Chapter 58 - Twice As Far

One Week Later

The toilet flushes and I get to my feet, stepping over to the sink and rinsing out my mouth. I hear footsteps coming and I look up to see Daryl fold his arms and look at me from the doorway, his eyes locked on me.

"Don't say it." I say, reaching over and grabbing the hand towel and wiping at my mouth.

"Don't say what?" He asks and I roll my eyes, "Don't say I told you so, I feel awful enough as it is." I say, the nauseas feeling in my stomach.

"Well I told you not to eat that spam." He says and I glare at him, "What did I just say?"

A smirk comes to his lips and I roll my eyes, "Fine, yes admittedly eating spam that was past its expiry date was a bad idea but it just looked really good."

"And now you've got food poisoning." He states and I nod my head, "Yeah, now I do."

"I told you so, but you wouldn't listen." He says as I walk past him and down the stairs towards the kitchen.

"Okay I get the point. Next time if the food is past the expiry date, I won't eat it." I say, grabbing a glass and filling it up with water.

I take a long drink before wiping at my mouth and looking up at him, "You going on a run today?" I ask.

He shakes his head, "No, Rick decided not to go out today."

"What's the plan then?" I ask and he shrugs his shoulders, "I don't know... Maybe just work on the bike. What about you?" He asks as I take a long drink once more.

I swallow and turn, putting the glass in the sink to wash up later, "I'm heading out on a small run with Glenn later, checking out this little market and pharmacy place that Rosita and Spencer stumbled upon a couple of days ago."

"You sure you're up for that?" He asks.

I nod my head, "Yeah, I mean I was sick the last couple of days but I feel better now. Besides, Glenn needs someone to watch his back." I state.

"I'd rather you make sure you got better first." He says.

A smile comes to my lips and I step forward, wrapping my arms around his neck as I look up at him, "You're cute when you worry." I say as he places his hands on my hips.

He grunts and I tilt my head to the side, "I'll be fine, routine run."

"You sure?" He asks and I nod, "Yeah, you just work on your bike. Man, doesn't that bring back memories?" I say, thinking back.

"Merle and I working on the bike or truck while you would sit and watch us slave away." He teases and I shrug my shoulders, "What was I meant to do? You know I would have wrecked anything I touched."

He chuckles and nods, "Good thing you're pretty."

"Right back at you." I say and he rolls his eyes and I smile, leaning up on my toes and giving him a long kiss on the lips.

We kiss for a long time before I pull back and glance over at the clock on the wall, "I better go get ready, I'm meant to be meeting Glenn in fifteen minutes."

"Alright, I'm gonna head to the bike." He says, pulling away from me.

"Be down in a few minutes." I say, turning and making my way up the stairs.

I walk into our bedroom and begin to quickly finish getting ready. I pull on a jacket and my boots as well as tying my hair up into a ponytail. I quickly slip on my knife and gun before turning and making my way downstairs. I reach the front door and step out on the porch to see Denise and Rosita speaking to Daryl.

"After I got out of DC I just drove, and I remember seeing right when I realise I had no idea where I was going. Edison's apothecary and boutique." Denise explains, looking between the two as I walk down the steps and stop by Rosita, peering over at the map in their hands.

"It's just this little gift shop in a strip mall, but if it's really an apothecary? They had drugs." She states.

"How do you know they still got them?" Daryl asks, looking up at her.

"It isn't that far, I just wanna check." She says, "And you and Rosita aren't out scavenging or pulling shifts."

Daryl nods his head and glances over at me before looking back at her, "We'll go."

"I wanted to check." She clarifies, "I just wanted to help."

"How much time you spent out there?" Daryl asks, nodding towards the outside of the walls.

"None." She states after a moment and he shakes his head, "Forget it."

"I can ID the meds, I know how to use a machete now, I've seen roamers up close. I'm ready." She argues, meeting his eye and a small smile comes to my lips at her spirit.

