Atlanta

I had sat in my tent for hours, nothing but just sitting there and thinking. As usual. Andrea's words earlier made me miss Amy even more, but it also made me feel stronger inside. I had to be stronger for her, to prove that I could be a part of the group.

"Michelle?" My body froze, instantly recognising the voice. Why was Daryl outside my tent? "Michelle, you in here?"

"Yeah," I called back, my voice still broken from crying. As the zip went down, I covered my head. I didn't want Daryl to see me like this.

"Hey, you alright?" I heard him ask, and he zipped the tent back up.

"Not really," I admitted, still not showing my face. "What's up?"

"Nothin', I...uh...just wanted to see if you were alright." I slowly looked up, not really believing it was him. Daryl? Caring about me? My heart stopped when I saw him, nervously looking around my tent; all my feelings suddenly came rushing back to me. But what about the way he treated me?

"So i'm not a prissy chick anymore?" His sighed as he gazed upwards, and then cleared his throat.

"I actually came in, to-" his gaze drifted to me, and seeing my face revealed, he stopped suddenly.

"To what?" He shook his head lightly, mumbling something, and then cleared his throat again.

"I wanted to apologise." I smiled a little.

"Thank you. I understand, you were pissed off." He nodded too, not really knowing what to say. "I have to thank you again..." He looked at me once more, and I smiled again. "Thanks for kind of saving my life out there last night." He scoffed quietly and scratched the back of his neck.

"Well, I mean, couldn'a just left you there, after you'd saved Jacqui and all." I nodded, suddenly feeling really glad that Daryl had seen me fighting...

"I didn't want to see anyone else hurt. Not after-" I stopped again, my breath catching in my throat. It was too raw to start talking about this again. I ran my fingers through my hair, and gripped it, trying to calm my breathing again. I heard some shuffling, and before I knew it, Daryl was directly in front of me.

"Hey, hey, come on." He pulled my hands out of my hair and held me by the arms in between us. I felt my heart skip a beat as I looked up and noticed how close our faces where. His eyes...I couldn't look away. I tried not to let my feelings show, but I felt my blood rush to my cheeks, and it didn't help when Daryl seemed to grip my wrists tighter. Slowly, our faces seemed to get closer with each passing second, and it took every inch of me to slow it down. Once I had controlled myself, he reacted immediately by dropping my arms and leaning back. "I, uh..."

"It's okay." I sat there for a few minutes, just watching him. He went back to his previous position, still looking nervously around the tent. He hit the palm of his hand against his head a few times, and I sighed, wanting to say something, but there was nothing that would help him. I noticed him shuffle toward the entrance to the tent, as though considering to leave, but he stopped himself. Thank god.

"So uh, where are you from?" He asked eventually, and I looked up, amused.

"Weren't you there that night when Shane told everyone?" He nodded, chuckling slightly.

"I know he said Scotland, but, I meant, where from?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Glasgow." I replied. "Why?"

"No reason." There was silence again, before he chuckled suddenly. "Your accent...it's quite..."

"Quite what?" I asked, curious, and he shook his head, unable to find the words for it.

"Well it's kinda hot." I paused, totally taken aback by his response. Not only was it the first time anyone had ever told me that my accent was in any way appealing, but it was Daryl. I couldn't say anything, so I just smirked. "Mostly when you get angry..."

"Oh god no." I burst out laughing, finding it hard to believe that he found that attractive. "Really? The slang?" He just chuckled, nodding. "What, when I talk lit this? 'N I start screamin' at people that dae ma nut in?" I let my natural scottish slang flow through, and we both laughed.

"I guess it just...makes you look angrier." I raised my eyebrows, still not taking it in properly.

"Well I guess I have a confession to make too then." I stopped, not realising what I had said, and imediately taking it back. Did I really want to tell him his voice was my favourite sound in the world right now? Well, then again, he did make the confession of his own...

"Yeah?" I smiled shyly.

"I could say pretty much the exact same thing about your accent." He looked at me for another couple of minutes, trying to figure out whether or not I was just saying that. When I kept my same amused smile, he chuckled.

"Ain't nothin' attractive about my accent at all, 'Chelle." I rolled my eyes to hide the butterflies in my stomach at the nickname. No one had ever called me 'Chelle', but I wasn't complaining.

"Well you don't hear it the way I do." I decided it was time to shut my mouth, before I started blabbing everything out. There were a lot of things I couldn't tell him without him probably avoiding me for a long time...

"Elle? You busy?" We both froze suddenly, the mood disappearing into thin air, and being replaced with panic. If Danielle came in here...

"Yeah. Why?" I called out slowly with great pronunciation as my expression remained the same. Daryl did nothing but continuously look between me and the tent entrance.

"Alright. Rick asked me to come and get everyone to the RV for a group meeting."

"Ok, i'll be out soon!" I called out, relaxing a little, and breathing out a sigh of relief when I heard her footsteps walking back toward the camp. I glanced over to Daryl, apologetic. "Sorry."

"Ain't nothin' you could'a done." He said, and gestured over to the entrance. "You best go first, so they don't get suspicious or nothin'." I nodded, and crouch-walked over to the entrance. I opened it slowly, peeking out to see if anyone was there, and to my relief, it was deserted.

"Coast is clear," I whispered to Daryl, before stepping out. I zipped it closed after he got out, and we both made our way over to the camp, exchanging soft smiles.

~*~

Everyone had gathered around the stones we used for the campfire and the stove as Shane gave a speech.

"I've been thinking about Rick's plan. There are no guarantees, either way i'll be the first one to admit that. I've known this man a long time, I trust his instincts. I say the most important thing is that we need to stay together. Those of you that agree, we leave first thing in the morning. Okay?" Everyone exchanged glances - some unsure what to make of this massive change, others glad to be finally getting out of the camp. He stood up and walked away, signalling the end of the speech, and the chatting began.

"How do we know these roads are going to be safe?" I heard Andrea ask, and I shook my head.

"Safer than up here, do you think?"

"Will it be worth it at the CDC though?" Carol added.

"What is the CDC anyway?" Dani added, voicing one of my own thoughts.

"Centre for Disease Control. They said that they were working on a cure." Glenn explained.
k "Well i'm going to pack my things." Lori stood up and headed straight for the camp, clearly annoyed with the whole situation. I hadn't made my mind up yet, but I still decided to get straight to work.