was swiveling between Eugene and I, her eyebrows drawn together tight. Abraham was just straight up glaring at me with a hostility that I couldn't say I was fan of.

"Seriously, Eugene. How would a 'cure' even work?" I asked, tossing my hands up. I just needed him to accept that this was the end of his lie so we could stop this. "Let's go through the options. We can start off by agreeing that this is viral and not bacterial, right?" Eugene nodded his head the smallest bit. "Great. Option one, you're claiming to know a vaccine or antiviral that would straight up reverse the effects of the virus for already infected individuals and bring them completely back. That's scientifically impossible. Those people are dead. They are decaying and we can all see that. You cannot restore brain function and bring them back to life like that and I know that you know that.

"Option two, you're saying this miracle cure is just something you release into the air and it attacks the virus in infected individuals, effectively killing them and neutralizing them as a threat entirely. That's great and all, except all of us are infected. We all carry the virus and that's why anyone who dies, no matter the cause of death, comes back as one of them. It would be impossible for whatever it is you've developed to differentiate between an active and latent virus, so that would wipe out the entire population, whether they be dead or alive.

"The last and final option would be that you, somehow, have developed a vaccine to eradicate the threat of the virus that is living inside of all of us. Which I couldn't see being the case because it takes a pretty significant amount of time to develop shit like that, as well as study the side effects of such a drug, and I'm assuming that you didn't have enough time in your lab or whatever to thoroughly do research like that. But I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and we'll just say that's the cure you're talking about. Again, that would be great and everything, but that's not something that would immediately help us. Long term, possibly, but not right now. And it's my understanding that you've said that your 'cure' is an immediate solution, so there's a lie in there somewhere, Eugene."

I took a deep breath, thoroughly spent after that little monologue and kept my eyes fixed on the man, who was visibly shaking now.

"You don't know a cure?" Jax's small voice asked.

I looked over to where he stood in the center aisle, not having seen him before. His eyes were wide as he stared at Eugene and he looked like he might be on the verge of crying.

"You said you knew a cure. Why did you lie?" He asked quietly.

My eyes fixed on Eugene again and I was surprised to see his shoulders sag before he whispered, "I'm sorry."

Five seconds after uttering those two words, Abraham whirled around and socked poor Eugene in the face.

Eugene was fine. He did get knocked clean the fuck out by Abraham, just like in the show, but he was going to be fine. It had only taken one punch for Eugene to fold like a lawn chair. It was honestly hard to watch. Tyreese, Glenn, and Michonne had stepped forward to make sure Abraham couldn't get at Eugene again. Abraham had promptly stomped down the middle aisle and out of the church doors, slamming them behind him. I wasn't sure where he thought he was headed, since it was still pouring rain out there, but no one followed him.

I had made Daryl and Merle drag the unconscious man to the office area and lay him on the couch, where Rosita was currently sitting with him, even though it was obvious she also wanted to punch him in the forehead. I'd checked to make sure he wasn't going to die, gave him some Tylenol for the oncoming headache, and left him to lay there and stew in his decisions.

I checked in with Jax, who was sitting next to Carl against the wall in the back. He assured me multiple times he was fine, just disappointed that Eugene had lied about the cure, and would come to me if he had questions or needed to talk about it. When I looked around for Daryl, I didn't see him anywhere in the church. Michonne caught my eye, gave me a small grin, and pointed towards the front door.

When I stepped outside, I found Daryl standing directly in front of them, puffing away on a cigarette under the very small awning that barely protected him from the onslaught of rain. He had his crossbow propped against the railing to his right. His shoulders were rigid and he didn't turn around when I stepped out and pulled the door shut behind me. I stood to his side, staring out at the storm that was still raging around us. I felt large drops of water hit my face every few seconds, but it actually felt nice right now.

"Can I get one of those?" I asked, slightly prodding him with elbow and pointing to the cigarette that was hanging out of his mouth.

He looked over at me, his face morphing from stoicism to slight surprise. "Ya smoke?"

"Mostly just when I drink, but it sounds good right now," I shrugged.

Daryl raised an eyebrow, but pulled a cigarette out of the pocket on his chest. Placing it between his lips, he lit it with the cherry of the one he had been smoking before passing it to me. I took a long drag, slowly blowing out the smoke before I spoke again.

"So..." I started, fixing my eyes on him again.

He gave me a side eye that had me grinning. "Whatcha all smiley for?"

