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It was roughly around two hours to get from the Quarry to Atlanta, Emmalyn had been walking in step with Merle with the rest of the group ahead of them listening to Glenn's instructions on what they were going to be looking for and any emergency plans they need to talk over. "How's ye leg doin'?" Merle asked the ginger. Her last run with just her and Glenn they had found themselves cornered with a survivor, they hadn't disclosed to the duo that they had been bitten and when they were escaping a herd of Geeks, the survivor fell from the ladder they were climbing bringing Emmalyn down with them. She almost broke her leg in the process and Glenn had risked himself to save her.

"I'm fine," Emmalyn assured Merle in her usual whisper. "If ye get hurt again, Ginger--" Merle began only for Emmalyn to place her hand on his arm, she sent him a smile in hopes to ease his concerns. "You know why we worry," Merle told her before smirking, "Can't have ye dying before my baby brother gets the chance to do somethin' 'bout that spark y'all have." Emmalyn rolled her eyes at his words despite the blush that fanned over her cheeks, the woman felt giddy at the idea that maybe Daryl felt something more for her thanks to Merle's constant comments about Daryl's apparent crush on the ginger woman since they were kids.

The group reached the edge of the city and Glenn stopped them, "All right. We'll head to the department store and get whatever we can, almost everything has a use. Then we'll try our best to move from store to store, stock up and remember to stay alert and quiet." The others nodded at Glenn's instructions before they quickly and quietly made their way from the outskirts of the city into the main streets. Glenn and Emmalyn efficiently took out a few Geeks here and there as they checked the stores for whatever had a use. Emmalyn had kept an eye out for any potential vehicles that would allow them to carry more back to their camp and save them the walk back.

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Suddenly, a gunshot rang out through the city as the group were ransacking a clothing store. Emmalyn lead the way to the roof and they all peeked out to see a random guy crawl under a tank that sat in the street now surrounded by Geeks. "That's a damn shame," Merle said with a smirk, it was obvious he didn't actually care too much. "That'll keep them distracted," Morales spoke motioning to the horse that was being mauled by the dead, Emmalyn frowned as Andrea and Jacqui turned away from the sight. "We gotta help him," Jacqui told the group, Emmalyn nodded and moved to the stairs with Glenn trailing behind her.

"Rescue mission?" Glenn asked her as they got back in the store front, she nodded with a determined smile. "Be careful," Jacqui told the two as she and Andrea followed behind, Morales and T-Dog trailing behind them. The two younger runners rushed out of the store and into an alleyway that gave them access to the street that the guy was on. "Think he got inside from underneath?" Glenn asked her, she nodded her head and pulled out her walkie-talkie, handing it over to Glenn. "For someone who doesn't talk, why do you carry the walkie-talkie?" Glenn teased making Emmalyn scoff and motion to the walkie-talkie, Glenn chuckled before focusing back to the mission at hand.

"Hey, you alive in there?" Glenn spoke through the walkie after Emmalyn changed the frequency to hopefully connect to the tanks radio. "Hello, are you there?" The man spoke through the walkie making Emmalyn and Glenn share a wide eyed look, they were impressed that the guy managed to get into the tank unharmed. Emmalyn stepped back to keep watch as Glenn spoke with the man, coaching him out of the tank and away from the herd of Geeks trying to get to him for a snack. "You wait up there, I'm gonna bring him over," Glenn told Emmalyn pointing to the ladder that lead to the roof of the building. Emmalyn shook her head, she didn't like the idea of leaving Glenn vulnerable.

"I'll be fine. If anything gets too close, shoot it," Glenn told her, she sighed knowing that once Glenn had his mind set on something, there was no changing it. Emmalyn climbed up the ladder against the building and settled by the edge of the roof, pulling the rifle from her back and pointing it towards the Geeks below her. As the man climbed out of the tank, Emmalyn fired off a couple of shots to clear a path for the man; she had fashioned her own silencer for the weapon and was glad that she had. The two males quickly got into the alleyway and up the ladder, Emmalyn turned away from the edge as Glenn and the stranger finally got on the roof; both were gasping for air.

"Nice moves there, Clint Eastwood," Glenn commented making Emmalyn snort, she approached the two. "You the new Sheriff coming in to clear up the town?" Glenn questioned the man, Emmalyn always enjoyed Glenn's comments. "Rick, thanks," Rick introduced as he held his hand out to Glenn, the Korean man shook his hand with a nod. "Glenn, and this is Emma," Glenn introduced himself and Emmalyn to Rick, the man shook Emmalyn's hand as Glenn spoke again, "You're welcome for the save." The trio turned their heads to the second ladder they would have to climb, it lead to the top of the building they needed to get to in order to make their way back to the others.

