[IC] TWD (18+)

[Wick]

Collaboration Post

Hector gently stroked Jax's back and let a heavy sigh escape him as they both rested within their tent. He stared at Jax's sleeping form with an uneasy frown as the crickets chirped annoyingly from outside the tent. He would always glance towards the tents entrance in hopes to see April enter without a scratch, but he would always end up disappointed as the tent only housed him and a sleeping Jax. Ever since she had left with Rafe Hector had been in a sour mood and would ignore everyone, including his own team. He shook his head as her outburst from earlier ran through his head and scoffed.

"The hell is she even mad for? It's like she wants to be around that bastard," he mumbled with annoyance. Sure the two broke up long ago, but Hector still didn't like how he would be around April. It just caused further anger within his mind. His head lowered a bit as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He had been awake for hours now and should be sleeping, but his worry for April would always force him awake. "Just come back soon," he mumbled to himself.

April took the bear cub to Petra and returned Pixie as well. Yawning she headed towards hers and Hector's tent. She never hesitated or second guessed she just walked in. She knew he was mad at her but that wouldn't change how he felt about her. Her eyes met his the instant she entered.

She took off her jacket and moved a little slower than usual. The cuts from the cub's long nails were bleeding and they were painful but she ignored them as best as she could. She didn't like it when he was mad at her. She moved towards him and saw the worry in his eyes. April leaned over and kissed him on the neck. "You still mad at me?"

Hector was silent and looked to April with a bit of relief, though as he saw her wounds he couldn't help but clench his fist. He never made eye contact with her and simply stared at the wounds with a frown. Finally after a few seconds he sighed and grabbed a nearby rag while unscrewing his canteen. "Turn around," he said as he splashed a bit of the water onto the rag. He wasn't a doctor, but he at least wanted to wash off the blood before it dried completely.

April watched the look in his eyes and she turned so he could get the wounds. "We found the bear protecting a small baby cub and fighting off walkers. After we killed the injured bear I grabbed the cub and brought it back to Petra. I'm sure she will figure out a way to help it. I wasn't about to leave it there for the walkers to eat."

His hands on her skin felt soothing and warm as he cleaned the wounds. She still felt the tension in him. She sighed.

"Rafe and I have not been together in over six years. I don't understand what the deal is."

Hector froze at her comment and simply looked to the ground with a frown. He felt anger and annoyance. Anger towards Rafe for even being a part of her life and annoyance towards April who simply didn't understand. He gritted his teeth and resumed to clean her wounds, making sure to remain gentle even though his temper was growing even more. "I don't care if you two broke things off six years ago, I don't like him or how he acts around you. Simple as that," he muttered loud enough for her to hear him. It was keeping everything he had within him not to burst.

April hesitated and decided to tell him how it made her feel. "It makes me feel like you don't trust me and it makes others see me as weak when you try to leave me here because you are worried about him and I. Rafe and I get along just fine. He doesn't flirt with me or try anything out of line. We don't work together all the time but he is my scouting partner and has been for years. I am not going to change everything because you don't like him!"

She turned so she was looking at him so he could see her eyes.

Hector stared into April's eyes without any emotions and scoffed. "Well Im sorry for caring about you, but I can't trust the bastard when he is around you," he said with gritted teeth. "He isn't the one that should be watching your back, it's someone that really cares about you or someone you care about," he stated and looked away. "I just want that bastard gone for good," he hissed.

April stared at Hector a moment. He hadn't said that he trusted her at all so maybe he didn't. He must have thought she was weak and unable to do her job because even though she brought it up he never disagreed with it. So, what? He thought everytime she left his side that she and Rafe were off somewhere doing it in the bushes or something? She grabbed her jacket and looked at it.

"So you don't trust me. You don't trust me not to mess around with Rafe and you don't trust me to do my job? No matter what you think of him you should at least be able to trust me! It's been almost four years for you and me. I thought that meant something." April felt the tears in the back of her eyes threatening so she went to walk out of the tent so he wouldn't see them.

Hectors eyes widened a bit and felt as if he just came out of trance. What the hell was he doing? What the living hell was he saying!? Of course he trusted her, but he was so focused on his anger towards Rafe it blinded him. He looked back to April, but before he could say anything she was making her way towards the tents entrance. He felt his legs push him forwards as he grasped her wrist softly and jumped in front of her to stop her from leaving. "Wait Apri-" he stopped mid-sentence as he saw tears ready to fall from her eyes. He stared down at her with a slightly shocked expression and shook his head. He did this. He has been going on about Rafe that he completely forgot about the person who really mattered.

"I-I... April Im..." he couldn't find the words to speak. His anger and annoyance were now directed to himself. He lowered his head and closed his eyes to hide his shame. "I didn't mean it like that. I trust you, I trust you completely! It's just I'm scared I'm gonna lose you to him, or god forbid lose you out in the field," he said as he held her hands gently. His mind clouded with guilt as the image of her crying replayed in his mind and he took a deep breath before continuing. "You are literally the only thing in my life that makes me happy. I've lost everything, and I can't even remember losing it! Everything before I was seven, I can't remember anything. Not my home, family, friends, nothing! I lived in that settlement with nothing and lived alone not knowing if someone from my past life was still out there. I trusted no one and kept to myself because I thought that was how it was supposed to be," he said with a shaking voice before looking back to her.

"That is until I met you. The one person that made me feel something towards someone. You gave me something that I was missing for all those years. Love," he said softly and shook his head. "I cant have that taken away from me."

April watched his expressions and his eyes as they changed at his memories and thoughts. Hector was very open with her but not with other people so much. She knew how he felt even before he said it. She walked into his arms and wrapped hers around him. She knew he trusted her, even if he forgot it sometimes.

"I'm sorry, I don't want to fight with you. You aren't going to lose me. I'm not going anywhere. I love you, even when you act like a jealous idiot."

She chuckled a little as she pulled him closer to her and hugged him tightly. Her feelings of uncertainty seemed to simply disappear. The one thing she could always count on with Hector was that he was genuine. He never lied about things. If he said something he meant it in the moment even if he later recanted. It was one of the many things she loved about him. She dropped her jacket and leaned into him and just held onto him afraid that something would take him away from her if she let go of him. Raising her face up she kissed him. She wanted him to realize that she was his. His. Not Rafe's or anyone else who might show up just Hector's.

All of the worry, anger and annoyance melted away as Aprils warmth filled his soul. He felt at peace in this moment and chuckled as he looked down to her. "But just to clarify things, there is nothing to compare between me and Rafe, right?" he asked as his eyes quickly glanced down. He just wanted to check.

April started laughing and shook her head. "Oh my god I love you you silly man! No there is no comparison." April kissed him and wrapped her legs around him as he carried her back to their makeshift bed.
@joker892

[Wick]

Collaboration Post

Darric was just finishing up a garage when he heard the gun shot. He dropped everything and his guys came out of the house and he told them to stay there together and he ran. He ran towards where April was and when he found her she was just starting to head over towards where Hector's squad was.

"No! No! You stay here and ...just stay HERE! I'll go!" Before she could object Darric was gone like a flash. Her heart was in her throat. Guns weren't something they saw too much of anymore. The others gathered around her and they all took a break and sat on the stoop of the house they were clearing.

Running into the street they were on, he scanned the street to figure out what houses they were at. The other half of his team came out of the house across the street and he bolted down there. "Where is Hector? Did anyone get shot?" He said barely breathing hard.

Hector stared at the bullet hole within the burnt wall and sighed with relief. "Almost got me there kid," he chuckled and glanced towards the doorway. He chewed his cheek as he tried to find the right words to move things along and looked behind him to see Alex and Franklin come running towards him with there weapons at the ready.

"Boss, what the hell!?" Alex shouted through heavy breathing.

"Was that a gun?" Franklin asked with wide eyes. Hector grinned and motioned with his head towards the room.

"Got a little friend with an itchy trigger finger in there," he said rubbed his neck. "Head outside and tell the others to keep any walkers from getting in, Im gonna have a little chat with our shooter," Alex and Franklin were hesitant at first, but they soon nodded and head outside to Rafes and Darrics groups.

Darric entered the burned house and he went in behind where the others came out. He told them to wait with Rafe. He was listening to Hector talk to the little girl and he thanked God that he wasn't shot. That was not something he wanted to tell April.

Hector sighed heavily and cleared his throat. "Nice weapon ya got there kid, real rare to see them where I come from," he said in attempts to break the ice. It failed as only silence loomed between the two. "Ya know Im not gonna hurt ya, hell Im not even mad at the fact that you almost killed me. I just wanna talk," he informed and edged closer to the door. "My names Hector, can I get yours?" he asked as he peeked around the corner slowly. He flashed the light towards her again slowly and gulped as he saw her weapon, but a bit of relief filled his mind as he noticed that it was lowered a bit. The girl looked towards him with tired brown eyes that hid behind long dirty blonde hair. She stared at him for a few seconds and spoke.

"Lilly, m-my name is Lilly," she said in a dry and shaky voice. Hector smiled slightly and held out a hand.

"Well its nice to meet you Li-" he was cut off by a yelp from Lilly and jumped as a low growl came from his left. He directed his light towards the noise and felt his heart drop as he came face to face with a crisp walker. "Fuck!" he shouted in shock and tried to step back in attempts to get some distance from the undead, but he felt the burnt floor crack from under him and fell to the ground with the undead following him to the floor.

"Hector!" He peered around the corner at the child. "Lilly? You okay?" The little girl nodded in fear at the undead that had fallen on Hector. Looking into the dark basement below Darric pulled his knife. "Hector! Lilly stay there I'll be back." Darric jumped into the hole and landed feet first on the body of a walker and he stabbed it in the head. He could hear more of them in the room.

Hector scrambled to his feet and felt his heart race as he looked towards Darric. "Holy shit, if I wasnt with your sister I would kiss ya!" he said with a grin. Though his grin quickly disappeared when several more groans filled the room. He slowly took a flare from his pack and lit it. "Oh shit," he mumbled at the sight of six more burnt undead bodies rising up from the basments floor. He slowly backed up to Darric and chuckled as he took out his hunting knife. "So, wanna see who can get the most kills? Winner has to do what the other ask."

Darric laughed. "I'm gonna win so you have to have babies with Elsa. I can handle April kicking the crap out of me."

