Until the End

Chapter Twenty-Five: The object of my affection.

Shane's head jerked to the side, his cheek turning red from where Kirby slapped him. Her eyes were wide at her actions and her breathing was quick.

"Don't speak about them that way. I'll go without you if I have to." Kirby whispered.

Shane dropped his hands from Kirby's shoulders, glaring hard at her.

"Go then, but don't think once that I'll risk my life to save yours after I warned you." Shane spat harshly.

Kirby smiled, but it never reached her eyes. It held a sense of pity and disgust all at once.

"So much for fighting for me." Kirby sneered.

Making sure she still had her .9mm and it had a bullet in the chamber, Kirby ran to the back of the store where the back door was.

"Kirby! Wait, don't go out there!" Shane shouted, running to the back.

He reached the door to see Kirby running through the rain. She had her gun drawn at her side as she kept her surroundings in sight, always looking around her. Biting back an oath, Shane closed the door to the walkers and his feelings for Kirby, locking himself in the store.

-

Kirby's feet splashed into puddles after puddles of slushy, dirty water as the rain and wind slammed into her with a fierce intent on pushing her down. She moved against the wind, heading towards a different building in hopes that someone, anyone from the group, would be inside. She pushed open the front entrance with her free hand, keeping her ears and eyes open while lifting her gun up.

Light streamed in through the door and the windows of the building, making it easier for her to see. Inside, Kirby shut the door silently and pressed her back up against it as she looked around the area.

'A cinema.....yeah so not the time to think about popcorn.' Kirby thought, shaking her head.

Keeping her gun aimed in front of her, she took it one step at a time, trying to be as quiet as possible with her shoes wet. As she reached the area where the room was packed with seats lined in row after row, Kirby spotted the first sign of someone else being inside the building. In front of her, laying in a pool of blood, was a dog very much similar to the one that had attacked Jacqui. Stepping around the blood, she saw six more dead dogs.

Her breath caught in her throat at the sight of one of the dogs. It had an arrow pierced through it's head. Kirby struggled not to think the worse and swallowed her tears.

'Daryl is here...or he was.' Kirby thought, straightening her back and lowering her gun to her side.

She looked up at the sound of snoring, wondering why she didn't hear it when she first walked in. Above her on the second landing, Kirby saw that one of the curtains were missing and a patch of messy black hair was sticking up. Licking her bottom lip, Kirby called out to whom she thought was up there.

"G-Glenn? Glenn is that you?" Kirby whispered, not wanting to attract any attention from wherever might still be inside that wasn't suppose to be.

The hair shifted, before a head appeared. Glenn blinked down, not believing his eyes. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he stood up.

"Kirby! Holy shit you're alive. Where are the others? Is everyone okay?" Glenn asked, his voice growing louder.

"Everyone got separated. Jacqui was attacked by an infected dog, but Shane killed it. The three of us locked ourselves inside a small store. Glenn....Jacqui didn't make it. The bite....." Kirby trailed off as Daryl stood up from behind Glenn.

"Daryl...."

Not wasting any time, Daryl lowered himself down from the landing and grabbed Kirby. His hands were warm on her cold face as he pressed his lips to hers. Not breaking the kiss, he wrapped his arms around her, one hand buried in her thick blond hair. He leaned back, but kept his hold on her.

"You're alive." Daryl whispered, awe struck that Kirby was standing before him again.

"So are you. Daryl, you're covered in blood. Are you alright? Where is Mallorie? Is she with you?" Kirby asked.

Daryl nodded.

"We're fine. She's up there with Glenn and Carl." Daryl stated and moved to stand behind Kirby.

"Glenn." Daryl called out.

"Okay, I'm ready." Glenn said, leaning over the landing.

Daryl hoisted Kirby up by her waist and she gasped in surprised, flailing her arms to balance herself.

"Daryl what do you think you're doing?" Kirby asked, trying not to freak out.

Glenn managed to grab one of Kirby's hands and began to tug her up.

"Oh." Kirby mumbled, giving her other hand to Glenn.

Glenn pulled her up while Daryl pushed her up. She made it over the landing and saw Mallorie still asleep with Carl. Glenn helped Daryl up as Kirby went over to Mallorie and Carl.

"No one else is with you?" Daryl asked, snaking his arms back around Kirby.

"It was just Jacqui, Shane and I. Jacqui died from a bite caused by an infected dog. She almost killed us." Kirby whispered, turning her face into Daryl's shoulder.

"You mean the bite brought her back?" Glenn asked, shocked.

"That's not all. She was stronger then the other walkers. Faster...more hostile. She died and came back to life in less then ten minutes. She over powered Shane and would have killed him if I hadn't of shot at her." Kirby stated.

"Where is Shane now?" Daryl asked.

"Back at the store." She mumbled.

"You mean he didn't come with you? That you left out in this bad weather with all those walkers roaming about and he didn't go after you?" Daryl asked, his voice growing angrier with each word.

"He made his decisions and I've made mine." Kirby said, referring to more than just her leaving the store.