So when I posted chapter 26 I was barely scraping over 10,000 reads. I posted chapter 27 and watched the numbers climb! Now here I am posting Chapter 28 and I have over 11,000 reads!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU GUYS ARE FUCKING AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If I could kiss all your faces I would!!!!!!!! So instead I will send out Reedus kisses!!!! For all of you!!!! Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've posted 3 straight days in a row! Where y'all at?! Only three comments on the last chapter! This chapter is dedicated to @girlygirlbritt2004 because she stayed up with me half the night while I was writing!!! If it wasn't for her I would've said fuck it and went to bed!!! Thanks girl!

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I woke up in the middle of the night to gun shots. What the fuck is going on? I shot out of bed and threw on my boots. "Daryl, get up!" I yelled. I turned around to see Daryl not in the bed and his crossbow was gone. "Damn it!" I cursed while grabbing my crossbow and heading down the stairs.

I knew the only place gun fire could be coming from was the gate. I felt my legs pick up the pace as I darted through the backyards towards the gate. There were two threats that popped into my mind. Walkers or worse.....other survivors. Daryl flashed in my mind.

"Better be okay," I mumbled as I approached the first house that was closest to the gates. I saw a few figures on our side of the gate ducked behind some of the vehicles and the brick wall. I went to start towards the group to help them when an arm wrapped around my waist.

I went to scream but a hand covered my mouth. "Shh, Em. It's just me," I sighed a little as I recognized that familiar southern drawl. I turned around to face him. "What the fuck is going on?" I whispered to him. Daryl shrugged a little. "I just got here but obviously it's not good."

I nodded as the gun fire suddenly stopped. I watched a figure pop up from behind one of our cars and more shots rang out as I watched whoever it was go down. "Son of a bitch," I growled as I went to make my way out there but Daryl grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

"Stay here, Em," he whispered. He started to walk away when something caught my eye. "Dare," I whispered. He turned around and I pointed the tree that was right by the brick wall. I walked quietly to it before throwing my crossbow on my back and working my way up the tree.

Daryl soon joined me and I watched as two more figures were over helping the one who went down. I assumed it was T-Dog who was down by the build and it looked like Rick and Glenn were helping. "Where's Deputy Dip Shit?" I whispered. Daryl scanned the area.

He pointed and I looked to see him laying down in the back of his jeep. He had his shotgun with him. I could make him out in the moonlight just a little. I watched his fingers. "There are four more out there," I whispered to Daryl. He looked over the edge of the wall.

"That we can see," Daryl whispered back. I looked over to where Daryl was looking and saw what he was looking at. It looked to be four men, who knew how many more were lurking around and who knew how many walkers were going to be drawn because of the gunfire.

"You got a gun?" I asked Daryl. He barely nodded and I held my hand out for it. He handed it to me and I pulled out the magazine. It was fully loaded and held 20 rounds. I handed it back to him. "You know how to shoot with a gun, I don't. Cover me."

Daryl's eyebrows arched. "Cover you? The hell are you doing Emery?" he whispered, I could hear the anger in his voice. I twisted my finger around in a circle at Shane then pointed at the group. I scooted past Daryl on the branch and went towards the brick wall.

"Emery," Daryl said while grabbing my wrist pulling me back. "Dare, I'll be fine," I pressed my lips quickly to his. "I love you," I whispered. Daryl pulled me back in and kissed me harder. "You better come back," Daryl said. I chuckled. "Watch my ass."

I crawled towards the brick wall. The branch ended about a foot away from wall. It wouldn't be hard to get over there the difficult part was not drawing attention to myself. I swung my crossbow around so I was now holding it. I looked back at Daryl who nodded a little.

I hopped over to the wall with ease and no one noticed besides my group. I knew I couldn't get a clear shot of any of the four men without drawing attention to myself. I knew Daryl was covering me and I knew Shane could see me as I crept across the wall slowly.

