Hiya my lovely readers! How are y'all doing? How are y'all liking the story?! Well a little update. My 92 year old great grandmother is going to be living with us for a month. So I will be burying my nose in my laptop and writing as much as my fingers and my mind will let me! I'm just trying to avoid her as much as possible seeing as she tried to stab me a few years ago! Anyway on to the story. This chapter is dedicated to @BieberAllTheWay

--

*Daryl's POV*

Emery was quiet, a little too quiet for my liking. She was never like this. She always had a bubbly personality. I sighed as I looked at her out of the corner of my eye. She was curled up in the truck seat. She had her hood pulled up so I couldn't get a good look at her.

I ran a hand through my hair and then bit on my thumb nail nervously. I hated seeing her like this. It made me sad. I wanted to pull her in my arms and tell her everything was okay but she was in shock right now and wouldn't let me touch her let alone talk to her.

Suddenly the caravan was being rolled to a stop. I watched as Rick and Shane stepped out of their cars followed by everyone else. I looked over at Em, who wasn't making an effort to move. "I'll be right back," I whispered to her and then stepped out of the car.

Everyone was standing in a cluster looking around. "What's going on?" I asked as I approached them. "How's Emery?" Rick asked me. I shrugged. "She's alright. I guess," I mumbled. Rick nodded. "Well we're getting close to Barnesville and we were going to let you lead the way seeing as you know where you're going," Rick said.

I nodded and turned around to head back to my truck. "Hey Daryl," I turned around as I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Rick. "What?" I grumbled while shrugging him off. He sighed. "She's gonna be alright. She just needs time to heal," I shrugged again and walked over to my truck.

Emery was now sitting up in the seat and her hood was off. "What's going on?" she asked. I wanted to kiss her after hearing her voice. It felt like I hadn't heard it in forever. I started the truck before answering. "We're almost there. They want me to lead the way," I said.

Emery nodded a little before laying her head back on the window. I rubbed my thumb across my bottom lip and smirked a little when it made me think of Emery. I shifted in my seat and decided to let the silence over take us again. I hated seeing Emery like this.

~~

*Emery's POV*

Daryl and I were quiet with each other. It was nothing against him. It was just every time he touched me I felt that guy in the mall all over me again. I sighed. I knew Daryl wasn't happy that I wasn't talking. I knew he wanted to comfort me but I just couldn't let him with this still being fresh in my mind. I sighed again and looked over at Daryl.

He was chewing on his thumb nail. A habit he had had since high school. I faced him in the seat and let my head chin rest against my knees. "I'm sorry," I whispered. Daryl looked at me out of the corner of his eye. His eyebrows pulled together in confusion.

"This isn't fair for you," I continued. "I shouldn't be acting like this." Daryl cleared his throat and shook his head. "S'okay," he said, "I understand." This time I shook my head. "No, it's not. It's not fair to you of all people. I shouldn't be mad at you for this," I whispered.

Daryl shifted to be able to look at me more. "Em, it's okay," he said a little sternly. He reached out a hand to me and I flinched back a little. "It's okay," he said again. I sighed a little as I felt his warm inviting hand against me. I scooted over and leaned into him.

He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and squeezed one gently. "He's gone now, Em. You don't have to worry anymore," I laughed at that causing him to look at me funny. "Don't have to worry? There's a lot to worry about," I said. Daryl smirked a little.

"That's not what I meant," he said. I rolled my eyes. "I know. I'm just messing with you," I said. Daryl rolled his eyes at me. "You are one weird girl," he said. I stuck my tongue out at him. "Yeah but that's why you like me," I said causing him to chuckle.

"That's not the only thing I like about you," he said. I smacked him in the arm. "Pervert," I said. He chuckled and kissed my forehead. "We're almost there," he said. I sighed. He killed the moment at that point. I didn't want to think about what could possibly be in my old house by now.

It also held a lot of memories and I knew they would all come flooding back once I stepped foot into the house. Daryl squeezed my shoulder again as if reading my thoughts. "I know," he said. I sighed and leaned my head on his shoulder. "It just sucks , ya know? I mean to think that all of them are most likely dead. It's hard to think about," I said.

Daryl rubbed my back a little. "Yeah, I know," he said. It seemed like in a matter of minutes we were pulling up to the gated community that I used to call home. Daryl unsheathed his knife and handed it to me. "You'll need to pick the lock," he said. I chuckled before getting out of the truck.

Everyone followed behind us as we approached the gate. I pulled on it at first hoping that it would be open. I groaned when I heard the clink of the lock. I bent down and started picking at it. I let out a triumphant sigh when I heard the familiar click of the lock.

I slowly slid it open and cringed when the gate creaked. Rick and Shane quickly slid past me. I walked in and Daryl nudged me. "That's my girl," he whispered. I cracked a smile up at him. "I had a good teacher," I said causing Daryl to smile back at me.

Once we were in the gate we shut it back. "We can easily get a chain with a padlock to put around it," Rick said. We all nodded in agreement and looked around. It didn't look bad. All the houses still looked in tack. Everyone turned to me.

"It's only five houses. They shouldn't be hard to clear out. We still have enough daylight and each house is exactly the same. There's an upstairs and downstairs. Bottom floor is a bathroom, living room, dining room, and kitchen. Upstairs is three bedroom and a bathroom."

Rick nodded and took in all the information. "Alright let's clear these out," Rick said. We all nodded. The group turned to head towards the houses. "Not you," I looked up to see Rick looking at me. I scoffed. "Why not? I'm perfectly capable!" I said.

Rick shook his head. "I'm sorry, but no I can't risk it," I glared at him. Daryl placed a hand on my stomach and pushed me back a little ways away from them. "He's looking out for you. Stay here," Daryl said lowly. I rolled my eyes but nodded.

"Fine, but I am not happy about this at all. Be careful," I said. Daryl chuckled. "I always am, beautiful," he said winking at me. I watched as he turned around and walked away with the rest of the men. I sighed as I leaned against the brick wall behind me.

The nice thing about the housing addition was that it was bricked in except for the gate. The gate honestly wouldn't be that big of a deal though. We would be able to manage it. I watched as the guys came out of the first house. Daryl gave me a thumb up before following the group.

About 40 minutes later I watched the group emerge from the last house and they made their way towards me. I stood up and met the group halfway. "Everything alright?" I asked as we all stopped to talk to each other. Rick nodded and looked around.

"Surprisingly it's all clear," he said. I smiled a little to myself. I felt proud. "Well then let's get the cars in here and lock it up!" I said a little excitedly. Rick showed a small smile and we all slipped out the gate. Everyone jumped in their vehicles and we pulled them into the gated area.

I dug through the bed of Daryl's truck and pulled out a padlock and some chain. "You got the key?" I asked Daryl who was climbing out of his truck. He jingled his keys at me as if saying 'duh.' I shook my head at him and chuckled. I locked the padlock and walked over to him.

"Home sweet home," he mumbled.

--

Comment, vote, fan, follow, add to reading list!!! xx