Chapter 36

It's been a few weeks now, I think, I've been keeping busy to distract from the blaring siren of danger that lives down the street from me. It's like he thinks we live in a freaking suburb, he freaking came by one day asking if we had oranges! I didn't want to give him any, but Daryl happened to be there and gave them to him, of course Negan left with a smug look on his face. Daryl went on to tell me he had learned to live with it, so could I, I am the one that slept with him, and hurt Daryl in process, he should be angrier than me right now.

So Daryl woke me up today, not even at dawn, it was still dark out.

"Get dressed, we're going on a run." Daryl said gently, as he rubbed my arm, and pushed my hair out of my face.

"What about Scout?" I took in a deep breath as I stretched.

"Already took him to Rick's, he slept through it all." Daryl said with a smile.

Things were great between Daryl and Scout, they did literally everything together, except showers, because they hardly ever did that anyway. Daryl would read to him and Scout enjoyed every minute of it, they would go hunting together; Scout was collecting the animal pelts, he wanted to make hats, gloves, coats, and blankets out of them, well he wanted me and Daryl to make all that stuff for him. I was currently working on a hat for him, I was saving it for his "birthday", which was mid-autumn.

I climbed out of bed, getting changed into my most worn clothes; they were stained, covered in patches and holes, but they saw me through the worst. Kind of one of those luck things, ya know. I packed extra clothes not knowing how long we would be, or how disgusting my clothes would get. I pulled on a beanie and zip-up hoodie, because it was starting to get cold. I laced up my boots, and was ready to go. I went outside where Daryl already was, a smile appearing on my face when I saw him mounting his motorcycle; he had told me about the accident, even showed me his mangled bike, so I was surprised to see him on it.

"Been fixing it up since you came back, told Scout to keep it a secret." He smiled back.

"Daryl Dixon..." I swiftly moved over to him, pressing a kiss to his lips. "I love you." I kissed him again.

"Love you too." He smirked. "Let's go." I climbed onto the back of his bike, wrapping my arms around him.

As he drove toward the gate he let out a whistle so whoever was keeping watch would know to open it up, and we drove straight out of Alexandria. I was back on the open road, I really didn't think I would miss it much, but I did, wide open space, surrounded by trees, grassy hills, streams, instead of walls.

"So what're we out here for?" I asked.

"Thought you could get out for a bit." He called back to me. "Haven't seen you this wound up since the war."

"And I haven't you seen you this relaxed since our sex-filled vacation." I mentioned, a sly smile playing at the corner of his mouth.

We drove on for miles, until we pulled up to the Kingdom, I was unsure about this, Carol told me what would happen if I hurt Daryl. Daryl drove the bike inside once the gates were open, parking the bike near the gates, King Ezekiel one of the first to greet us.

"Hazel, it has been some time!" Ezekiel called to me with a large smile on his face.

"Hey Ezekiel." I smiled shyly as we embraced  each other.

"What's happened, this isn't the Hazel I last saw." He looked at me seriously.

"A lot has happened." I shrugged.

"I heard, where is he, where's your son?" Ezekiel looked at Daryl then me.

"Back home, I didn't want to overwhelm him." I said simply.

"Well I'll wait to meet him with anticipation." Ezekiel smiled.

"I told him stories about Shiva, he's excited to here more from you." I smirked at him.

"I will indeed." Ezekiel smiled. "Now tell me the boy's name."

"Scout." I smiled.

"Scout, sounds like an adventurous name, I'm sure it suits him." Ezekiel gave me a smile.

"Hazel." I heard the lioness voice call, chills running down my spine. I reached back grabbing Daryl's hand, completely terrified. Carol strode toward me, standing three feet from me, irritation between her brows as she looked at me.

"C-Carol." I cleared my throat, frightened. Suddenly she collided into me, wrapping her arms around me, I stood there stiffly, in shock.

