Fighting to Survive: The 3rd installment to Daring to Feel

Chapter 18: Jobs

I get out of the shower after he does, following his wet foot prints on the ground to a bedroom, "everythin' okay?" I ask him lowly after shutting the door behind me. All we did was make out under the water, but I've never felt closer to him before.

His dirty pants are back on now, the towel resting on the floor, "sure" he says back with a smile, "I love you" he tells me, pulling me closer to him.

He puts his hands on either side of my hips and rests his head into my wrapped up stomach, "I love you too, Daryl, but you're scaring me" I whisper back running my fingers through his damp hair. I want to be close to him again, feel his hands run down my back. I want him to make love to me.

He shakes his head while mumbling, "don't be" and just keeps his head pressed against me. A few moments pass before he lifts his head up and looks up to me, "let's get downstairs" he says standing up and grabbing the same dirty shirt and vest he's been wearing. I know better then to ask him if he wants something cleaner, Daryl could care less about appearances, he likes to be comfortable.

Later that night I hang out on the front porch with Daryl and Carol as she tells us a bit about the people she met today. Rick walks out, dressed in an officer's outfit, "you a cop again?" Daryl asks him. He told me earlier that Deanna asked him to be the constable for the town. I couldn't tell though why that seemed to bother Daryl so much.

"I'm trying it on for size." Rick says in return.

"So we're staying?" Carol asks.

Rick answers, "I think we can start sleeping in our own homes. Settle in."

"If we get comfortable here, we let our guard down-- this place is gonna make us weak." I say lowly, nervous of being that person I used to be.

"Carl said that, too." Rick tells me, "but it's not gonna happen. We won't get weak. That's not in us anymore. We'll make it work." He presses on with what he's saying, "and if they can't make it, then we'll just take this place."

I look at Daryl, who's looking at him with a dead locked stare. Rick goes back inside and Daryl eases up once he is gone, "Daryl, we're not those people, we won't be" I trail off, not agreeing with Rick's speech.

He shrugs, "sometimes we gotta do things we don't like" he says back to me with a one shoulder shrug and I know not to push it farther.

The next morning Rick and Carol come back from outside the walls. He informs me that Daryl stayed out to hunt for some food, to keep an eye on the perimeter, "he say how long?" I ask him.

"No, but should be back before it gets dark." Rick says back to me, "Deanna wants us over her house in an hour." He says while walking by me.

"She say what for?" I ask.

He shakes his head, "just to bring you and Michonne along with me. I'll meet you down here in a bit" and just as quickly as he walked into the house he's out of my sight.

An hour later and I'm sitting next to Maggie at a square table. Deanna walks over with a clear glass filled with crystal clear water, "you protect and serve. You patrol, walk the wall, watch out for the kids. If there's a conflict, you solve it. And people will listen to you." She explains to Rick and Michonne their roll as the police here.

Michonne coiffs back, "because we're wearing windbreakers?"

"Because they believe in this." She responded without hesitation, "because I'm telling them to." She points out the window, "a police officer used to live here. So we had these jackets and I wanted to make it official. So it's official." She sits down on a bar stool, her face eager, "there's gonna be a government here one day. That's why I want Maggie working with me. There's gonna be a police force. That's why I want you two to start it. There's going to be a hospital, that's why need Sadie there. I see a vibrant community here with industry, commerce, civilization. Real lives." She talks with ease but also with power, determination, "it might be horses and mills, but-- what? Does that sound like pie in the sky?" She stops and asks, probably all of us having the same dumbfounded smirks on our faces.