I looked to see they only had one truck with them. Four guys, one truck, something wasn't right. I shrugged a little as I peered through the scope. One shot would be all it took to hit one of the tires and send it flat. I guess it was now or never. I let out a breath as I pulled the trigger.

I quickly dropped my crossbow and started reloading it just in case but I watched out of the corner of my eye as the bolt sunk into the tire. I wanted to cheer but when I could hear the air from the tire coming out I knew there was trouble. "Fuck," I whispered.

All four of the men turned around to look at the truck. "What the hell man? Where did that come from?" I heard one of them ask. Perfect opportunity, they were all distracted. I let out a short whistle signaling for Daryl and Shane. Chaos broke again.

I lifted my crossbow again and took one of the men into my sights right as he turned around. As I peered into the scope I could see him staring me down. It was like he was trying to intimidate me but it wasn't working. He smirked a little and quickly raised his gun but it was too late.

I had already pulled the trigger and I watched as the bolt hit him right between the eyes. "Fucker," I whispered before crouching down closer to the wall. Shane and Daryl quickly took out the other three with ease. I smiled a little as I turned to jump down from the wall.

I let out a yelp as I felt my right ankle roll when my feet hit the ground. The same damn ankle I messed up in Altanta. I didn't care about the pain as I took off towards the three huddled on the group. It was T-Dog who was down. I dropped down and Daryl was quickly by my side.

"We have to get him inside," I said. Rick nodded and went to pick him up but I stopped him. "No, you and Shane need to go scope everything out. We don't need any more surprise attacks. Daryl, Glenn, and I can take him," I said. Rick nodded and headed towards Shane.

The three of us lifting T-Dog wasn't easy one bit but I knew if I didn't get him inside and start working on him God only knows what would happen. One of the women opened the door as we headed up the small porch. We quickly walked in and laid T-Dog on the couch.

"I'm gonna need towels, alcohol, bandages, and as many hands as possible. Andrea get the kids out of here. They don't need to see this," I watched as everyone was a little shocked at me barking orders. Andrea shuffled the kids out of the room. Personally I just didn't want to deal with Miss Bitch. "Sometime today would be nice," I growled and everyone jumped into action.

I cut off T-Dog's shirt and looked to see that he had gotten hit in the right side. It made it a little easier because I could access his side this way. I put my hand on T-Dog's back and felt around. "Damn it," I cursed. "What's wrong?" Daryl asked as he came back in the room with alcohol.

Of course he would be the one to find it. Lori, Carol and Glenn all came back in with the rest of the supplies. I quickly pulled my hair back in a bun before bending down to T-Dog. "The bullet didn't go clean through him. It's still inside. I'll have to dig it out."

I watched as T-Dog gulped a little and I gave him a sympathetic smile. I unsheathed my knife. "Dale, go make a fire," I said while handing my knife to him. He looked down at it then back up at me. "Don't ask questions! I don't need him dying on this couch."

I held my hand out knowing Daryl was right behind me. I heard his knife unsheathe and then felt the handle in my hand. "Daryl I need you and Glenn to hold him down," I said. Suddenly the door bust open and Shane and Rick walked in.

"Nice of you to join us, make yourselves useful and help hold him down," I unscrewed the cap to the alcohol and handed it to T-Dog. "Drink up buddy," I said. T-Dog easily chugged half of the bottom. Obviously he was not wanting to feel this at all.

All the guys held T-Dog as I started pouring some of the alcohol over the wound. T-Dog hissed and twitched in pain. I could already tell this was going to be difficult. I sat the bottled down and held out Daryl's knife. "Y'all ready?" I asked and the guys nodded except T-Dog.

I didn't waste any time plunging the knife into the wound. "The good thing, the bullet is all in one piece it didn't splinter. The bad thing, I'm gonna have to go deeper to get it out" I said. Everyone nodded and tightened their grip on T-Dog. I truly felt sorry for him.

