When The Dead Start Walking (The Walking Dead fan fiction)

Chapter 11- Homecoming Queen

"I'm fine taking watch.," he says, his voice deeper than usual. I can tell he's extremely tiered. He's the one that deserves to rest. His crossbow is slung around his shoulder, eye blue eyes focused on Rick. He has a hard stare when he focuses.

"Fine, Michonne, but you two need to rest. I need you well rested for tomorrow's shift.," he says, giving in to Michonne but keeping strong against us. I sigh, refusing to argue anymore. I know I'm not going to win anyways, so why bother to continue to try? Daryl sighs, nodding to Rick and Michonne as he walks over to his area he made. Rick and Michonne head back outside, their rifles resting on their shoulders.

I watch Daryl as he puts his crossbow down, his expression unreadable. I walk over quietly, each step I take soft.

"Thanks.," I say, walking up to him. He stops what he's doing to look over. He looks at me in the eyes, his expression changing from nothing to something, but what?

"No problem.," he says, looking at me for a few more seconds. As he's about to return to preparing for bed, I walk over and hug him, embracing my arms around his neck. He hugs me back, his arms wrapping securely around my back.

"Thank you.," I repeat, continuing to hug him. He saved my life, twice, and I need to return the favor. I know he thinks of me as weak and useless, but I need to find a way to thank him somehow. "I'd be who knows where right now if it weren't for you. I'd probably be dead too.," I whisper, my voice low and thoughtful.

"You're welcome. I'm just glad we're both safe.," he says, still embracing me for a few more moments before we let go. I smile, nodding at him before I return to my mattress. My mind begins to swirl around, thinking about him. Are we friends? Or do we still dislike each other? Just because we've been through hell and back together doesn't mean we've become friends, right? I sigh, drowsiness beginning to take over my conscience before I can sort out my thoughts out.

"Hey, Nicole, wake up.," I hear a familiar voice fill my head, my eyes opening to Rick's face crouching over me. He waits for me to wake, the light of the day making it even harder for me to move.

"What is it?," I ask, rubbing the back of my neck. I slept peacefully all night, my sore body finally receiving a good rest. I sigh, standing up. His eyes follow me as I move. He waits for me to fully wake up, folding his arms as he does so.

"Come with me. Daryl," he says, looking over at Daryl leaning on a wall, his crossbow slung around his shoulder. "Lets go.," he finishes, heading down the stairs. Daryl and I follow Rick, keeping silent as we head towards the room where we discussed the plan to kill the Governor in. We all sit down at the square table. Rick sits across from me with Daryl to my right.

"I need to know what happened.," Rick says, looking over at Daryl mainly. I see Rick study Daryl's wounds, waiting for a reply.

"I'm sure as you heard, they have an army. Those people are average men and women. They must be that desperate to follow that piece of-,"

"I see. How armed are they?," Rick says, interrupting Daryl. I sit there quietly as Daryl explains what happened. I guess Rick trusts Daryl more to do all the speaking. I sigh, thinking back about what happened. The Governor's going to be after us. I shiver at the thought. Silence fills the air as Rick pinches the bridge of his nose, taking in a deep breath after Daryl told Rick what happened.

"They're coming for us.," I say, breaking the eerie silence which fills the room. A serious look fills my face as I stare aimlessly at the wall to my left. The two stare at me, a worried look on their faces. "You know it's true.," I say, looking up at them.

"We need to prepare.," Daryl says, his eyes focusing on Rick. My eyes seem to wander off into space as I think about what will happen when the Governor comes. I heard the prison fought Woodbury off before, but the Governor's new army seems to be much bigger than the Woodbury army was.