Title: Somebody to Talk To

Author: doctors gal1792

Rating: M

Summary: Emerson Grimes has been on her own for the last three months. She lost track of her father and has since been moving from place to place, trying to find him and gain some closure in a walker infested world. Before the outbreak she was a Preachers daughter and a good kid. A chance occurrence reunites her with her cousin Rick and she suddenly finds the family she had long since thought was gone, all while making decisions with a new friend, that will alter the course of her life forever.

xx

The sun was low in the sky, but there was just enough peaking through the leaves on the trees, that weird shapes were cast around the wooded area. The girl peaked out from around the tree that she was stationed in and glanced around to see if any walkers were still following her. Of the three who had been following her just a moment before, one was still making its way towards her and the other two had been distracted by a dead animal that was still fresh.

"There goes my supper," Emerson grumbled as she watched the walkers chow down on the deer.

Her eyes scanned back to the walker who was still approaching her, and at the last minute possible, Emerson swung out from behind the tree and rammed her knife into the walkers scull. She did not allow herself a chance to celebrate her small victory because walkers were soon once again on the move and after her. The setting sun afforded the girl just enough light that she was able to hop over roots in the path with ease, giving her an added advantage in her attempts to get away. Her feet crunched a twig in half and the sound practically ricocheted around an otherwise quiet forest, despite the growing groans of the hungry walkers. Emerson finally reached the tree that she had been looking for and she quickly vaulted up it, her athletics in high school finally payed off these days, and within seconds she was in the small shelter that she had built inside of the tree.

The two walkers that had followed her stopped at the base of the tree and stared up at her, their black and rotted eyes seemed to penetrate into her very being, but at this point in her life, Emerson paid them no heed. She simply shook her head at the creatures and made her way over to the blankets that she slept in each night. There was some planks of wood on the branches above her head, that sheltered her from any falling leaves or weather, and there were flat pieces of wood that Emerson had nailed into the branches so as to have something more comfortable to sit in. For all intensive purposes, it was a tree house, just not the kind she had enjoyed as a child, because this one was thrown together and only sheltered her from things falling down, not from coming in. It had been at least two years since Emerson's home had become overrun with these creatures and everyone in town that she had ever known was long since dead. It had been a long journey for her and as Emerson settled in for the evening, a can of cold beans in her hand, she couldn't help but ask herself the question, "When is it going to get better?"

When the outbreak had occurred, she had escaped with her father. Emerson had been an only child, and her mother had died when she was little, so for her entire life it had always just been the two of them. For a while there they made it from stop to stop, surviving, killing only when they needed to, and taking care of each other. The winter was finally behind them and spring had just begun to spread in Georgia when her father had gone out on a scavenge with some people from a group that they had been staying with. Emerson had been left behind with the others, despite her protests, her father left. That had been three months ago and when her father didn't return with the rest of the group, she struck out on her own, determining to not get close to anyone. A part of Emerson hoped her father was still out there somewhere and that was what drove her to keep going, if only in the hopes of finding him again for closure.

As the sun set, the creatures of the night began to fill Emerson's ears and she was always glad for this. The combination of frogs, crickets, and every other bug of spring and summer all humming together, drowned out the sounds of the walkers down below. Her eyes blinked once, twice, and then the girl was asleep.

–

"Hey, we've gotta go for a run later today. Do you wanna go?"

Daryl looked up from the weapon in his hands that he had been cleaning only a moment before, "Yeah what do ya need?"

Rick shrugged, "Another medicine run and food, you know, the usual."

Daryl nodded, "Sure, I'll get a group together and the supplies, we'll head out soon." His greasy hands ran over the sleek weaponry with a rag a few more times before dropping it into a bucket that was filled with soiled rags. Daryl sat up and carried the weapon off to the car that was used for runs, and he dropped it into the passenger seat.

"You've got room for one more?"

Daryl turned around to see Michonne approaching, "Always room for more," he said, "'Specially when that more is someone who knows what they're doing."

"Good," Michonne smiled and headed for the storage room to gather supplies for the trip.

Within the next half hour, a group had gathered to hit the road. Daryl, Michonne,

Sasha, Glenn, and Maggie were piled into two vehicles, "Alright, everyone has their list. We'll head out to the strip mall and then see what we can get from their. Got it?" Michonne said.

"Yep, we've got it," Glenn nodded.

"Alright, let's head out," Daryl said.

