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Can we have another serious moment for a second? Please understand where I am coming from when I say this. I love that you all love For the Love of Dixon, I really do. I am also sad to see it go as I love writing it just as much as you guys love reading it. But all the hate messages about me ending it are getting ridiculous. I understand that you guys love it as do I. This was my first Daryl fanfic that I have ever written let alone the first fanfic I have ever written on wattpad. It will always have a special in my heart. All the reads, comments, and votes, I never expected the story to be that big and land at number one but you guys have to understand where I'm coming from as a writer. I know what's best for my story. Let me give you an example. A normal sized novel is 50,000 words. LOTE is 35 chapters in and already has 82,000 words. FTLOD has 30 more chapters so I can only imagine how many words that is. I've gotten several messages saying things like: "You need to make it more than 60 chapters." "You need to write a sequel." "You need to continue this because season 4 is coming out" (My story doesn't even follow the TWD story line!) I was supposed to end this story back in chapter 47 but I didn't because I got another idea and decided to continue it out just a little bit more. I love that you guys love this story and are sad to see it go but I'm getting sick of waking up every day to at least three messages telling me what I "need" to do. I refuse to drag this story out anymore. I am quite happy with the way this story has gone and how it will end. I don't want to drag it out anymore because it will just start becoming bad. I don't want to be that person that said "My story was really good but then this happened." I am the writer and I know what's best for my story and that is ending my story at 60 chapters.  This isn't my last story on here, in fact I have two going right now, one of which is another Daryl Dixon fanfic. It may not be set during the apocalypse but a lot of people seem to be enjoying it! To everyone that has supported me through all of this I thank you and I hope you all will continue to follow me through all my writing on here and possible other sites. I'll leave it at this: "Every story has an ending, but every ending has a new beginning."

 I love every single one of you and I truly hope that you do follow me through all my writings!

Now onto FTLOD! Here's the next chapter, Nords! Xx

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The three of us slowly slid out of the car leaving Sophia inside. I jumped up in the back of the truck to keep watch while the boys went to look for fuel. Sophia stayed in the truck clutching her doll to her chest. I loaded my crossbow and kept view of the boys as they walked the road.

I watched as Merle started syphoning fuel from one of the cars as Daryl did the same to another car that was a few feet away. As they walked back Daryl hopped in the back of the truck to grab some more gas cans when I saw something out of the corner of my eye.

"Walkers," I said as quietly as possible. Merle slipped quietly into the truck with Sophia and I looked over at Daryl. "Under the tarp," Daryl mumbled. We both quickly hit the floor and crawled underneath the tarp trying to avoid all of our supplies.

Daryl's arms wrapped around me and I buried my head in his chest. His hand ran up and down my back trying to comfort me as I heard the shuffling of the herd. I looked up at Daryl who was already looking down at me. I bit my lip before leaning up and kissing him lightly.

"I love you," I mouthed to him. "Love you," he mouthed back. I didn't know how much longer any of us would last. Herds seem to be getting bigger, supplies were limited, and walkers seemed to be getting smarter. Odds were definitely not in our favor lately.

After what seemed like forever we heard the old door of the truck squeak open. "Darlina, it's clear," Daryl and I both crawled out from under the tarp and stood up. "Jesus, that was a close one," I said. Daryl hopped down and started filling the truck's tank.

"It's Darlina's fault. He should've been watching the gas. We wouldn't have had to stop," Merle grumbled. Daryl dropped the gas can and turned around. I knew this was about to turn into a war between the two Dixon brothers. I held my breath as I waited for something to happen.

Daryl started yelling first, Merle yelled right back. I looked over at Sophia who had tears rolling down her cheeks. I shot at arrow at their feet. They both jumped and looked at me. "What the hell was that?" they both asked at the same time. I rolled my eyes.

"Ladies, ladies, you're both pretty," I said while jumping down from the truck. Both Dixons scoffed and spit to the side. "This is nobody's fault. Let's just get in the truck and keep going," I said while opening the door. I jumped up beside Sophia and wrapped my arms around her.

I kissed the top of her head and pulled her in close. Daryl jumped behind the wheel and Merle jumped up on the other side of Sophia. You could cut the tension between Daryl and Merle with Daryl's hunting knife. Sophia curled into my side more.

I soon heard her deep breathing and I knew she had fallen asleep. "So how much longer do you think we have?" I asked. Merle cleared his throat. "A couple, maybe three hours," he grumbled. It fell silent between all of us again. This was going to be a long trip.

~~

I didn't remember falling asleep but I must have. When I woke up we were still driving but Daryl and Merle had traded places. "How long have I been out?" I asked. I was leaning against Daryl slightly. "Not that long. Maybe an hour tops," Daryl said.

I sighed and leaned into him more. "Then we're almost there. Good because I need to stretch my legs soon," I said while trying to stretch them out in the little space I had. "You'll get your sea legs soon, Girlie," Merle said from the driver's seat. I chuckled a little.

"What are sea legs?" I heard that small voice that belonged to Sophia ask. I didn't even know she was awake. "It means...well...uh....it uh means. Honestly, Sophia, I can't tell you," I said. Sophia giggled while the Dixon boys roared with laughter. I crossed my arms.

"Shut up. The both of you," I said. Their laughter became louder. Merle slowed the truck a little before completely stopping. "We need to scavenge some more supplies before making it all the way there. Girlie stay in the car with Sophia," I sighed but nodded.

I was getting used to having Merle tell me to stay in the car with Sophia. They always said that if anything happened I needed to get out of there whether they were with me or not. Daryl and Merle quickly got out and started heading towards stores.

I looked down to see that Sophia was holding the small handgun that Daryl had given her. It made me proud in a certain way because I know how terrified she used to be of them. Now she wasn't afraid to shoot anything bad that came in her path.

"I'm gonna go stand outside to keep watch outside just so nothing sneaks up on us, okay Soph?" she nodded and I slipped out of the truck keep the door open just in case we needed to move. Sophia stayed on high alert as she watched out the windows.

Merle and Daryl came back 15 minutes later holding boxes each with a duffel bag strapped to each of their shoulders. Damn they got plenty of supplies for now. They dropped everything in the back of the truck and we all jumped inside with Daryl back in the driver's seat.

"We're almost there," I said. Daryl nodded and shifted in his seat. "Yeah, about an hour left," Daryl said. I sighed and slouched in my seat to get more comfortable. Sophia was hugging her doll to her chest while Merle was looking out the window looking quite bored.

Finally about an hour later Merle and Daryl ended up rolling down their windows and I could smell the sea in the air. It was refreshing and sort of relaxing even though the word had gone to shit. "This may be it," I said breaking the silence between all of us.

Both Dixons nodded as Sophia perked up beside me so she could look out the window. I watched as Merle slowly wrapped his arm around Sophia and pulled her into him. I felt a smile forming on my face as I watched him run his fingers through Sophia's hair.

I never thought I would see the day that Merle Dixon would be nice to a kid. It kind of shocked me. I guess the world really did end. I sighed as I leaned into Daryl. He tilted his head slightly to lay on mine before straightening back up. That's when we both saw it. The boat.

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The boat! Woooooo!!! They've made it to the coast!

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