Survival in Numbers (Daryl Dixon/The Walking Dead)

Chapter Fifty Eight - The Return

Emma gave Maggie a thorough check, her hands shaking as she did so. The brunette was shaking, but not because she was uncomfortable with the red head. Emma understood completely, although Shane hadn't managed to take her she had still been shaken up about it...in a way she still was.

Once Maggie's check up was over, Emma took a seat on her mattress as the brunette quietly dressed herself.

"He said I was unlucky." Maggie murmured then, "He said it wasn't me he wanted, but I'd do. Said he wished it had been you on the run, instead."

Emma felt sick.

"That's what really happened in the pharmacy, wasn't it?" The Greene girl said then, with wide, fearful eyes.

"He tried to." Emma revealed. "But he didn't. You and Glenn stopped him."

They sat in silence.

"I had him in my scope." Emma told her, "My finger on the trigger, I should've done it."

"You couldn't." Maggie said, "Even if I saw him again now...I know I couldn't. There are some things we can't take back."

They sat together in a companionable silence.

"I lied to Glenn." Maggie whispered, choking back a sob. "He asked me if I was...and I said no. I lied." Emma wrapped her arms around the younger woman, tears in her own eyes.

"Please don't say anything." Maggie said, sniffing back her tears, "I'm not ready-"

"-I understand." Emma replied, using her thumb to wipe the tear marks from Maggie's cheeks. "I won't say a word unless you tell me to. I promise." She said, "You can talk to me whenever, you know that, right?"

Maggie nodded, "I'm sorry about Daryl."

Emma shrugged, "I knew he was going to stay with Merle, as soon as Rick said he wasn't welcome. I don't know why I'm so upset over something I expected-"

"-Because you had something real."

"It wasn't real."

"It was." Maggie stated, determination in her eyes. "We could all see it. The way he reacted was a front. You know that. We know that. He didn't want Merle to see how much you affect him."

"I don't think Rick should have sent Merle away." Emma said, "I told him as much."

"I agree. Even Glenn chewed him out about it." Maggie informed. "Merle tortured Glenn, but it was orders from the Governor. And when Shane...did what he did to me. Merle got him out of my cell, punched him." She wiped at her face, "He looked sorry for me. Like he didn't help me in time. I think he would've stopped Shane before, if he knew."

Emma remembered how Merle had tried to warn her about her boyfriend. "I don't think he's as tough as the men think he is. I think he's a softie at heart."

"I do too."

They sat together in silence for a moment, holding each other's hands tightly.

"We got some new people." Maggie said then, "Carl found them and locked them in the old cell block. Rick's talking to them now. They found their way inside from a breach in the wall."

"But Daryl did loads of perimeter checks-"

"-This one led them into a different yard." Maggie said, "They forced their way through a locked door into Axel and David's block. Tyreese - one of the guys - he and his sister Sasha seem like good people. Good strong people. There's another man - Allen - who just lost his wife to a bite. His son is with them too...he's called Ben." Maggie chuckled.

Emma cracked a grin, and then the two of them were startled by the sound of a gunshot, and screaming. The red head and Maggie both jumped into action, racing out of the cell and grabbing rifles off of the canteen table before they ran into the yard.

There was a group of men at the gates, and both women ducked behind the picnic bench together to open fire on the men of Woodbury.

"That's the Governor!" Maggie informed Emma, yelling over the sounds of gunfire. "On top of the truck!"

"The one with the eye patch?"

"Michonne stabbed him."

Emma watched as walkers were released from a bread truck, the corpses soon swarming the yard.

"Carl and Rick!" She cried out, turning her rifle to the bodies following after the sheriff and his son like obsessed fans.

Then her heart skipped a beat, as a familiar jacket and a one handed man joined them.

Emma popped bullets into walkers surrounding the three men and the young boy as they fought to get back to the yard and finally, as Emma stopped to reload, they made it to the gates and into the safety of the prison yard.

The Governor yelled words at Rick, but Emma couldn't listen. Her eyes were fixated on the one eared man who had set his murderous gaze on her fiery red hair.

She froze, her eyes wide. Her hands began to shake, and both fear and anger blossomed within her. She took a shaky breath when he blew her a kiss, and she had to stop Maggie from looking in his direction.

The sound of engines signified that the Governor and his men were leaving, and once they were out of sight, Emma threw her arms around Maggie once again.

"We can't go anywhere until we clear that lot." Tyreese said, gesturing to the walker filled field.

"You can stay." Rick told him, "If you want, that is." He then turned to Merle, "You too. But you've got to follow rules. All of you." He stood in diva pose, "If anyone is not prepared for war, I won't make you stay. But we got thangs to discuss if you are."

"Did we lose anyone?" Emma asked, avoiding Daryl's gaze.

"Axel and David." Carol said, "Their bodies are over there. We stopped them from reanimating. But we can't bury them until the field is cleared."

Emma nodded, crossing her arms over her chest to prevent her hands from shaking.

Everyone set to work then, a couple of people stood at the gates between the yard and the field, wedging their knives through the chain link fence and into the walkers skulls.

Emma and Maggie returned to Emma's cell. The red head took a deep breath, and ran her hand through her hair. "I need a shower." She said.

"So do I." Maggie agreed, "I want to scrub the feeling of his hands off of me. How did you...how did you cope, after?"

"I didn't." Emma replied, "I tried to kill myself." Maggie's eyes widened considerably. "I couldn't sleep. His eyes haunted me every time I closed my eyes. Sometimes they still do. That was the night I ran away to the pharmacy and Daryl stopped me."

"I didn't know." Maggie replied quietly, taking Emma's hand in her own. "Glenn never said."

"Glenn doesn't know." Emma replied. "You're the only person I've told."

A shadow fell over the doorway, and both teary eyed women looked up to find Daryl standing before them.