I plunged the knife deeper as T-Dog moved a little. "You move I might cut you even worse. Don't make this harder on you or me," I said. T-Dog grunted a little as I continued moving the knife around. Finally I felt bottom of the bullet and I started slowing guiding it out.

As I saw the tip of the bullet I called out to Dale. "Go get the knife from the fire," I said continuing to pull the bullet out. Finally it plopped out and hit the floor. "Towel now," I started pouring more alcohol over the now open wound. A towel was thrust in my hands and I pressed it onto the wound.

"Where's Dale with the knife," I hollered right as the door shut. "Here," Dale said while gently placing the knife in my hand. I sighed and looked around to everyone. "This is gonna hurt like a bitch. You guys better hold on tight," I said. They all nodded.

I pressed the now red knife blade to T-Dog's side and the smell of burning flesh filled my nostrils. T-Dog screamed and tried to sit up but all the guys held him down. I pulled the knife back after a minute and started blowing on the now burnt area.

T-Dog seemed to calm down a little and nodded to the guys letting them know they could release him. I held out the bottle to T-Dog who gladly took it and chugged the rest. "Easiest part," I said while holding out some bandages. I quickly bandaged him and sat back blowing stray hairs out of my face.

"All done," I said while washing my hands off with a wet towel someone had brought me. "He shouldn't move and shouldn't be moved. He's going to have to stay here for the night," I said while handing some Tylenol out to T-Dog. It wasn't much but it would help.

I went to stand up but felt my right ankle give out. I almost fell but I felt a strong pair of arms wrap around my waist. "Walk much," I heard Daryl grunt. I couldn't help but chuckle a little while pushing his arms off of me. "I can walk just fine thank you."

I took a few steps and it hurt like a motherfucker but I tried to fight it to show Daryl I was okay. "Is everything okay outside now?" I asked Rick and Shane. They both nodded. "We'll clear everything tomorrow. We went outside the gates and made sure they wouldn't turn," Rick said. I nodded a little before making my way towards the door.

"Well then I bid you all a good night," I walked out the door with Daryl hot on my heels. I started limping towards our house. Daryl grunted and I was suddenly off the ground. "I can walk just fine," I repeated. Daryl grunted again. "If I let you walk we wouldn't reach the house until the sun rose," he said. I stuck my tongue out at him but let him continue.

Daryl walked into our house a minute later and kicked the door shut with his foot. I locked it for him and then he made his way up the stairs. He sat me on the bed before turning around and digging through some drawers. He turned around with one of my shirts.

I looked down to see I was covered in blood and dirt, great. I slipped off my shirt and changed into the other. I kicked off one boot and took my time with the other. I decided to pull off my sock just to see the damage. "Damn it," I growled as I saw my ankle was already swelling.

End of the world means no power. No power means no freezer. No freezer means no ice. No ice means my ankle would continue to swell unless I stayed off of it. Daryl started digging through the drawers again. He turned back around and tossed a bag on the bed.

It was full of pill bottles and......blue crack? Merle's stash. Daryl started digging through it before pulling out a bottle and popping the lid off of it. He held a white pill out to me and I took it. I looked at the bottle. "Merle got the clap on occasion," Daryl said.

I started cracking up laughing. "You didn't have to tell me," I said. Daryl grinned a little before sitting beside me. "You did good today," I nodded a little while looking down at my ankle. "Fucked up the same ankle again," I said. Daryl chuckled.

"That was always the ankle you fucked up even before shit hit the fan," Daryl said. I smiled a little while pulling the hairband out of my hair and letting it fall loosely on my shoulders. Daryl ran his fingers through it before pulling me into him slightly.

"You had me worried," Daryl whispered into my hair. I wrapped my arms around his waist. "I told you I was coming back," I said. Daryl snorted a little. "Only because I was covering your ass," I rolled my eyes. "Hey," I pulled back to look up at Daryl. His blue eyes looked deeply into my green ones which gave me the courage to say what I said next. "No one can kill a Dixon but a Dixon."

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