He swung his knife into the back of the head of a walker that was qqzing everywhere. These things barely could stand in one piece they were so far gone. It didn't take them long to finish them off. When they were done Darric was once again wearing a lot of oozy brain guts. This time it was on his shirt. He kicked the door out of the room and it fell off of it's hinges. Ducking out of the room he slammed the walker limping towards him into the wall and it's brain just kind of exploded and melted down the wall. He went back up to the room and walked into the room without a care and smiled at Lilly.

"Can Hector carry you out? I got kinda gross killing walkers for you sweetheart."

Lilly stared at the man in silence and slightly nodded without words. Hector chuckled and walked passed Darric. "You really need a shower man," he joked and looked towards Lilly. He gave a kind smile and slowly walked towards her. She flinched a bit and he saw her weapon twitch a bit, but he held up his hands and shook his head. "Relax, Im a good guy," the girl looked hesitant, but she soon relaxed once again and avoided eye contact with him as he continued towards her. As he reached her he knelt down next to her and frowned at her appearance. She looked like she had been through hell and back and she seemed like she hadnt eaten anything proper for a week or two. He glanced down to her bare feet and cringed as he saw them blistered and covered in scratches. Her ankle even seemed a bit swollen. He shook his head and gently lifted her up within his arms. "We got someone who can help ya without any problems, come on," he said with a smile and rose to his feet with her cradled within his arms. Lilly kept her eyes down and pistol held within one hand close to her chest, but she used her free hand to hold onto his vest as she laid her head onto his chest. He chuckled and looked towards Darric as he walked towards the rooms exit. "Mind picking up my shit that I dropped?"

Darric came out of the room after collecting Hector's tomahoawk and flashlight and he followed him outside. April had not listened and she was outside instead of over at her assigned spot. Darric grinned at her relief as she saw Hector. When she saw the gun against the child's chest she walked over to her and held out her hand and said "Let Hector hold the gun and come to me." The little girl seemed relieved to see a woman and she almost dropped the gun as she handed it to Hector. April was hugged tightly as the little girl clung to her and began to cry in relief. April patted her back and shushed her reassuringly as she spoke to the child softly.

The look April gave Hector said everything Darric needed to see and he looked at Hector and said, "Elsa wants 15 kids dude, get hoppin'!" He laughed at the look on his face and he gave him a high five and a hug.

He chuckled and shook his head as he patted him on the shoulder and walked over to April and the crying Lilly. He scratched his cheek with a sheepish smile. "I didn't cause her to do this, honest," he chuckled and looked to the crying girl. "Her names Lilly and thats about all I know. Well, that and that she has an itchy trigger finger," he joked and looked around the group. He spotted Alex waving him down and gesturing towards a few walkers heading their way. He frowned and looked to April. "Mind taking her somewhere safe while we finish up here?" he asked. Lilly looked to him with teary eyes and seemed hesitant of letting him leave, but his smile seemed to calm her down and she buried her head into Aprils shoulder with a bit of sniffling.

April caught Darric's words and raised her eyebrows at it and listened to Hector. She smiled softly and reassured him. "I know you didn't babe. She is going to be okay it's just a release of stress." She nodded at Hector and told the guys. "I need you guys to cover the rest of my group. I'm taking her back to our tent Hector." She then walked away carrying the little girl.

Darric looked at Hector and chuckled, "Looks like you aren't getting any tonight."

Hector gave a sad look and looked to the sky with shaking fist. "Nooooo!" he cried out in horror. After a few chuckles from those surrounding him he looked to Darric with a grin. "Still, I get to say I banged your sister," he chuckled.

"I'll let that slide because you almost got shot by a 4 year old. Alright I gotta get back to my and now April's guys. Hey, I need one more your group was larger. Let me have her. That blond in the back Lyra isn't it? Come on you are with me."

@joker892

[Joker892]

April was back at the falls with Lilly. She had cleaned her up and given her a bath in the water. In the sun it wasn't so bad but if you stopped moving for too long it was cold. She had her sitting on the edge with her swollen ankle soaking in the water. She had been chatting with the child and calmed her down and fed her. hearing the guys coming back April looked up and smiled.

"I'm glad to see you two. Lilly is doing well and so is Jax." Lilly had burried her hands in Jax's fur and was petting him.

Darric looked at his sister and the child and he sat down near April. "I need your help. Elsa is ready to have a passal of kids and I don't know that she is the one and I need to know that before I consent to being father to an imagined 15 kids."

Hector chuckled and shook his head as he sat down next Jax and Lilly. "Still finding it hard seeing you as a father, no offense," he said and scratched behind Jaxes ear while giving Lilly a smile. "But if ya want my opinon, I say you simply tell her you want things to go on slowly. Me and April have been doing it and you dont see a bun in the oven yet, do ya?" he said before looking to April with a stern look. "There aint no bun in the oven is there?"


"No but there is a four year old on my lap so you tell me." She said sweetly with a grin. Darric chuckled at her expression.

"Yeah, she got you there buddy." he looked at the water. "I'm thinking I should just cut my losses with her and move on. Problem is there aren't alot of choices around here. Not too many of the girls here catch my attention. That Amy chick is a bit off. Petra is pretty but she is very into her animals and there are others that I really haven't spent any time around. So who knows right?"

"I think you should let Elsa go if you feel like it's not going to work out. You can have a baby when Hector and I do...in ten years when he feels like it." April gave Hector a look and then back to her brother.

Hector chuckled and rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish smile. "Am I that predictable?" he asked with a grin. He leaned forward towards Darric. "Ya know, maybe I can hook you up with someone, that is if you're up for it," he said.

April raised her eyebrows. Wait...What? she worried. He really wanted to wait ten more years? Scouts didn't always live that long nor did troopers. She wanted to have kids sooner than that. She refused to look at Hector. Instead she picked up Lilly and went up higher to the water and started to show her how to skip rocks.

"Hook me up? With who? I thought I knew everyone you did if not more."


Hector grinned and shook his head. "Well I got a few new members in my team and I think one of them would be decent enough for ya. I think her name was Bella," he said and glanced towards April who was teaching Lilly how to skip rocks. "Also, did I say something? Your sister seems a bit upset," he said in a hushed voice to make sure she couldnt hear them.

"Yeah I think you pissed her off. She wants kids in the next couple of years. I think I'll steal Lilly from her and go talk to Elsa. She won't kill me if I'm carrying a cute kid like Lilly. I might get out of there alive." he chuckled. "Good luck man."

Darric went up the hill and spoke to April a moment and left with Lilly on his arm. Her giggles could be heard for quite a distance as he tickled her upside down as he walked away.

April continued skipping rocks.

A heavy sigh escaped Hector watched April skip rocks for a few more seconds before pushing himself up and walking towards her. He could have worded it better, but he knew he should have kept his mouth shut on the baby subject. As he reached her side he turned towards the water and buried his hands into his pockets. He watched her skip rocks in silence and glanced towards her. "You mad?"

April stopped with the rocks and looked at him, then sighed and said, "I would think that having kids was something we would talk about not something that you just up and decide on your own. Why would you think that I would want to wait til I was 33 to have a baby? Why not next year or the year after? What if one of us dies in five years and we have nothing left of the other one? I think you deciding on your own was selfish and cruel."

Hector cringed and lowered his head with a sigh. "Look, I didnt mean it like that, its just..." he said and turned towards April with a frown. "I would love to have kids, but... what if something happened to both of us and we leave him or her behind? Sure I trust Darric, he can do the job, but just the fact that we would be leaving our child alone fucks with my head. I didnt mean to make a decision without you, I just sort of spat out shit that I didnt think about," he said and groaned as he ruffled his hair in frustration. "I dont know how to explain this shit, but I just want to let you know having a kid with you would be both the best and most terrifying thing to happen in my life."

April couldn't help it she smiled a little at his confession. "Mine too but I'd rather have a child who was ten years old with memories of us with him or her than one who was an infant who knew nothing of us." April walked slowly to him and wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled his hands out of his pockets.

"I'm not saying that I want a baby today or tomorrow but I don't want to wait for ten years either. Okay?" April kissed him a little seductively on the bottom lip catching it between her teeth and holding it just a second.

Hector nodded and looked down to April with a grin and let his hands run down her figure before planting a kiss onto her lips. "Ya know, if we work fast we can finish up by the time Darric is done using Lilly as a sheild," he chuckled and pulled her closer to him.

April pulled him down to her in a long kiss and tugged him into a cave behind the falls for a little privacy.

Darric ducked with Lilly in his arms and ran out of the tent that Elsa was in. A book hit him in the back of the head. "Well fuck you too Elsa!" He rubbed the back of his head and looked at Lilly. "Don't say that bad word ok. April will yell at me."


Sauntering around the tree nearest where they had set up camp he pulled the tire and rope he had found and made a tire swing and placed Lilly on it. "Let's give them a chance to make up okay? You like to swing right?"


Today has been a bit slow for Bella, killing a few walkers, finding a girl who nearly blown her team leader head off and losing her favorite knife. She sighed and flipped her hoodie over her head to hide from the sun. "I miss my bed," she mumbled to herself as she walked through the camp. Though she halted at the sound of a childs laughter. She glanced to her right and raised an eyebrow to see an unusual sight for her. It was the girl they had found in their sweep and she was being pushed on a tire swing by another teams leader, she forgot his name. She watched the two play and couldnt help but smirk. Soon she decided to join the two and walked towards the two with her hands buried into her hoodie. As she reached the two she gave a small smile and waved towards the girl. "Hey there, looks like your having fun," she said and chuckled. She glanced up at the man and chuckled sheepishly. "Hey, sorry if Im interrupting your play time, but it looked fun," she said and stuck out her hand. "Bella."

Darric looked up and smiled at the girl speaking to him and Lilly. "Hey, no you aren't interrupting us. We are just playing around on the swing. Hey you are on Hector's team right? I think he's mentioned a couple of new people."

Lilly wanted down so he stopped the swing and let her off. She ran around the area pretending to be an airplane. Darric sat down on the ground and Lilly catapulted herself into his upper body sending him backwards laughing.

Bella watched the two play and covered her smile as she chuckled. They looked like they were having fun. "Well glad Hector told ya about us, but I dont think he has mentioned you yet. Your a leader for another team right? Whats your name?" she asked as she sat down across from the two.

"I'm Darric and this is Lilly. She is my new buddy. Isn't that right squirt?" Lilly answered by giggling. Darric smiled at Bella. He thought she seemed nice. Maybe Hector was right.

"Darric said a bad word when that lady hit his head with a book. ..but I'm not saying it...." Darric turned her upside down and tickled her tummy. She howled with glee.

