Surviving. (Book Two.)

Chapter Twenty Nine.

*Sarah's POV*

"Hey boy," I greeted as I closed the door to the house, giving him a good scratch behind the ear, realising that the house was silent and that Daryl probably wasn't back yet, "Great. He's left me to do this alone." 

I decided to wait until it got a little darker before I quickly got changed into a decent pair of jeans and a nice floral shirt before Zeus and I headed out on our small walk. 

I barely made it past the party house before Deanna was calling my name. 

"I hope you're not bailing on us!" 

"Of course not!" I laughed, "I'll be there as soon as I take Zeus home." 

"Nonsense!" she waved her hand and I suspected that had been knocking back a fair bit of alcohol, "He's part of the community too. Bring him along, I insist."

I looked down at the dog, "How about it boy? You up for a party?" 

Getting a bark in return, I let him lead the way across the street, following him into the house and smiling at a few people who greeted me. 

"Have a drink." Deanna said, suddenly appearing beside me and she handed me a glass of wine.

"Thanks," I smiled, taking a sip and looking around, "Looks like the whole community came." 

She then looked over my shoulder, "No Daryl?" 

"No, no. He decided to go out hunting earlier today. He normally stays out for a couple of days."

"Well, that's rather disappointing," she mumbled, "I was hoping to get the chance to get to know him better." 

Before I could reply, she disappeared when someone else came into the house, calling a 'hello' as she went. 

"Sarah?" Jessie said happily, making her way over to me and I noticed that she was pulling a tall blonde man by his hand, "Sarah, this is my husband, Pete." 

The man smiled and held out his hand for me to shake, only for Zeus to growl and go for him. 

"Zues!" I gasped, grabbing his collar before he could get him, "Zeus, stop!" 

People started staring as he continued to bark and growl and I managed to get him away from Pete, "I am so sorry. He doesn't normally act like this." 

He waved his hand and wrapped his arm around Jessie's shoulder, "Don't worry. Dogs have never like me." 

I frowned and started pulling Zeus backwards, "Still, I'm sorry. I'm just gonna take him home." 

Jessie frowned, "You're coming back, right?" 

"Of course!" I called, finally pulling the dog out of the front door. 

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"Thank you," I muttered, looking down at the dog who was now happily walking along beside me, "The first time we have the opportunity to socialize with normal people, you ruin it." 

He ran into the shadows between Deanna's and the house next to it and as a habit, I pulled out my knife, eyes darting along the shadow line. 

"Damn woman," I heard a very familiar voice say, "Put yer knife away. 'm not gonna hurt ye'." 

"Damn it, Daryl." I hissed, sticking my knife back where I kept it, "What the hell?"   

He finally stepped out of his hiding place, a small smirk on his face, "Did I scare ye'?"

"Yes," I muttered, giving his arm a good swat when he reached me, "Jackass." 

He smiled and wrapped his arm around my shoulder, "Though' ye' were goin' to tha' party?"

"I was at the party until your dog attempted to attack Jessie's husband." 

"My dog?" he asked, "Seriously? I didn't want to bring him back wi' us in the first place." 

I laughed and gave his hand a squeeze, "He'll hear you." 

"Let 'im." 

Aaron suddenly stepped out onto his porch and Daryl stopped, "Though' ye' were going to tha' party over there." 

"Oh no. No. I'm not going. Never was because of Eric's ankle. Thank God." he replied, crouching down to pet Zeus. 

"Then why the hell did ye' tell me to go?"

"I said try," he smiled, "You did. It's a thought that counts thing." 

"Alrigh'," Daryl muttered and started pulling me along with him again but Aaron stopped us again. 

"Hey. Why don't you come in? Have some dinner," he offers and my stomach rumbled at the mention of food, "C'mon man. It's some pretty serious spaghetti." 

Zeus had already disappeared inside the house and Daryl looked down at me, sighing when he saw me smiling up at him, "Dammit, fine." 

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*Daryl's POV*

"I really like your house," Sarah murmured, taking a mouthful of her food, "The licence plates are awesome." 

"It was Aaron's idea," Eric said, a doting smile on his face as he looked across the table at him, "One of his better ones." 

I stayed quiet, shoving the spaghetti into my mouth as if it was my last meal on earth and I heard Sarah clear her throat. Looking up, I saw her staring at me with wide eyes while Eric was stifling his laughter. 

"Sarah," Aaron said quietly, "More wine?" 

She smiled and held up her glass, "Just a little bit." 

"While you're out there, if you happen to be in a store or something, Mrs Neudermyer is really looking for a pasta maker," Eric starts, smiling at us all again, "And we're really trying to get her to shut up about it. I mean, we have crates of dried pasta here but she wants to make her own or something. I really think she just wants something to talk about so if you see one on your travels, it would..." he trails off when he sees that both Sarah and I are wearing the same confused expression and looks over at Aaron, "I thought it was done already. You didn't ask him already?" 

"Ask me what?" I asked, looking at the other man too.

He stood up, "It's better if I show you. Do you mind, Sarah?" 

She waves her hand and turns back to Eric, "Not at all. Go ahead." 

I get up too and follow him into the garage of the house which is full of old parts and my eyes are immediately drawn to the motorcycle like shape under a tarp. 

"When I got the place, there was that frame and some parts and equipment. Whoever lived here built them," Aaron explained, walking around the room. 

"It's a lot of parts for one bike," I noted, looking over all the pieces of metal. 

"Whenever I came across any parts out there, I brought them back, I didn't know what I'd need. I always thought I'd learn how to do it, but I get the feeling you already know what to do. Besides, the thing is, you're going to need a bike." 

"Why?" 

"I told Deanna not to give you a job because I think I have one for you. One that I think you might like." he mumbled and I stopped inspecting everything to look at him, curious, "I want you to be Alexandria's other recruiter 'cause I don't want Eric risking his life anymore." 

"Ye' want me riskin' mine, righ'?" I question.

"Yeah, because I know that you know what you're doing. You're good out there." Seeing that I was hesitating, he continued, "You can talk to Sarah if you'd like. I know that it's important to keep your wife in the loop." 

"Lemme talk to her and then I'll get back to ye'. 'm sure she'll be fine wi' it so...I'll get ye' some rabbits" I mumbled and he began leading me towards the door to the house again. 

He smiled when we heard loud laughter coming from further inside, "Great. I think she's just made a new best friend." 

I nodded. Sure sounded like it. 

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Sorry for the delay :)