Daryl looks over towards Rosita, "You good with this?" He asks her and she shakes her head, "No."

"I'll go alone if I have too." Denise threatens and Daryl meets her eye, "You'll die alone."

"I'm asking you to make sure I don't." She counters.

He looks over towards Rosita who shakes her head, "I'm not babysitting her by myself."

He looks over at me and I bite my lip to hide my smile, he shakes his head and looks at Denise, "You do exactly as we say."

"Okay." She says and he shakes his head once more, "Head over to the cars and I'll meet you guys there."

They nod and Denise turns, making her way away and Rosita exchanges a look with Daryl before turning and following after Denise. She's had a rough couple of weeks, what with her break up with Abraham. From my understanding, she's been sleeping with Spencer but that doesn't bother me, as long as she is okay.

I turn and look at Daryl who shakes his head as he stares after Denise, "She's stupid."

I shrug my shoulders, "She wants to help."

"She's not ready." He argues and I nod my head, "I know, everyone knows. But she needs this, especially with Tara being out on that run with Heath. She's couped up in this community everyday just waiting for someone to get injured. If you take her out just on this one trip, hopefully she won't be as stir crazy. Just keep an eye on her."

He looks at me for a moment before nodding his head and I step forward, placing my hand on his cheek and giving him a sweet kiss before stepping back, "I gotta go, but I'll see you this afternoon."

"Be safe out there." He says and I nod, "You too."

"I love you." He says and a smile comes to my face, "I love you too."

I turn away from him and make my way down our street over to Maggie and Glenn's. I reach their house and I see Glenn and Maggie speaking in the doorway. They exchange a kiss before Glenn places his hand on Maggie's belly, it lingering there for a moment. I turn away from their moment and push away my feelings when I hear footsteps coming down the front steps.

"You ready to go?" Glenn asks, coming to a stop beside me and I nod my head, "Ready when you are."

"The both of you be safe out there okay?" Maggie says, standing at the top of the steps.

I nod my head, giving her a small smile, "Don't worry, I'll make sure I'll keep Glenny here safe." I say, reaching up and ruffling up his hair like I used to back at the quarry all those years ago.

He pushes my hand away playfully and shakes his head, "Let's go already." He says, a big smile on his face.

I chuckle and follow after him, making our way over to the car's. Since our attack on the saviours, things have been good around here. The food the hilltop provided has lifted the spirits of everyone in the community, full stomachs resulting in happy people. There's a sense of peace settled over everyone and it's really nice to finally be relaxed to some extent, to let our guard down even a little bit. We've got something great going on here and I have the feeling it will last for a long time.

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We pull up out front of the small store fronts and have a quick look around. The parking lot to the complex is quite small, littered with rubbish from the early days. The store front windows are boarded up, some graffiti and blood marking the ageing wood. Glenn and I step out of the car, guns in hand as well as a crowbar we make our way forward. On the signs above its states 'Al's Liquor Yard', "Bettie's Bakery', 'Paula's Market' and 'Jerry's Pharmaceutical Emporium'.

We slowly make our way towards the market first, our senses on alert for any danger. We reach the store front and Glenn hits against the door, me keeping an eye out. We wait for a while and we hear nothing. Glenn turns back and holds out his hand and I pass him the crowbar. He slides it between the door and begins to push at it until it opens.

I turn around and we both cautiously make our way into the store. The place is silent, no sign of any human or walker activity. Just to be sure, we check all aisles and find nothing before going back to the store front and grabbing baskets.

"You take the left half and I'll take the right?" He suggests.

I nod my head, "Sure."

We split up and I make my way down the first aisle, finding nothing much in the way of canned goods. It's mostly a fruit stand and all the fruit is rotten. I screw up my nose, feeling sick at the smell but I ignore it and quickly make my way into the next aisle. There's a few cans of fruit and I grab them, placing them into the basket. I also find a couple of cans of vegetables and I place them in before turning to the next aisle, netting Glenn in the middle.