Bella raised an eyebrow and smiled. "A bad word?" she questioned and looked to Darric. "Now why would a lady be throwing things at your pretty little head?" she asked with a grin.

Darric actually had the grace to blush at that question and before he could stop her Lilly said, "She got mad!" Lilly's eyes got big as saucers. " Essa said a bad word first." Darric laughed at her and listened. Lilly continued. "He said he wasn't gonna give her fiffy babies when she wasn't the one." She looked up at Darric matter of factly and asked. "The one what?"

Darric was beet red at this point and looked at Lilly and said matter of factly. "Elsa is not the lady I'd want to make my wife so we can't have babies." Lilly climbed up and said "Okay I'm gonna play on the swing some more." She ran over and climbed up and started swinging it.

Darric scratched his head a bit embarrassed. "Kids say the darnedest things, huh?"


Bella crossed her arms and gave Darric an amused smirk. "They sure do," she chuckled and watched Lilly swing. "Cute kid, she seems totally different from when we found her," she said and shrugged. "Well, as long as she is up and moving then its fine," she looked back to Darric and tilted her head. "So, things not working out in the love life?" she chuckled.

Darric shook his head. "Its not that she isn't a nice person, she is I just don't love her. My sister and Hector love each other and you can see it. I want that you know, someone I can try to grow old with. I know it's kind of old fashioned but what's the point of life if not family and the love and strength that comes with it?" Darric felt a little like he said too much and that it might have made him look weird. He asked her, "So how is your love life?" with a smirk.

Bellas eyes widened a bit from the question and rubbed the back of her head with a sheepish smile as she crossed her legs. "Me? Love life? Now that is a fantasy!" she laughed. She shook her head and shrugged. "Never actually had time to hook up with someone, always been training or studying," she confessed. She let a grin slip onto her face as she raised an eyebrow towards Darric. "Why so interested? Just out of a relationship and now your back on the hunt?" she joked.

Darric chuckled and glanced over at Lilly on the swing. "Elsa and I've been off and on for a while. She wanted to get serious and I didn't. I'm not sure if you would call it one relationship or ten short ones. I don't want to have a different girl every night, it's too exhausting. I have to keep my eyes open or I might walk right past Miss Right. So I ask you. Are you my Miss Right?" Darric asked her softly. His voice was teasing and light. He wasn't wanting her to run off but he wanted to let her know he was interested in her too.

Bella couldnt help but snicker. She didnt mean to be rude, but his question just seemed to amuse her. She shrugged and scratched her cheek. "Miss right? Not sure really, maybe if ya get to know me a little better youll find out," she said with a wink. She pushed herself up from the ground and grinned at Darric. "Well it was nice meeting you Darric, we should talk again some other time," she said and waved to Lilly. "And hopefully we can play next time to. You looked like you were having fun," she chuckled and turned away from the two with a wave. As she walked away she seemed to have that Darric fellow on her mind. She thought for a moment and blushed a bit. Maybe she could find time for someone special..

Darric got to his feet and smiled at her as she kind of waved at him and Lilly. He could tell she kind of liked something about him. She was very happy when she left. Much more so than when she had gotten there. Darric chuckled and grabbed Lilly off of the swing and turned her upside down. Her shrieking laughter filled the ears of all in the area. His gaze followed Bella as she walked off. He would keep his eyes on that one. Figuring that they had had enough time he headed back to Hector and April's to drop Lilly off.

@Wick

[Wick]

collaboration

Darric had dropped Lilly back off with her new parental figures and he went up to the falls. He was tired and dirty and he just wanted to get in a swim before dinner. It was getting a little darker out and the water would soon be getting colder.

Hector wore a large grin as Lilly arrived and gestured for her to come sit next to him. "Hey there little trooper, just in time for dinner," he chuckled as he finished preparing their MRE dinner. Lilly happily ran over to Hector and jumped to his side with a smile. She looked to the MREs with confusion and looked up to Hector with a tilted head.

"Whats that?" she asked. Hector smiled as mixed the pork within the MRE packet.

"It's a MRE, meal ready to eat. It's not the best, but it will keep ya going," he said and offered her a bite. "Try it," Lilly was a bit hesitant, but after a violent rumble within her gut she quickly accepted his offer and took a bite from his plastic spoon. She chewed in silence as she tasted the food and after a few seconds smiled with delight.

"Its good!" she exclaimed with joy. Hector chuckled and gave her the packet.

"Then by all mean chow down, I got a beef MRE with my name on it," he said as he grabbed the beef meal. He looked to April and grinned. "What's your pleasure for the night?"

"Well, I was thinking that the festivities tonight might make a little one happy. Oh and that beef sounds good to me too." She said biting into her MRE. "I think Darric needs some time to sort out his recent Elsa issues."

Lilly stabbed her food and ate like a starved person. "Essa was mean to him. She was yelling and she threw something at him. I don't like her."

April's eyebrows lifted at this news. "You don't, Huh. I see why. That wasn't very nice was it?" She glanced up at Hector and caught his eyes and smiled softly. Lilly shook her head and kept eating.

Darric had washed and he was just swimming around, diving down every so often to bring back up a shell or pretty piece of rock. He figured he could make a necklace for Lilly or something else that she might like. He walked out of the water and pulled on his shorts and sat down and shaking out his hair like a wet dog. He then began inspecting his finds.

Bella crept silently through the camp grounds as she made her way to the falls. She made sure not to run into anyone seeing as how she didnt want anybody knowing what she was up to. She felt her stress getting the better of her and needed to cool down, literaly. Soon enough she reached the falls and grinned happily as she saw the cool looking waters. She stood atop of a rock near the water and stood tall as she took a deep breath.

"Now this is gonna feel good," she said as she quickly yanked off her clothing to reveal her bare skin. She shuttered with delight as the cool air washed over and chuckled. With a giddy laugh she leaped off of the rock and cannon balled into the water while yelling, "Take me now water!" she splashed into the water and felt her stress wash away as she remained under water. After a few seconds she rose to the surface and took in a deep breath before laughing with joy.

Darric was on the other side of the water from Bella and he heard her and slipped his shorts back off and slipped back into the water and he swam up behind her and began to speak with a soft chuckle. "I've changed my name to water and so now you give yourself to me. How lucky am I to receive such a gift?" He fully expected to get hit or splashed or something so he figured he would at least get in a quick kiss or something first. He placed his hands on either shoulder and he kissed her neck softly.

As Bella heard a familliar voice she froze stiff and tried to figure out what to do, but before she could she felt someone kiss her neck and let out a yelp before diving into the water and swimming a fair distance away. Soon she came to the surface, but only allowed her head to be shown as she glared towards Darric with puffed up red cheeks. "What the hell!? You creep! Perv!" she shouted at him as she covered her chest from under water. She didnt know what else to say, things like this never happened.

Darric laughed, his deep resonating voice carried across the water. The genuine shock in her voice let him know that he had really surprised her. "Creep? So you say. Perv? Most definitely and as such that is literally the definition of a guy. You forgot a few words though" He slowly made his way towards her as he spoke. His eyes showed no harm but definite laughter and interest. "such as honest, protective and sexy." With the last word he grinned.

Bella simply continued to glare at him as she kept her distance from him by circling him. She scoffed. "Sexy? I saw walkers better looking than you," she said before feeling her bare back make contact with a rock within the falls. She looked around her surroundings with wide eyes as she saw that she was now trapped. She shrunk a little and began to shake as Darric grew closer. She was actually starting to feel a hint of fear now.

Darric laughed and as soon as he could see that she was afraid of him his entire demeanor changed. He stopped moving towards her and said, "Bella why do you look like you are afraid of me? You needn't be. I won't hurt you. I'm just teasing you." Darric could tell something had happened either to her or someone close to her.

Bella still felt a small bit of fear, but she forced herself to relax and looked away from Darric with guilty eyes. "S-sorry, just please stay over there for now," she said as she slightly sunk deeper into the water. Her face was red with embarassment and she only snuck a few glances towards him. He wasnt a bad looker, but she shook her head and sighed. "Ya know sneaking up on a naked women is the least attractive thing a man can do," she said in attempts to break the ice she had created.

Darric looked at her a minute and decided not to tell her it usually got him a lot of laughs. "I'm sorry if I scared you. I thought you could tell what kind of person I was by this afternoon. I would never hurt a woman. I've killed men for less than that. I'm going to get dressed. I don't want you to be afraid that I will jump on you at any second. You can meet me over there when you are ready." He pointed and then turned towards the shoreline.

Bella nodded and watched him walk towards the shore. She closed her eyes and dunked her head into the water as guilt began to fill her heart. She knew he wasnt that kind of person, but it was an old instinct of hers that made her act like that. She peeked out from the water and saw that he had gotten dressed and sighed as she made her way towards the shore. She climbed onto the rock she had jumped from and quickly snatched up her clothes. She hastily put her clothing back on and peeked around the rock to see Darric waiting on her. She sighed, rubbed her face and walked out. She avoided eye contact and rubbed her arm with unease as the guilt was still there. She sat down on a log near the water and stared at the ground with shame. She didnt know what to say, so she just simply stayed silent.

Darric watched her for a second and then he walked over to her and he sat down with the stones and shells he had found. "I found these and I was thinking that I might make Lilly a necklace from them. What do you think?"

She glanced at the stones and shells and felt a small smile come to her face. "I think she will love them, they are very pretty," she said. She thought it was cute he was making her a necklace and chuckled.

Darric smiled. Wrapping the stones back up he set them aside carefully and looked at her a little perplexed as to how to begin. "I was hoping your reaction would be to turn laughing and smack me playfully or to splash me or something along those lines. It never occurred to me that you would be afraid when you realized who it was. I have been interested in you since the second I saw you today and I would like to get to know you and spend time with you but -" He sighed then continued "-if that isn't something you would like, just tell me now. I won't hold it against you and I'll make sure not to bother you or scare you anymore."

He wouldn't usually be so blunt but after his breakup with Elsa and then scaring Bella he wasn't in the mood to tiptoe anymore than he already had. He really didn't see what he did as so terrible. No one else had ever reacted like she did and he wasn't sure if he wanted to find out she was totally broken.

Bella cuffed her hands together tightly and stared towards the ground. Her cheeks had become warm as he told her of his interest and only cursed herself for reacting like that. She looked to him and shook her head. "Darric I really didnt mean to react like that, it was just..." she couldn't finish and sighed. "Look, I think your a good guy and to be honest I would like to see you more as well, but i dont think Im up for anything too fast. You think we could just start things off slow?" she finished with a small smile.

