Fight, Love, Live.

XXVIII

Jacqui is dead. Daryl and I didn't know until we stopped at a traffic snarl to get gas and T-Dog told us. Apparently she decided to stay when the bomb went off. Andrea almost stayed too, but Dale said he would stay if she did, and he pretty much forced her into saving herself so she wouldn't kill him. 

We went back to Atlanta, and we were going to try and stay with G and the Vatos, but the nursing home was busted open, and they were all dead, executioner style, which means that someone broke in and killed them. We stayed for a night, since it was too dark to leave by the time we got there, but we didn't want to stay longer, just in case whoever killed them came back. 

So now, we were trying Shane's idea. Fort Benning. I didn't think it would be safe either, since all of the main government places we had seen had been overrun, but I wasn't a man, which automatically made my opinion invalid apparently. 

Except with Daryl. As soon as he heard where we were going, he asked me if I wanted to go with them, or if I wanted to break off, swearing that he and Merle would protect me if that's what I wanted to do. And even though it was tempting, and I was mad at my brother, I still couldn't leave my family. 

So, here we were, my legs stretched out over Daryl's lap as I leaned against the passenger side door, Bailey sleeping on the floor of the truck, with Daryl rubbing my calves, while we followed the caravan we had created. 

Merle was up front on his bike, leading the way through the traffic snarls, and his bike was easier to maneuver than any of the cars so he could turn around quickly if there was a lot of walkers or anything. Merle was followed by the RV, which held Dale, Glenn, T-Dog, and Andrea. The RV was followed by Carol's station wagon, which had Rick, Carl, Lori, Carol, and Sophia. And then Shane in his Jeep, and then we were in the back, since I was apparently the most vulnerable.

 Overnight my ankles had begun to swell, and since I was officially in the beginning of my second trimester, I was going to start having more symptoms, and it was going to get harder for me to breathe, and I would need to pee more often, and I would need more and more breaks so that I didn't get any clots. 

"How you doin'? You need another break?" Daryl asked gently, squeezing my knee to get my attention. I smiled up at him, and turned to look at the caravan, and was surprised to see they were already slowing down. 

"Well I was going to say I was alright, but it looks like someone needed one, so I can go ahead and take one." Daryl looked away from me to see they were stopped, chuckled and began to slow down as well. 

"Bet it was Dale. That man has the bladder the size of a squirrel." I was laughing before he even finished, but I stopped as soon as I heard the rumble of Merle's engine, getting closer to us. 

"Dare?" I asked anxiously, glancing over at him, but he just squeezed my ankle and started cranking the window down, and when Merle appeared, he didn't even bother with getting off his bike. 

"The hose burst again. There's a pretty big traffic snarl up there, so we are gonna stop, get some fuel, and see what we can find in the cars." Merle said quickly, waited for a nod from Daryl, and when he got it, he turned back around and made his way up the caravan. Daryl rolled the window back up, and pulled the car up as close as he could get to Shane's Jeep, and then turned the car off. 

"You stick with me, okay?" Daryl said, sounding pretty concerned, so I nodded and unbuckled, getting ready to get out. 

"Why don't we leave Bailey in here? Crack the windows? Just so she doesn't run off or get cut by something." I asked, and Daryl nodded, cracked his window a little, and I copied his actions with my window, before hopping out of the car. 

When we got out, Daryl grabbed my right hand with his left, and slung his crossbow over his shoulder before dragging me over to where the others were standing, getting us in right as Lori had started talking. 

"This is a graveyard. I don't know how I feel about this." I rolled my eyes, but didn't say anything as Daryl pulled me past them and over to a car nearby. He checked it first, looking for walkers, before giving me a nod that it was okay and I pulled the trunk open while he went to look at the car next to it. 

"Come on, y'all. Just look around, gather what you can." I heard T-Dog say from behind us, and I just kept going through the stuff in the trunk. 

There wasn't much, two water bottles and a can of tomato soup, and a sleeping bag. We didn't really need it now, but it could be useful when winter comes around, so I grabbed it anyway and began making a pile near the RV. 

When I turned back around Daryl was standing there staring at me, holding a box with a couple of cans of food in it. 

"What?" I asked self consciously as he just continued to smirk at me, before making his way over to where I was, and added his cans to the pile. When he looked back up at me, he had a look in his eyes that I recognized from the C.D.C. and I immediately felt my cheeks flush. 

"What?" I hissed in embarrassment, looking around to see if anyone was staring at us, but no one was. 

"Nothing. Just enjoying the view." Daryl murmured, leaning close to my ear before placing a kiss just below it, and turning around to continue digging through the cars. He took a few steps before looking back at where I was still standing, cheeks as red as a tomato. 

"You comin' babe?" I somehow became even redder than before, and I watched Daryl's smirk grow even bigger, but I tried to ignore the innuendo, and followed after him. Maybe one day I'll be able to make him as flustered as he makes me. Probably not, but it's good to dream.