When the dead roam - (Daryl Dixon)

Chapter 26 - My group and I

Louise stood at the gates of Alexandria, surrounded by other civilians as Rick struggled to be heard over the ever growing crowd around him. Panic was written over each and every face, nothing could be done to calm the stress in their voices as they yelled over each other trying to be heard. Children hug onto their parents. Dogs barked at the commotion. Alexandria had quickly gone from civilization to a free for all.

"Calm down!" Rick shouted, cupping his mouth with his hands as he begged for their attention "We're going to take them out before they have chance to come here"

"What about our children?" A woman shouted from the middle of the horse. Closely followed by "were all going to die" from another gentleman.

"No one is going to die" he assured them "My group and I will make sure of that"

Louise watched as he failed to take control of the situation. She shook her head at the man and tucked her hands into the pockets of her black denim jeans as Daryl moved to stand beside her. His shoulder brushed hers as he moved closer and spoke directly into her ear "what's goin' on?"

"Apparently they found a horde. Few hundred. Just down the hill" she said back, shouting slightly - never once taking her eyes away from their "leader".

Daryl furrowed his eyebrows at the girl as she scoffed at Rick's feeble attempt to calm down the citizens "He's in way over his head"

"Ricks one of the good'ens" Daryl defended "He'll get us through it"

"You really trust him?"

"I do" Daryl nodded, holding his bow at his side as his eyes flicked between Louise and Rick "look if yer don't trust him, trust me"

She locked eyes with the hunter, unsure of her feelings as she contemplated trusting the man she had only known a few weeks. Reluctantly she nodded her and rubbed her right temple "Okay. Okay fine but don't make me regret it Dixon"

He smirked at her, his green eyes roaming from her feet to her lips as she shuffled in place to avoid passing survivors that strayed from the disbanding crowd. He watched as her front teeth slowly grazed across her lip, biting down slightly as she tried to ignore his gaze and concentrate on the plan being made. Every freckle on her face, unbeknownst to her, was being counted and memorized and it scared Daryl in more ways than he cared to admit. The second she turned her gaze to him, he looked away and tugged at the string of his bow - completely embarrassed of the last minute of their encounter.

"Hey Daryl?"

"Yeah" he coughed in reply, turning to face her slightly as Rick jumped from the ledge he had been standing on.

"Back at the school today? With the horde?" She ran her hand through her hair as she spoke.

"Yeah?" He asked again.

"Thanks for coming back for me"

Hope you all enjoy this chapter !

Took me a while to write but i'm rather happy with it.

-Al