Darric nodded and got up and pulled her to her feet. "Sure we can." He put an arm around her waist and made sure she didn't slip on the rocks as they made their way to the grassy area a few feet away. He stopped and picked up his things. He shoved all of his things into the bag he carried and walked back to camp in his shorts barefoot with her at his side. He had slipped his hand over hers and held onto it in case she slipped and just because he liked holding her hand.He figured if she yanked it away from him then she was too damaged for him to handle right now.

Bella wasn't sure what to do next, she had never held hands with a guy before. She had always tried her best to stay out of a relationship, but something about Darric pushed her towards it. She tightened her grip on his hand and felt a small smile come to her face as her cheeks turned slightly red. This was actually nice.

Darric lead her down to the camp where they had music blaring and there were lots of people dancing and he turned her in his arms and began dancing with her and a group of others to Chemical Infatuation by Like A Storm. He danced off for a moment and came back with a beer for each of them.Darric was having a great time now.

Bella laughed as the music filled the air. She was a horrible dancer, but she lost herself in the music and simply tried to keep up with Darric. After a bit of dancing she went to the side, panting and smiling with joy. After clearing a bit of hair from her face she looked around and saw Darric approaching with two drinks for the two. She chuckled and nodded in thanks as she took the beer from his hand. "Thanks, I could use a cold one after that embarrassing work out," she laughed before taking a sip.

Darric grinned. "No worries, no one cares how silly we look none of us was ever taught to dance. We just move the way it feels good to move with the music." He was caught off guard by a short person running up and knocking him over.

"Darric!" Lilly yelled gleefully. Darric was left on his back with one arm in the air holding his beer upright.

"Bella rescue my beer please!" The instant she took it he laughed and he leapt up child in tow under his arm and carried her out onto the makeshift dance floor and started dancing with her. Soon he was swinging her and playing with her like she was a wild monkey and Lilly was screaming with laughter.

April and Hector sat down next to Bella and laughed at Darric's shenanigans with the child. April snuggled into Hector's chest and whispered something that made himm blush. "So Lilly was telling us that she met you earlier with Darric. He is crazy right?" She said grinning.

Bella chuckled sheepishly as she scratched her cheek. "Yeah, he is a bit strange, but he really is nice," she said and looked at Darric dancing with Lilly. She smiled and felt her cheeks warm up slightly. Hector saw her look and grinned before letting out a howl of laughter. Bella jumped as Hector laughed. "W-what!?" Hector shook his head and looked to April.

"I swear your brother is always on the hunt. He just broke up with one chick just to get together with another. Someone needs to put a leash on that dog!" he laughed as Bella's cheeks grew even redder.

"W-we didn't hook up yet!" she shouted with puffed up cheeks. Hector pointed her with a grin and a raised eyebrow.

"Yet?" Bella lowered her head in embarrassment and sighed. Her team leader is a real ass.

A few minutes later Darric ran off of the dance floor and dove onto the ground next to Bella and April. Lilly was on his heels laughing all the way. "April a little help? " Lilly had jumped onto his back and was trying to get him to give her a horsey ride. "Lilly you've worn me out. Get Hector to give you a ride around the camp." Lilly jumped off of him and wrapped her arms around Hector's neck and April giggled at his expression.

Darric with a look of mischevious exhaustion crawled over to Bella and lay down in front of her and lay his head in her lap and grinned up at her. "I am totally at your mercy. The child sucked the energy out of me! Do with me what you will."

Bellas eyes widened in surprise as her already red cheeks felt like they would burst into flames any second. "W-w-what!? I-I, uhhh..." she wasn't use to this kind of affection yet. She hesitated for a second and gulped before she gently stroked his hair with her hand. She avoided eye contact and chuckled nervously. "I really got to get used to this," she mumbled, not knowing if Darric heard her. She looked to April. "Is he always like this?" she asked as she glanced down towards his exposed torso. She felt her heart skip a beat to see his well built figure, she snapped her eyes away from the lovely scene. She really needed to get used to this.

Darric grinned and watched Hector playing pony and laughed. April nodded. "Almost all of the time. At work he is mostly all business but goofing off is his chosen behavior most of the time. He is only serious when he feels the need to be." April offered her some prized cookies that she was saving for the trip by hiding them from Hector who typically devoured them quickly. "Have one while you can. The horsey and rider will be back any moment and then you won't get a chance."

Lilly was shrieking at something and Darric raised up to his knees kissed Bella's cheek and said, "Be right back!" Before running after Hector who was running with Lilly on his shoulders.

Bella stiffened as Darric kissed her cheek and watched him run towards Hector and Lilly playing. Once he was far enough she let out a heavy sigh and rubbed the cheek he had kissed. She looked to April and clutched her hands together as she rested them on her lap. "Um, April, do you mind if I ask you a few questions about your brother?" she asked. "What, um, what kind of girls does he like?"

April smiled as she watched the boys playing with Lilly. "Nice ones, pretty ones. I have no idea how he ended up with Elsa so many times. Actually I do. She begged him to go back to her. Elsa is ...hmm how can I put this? She is a bitch who used any means she could to keep him with her." April chewed on her cookies and said. "I think he is getting ready to settle down. He is 25 and he seems bored with bedhopping and all that entails. He is looking for Miss Right I think."

Bella let April words float in her head and looked towards Darric. "Settle down?" she muttered to herself as the thought came to her. It sounded nice, but could people really just settle down in today's world? With death of all types around every corner it seemed impossible for people to have a real relationship, but as she watched Hector and April she saw no problem. They both seemed so happy and full of life. They were in love. She looked down the ground and smiled. "Maybe, I could be Miss Right?" she said, but shook her head. They just met today and they barely know anything about each other. Why was she thinking about settling down now? She sighed and looked back to April with a sad frown. "Why is this crap so confusing?" she mumbled.

April looked up at her and looked at her brother as he was chasing Hector and Lilly around a tree. "Don't you know? All good things require work and will come in time to you when you need them most. That is what my mom used to say all the time. Darric remembers her better than I do but he doesn't like to talk about them. I think it hurts him too deeply to remember. He was not even 7 when we ended up on our own and he had to save me, a lot. He took care of me and he got us here. He deserves someone who really loves him like I have in Hector." She grinned looking at them as Hector was now on the ground with Lilly standing over him shaking her finger at him. Darric was laughing bent over double.

"If he is your mister right don't let him go. You couldn't do better than him. Ever wonder why he and Hector are best buds? They have the same heart." April touched her shoulder and went towards the small group and lifted Lilly into the air and the child wrapped her arms around April's neck. The boys gravitated back to where Bella was sitting. Darric grabbed the cookies first. "Nahhh, uh uh you always eat them all I'm taking mine first!"

Hector reeled back his head with a fake offended gasp. "Me? Eat all of those amazing ass cookies? How dare you sir!" he looked to Lilly with a quivering lip and pointed to Darric. "See how mean he is?" he said. Lilly pointed to Darric with puffed up cheeks.

"Give daddy a cookie!" she shouted. Hector froze for a second and looked to April with wide eyes. He wanted to make sure he heard that right.

April smirked and Darric stopped and looked at Lilly and asked her, "Him? Hector is your daddy?"

Lilly suddenly worried that Darric would be mad at her said, "Yes, because he comes with my mama so he is my daddy." Darric grinned and looked at April with a smile.

"You know what Lilly that makes perfect sense. If you want April and Hector to be your Mommy and Daddy you should get to choose that. Can I be your fun and protective uncle Darric?" Lilly nodded and gave him a kiss on his cheek and proceeded to nearly strangle him in a hug.

"I thought you were gonna be my boyfriend Darric." Darric chuckled at that. "Lilly I can't. I'm Bella's boyfriend. You don't want her to cry do you? Besides, if I'm your uncle then I can beat up mean boys for you. How about that?"

Lilly liked that idea and raised her hands above her head and yelled yippee. Darric turned to Bella and whispered to her. "I hope you can stand being my girlfriend because if not I have to play the age card on a 4year old."

Bella thought for a moment and felt a smile come to her lips. She held his hand gently and nodded. "I think I can handle it for now," she said and pulled him down so she could give a quick kiss on his cheek. "Besides, it looks like there is never a dull moment with you. Could be fun," she chuckled.

April chuckled as her brother blushed just a little. She reached over and stole a cookie from Hector and tossed it to Darric. Darric ate the cookie in one bite and rose to his feet and pulled Bella to the dance floor for a slow song. Pulling her into his arms he held her close and took in the scent of flowers in her hair. "So you think you can handle me? I'm a bit crazy I admit that but only in a fun kind of way. I'd never hurt you on purpose. I might step on your toes while we dance but that doesn't count." He gave her a lopsided grin.

Bella chuckled and shook her head as she laid her head into his chest. "God, my first boyfriend and he is the weirdest guy in the camp," she laughed and looked up to him with a smile. "I couldnt have picked anyone better."

Darric blushed in the darkness and leaned forwards and kissed her lips tenderly. Darric looked at Bella's eyes and saw something in them. He whispered to her. "Let's get a little further away from all these people." He took her hand and pointed up a path where he knew they could look down on the festivities but they could talk in private.

His sister watched from the sidelines as Lilly was tying her boot in knots on her lap. April's grin was proud as she watched her brother and Bella.

Hector chuckled and crossed his arms as he watched Bella and Darric break away from the party. He looked to April and wrapped his arm around her. "Think they will make a good couple?" he asked with amusement.

She nodded, "I think so. She is nothing like Elsa so that is a plus. The way he looks at her ...I think she could be the one he picks to settle down with. She doesn't even realize how she looks at him. It's cute how oblivious to it she is." April moved onto Hector's lap when Lilly got up and was trying to capture a grasshopper.

Darric took Bella up to a grassy area that overlooked the main area of the camp. Sitting down he patted the ground next to him. "I don't bite unless you want me to." He said giving her a mischievous grin.

Bella rolled her eyes and took a seat next to him. She hugged her knees to her chest and smiled as she looked down at the camp grounds. All of the lights and people having fun really brought a smile to her face. She looked to Darric, took a deep breath and rested her head onto his shoulder as they looked down at the camp. "As long as you're biting I don't mind," she whispered loud enough for him to hear.

Darric chuckled and looked into her eyes. "What do you want? Bites or kisses?"

She blushed slightly and avoided eye contact. "Well, maybe a bit of both?" she said.