"Find much?" I ask and he shrugs his shoulders, "Some lighters, matches. A couple of boxes of painkillers, some sanitary products." He lists and I chuckle, causing him to smile.

"Just like old times huh?" I say, thinking back to his runs to the city back in the early days and he rolls his eyes.

"Wanna head on over to the pharmacy? Maybe we'll have more luck there." He states.

I nod my head, "Yeah, but let's dump this in the car first."

He nods in agreement and we make our way out to the car, putting them in the backseat. We make our way over to the pharmacy and repeat this process from before. However this time we hear a banging on the other side of the doorway.

"You got it covered?" He asks and I nod my head, "Yeah, you get the door."

I holster my gun and grab my knife out, getting into position while Glenn places the crowbar in between the doors. He turns back and looks at me, "The count of three?"

I nod my head and he turns back to face the door, "One... Two... Three!" He says, pushing open the door.

A walker stumbles out and looks around before its hungry dead eyes land on Glenn. I step forward and plunge my knife into its skull, it falling down to the ground. I look up and see another one step out but Glenn quickly takes it down. We both look at each other and he holds his fist out and I tap his with mine, causing us both to laugh.

We make our way into the spree and I look around, "Not much here." I state.

He nods in agreement, "I know, but maybe we'll find something. Go check out behind the counter too."

"Grab anything useful." I say, turning and walking down the aisle.

There's a bag laying in the middle of the aisle and I pick it up, opening it up and tossing out the rubbish. I see knick knacks and stationary and I ignore it, making my way forward. At the end of the aisle I see cough medicine and some cold and flu tablets. I toss them in the bag and turn the aisle, grabbing a few things on the way.

As I look ahead at the end of of the aisle, I slow my walk until I reach a shelf at the end. It's the feminine hygiene section. I begin to grab a few things when my hands linger over the prenatal vitamins. I hear footsteps and Glenn comes to a stop beside me, "Find anything good?"

"Yeah." I say, my eyes not leaving the bottle at my fingertips.

He looks over and let's out a relieved breath, "Good, we've been looking for these for awhile." He says, grabbing the bottles from in front of me.

I step back and turn to walk away when he chuckles, "Think we need to bring back any of these?" He asks.

I turn around and see him holding up a long, square box and I read it closely, "Pregnancy tests?"

He shrugs his shoulders and looks down at the box, "What harm could it do?"

I nod my head, "I suppose, I mean there are quite a few young couples in the community. Wouldn't hurt to stock up on them just in case right?"

A smirk comes to his lips as he looks up at me, "Maybe for you and Daryl..." He teases.

The smiles on my face falters and I look down at the ground, "I don't really think that's going to be an issue for us."

"Why? I mean it's not like you're too old to have kids." He points out.

"It's not that." I murmur, growing uncomfortable and upset.

"Then why not?" He asks, looking at me curiously.

"I uh... I can't have children." I state quietly.

The mood in the room shifts and I hear him shift on his feet, "Bree... I'm sorry."

I shake my head as I fight back the urge to cry, "It's fine Glenn. It was a result of my fight with Dean... The ex boyfriend that kidnapped me after I left the prison. Bob told me that I lost an ovary, cutting my chances to have children right down."

He looks at me sadly, "That's why you've been weird around Maggie."

I don't say anything and he steps forward, wrapping his arms around my shoulders. He hugs me for a long moment and I slowly wrap my arms around him, returning his gesture. We stay like that for a moment before he steps back. He looks at me sadly and I look away, "Let's keep going huh? I want to make it back before sundown."

He nods his head and I reach down, grabbing some of the tests off the shelf to place in the infirmary when we get back. We turn and make our way towards the stock at the back. I just want to make it through this run, get back home and spend the night in Daryl's arms. I feel safest with him, being by his side and holding him. He makes everything better and right now, that's all I want.