"I just think you're kinda cute when you're mad, Dixon," I said nonchalantly, causing his expression to sour even further, "Oh, quit making those faces at me. I'm serious. But also, what happened needed to happen, anyway. I don't necessarily love how any of that played out, but I'm glad you intervened so Jax didn't get his hopes up. Everyone was going to have to find out eventually. I was hoping it would go a little better than that, but your reaction wasn't unjustified."

His eyes focused back out on the rain. "I shouldn't've acted like that in front of the kids. None of 'em deserve to see shit like that."

I felt my heart contract at his words. "Maybe. But they're smart, Daryl. Carl is already more self aware than I think any kid I've ever met and Jax has had to grow up fast because of the shit he's been through. He knows what happened was because you were looking out for him and he's going to remember that."

He let out a breath, his shoulders losing some of the tension. "Quit tryin' to make me feel better for actin' like a jackass."

"I'd tell you if you were being a jackass, Daryl," I said to him with another quick smile in his direction before I pulled in another drag. "Hey, did you see where Abraham went?"

I watched out of the corner of my eye as Daryl flicked the rest of his cigarette out into the rain and turned slightly to face me. "Nah, think he went behind the church."

I followed his lead and threw my cigarette over the railing of the small landing we were standing on and turned to face him. His hand reached up and he tucked a piece of damp hair behind my ear, his fingers lingering on the side of my face for just a moment as his eyes held mine.

"I like watchin' ya stand up to people, ya know?"

I let out a quiet laugh. "Yeah? Is that what gets you going? Me yelling at people?"

"Knowin' that ya can stand up for yourself is probably a better way to say that," he mumbled.

I grinned up at him, but the look on his face had my hands clenching tightly before I lifted them to rest on his shoulders. I stepped closer, tightly pressing our bodies together and sliding my arms around his neck as the rain continued to hit us every so often. It took Daryl only half a second before his hands came to rest on my lower back, pulling my body even closer to his.

Tingles erupted across my body at the closeness and those familiar butterflies that seemed to only ever respond to Daryl took flight in my stomach. I wondered if it would always feel like this when he touched me. When his mouth lowered to mine without me even having to move, the soft skin of his lips pressing down gently against mine, causing my eyes to flutter shut, I knew it would. My whole body felt like it relaxed into him, like this was everything I needed.

The kiss was so sweet at first, like he was trying to memorize in great detail the way my mouth felt against his. His tongue swept across the seam of my lips, delicate and almost teasingly, sending a shiver down my spine. That shiver must have flipped some kind of switch for Daryl, because the previously tender kiss morphed into something entirely different at warp speed.

His tongue forced it's way into my mouth as he pushed me backwards, keeping our mouths welded together the entire time. My back made contact with the door, a quiet thud sounding at the connection. His hands dropped from the small of my back and I almost let out a grumbled protest until I felt him crouch slightly, his fingers gripping roughly at the back of my jean covered thighs as he hoisted me up. My legs instinctively wrapped around his waist.

Everything around us faded out as a blazing inferno of want settled in the pit of my stomach. I couldn't breathe or form a coherent thought as Daryl continued his assault on my mouth, his lips and tongue moving perfectly against mine. When I felt the bulge pressed against my core immediately harden, a high-pitched, needy whimper that I couldn't stop escaped my mouth as I arched into him, desperate for any kind of friction.

He pulled back only slightly, his lips starting to trail across my jawline and down my neck.

"Daryl," I whined quietly, still trying to fanatically grind against him.

A growl erupted from the back of his throat that caused the ache inside me to intensify. His lips never left my skin as he pushed his hardness against me. "Say it again, Scarlett. Say my name."

"Oh, fuck. Daryl," I mumbled, my head falling back against the door to give him better access to my neck.

A thunderclap sounded so loud that it shook the door behind me, just as a gust of wind pushed a wall of cold water into us, causing me to jerk against him and let out a startled yelp. Daryl's head shot up, his eyes locking on mine. Water trailed down my face, catching in my eyelashes as I just blinked at him with wide eyes.

A grin stretched across his lips. "Think that's a sign from J.C. to knock it off, Broadway."

An instant laugh fell from my mouth as my head dropped back against the door. I could feel a chuckle rumble through Daryl's chest as he placed a few small kisses to my jawline before pressing a quick one to my lips. He carefully set my legs back down, but stayed pressed against me.

"To be continued?" I asked, kissing his cheek lightly.

The left corner of his mouth lifted as he nodded his head. A permanent grin was stuck to my face as I threaded my fingers through his and pulled him back into the church behind me.