Darric wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled them both further back from the slope downhill and he lay on his back with her atop him and he kissed her deeply. He had purposely given her the control so if she got freaked out she wouldn't be trapped. It was in her power to stop anything she didn't want to happen. Darric was more intrigued by her than he knew how to say.

Bella giggled slightly as she sat atop of him and stared down at him with a smile. She ran her hands up his body slowly and blushed even harder as she felt his toned body. She shook her head and chuckled. "This is so weird," she laughed and lowered herself down to his face to kiss him again. "Im not really sure what to do next," she smiled sheepishly.

Darric was not sure how much more he could take as she moved innocently over his body. Her torso was moving over his with her hands and her derriere was pleasantly teasing his manhood. "Do whatever you want to do. You can be in charge. But I'm telling you that you are teasing me something fierce." He said huskily as he rubbed her thigh with his hand.

Bella raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Teasing?" she asked and rubbed her rear against him a little more. She chuckled and began to kiss his chest and neck softly as she rubbed his toned body. "I have no idea what your talking about," she said innocently before nibbling on his earlobe. She really didnt have a clue what she was doing, but she just went with it. Plus it was fun.

Darric laughed and grabbed her by the waist and sat up so he was holding her on his lap and her nose was less than an inch from his. "Innocent you may be but that was intentional teasing." He chuckled again and kissed her up and down her neck and ran his hands over her body til she was breathing as heavily as he was. He nibbled on her earlobe and the side of her neck and he moved her shirt, just a little and started kissing her shoulder.

Bella did her best to control herself, but feeling Darric explore her body was nearly maddening for her. She let one hand travel to his manhood while she used her other hand to pull his head into her chest. She slipped her hand into his shorts and felt her heart skip a beat as she could feel him ready for action.

Darric was so caught up in the moment he literally stopped the moment she touched him. His voice was barely controlled. "Bella," He took a couple of deep breaths and his voice was little more than a whisper. "If you don't want to lose your innocence you should get up off of me right now. If you stay where you are I don't know how much longer I can-"

Bella cut him off as she locked her lips with his in a passonite kiss. After holding it for a few seconds she broke the kiss and smiled softly at him. "It's okay, I want to lose my innocence to Mr. Right," she chuckled and slid her shirt off from her body to reveal herself to him. She took his hand and placed onto her chest as she continued to massage his manhood.

Hearing her words and seeing her lift her shirt off he picked her up and stood up in one movement and carried her the back way to her tent. Once they were in her tent he went about kissing her properly and he began caressing her as he slowly removed her clothing. He wanted her to feel the heat he was feeling and that might kill him but he was going to make it enjoyable for her.

Bella was nervous, but excited at the same time. She didn't know how, but she didn't pay much attention to it all as she lost herself within Darrics warm and comforting presence. She kissed him several times around the neck as she pulled herself closer to him, their bare skin now gently rubbing against one another. She looked up at him with a grin and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Lead the way."

Darric allowed his hands to roam freely over her. He picked her up and laid her on the makeshift bedding and laid with her. When he was at the point of no return he looked her in the eye through glazed eyes and asked her clearly. He didn't want to be accused of anything wrong in the morning light. "Are you sure, after this I would rather die than stop."

Bella smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck as she pulled him in closer to her face. "Im sure," she whispered and kissed him deeply as she let her nails gently travel down his spine.

Darric let his hands ready her and as she moved against his hands drove him wild but he was careful as he entered her. After a few slow movements as she adjusted to him he maintained his self control but only just. He moved faster and deeper inside of her. Her body felt so hot and tight around him It was blissful for him and he kissed her between rushes of passion.

Bella winced at the sudden feeling of Darric entering her, but she took deep breaths and hugged him tightly as she panted heavily from his thrust. The pleasure was starting to get to her and she was only able to give small yelps and moans of pleasure.

After quite a long session of lovemaking Darric finally exploded inside her heat and rolled onto his back pulling her into his side and kissing her tenderly. He was so out of breath he couldn't speak right away. He just lay there kissing her tenderly.

Bella held onto Darric tightly and buried her head into his chest as she panted heavily. She looked up to her lover and smiled. "Great first date huh?" she chuckled.

Her question made Darric laugh out loud as he cradled her to him. "Oddly it sounds similar to April and Hector's first date. They ended up in bed too." Kissing her neck softly he asked her, "Did I hurt you too much?"

Bella smiled and shook her head. "No, it was like crashing waves of pleasure," she said and chuckled. "Though the faces you made were a bit cute, it was hard not to laugh."

Darric reared back and feigned offense. "What? I thought your expressions were endearing. So you thought I looked like what? A monkey?" With that he began to tickle her and eek like a monkey making her laugh out loud.

A passerby the tent heard the animal noises and started laughing catching Darric and Bella's attention. Darric started laughing into her shoulder and cuddled her against him yanking the covers over their entwined bodies.

[Wick]

collaboration

April laughed at Darric and Bella as they left the dance floor and she reached out and grabbed Hector's hand in hers. Lilly was still chasing grasshoppers next to them. Leaning back against Hector she looked at the group and wrapped his arms around her happily.

"So my love it seems that we are now a trio instead of a pair. And like most parents we didn't get a choice in becoming parents." She said with a grin. "Are you up to being Lilly's Daddy?" She smirked knowingly.

April could feel the tension in his arms at the mention of being the little girl's father and she smiled. "I'll tell you a secret. the thought of being responsible for a small child is really scary to me and if I didn't have you I don't think I could do it."

Hector let a nervous smile crawl onto his lips as he cleared his throat. "Really? I thought I was the one scared about taking care of the kid," he chuckled and looked to Lilly with a smile. As he watched her play he brought April closer to his side and looked back to her. "But who knows, this whole being a parent thing could be fun. I can actually say that I have a family," he said as he gestured to Lilly. "A lively little girl," he chuckled before kissing Aprils cheek. "And an amazing wife. Seriously, I hit the jackpot!" he laughed.

Wife? April wondered if he had meant to say that or not. She looked up at him a moment curiously. "Yes you did. Lilly is a great little girl and I'm a great girlfriend. You are very lucky." She chose to leave it at that and let him persue it if he realized what he said or not. She reached up and kissed his cheek softly and about that time a grasshopper was shoved underneath her nose.

Lilly squealed in delight as the grasshopper jumped onto April's head. "Mommy it's on your hair!" Lilly laughed her little butt off. April gave her as evil an eye as she could considering she was trying not to laugh. The child's laughter was infectious.

As Hector watched the scene unfold he couldn't help but burst into laughter. He looked to Lilly and gave her a thumbs up. "Nice one trooper, looks good on her," he chuckled as he gently scooped the grasshopper from Aprils hair. He grinned at April as he let the grasshopper hop from his hand and back onto the ground. "Oh come on, that was good," he chuckled.

One of the younger girls in the camp came over to pet Jax who was following Lilly like a true protector. She was about 16 or so and her name was Alicia. Lilly had met her earlier and she was tackled by Lilly while petting Jax. She provided a good distraction for Lilly and April smoothed her hair down hoping it wasn't sticking straight up from the grasshopper.

April stood up and looked at Lilly and Alicia. "Alicia? Can you watch Lilly til we get back? We won't be long."

The teenager laughed and nodded. "Yeah Sure!" April grabbed Hector's hand and tugged him to his feet. "Come on old man!" She teased him. "Let's go for a walk."

Hector chuckled and shrugged before looking to Lilly. "See ya in a bit trooper," Lilly gave a small salute as the two walked off and Hector couldn't help but chuckle as he looked to April. "Im really liking this kid so far," he chuckled.

April was thinking that having kids of their own would be a lot easier now that they have Lilly to get them through the rough parts first. Without thinking about it she was walking towards the outter circle of the camp for privacy. Once they were alone she turned and asked him "So did you realize you called me your wife or was that just something you did on the fly without thinking?" Her smirk was teasing.

Hector raised an eyebrow as he tilted his head in confusion. "Wife? When did I..." he froze as he realized what he had said earlier and felt his cheeks grow red with embarrassment. He hadn't realized what he said till now. He cleared his throat and gave a sheepish chuckle. "Oh right, I-I guess that sort of slipped. Ya know, in the moment and all," he said before taking a few seconds of silence to think about it. "Though," he started as he scratched the side of his neck. "That wouldn't be entirely crazy, would it?" he asked and gestured back into the direction of the party. "I mean, with Lilly now in the picture we sort of fit that family picture. Could it hurt to make it official?" he finished with now a warmer set of cheeks.

April watched him go from striking out to a homerun around the field in about a minute. Her grin was about to bust right out of her but she held herself in check. "I dare say that almost sounded like a proposal." She chuckled a little and realized her smile was going to be stuck there the rest of the night. "Are you sure you are ready for such a big move?" She teased softly.

Hector took a deep breath and wrapped his arms around her waist before pulling her in close with a smile. "Hell you know me, I always dive in without thinking," he chuckled before shaking his head. "No, but really, I feel it. This is something I want, I want true happiness. I want true love," he whispered before pulling her into a hug and leaned close to her ear. "I want a real family and you and Lilly can give me that," he whispered with a warm smile.

April listened intently to his words and something he said made her doubt him just a little bit. She looked down at his beard and asked him calmly. "We can give you a real family and happiness so you want to get married?" April felt like he was proposing to her because of Lilly not because of his feelings for her. "I don't have to marry to be her mom. Don't worry you can still have your family without the vows that it fine. You don't have to marry me just because of Lilly."

Hector shook his head and chuckled. "Im not marrying you because of Lilly, Im marrying you because I love you. Your the person who pulled me from my lonliness, you gave me reason to live, you showed me what it was like to be wanted. Hell after our first month together I wanted to ask you to marry me!" he laughed before clearing his throat to continue. "Look, the point is I love you and I want to be with you till the end. I want to be your husband and I want you to be my wife," he stated as he lowered himself to his knee with Aprils hand gently in his. "So, want to make it official?" he asked with a grin.

April had tears in her eyes and she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him with a dozen small kisses all over his neck as she hugged him. "Yes! It's always yes to you." Her tears overflowed and she was crying with joy. She pulled back and said,

"Now look at me I'm a mess." April wiped her eyes and embedded herself into his arms and laughed at their craziness.

"So you know Darric is gonna laugh at this timing don't you?"

She laughed wondering how Darric was going to do as the best man and the man giving away the bride with the flower girl trailing him the whole time. She chuckled as she looked into Hector's eyes.

"Should we wait til we get back to the town or have the camp priest do it now, out here on the mission?"