"I'm glad your back, he missed you." She whispered to me. "And I heard the news." She said happily as she pulled away. "Congratulations on your son." She looked at the two of us, smiling. "What's his name, how old is he, tell me about him."

"Name's Scout." Daryl spoke up.

"He's three, and just like Daryl." I laughed lightly.

"I cannot wait to meet him, you need to bring him to the Kingdom, he'd love it." Carol smiled.

"He's heard stories about you, he'll love to meet you." I said simply.

After a meal, and more chatter we were back on the road, heading nowhere. Soon we came across a mall, a pretty large one at that, curiosity getting the best of us, we decided to check it out. It was crazy looking at this place and thinking about what it looked like in its prime. Grass had over grown around it, vines climbing the walls, windows busted, trees taking over, there was even plant life inside. Both of us equipped with empty packs, weapons and flashlights we went in, I remained close to Daryl watching his six, as he inched in. This place seemed pretty empty, and it was very open, I'm sure there was nothing here useful, but, eh, what the heck why not check it out?

We went to the second floor, coming across a shoe store, checking for any shoes, all mismatched, torn, or ruined completely, not a single pair usable. That's when I heard something, and I tapped Daryl's shoulder so he would know to be aware. It sounded like whispers, hushed voices, I moved to the entrance of the shoe store slowly, with my gun in hand, and hatchet close. I looked side to side seeing nothing, then I heard a walker snarl, then another, the sound of shuffling feet echoing through the mall.

"Sounds like a lot of them." I said quietly to Daryl.

"We wait 'em out, can't get up the stairs we'll be fine." Daryl whispered back. We went to the edge of the balcony, looking over it to see way more walkers than we had thought. The snarls of the walkers bouncing off of every empty corner was deafening, as we watched the river of walkers making their way through the mall.

"There's gotta be an exit up here." I said to Daryl, concerned for the both of us now. That's when I heard slow foot steps coming up the stairs. "They're coming up here. Hurry." We rushed toward the back of the shoe store, going back into the stock room, hoping for an exit, but found nothing.

As I was rushing around looking for an exit, Daryl kept an eye out, soon clicking his tongue at me for his attention.

"They're coming, hide." Daryl hissed. We scrambled around trying to find something, by the time I found a slightly hidden corner Daryl was already gone. He must've found something way better than I did, damn it.

I was scared out of my mind, I could hear noises in the store, like maybe they were just bumping into stuff; then the stock room door opened. Shiiiiiit, shiiiiit, no, no, no, I'm pretty sure I was holding my breath at this point, tears pricked my eyes, I don't think I've ever felt this scared in my life, at least not in a while. Suddenly another walker stepped in the room, I watched them closely, seeing that they were searching through the shelves, walkers didn't do that, then I could hear their hushed whispers to one another, walkers didn't do that. I tried to listen closer to their whispers, but my heart was pounding in my ears, I couldn't hear them. I tried to take several silent deep breaths but I think the pounding was worsening, especially when I saw one looking directly at me, it's eyes weren't dead, they were bright living green.

"There." The walker whispered, pointing at me. The two shuffled toward me, I got ready to push the shelves over, when I heard rustling on the other side. "Adidas." The walker whispered.

"Alpha needs shoes." The other whispered.

"Alpha like them." The first walker whispered almost enthusiastically.

I peered past them when I saw movement, it was Daryl getting ready to pounce, that's when I acted, and pushed the shelves over.

"Run!" I yelled to Daryl running after him, but was grabbed, shoved up against the wall, with my mouth covered.

"Shhhh!" The walker said, very close to my face, his smell filling my nostrils. "Disturb them." He pulled his hand away from my mouth slowly, I wanted to run, but I noticed he had a knife to my stomach, the other standing close by with a knife as well.

"Who?" I asked quietly.

"The guardians." The other whispered back. I swallowed hard trying so hard not to do something stupid.

"Who are you?" I said shakily, feeling tears at my eyes again.

"The Whisperer's." They whispered at the same time.