The vehicles were started and Daryl lead the way out through the gates of the prison and down the highway, followed closely by the second car of people.

–

"Come on Emerson, you've got this." The girl stared at the store ahead of her, currently contemplating if entering through the front door was a good idea or not. Going on a supply run had never been her specialty and she especially disliked the task now that she was completely on her own. Emerson's right hand reached down to feel the smooth butt of her gun, protruding from the holster that was attached to her waist, while her left hand found the grip of her knife. The presence of the weapons soothed her nerves and she took a step forward into the store.

Emerson determined that the Food Lion was empty as she made her way to the first register. Shelves were knocked over, and not much remained on almost all of the shelves. Her eyes scanned the first few registers and to her delight, Emerson reached out for a bag of M&M candies.

"Gosh, that is lovely," she whispered as she took a bite out of the chocolate candy.

She popped a handful of the candy into her mouth and began to move down the aisles, casually grabbing random items that had been left so long ago, anything she thought might be of use. She was just turning down the book aisle when Emerson heard car doors slam out in the parking lot. Emerson dropped to her knees and peaked around the shelf to see a group of people enter the store.

"Okay, see if there is anything here that hasn't already been grabbed," one of the voices said, "Spread out and cover as much ground as possible."

She watched as the group began to spread out through the store, it wouldn't be long until she was discovered, and the last thing Emerson needed was to be found by another group. She wasn't looking to join a new group of people and previous experiences trained her in knowing that she couldn't trust anyone.

"Daryl, I'm going to see what I can find in the comic books for Carl," one of the women said.

"Alright," the man, who Emerson assumed was Daryl, replied, "I'll go with Sasha and see what is in the other stores."

Emerson watched the man and one of the women leave and then her eyes grew wide as she realized what the other woman had said, "Shit," she whispered; that was the aisle she was hiding out on. Emerson quickly got to her feet and hid on an end cap, her eyes scanned the area and eyed the doors to the storage area. It was pitch black in there and she couldn't risk using her flash light once she was in the room; the risk was too great.

"Hey Maggie, I think there might be some noodles left!" a voice shouted.

Emerson's head whipped around and she saw the pile of noodles that she had left untouched, before anyone could round the corner she took off down the long stretch towards the dry goods, her heart was pounding with each step, and she was just about to turn down the last aisle when she tripped over a dropped can of sauce. Emerson took a fall to the ground and then a cold hand reached out for her ankle and she screamed.

"Who is that?!" a man's voice shouted.

"Help me, please!" Emerson cried.

"Down here!" the man called.

Emerson pulled at her ankle, trying to free her grasp from the walker who was pinned to the ground by one of the fallen shelves, "Oh God, please help me," she was crying.

She saw three people running towards her and one of the women pulled out a sword and swung it down with precise action on the walkers arm. Emerson pulled her leg free and ripped the hand off of her ankle. Another woman came around and helped her to her feet, "I got ya honey, it's okay."

Emerson was about to pull herself away from the stranger when her ankle gave out on her and she began to go down again.

"I've got ya," the woman who had grabbed her before said as she caught Emerson.

"I'm okay," Emerson protested.

"Clearly you're not," the man in the group said.

"What were you doing?" the woman with the swords asked as she decapitated the walker.

Emerson shrugged, "I was looking around when y'all got here. I was trying to get away because I have no clue who you are."

"Fair enough, you can't trust people these days," the two women eyed each other before the woman with the swords said, "I'm Michonne. This is Glen," she nodded to the man beside her, "And the one holding you is Maggie."

"I'm Emerson."

"Let's get you outside and look at your ankle, okay?" Michonne offered.

Emerson looked around at the group and bit her lip as she nodded, "Okay."

The little group made their way outside into the piercing sunlight, and eventually Emerson was sitting in the back of one of the vehicles, Glen and Michonne looking at her ankle, "I think you sprained it, but I can't be sure. You should let one of our people back at the prison look at you."

Emerson raised an eyebrow, "The prison? The one up the highway you mean?"

Michonne nodded, "The same one."

"I didn't know there were people living in there," Emerson frowned.

"Well we take in people and help them out. Give them a place to stay," Glenn smiled.

"Okay, I'll come with you," it wasn't like Emerson to accept help like this, but she couldn't help but wonder if maybe her father was there.

"Alright, Maggie you stay with her and I'll see what Daryl and Sasha found. Glenn, make a quick run back through the store and see if there is anything you can grab, okay?"

The others nodded and went off to their tasks.