Hector thought for a moment before grinning. "Lets wait until we get back home, it would make it all the better when I say I do in that old church in town. I want to get married in our home and no where else," he chuckled before realizing something. "I just thought of something, we need to set up a room for Lilly. Ya know make it more homey and welcoming!" he said with several ideas flowing in his head.

April smiled at the light in his eyes. "Yes we do and I am sure she will want to help us with that." Her mind went to a pink bedroom with a princess canopy bed and a million toys.

Hector chuckled as he rubbed his beard. "We could set up small targets for her slingshots while finding some of those old posters used to recruit troopers. Ya know the one with that guy stomping a walker down. Oh, oh we could even set up a punching bag! Girl can practice on her jabs," he said as he gave a few quick jabs of his own.

April chuckled and dodged his play jabs. She could see that he was getting excited about all of this. "Do you still want to live in town or should we talk to the leaders about us moving further out? There are plenty of places with a huge house and lots of land with outbuildings and stuff if we want to try our hand at farming or ranching. I'm sure Darric and probably Bella could be convinced to join us easily."

Hector let the image float within his head and could hold back his ear to ear smile. "Yeah, yeah that sounds perfect!" he laughed. "Just imagine, a two story house with plenty of land around for whatever we wanted. A few animals and a little farming, I could do that easy. It would be just like those pictures from back then where a happy family lived without any worries. Perfect!" He chuckled.

"Well the mission is almost over. I think after we check out this town we should head back and talk to the leaders about retiring us to being farmers and letting us get Lilly and and the gang and move out to a new home. I guess we could get married somewhere in there too." She said grinning from ear to ear.

"We probably don't want a small child on our honeymoon so I think Uncle Darric will be on munchkin duty." She said training her fingers lightly over his chest with a smirk.

Hector smirked as he wrapped his arms around her waist and chuckled. "Sounds good to me," he said as he pulled her in close. "I was actually thinking," he paused for a moment as he tried to find the right words. "Maybe... maybe we could help give Lilly a, well, a little brother or sister," he said. "I mean if we are retiring it couldn't hurt, right?"

April leaned back and looked him in the eyes. She was searching for the joke. "Did you hit your head? Aren't you the same guy who didn't want to have kids for ten more years?" Seeing the expression on his face April grinned. He was serious and he couldn't have surprised her more if he had decided to bite off his own foot.

"You are serious aren't you?" The happy glint in his eyes was very informative to April. For her Hector was easy to read. They often had conversations where she asked questions and he never said a word but just reacted subtly and she always knew what he meant. April threw her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately. When she pulled back she was breathing heavily and she was a little flushed.

"I suppose we need to get back to Lilly and talk to my brother and Bella if they ever come out of her tent." She straightened her shirt a little still pink faced from their kisses. "If you keep me this attracted to you we will end up with a hundred kids." She murmured.

Hectors excitement for the future was almost to much for him to contain as he grinned towards April. "Hundred kids? Sounds like a work out, but hell I'm up for the challenge!" He laughed. "But lets only tell Darric and Bella about this, I want it to be a bigger surprise for the rest," he said.

@joker892

[Wick]

collaboration

Hector sat atop an old burnt out car and sighed as he wiped blood from his cheek. He glanced down at the corpse of a walker and shook his head. "Always gotta be a problem," he muttered as he looked to Alex, who was searching a few corpses. "Anything good?" Alex shook his head.

"Nope, just a few empty shells and a nut," he said as he tossed the useless findings over his shoulder. Bella chuckled and rested her spear on her shoulder.

"Hey, you could use that nut since you seemed to be missing some," Alex glared towards Bella while the team chuckled with amusement.

Bella looked to Hector. "So, any news on how Darric and April did?" she asked. Hector shrugged.

"No, I think they are still getting things sorted out," he said with a frown.

April motioned to Darric to stay hidden and to go around the building and see what was on the other side of it. She was crouched down behind a large tree trunk near what used to be a living bush. She checked the building nearest her out while watching the guard she had snuck passed. Darric gave her a signal that his building was all clear and he hurried back to her since she was entering the building.

A walker distracted the guard for a moment and April moved easily through the rooms. It looked like there was a group living in the town but it wasn't a huge group. She did notice though that they did look like they were extremely violent. There was a man that they had chained to a fence in front of walkers. They were torturing him and making him scream so that the walkers kept pushing to reach the man. The guards were watching and laughing. April shivered and pointed them out to Darric.

As Hectors team began to continue their mission Bella was the first to hear laughter from the distance. "Ya hear that?"

Hector nodded and motioned for his team to follow him silently. Carefully they made their way to the streets corner and Hector peeked around to see a horrible scene. The first thing he saw was a man chained to a fence being tortured by a few armed strangers. The mans scream echoed through the air and attracted several walkers with hungry moans. Hector tightened his grip around his tomahawk and looked to his men equipped with hunting rifles. He pointed to the men and jabbed his thumb up to a higher advantage point. Didn't matter where they went, as long as they could get a shot it was fine. As the men went to find higher ground Hector looked to the rest.

"Alright people, on my mark we move in and cause trouble. Got it?" His team replied with nods and silent grunts. Hector looked back to the scene and gritted his teeth. He just had to wait until his shooters where in place.

April was looking out a side window and she had to look closely but she could see Hector's people getting ready to move in. She waived to Darric who was getting ready to pounce on the guy closest to the door. He had his knife out and he grabbed the guard and pulled him down behind the large maintenance drum stabbing him in the neck and head as he did. April watched the other guards as Darric moved to ensure his safety.

No one appeared to have seen him. They did notice that the other guard was missing and one of them started towards the building. "Hey Brian? Get out here man." The guard stopped when he didn't get a reply and he moved way to close to where April was for Darric's liking and so when he did Darric came out of hiding. His blade was covered in blood and the guard instantly got aggressive with him.

"Hey asshole! You want to end up like your friend?" Darric taunted him. He knew the guard was not even a challenge for him and he was pretty sure he was all talk. The guard rushed at Darric and he easily took him down. April looked up to see others sounding the alarm and there were three heading for Darric.

Hector gritted his teeth as he saw Darric and looked to his team. "Get ready!" he hissed. After a few seconds Hector heard a few clicks and sighed with relief. His men were in position. Hector let out a high pitched whistle and emerged from the cover. As he came around the corner a shot echoed and a howl of pain reached his ears as one of his men had shot down a attacker who was making their way to Darric. Hector bolted for the battle with his team close behind him.

"Lets get to work people!" he shouted as he buried his tomahawk within a walkers skull. His team soon joined the fight and quickly took care of the other walkers before starting their main assault against their human foes. Hector grinned towards Darric before charging forward.

Darric never flinched at the first sound of gunfire. April didn't either and she was soon fighting a good sized man who had been sleeping in the furthest room. She had been trying to keep distance from him but he had managed to corner her in the front room. April grabbed the hand that he was holding the gun with and she slammed it down onto a sharp corner of a desk and he dropped it but in that second he stuck his leg out and tripped her backwards. April fell over a couch backwards and flipped over it and into a glass coffee table shattering it completely.

Hector slammed his forehead into a mans nose and pulled him towards Bella who plunged her spear into his chest. Hector grinned and nodded as Bella yanked the spear from his chest. "Keep up the good work!" Hector shouted as he ran deeper into the building.

As he entered a hallway he heard a crash from another room and tightened his grip around his tomahawk. He quickly jogged down towards the room the crash had come from and kicked it open. As he entered the room his eyes went wide as he saw April on the ground surrounded by shattered glass. "Shit," he muttered before glaring towards the man who she had to be fighting. He was about Hectors size and looked pissed, but Hector let out a roar as he charged in. The man was quick to notice Hector and pulled out a rather large knife. He ducked under Hectors tomahawk as it swung over his head and slashed for his belly, but Hector barely was able to dodge it as he stumbled back.

"Come on, I'm gonna kill ya slow!" the man shouted as he shot towards Hector with his knife aiming for his gut. Hector gritted his teeth and jumped to the left before driving his knee into the mans gut. The man gasped from the air being knocked out of his lungs, but only snarled and plunged his knife into Hectors leg. Hector yelled out in pain as he slammed his fist into the back of his head several times and forced the man to retreat, but as he pulled back he grabbed Hectors hand that held his tomahawk and swung him around into the wall. Hector smashed into the wall and dropped his weapon by mistake. He glared back up to the man, but was quickly met by his fist clipping his jaw.

A snarl of rage came from Hector as he grabbed the man by the throat and dragged him down to the floor. The man gagged before delivering several blows to Hectors ribs in attempted to get him off. Hector cringed and gasped in pain as he felt something crack. As he lost focus the man freed himself from Hectors grip and quickly tore his knife from his leg. "Fuck!" Hector shouted as the man head butted him and spun the two around. Dazed, Hector winced as blood ran from his nose and felt his eyes widen as he saw the man bring down his knife towards him. He was quick to catch the man, but now it was a battle of strength as the two wrestled for the knife. As the fight went on Hector saw that the knife was nearing his heart and gritted his teeth. He had to make a move and fast!

April started to feel again and her head was pounding. She could hear fighting and she rolled to her side and her eyes popped open. She was laying on glass and the edges of it were digging into her as she moved. Hearing the scuffle she looked up and saw Hector fighting the same man who had knocked her out. She quickly glanced around and she saw the tomahawk on the floor and grabbed it. It wasn't hard for her to sneak up on them. They were too focused on each other to notice her until she slammed the tomahawk down into the larger man's skull. He fell to the ground and his knife slipped from his hand. April looked at Hector and she hoped Darric was doing better than they were. She was still a bit woozy but she grabbed Hector and hugged him.

"I almost had him before you got here." She teased him. April started shaking off the glass that was seemingly everywhere. The door slammed open and Darric was there and he looked at them and then the guy on the floor.

"You guys okay in here?" Glancing at his sister his brows furrowed. "What the hell happened to you?"

"I got thrown into a glass coffee table and I blacked out. Now I'm all cut up and I've got a whopper of a headache. Are we done outside? I'm ready to go if we are." She looked around and found a curtain and tore it into pieces and tied it around Hector's leg.

Darric looked at the guy and took his knife and pulled out a gun with a full mag on it. He stuffed those into his jeans and pulled back and looked at Hector with a grin.

"You took on a gorilla dude. This guy was at least worthy of your efforts." Darric hefted Hector's arm over his shoulder and helped him outside. April was right behind them. She looked up and saw Bella outside.

"Are we good?"

Bella grinned and nodded. "Yep, just finished off the remaining men and are now gathering up whatever we can get," she informed them as she looked to Hector. "You good boss?" Hector chuckled and gave a thumbs up.

"Oh yeah, just a knife to the leg and a possible broke rib. Nothing big," he grinned before coughing a bit. "I need a drink," he muttered before looking to April. "You sure you're okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think so but I need a swim or a shower. I think there is glass everywhere. I know there is some in my hair and there is blood there too. Probably got a few nicks there." She answered on their way back.

Darric glanced over at Bella and winked at her and smiled. He caught a look at his sister as she passed him and Hector and he looked at Bella. "Can you check her head that looks like a lot of blood."

Bella glanced to the two and nodded. "Yeah of course," she said and moved a bit closer to him with a grin. "After that I should make sure your still good to go," she whispered with a wink. Sadly though Alex heard her and laughed before making a monkey noise. Franklin who was close behind and looked to the group.

"Monkey 'bout to get out of his cage again? Get ready for another crazy night folks!" the group couldn't help but laugh while Bella only blushed with embarrassment.

April was a little out of it but she looked at Alex and chuckled. "I think I have a concussion because there are three of you. God knows this world can't handle three of you Alex." Darric laughed.

The walk back seemed like ot took forever and April managed to get back to the camp. Once she made sure the doc was looking at Hector and that he was okay she headed towards the lake. Darric followed her and helped her get to the water after she stripped down to her underclothes. After getting into the water she just felt the tiredness ebbing away and she dunked herself and let the water move the glass as much as it could. As she moved her hands over her legs she felt the glass falling away from her arms and hands. She carefully moved her hands through her hair as she made the glass fall out into the water. Soon she came out and looked at Darric and asked "So how did the rest of it go? I'm guessing that Hector got there right after I got knocked out or I wouldn't be here."

He nodded. "Sounds reasonable. There wasn't a lot of them just about 15 or so and we took them pretty easily. Honestly, Hector and you were fighting the biggest guy there."

"Damn it all," Hector mumbled as he limped through the camp. The doc was able to patch up his leg and made sure that Hector had no broken ribs, but he was going to be sore for sometime. Bella looked over to Hector and grinned.

"Oh come on boss, cant be that bad," she chuckled as Hector glared towards her.

"Let me stab you in the leg and kick you in the ribs a few times, then you can tell me how to deal with this," Bella chuckled and shook her head as the two made their way to the falls. Soon they reached the water and spotted April and Darric. Bella was the first on the scene as she nearly tackled Darric over by giving him a tight hug from behind. Hector rolled his eyes and limped his way to April. "Hows my girl doing?"

April smiled at him and wrapped her arms around his waist. "I'll be okay. Let's get that drink . What did the doc say? Are you okay?"

Hector nodded and held his side with a wince. "Yeah, Im fine. Just some bruises and some time off the field. Nothing to serious," he said with a chuckle.

April nuzzled her face against his shoulder and inhaled his scent. Happily she murmured to him. "Do you want to tell them now?" She smirked leaving the decision up to him. "You tell them." She whispered to Hector.

Darric laughed as Bella almost knocked him over. He kissed her deeply and heard his sister whispering something to Hector.

"Hey no porno talk in public April!" April turned her head and stuck her tongue out at him and laughed.

"Like you should talk at all then!" Darric grinned and he kissed Bella's neck.

"Touche sis." he chuckled.

Hector grinned and wrapped his arm around April. "Guess this is a good time to tell them," Bella looked up with wide eyes and covered her mouth.

"Your pregnant!?" she blurted out with shock. Hector shook his head and grinned.

"Not yet she isnt, but what we wanted to tell you two was... we are getting married!" he exclaimed thanks to his balled up excitement.

Darric moved towards them and he extended his hand to Hector and said "Congrats man! You better take good care of my sister." April was hugging Bella and Darric grabbed Hector and turned it into a large group hug and kissed April on the cheek. "Congrats sis. Are you sure this guy is it for you?"

April laughed at him. "You know it. He is it. My one and only for all time." She looked at Hector a moment and smirked.

"Babe? Do you want to tell them the rest or should I?" She saw his smile widen just a little and she announced, "We have decided to retire and get a house in the country. Hector says Lilly needs a little brother or sister so we are looking to start a family. And we thought if you wanted to go with us we would take the two of you. Please come. I would be lost without you." She looked at Darric when she said the last part. She grabbed Bella's hand and said, "I'll need you there to keep me from killing the men. You know how all that testosterone works. I know you guys are new but please consider it." She grinned.

"We would more than happy to have you two," Hector said with a warm smile. Bella bit her lip and glanced over to Darric while tightening her grip around his hand.

"Retiring early? What do ya think?" she asked.

Darric looked at April and then Hector and then he looked down at Bella. "I'm still stuck on Hector wanting to have babies." He teased.

Darric got quiet for a moment. He and Bella hadn't even been together for 24 hours yet. He certainly didn't want to push her into anything she wasn't ready for. He looked at Bella and then back at the happy couple. "Give us a few minutes ok?" April nodded.

Darric pulled Bella's hand and put his arm around her and he started walking back to the camp slowly so they could talk.

"In the last 24 hours we have come from strangers to lovers, are you sure you want to jump to living together out on a farm to that? I am not sure you are ready for that. Didn't you tell me yesterday that you wanted to go slow? And then you kinda jumped me and we ended up in bed. I'm concerned that you don't understand 'slow' very well." He chuckled softly.

Bella smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of her head with slightly flushed cheeks. "I guess I did say that didn't I?" she chuckled nervously before looking away with a small smile. "Listen Darric, we both know I'm new to this whole relationship thing and I will admit living together is a huge leap," she paused for a moment before gripping his hand tighter and looking to him.

"B-but, um, when I think about it I cant really see any flaws. I dont know, maybe Im just crazy, but it just sounds right. I mean its not like I want a marriage or children, but maybe if we lived together we could grow closer. Like them," she said gesturing back towards the two with her head. "When I see them I feel like Im missing out on something, something that can change my world for the better and its something I cant do alone. I want to be happy, but I dont want to force you into anything. Just say what you want to do and... and I wont fight you on it," she finished while avoiding eye contact.

Darric pulled her to him and he wrapped both of his ars around her securing her in his arms. He took a deep breath, something she had said bothered him. "You said you don't want marriage or children. Is that you don't want them now? or ever?"

Bella thought for a moment and buried her head into his chest. "Honestly the thought of having children scares me because I dont know if I would be good enough, but," she paused before looking up to him. "Being able to bring another life into this world and care for it sort of makes me happy. And if you are the person that would give me the chance to be a mother, then... then I wouldn't really have a problem with it," she said with a smile.

Darric watched her talk herself into children and couldn't help but smile as she did it. "So you are saying for now then. Maybe later on if things work out we'll discuss this stuff again. So you think you can be a farmhand or at least live with one huh?" Darric looked at the sparkle in her eyes and couldn't figure out how he found a girl who was all in so quickly when only yesterday she was so independent and okay on her own. For whatever reason he knew he had feelings for this girl and he knew she cared for him so he looked at her and said, "I guess when we get back we will be moving in together." He picked Bella up and kissed her deeply.

Darric and Bella stayed there waiting for the newly engaged couple to catch up and he nodded when they did. "So when are we telling the elders we are quitting the force?"

Hector crossed his arms and shrugged. "Figured we tell them when we get back home," he said before pausing for a moment. "Wait, we?" he looked to Bella who held onto Darrics arm with a large smile. A smile of his own soon came to his lips before he chuckled. "So your moving out with us huh? Great, wouldnt have it any other way pal," he chuckled and patted Darrics shoulder.

Darric grinned at Hector. "Hell yeah! You know it brother. There was never any question in my mind as to whether or not I was coming along. Someone has to be there to bail your ass out of trouble." Darric said this with a straight face and April laughed and grabbed Bella's hand n hers and then hugged her tightly.

"I'm so glad you are coming with us." April said to Bella.

Bella smiled and nodded. "Well I thought you would need help taking care of the children," she said while glancing towards Darric and Hector. Hector stuck out his tongue and scoffed.

"Hey now, Im very mature for my age!" he said and jabbed his thumb towards Darric. "Its him ya need to look out for," he chuckled.

Darric laughed at Hector and April laughed at both of them. She shook her head with joy in her heart. She was pretty certain that one day Bella was going to be her sister in law. It was a hunch she had and she could see it in the way that Darric and Bella looked at each other and in the way Darric was with her. He was totally his normal crazy self but Bella managed to bring out the adult in him. He thought about her feelings and he wanted to make sure she was aware of what she was getting into.

While the guys bantered back and forth about maturity April grabbed Bella and walked a little ahead of the guys. "I can honestly say that Darric would never have allowed any girl he has ever dated move in with him. He must feel something special for you. I know it's way too early for the L word but know this. He is taking you into uncharted territory for him too. And for Darric that is a HUGE deal." She hugged Bella and since her headache had disappeared in the last half an hour she went into the camp and grabbed out 4 beers and came back.

Hector looked away from Darric and grinned as he spotted April walking towards them with refreshments. "Look at that, already acting like a wife! Totally hit the jackpot!" he laughed as he walked up to her and grabbed a beer before wrapping his arm around her waist. Bella shook her head and looked to Darric.

"Cant believe that guy's my boss," she chuckled before taking her own beer.

Darric wrapped her in his arms and kind of swayed as if there was music and they were dancing. "He won't be for long. Then he is just gonna be Hector." Darric and Bella took a beer as April handed them out and tilted her own back.

Darric sat down near the bonfire that had been erected since the town was empty. They would spend the next day or two looting the place of supplies to take back to their town. Then after that they would be heading to their new lives. The thought was both a little scary and highly exhilerating to Darric. He pulled Bella down into his lap and kissed her neck softly.

April helped Hector sit. His leg and ribs were sore and she wanted to help so he wouldn't hurt so much. She couldn't help but stare at him in the firelight. Her heart was so full she was afraid it would burst. The addition of Bella to the group was something she hadn't seen coming. Last week she hadn't even met her and now she could see that her brother was obviously in love with her, even though she was certain he didn't know it yet and she was coming with them to the country to be farmers/ranchers. Her smile wouldn't quit and she was overcome with happiness.

@joker892

[Wick]

Collaboration

Darric packed the wagon up and tossed up the equipment they were allowed to take with them. He was anxious to get out of the town and find their own home. He didn't like living by other people's rules. He wanted more freedom than that. Tying down the horses gear that they were also taking he grinned at his horse and slapped it lightly on the rump and said, "You ready to go home Bullet?" The horse neighed in response and Darric chuckled.