"So, how long ya been on your own?" Maggie asked.

Emerson looked at the girl, "How do you know I'm on my own?"

"The way you act around new people. I can tell from the amount of stragglers we've taken in," Maggie shrugged, "It isn't a bad thing. But there is strength in numbers."

Emerson looked away from the girl, determined to not give the stranger much information, "A bit."

"You don't have to talk," Maggie gave a small smile, "It's okay."

There was a long silence that passed between the two women when finally, Emerson heard footsteps approaching.

"Daryl is ready to head out," Michonne said, "I'll go check on Glenn."

Emerson's eyes followed Michonne back into the store and then she turned back to the other two who were now approaching. Sasha was a pretty girl who still managed a smile, which Emerson found to be impressive at best. Her eyes traveled up and down the other woman before focusing her attention on the much talked about Daryl. Daryl reminded Emerson of the kind of guys she had gone to school with. He had that rugged southern look about him, that almost every man back home had, and there was something about the way his hair fell across his forehead that was appealing and comforting.

"You okay?" Daryl asked her, his own eyes looking up and down her body, focusing briefly on her swollen ankle.

Emerson shrugged, "I just tripped and fell."

Daryl bent down and eyed the ankle, "I think Hershel should look at it, it looks pretty bad."

"Yeah, I agree," Sasha commented, eying the black and purple bruise.

"You're gon' be okay," Daryl said, "I just have to ask ya a few questions before we take you with us."

Emerson raised an eyebrow, "Okay, what is it?"

"How many of 'em have ya killed?"

She shrugged, "Daddy killed most of them until he disappeared, now only what I need to."

"Have you ever killed humans?"

"Never," Emerson narrowed her eyebrows,

"Alright, well question three is pointless then," Daryl got to his feet, "Let's head out."

Emerson watched the others begin to move into action and her eyes fell on Glenn and Michonne as they exited the store.

"Let's go," Michonne told the others, heading for the car.

Emerson was quiet on the car ride to the prison. No one really spoke, they all seemed at a loss of what to say or think about the situation and their new addition to the group. Emerson kept her eyes on the windows, watching as the trees flew past them. It seemed like it had been a life time since the last time she had ridden in a car, and it almost seemed like a luxury in today's world. An hour at the most passed and at long last, the vehicle pulled up to a set of prison gates. Emerson sat up in her seat as she stared out at the walkers who were surrounding the gates, and then her eyes flew to the driveway, where two people were pulling open a pair of bright orange gates so that they could drive through.

"How long have y'all been settled here?" Emerson wondered aloud, her eyes taking in the sight of the garden and livestock.

"Nearly coming up on a year now," Daryl murmured, "Been a long time in the works."

"God," Emerson shook her head, "That is incredible."

Daryl's eyes found Emerson's in the rear view mirror and the girl almost instantly looked away. The car came to a rolling stop and the others began to get out of the vehicle, leaving Emmerson alone briefly. She took a deep breath before reaching for the door handle, Emerson pushed open the door and soon hands were reaching for hers to help her.

"I got ya, girl," Daryl mumbled, "You can lean on me, I promise I won't bite ya."

Emerson looked up at him through her thick eyelashes and shook her head, before saying anything.

"Dad, their back!" a voice shouted from one of the guard towers.

Emerson looked up and saw a boy running across the plank and inside, "Kids?" she asked aloud, to no one in particular.

"A few of 'em," Daryl answered.

"Wow," she mumbled before turning her attention back to the staircase they were making their way to.

They had just reached the foot of the stairs, when the door opened and another man exited the building, "Daryl, Carl said you-" the man stopped when his eyes fell onto the girl who was leaning on Daryl.

"E-Em?"

The girls blue eyes went wide as she took in the ragged appearance of the man before her, "Rick?!" she practically squealed.

"Wait, do you two...know each other?" Glen asked, frowning.

"Oh my God, Rick!" Emerson launched herself at the man, "It's really you!"

Rick engulfed the girl into his arms and held onto her tightly, "Emerson, I can't believe it," he murmured.

"Will someone tell us what is going on?" Michonne asked, her hands on her hips.

Rick pulled himself away from Emerson but still kept a protective arm around her shoulders, "Emerson is my cousin from Savannah."

"Wait," Daryl frowned, "What?"

–

A/N- Uhm so reviews would be greatly appreciated. I'm still trying to flesh a lot of this out and figure out how AU I want it to be. Please review. I really need it.