April came out of the door of her's and Hector's small home. It was little more than a bedroom with a small kitchen and bathroom attached. She was carrying several bags of clothes and gear. April looked up as she heard Lilly's voice carrying across the yard from the small building where she had been sleeping with other kids since she had gotten back.

"Mama!" Lilly yelled and ran across the yard and nearly tackled April. Laughing April dropped her bags and gear and dropped to her knees to hug the child.

Hector chuckled at the sight and grabbed the rest of Aprils things. "No love for Papa? Oh how you wound me!" he complained with dramatic sadness. Lilly giggled and hugged his leg before running back to April. Hector smiled softly and chuckled before walking to their wagon and tossing their things in with a grunt. He looked Darric and grinned as he gestured over to April and Lilly with his head. "Already getting the hang of this whole family thing," he chuckled as he put the last of their things into the wagon.

As Hector loaded the rest of their belongings Bella walked around the wagon and smiled as she leaned her head onto Darrics arm. She watched April and Lilly and couldn't help but chuckle. "I guess this is a good start," she said as she wrapped her arm around his with a slight squeeze. "Got everything?"

Darric nodded and he helped Bella up into the wagon and then April and Lilly. The two horses that were hitched to the wagon were April's and Bella's while Hector and Darric were riding their horses. Darric and Hector were going to go in ahead and check out the houses first. Clear whatever they found out and secure the area before the girls went inside with Lilly. They figured it was the safest way to do it.

Darric looked over his shoulder to make sure that the girls were far enough back that they couldn't hear the conversation. Darric looked over at Hector and said "Well now that you are officially my brother in law I can ask you how it feels, being married and all. So are you glad you did it?"

Hector grinned and glanced over to Darric. "I'm more than glad, I'm the happiest I have ever been," he said as he looked to April. "This is a new start in this shitty world," he said before looking back to Darric with a wider grin.

Darric glanced over his shoulder at Lilly playing with Bella's hand and the expression on the young woman's face. His soft smile turned into a naughty grin when he thought of him and Bella the night before. "I agree, it is a wonderful beginning."

It took an hour or two of riding, but soon enough Hector spotted what looked to be a rather large thing of land with a two story house resting within the middle of the land. Hector felt his breathing quicken as he grinned with excitment. "Looks like we made it," he chuckled as he spurred his horse forward down the dirt road. He followed a long fence line that seemed like it needed a bit of work done and saw a barn. It was a bit of a distance away from the house, but he could see that it also needed a little work done on it. He shrugged it off and looked back to the others as they finally caught up with him. He gestured to the house with sparkling eyes and grinned. "So? What do ya think? Gonna need some fresh paint and a little work, but it looks good!" he chuckled.

Darric spurred on his horse and gave the girls the signal to wait outside so they could check out the property and clear the barn and house. April parked the wagon in a safe spot so that she could see from every direction in case there was anything she needed to be aware of.

Darric threw his horse's reigns over the fence and grabbed one of his guns and pulled out a knife. "You ready?" He said as he walked up to the front door and put his hand on the knob.

Hector cocked the hammer of his revolver and tightened his grip on his tomahawk. He flashed a toothy grin and nodded. "Time to move in," he chuckled.

Darric opened the door and the inner door was locked shut. Not wanting to damage the door unless they had to he went around to the side door which was unlocked. Sliding inside he flipped the switch to see if the electricity was on. He had noticed solar panels on the barn and part of the house so he was hopeful that the roofs would generate enough power for most of what they might need. He was not shocked when nothing happened. Well maybe it's an easy fix. he thought to himself.

Heading into the main rooms of the house he grinned. There appeared to be little to no damage to the house and only one walker in sight. After taking it down carefully so he wouldn't make a huge mess he pulled it outside and took it about ten feet out before dropping it. Darric ran back inside to cover Hector if needed.

Hector inspected the living room as Darric came back and pointed to the fire place. "Pretty fancy eh?" he asked with a smile as he began to walk to the stair case. "Come on, lets finish up with the second floor, I want to see which room would be good for Lilly," he said before climbing the stairs. They were sturdy enough so there was no problem there. As he reached the second floor he noticed a long dead body laying motionlessly on the floor and frowned as he slightly kicked it to make sure it was dead. "Make sure to take it slow," he said before heading to the first room with his tomahawk raised at the ready.

Darric nodded and opened the door to another bedroom. It was huge with an attached bathroom and walk in closet. "Hey Hector! I think I found yours and April's room!" He came out of the room and when Hector came out of another one he pointed to it. "I figure you guys being married and all. April will like it." Darric walked into another bedroom and yet another and another. After exploring the upstairs he shook his head.

"This place is huge. Six bedrooms and three bathrooms upstairs and two half baths downstairs. I hope the girls like to clean because it's gonna be a chore to keep this house cleaned up. So big guy what do you think? Shall we get the girls?"

Hector nodded, walked to the window and looked out to see Apirl and Bella with Lilly. "Hey girls, come on in and take a look at our new home!" he shouted down to them with a grin before looking back to Darric. "You packed the good scotch right?" he questioned.

Darric smirked. "You really have to ask me that?" He flipped him off laughing and went to get the body and take it downstairs. "We should check out the barn before anyone goes near it." He took the body out the side door and went to open the front door for the girls.

"Darric!" Lilly yelled happily as she jumped off of the wagon into his outstretched arms.

"Squirt you need to make sure I'm close enough to catch you. I almost wasn't here in time to keep you from hitting the dirt with your face." He tickled her and put her on the ground. "Stay by the house we haven't cleared the barn yet." He looked up at April to make sure she had been listening to him. April nodded.

"Lilly? Did you hear Uncle Darric?"

"mhmm yes." Lilly was hopping like a bunny by the wagon.

Darric grabbed his gun from the back of his pocket and went towards the barn. First he listened to it and it was quiet so he opened it slowly. The instant it was opened he was fighting to close the door. "HECTOR!"

April turned at the top of the steps. "Walkers in the barn!" She picked up Lilly and put her in the house and sat her on the couch. "Don't move!" April dashed out across the lawn towards Darric.

"Shit Bella watch Lilly!" Hector shouted as he sprinted towards the barn. Bella closed the door and sat Lilly down in the living room with a worried smile on her face.

"What happened? Is uncle Darric okay?" Lilly asked with her own worry clear in her eyes. Bella nodded and rubbed her head to comfort her worries.

"Yeah, uncle Darrics fine. Just needs to take care of some uninvited guests," she said while trying to hold down her urge to go and help the others.

Meanwhile Hector had caught up with April and helped Darric keep the door closed. "How many?"

Darric barred the door and bent over trying to catch his breath. "Forty or so maybe? I saw a built in ladder on the side. You want to shoot some fish in a barrel with me?" He said between heaving breaths. He flexed his arms a moment. "Good thing I work the guns out, huh?" April laughed at that and put the silencer on her gun and swung up onto the ladder he had mentioned.

"Damn right! They aren't just for holding your girfriend up against the wall you know." She grinned and went up into the loft of the barn and started shooting walkers. Darric was on her heels.

"Not by yourself sis! Damnit, Hector control your woman!" Darric said.

Hector scoffed as he cimbed up after the two. "Dont ya think I already tried to? That woman is a loose freaking canon!" Hector laughed once he reached the top.

Darric watched his sister and Hector as they shot the walkers into a pile of corpses. He went back down the ladder and headed towards the house. Opening the door he automatically looked for Bella. "Babe? Where are you?"

Bella quickly headed to the front door with Lilly's hand in hers and smiled with relief as she saw Darric unharmed. Before she could give him a hug Lilly was quick to beat her and hugged Darric's leg tightly. She looked up to him with puppy dog eyes. "Are they gone?" she asked with nervousness.

Darric bent down and could see the terror just beneath the surface of Lilly's composure. He hugged the little girl and nodded. "Mama and Daddy are putting them down right now. You just make sure you always listen if you are told to stay somewhere ok?" Lilly nodded and went to the window to see April and Hector as they came out of the loft ladder.

Darric reached for Bella and pulled her into a hug and told her what had happened. "I think I pulled a muscle in my left arm." He showed her and kept flexing it hoping that it was just temporarily sore.

He went on to describe the house and it's many bedrooms. He pulled her upstairs and explained that he was giving the master to the married couple and guessed the next two rooms would be theirs too for their kids and he showed her the large room on the other side of the house for their room. It shared a door into the bathroom with another bedroom but that was okay because they could keep that one reserved for their own kids one day. "So what do you think about my plan?" He gave her a warm and fuzzy kind of grin. "Think you can handle that?"

Bella smiled and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Hm, I think I can handle it," she said before resting her head on his chest and looking at the room one last time. She thought for a moment before speaking. "Boy or girl?" she asked.

Darric smiled at the question, "Boy or girl what? We have two kid rooms so either or both. I'm not particular as long as they are healthy."

Bella chuckled as she began to picture the scene of their children. Her cheeks warmed up a bit as she buried her head deeper into his chest. "How about names? I dont think I would be good with that," she said with a sheepish smile.

Darric got a huge grin on his face. This was going to be too easy. "We could name them Hansel and Gretel or Pocahontas, pick a name...any name. We don't even have to make them be normal sounding. If we want to call them midget and stick pole we could." He laughed and kissed her neck as she chuckled.

Bella rolled her eyes and gently hit his shoulder. "Geez you can be an idiot sometimes," she said before planting a kiss on his lips. "Really though, do you think I would be a good mom?"

Darric wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her against him and looked into her eyes and for a moment he got a little lost in their depths. "I know you will be a fantastic mom." Darric kissed her and pulled back when the door opened.

April opened the door and she and Hector appeared. April was listening to Lilly describe what she saw and how scared it made her. She grabbed Hector's leg when he stopped by her and gave him her puppy eyes melting him into a properly tied bow around her little finger. "Daddy!" She raised her hands into the air hoping he would pick her up. "Do I get a room too?"

Hector smiled softly and knelt down as he patted her head. "Of course you do trooper, it will be right next to me and Mama's room so we will always be close," he said and looked to April. "Isn't that right Mama?" he asked with a grin.

"Absolutely it is. Come on, let's go see your room ok?" Lilly ran after April and ran into her on the stairs. April chuckled and kept her from falling. "I hope they have some toys. If not then we'll find some don't worry."

Darric chuckled and pulled Bella along with him. "I want you to see our rooms. Come on."
@joker892