"Bright side, it'll be the fall that kills us," Glenn told the two, Emmalyn raised a brow at him while Rick cringed at the thought. Emmalyn walked ahead of the men, climbing up the ladder at a steady pace with Glenn following behind her and Rick trailing after them. Once the trio had reached the roof, they rushed over to the hatch door with Glenn and Rick talking and Emmalyn focused on making sure their way was clear and safe. They were currently inside an office type building and Glenn led the two towards the stairs which lead them into another alleyway. Glenn spoke into the walkie before handing it over to Emmalyn, she quickly slipped it into her bag.

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A few moments later, T-Dog and Morales rushed out of the store and took out the Geeks that were lurking about allowing Emmalyn, Glenn and Rick to rush into the store to safety. Within seconds, Andrea had a gun held up to Rick's head and a heated glare focused on the new guy, "Son of a bitch, we oughta kill you!" Emmalyn sighed at the blonde, placing her hand on Andrea's shoulder only to have it brushed off, Andrea glared at Emmalyn before focusing back on Rick. "We're dead because of this stupid asshole!" Andrea snapped out. "Andrea, enough," Morales warned seeing the glare on Emmalyn's face directed at the blonde woman; she may be scared but she had no right.

Before anyone could say or do anything else, the sound of gunshots echoed through the air and Emmalyn immediately knew who was responsible. She rushed past everyone up the stairs and onto the roof where Merle was firing off shots like he was a shooting range. "Hey Dixon, are you crazy!?" Morales shouted as the group rushed over to the older man. "Hey, you ought te be more polite to a man with a gun," Merle warned the others as he turned to the job ignoring their unhappy glares. Things escalated as Merle and T-Dog stood toe to toe with one another, Emmalyn was growing tired of the testosterone swarming the air. She caught Merle's gaze with a harsh glare when he went to call T-Dog something bad causing him to stop himself.

Rick stepped forward and tried to talk Merle's ego down but the stubborn redneck only saw the man's officer uniform and immediately decided to be a cocky motherfucker that resulted in being punched in the face and handcuffed to a pipe. Emmalyn sat down next to him and rested her head on his shoulder, he stopped fighting against the cuffs and relaxed against the large pipes. "You're an idiot," Emmalyn whispered to Merle who chuckled. "I'm bored, Em... end of the world don't have much for us to do but survive," Merle replied to her as he watched Rick talk to the group, he began taking charge in hopes to mend the mistake he made dragging in the dead trapping them.

"Emma!" Glenn called out waving her over with Rick watching. "Go on, I'll be a'right. Just look out for yerself, okay?" Merle told her with a stern look, he knew she was too selfless and it'd get her killed. Emmalyn rolled her eyes at Merle before kissing his cheek and dropping a truckers cap onto his head to protect him from the sunshine, leaving some water with him. She got up and walked over to the others, raising a questioning brow at Glenn. "Rick here has a plan but we're gonna need your help," Glenn told Emmalyn, she nodded ready and willing to help however she could. But she stopped them and pointed at Merle with a questioning look on her face.

"We'll let him out once we get what we need, for now, he's a risk to the group," Rick expressed to Emmalyn, she was hesitant for a moment before sighing and agreeing. Rick led the others downstairs leaving Merle to himself though he didn't mind, he only liked Emmalyn's presence anyway. Rick's idea wasn't the most comfortable, Emmalyn had physically cringed as she watched T-Dog and Rick drag in a Geek's body. Rick had searched the body, found a wallet with the Geeks true identity and thanked him for his presence, praying that he was happy where ever he may be now. Rick picked up the axe and looked at it for a moment before he raised it up and hit the body.

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Andrea gagged, "This is disgusting..." Emmalyn nodded in agreement as they continued to rub Geek guts over hers and Glenn's bodies. The smell was revolting, hell, there were no words that could even come close to truly detailing the rotting smell of the Geeks. Emmalyn was trying her hardest not to vomit like Glenn did as they rubbed guts all over Rick while he explained the plan again. Rick would lead Emmalyn and Glenn to a gated area that held a moving truck in its lot, with that vehicle, they could transport everyone and their supplies back to the campsite. Rick left the key to the cuffs with T-Dog, the man assured Emmalyn he'd let Merle go the moment they returned.

Emmalyn held her hunting knife tightly in her hand, losing grip mid-fight wouldn't be good and she didn't need the others worrying about her all the time; most of them already did. The three of them slowly walked through the street, the Geeks paying no mind to them due to the stench masking them in the large crowds of dead making Emmalyn mentally cheer in triumph until she heard the distant sound of thunder and she knew instantly that they were screwed. It began to rain, washing the Geek guts off of the three of them and pretty much straight away, it became a major issue as the Geeks noticed them almost instantly.

The trio of survivors took off into a sprint bringing down any Geeks that threatened their path. As soon as they reached the gate, Emmalyn threw her things over and pulled herself up and over it onto the ground before pulling off the lab coat she had worn to protect her clothes from the Geek guts and threw it to the ground. Glenn followed behind Rick as Emmalyn went to get the keys for the truck, she threw them to Rick but noticed that Glenn wasn't with him. Emmalyn gave him a questioning glance as they got into the truck, "He's in a car with an alarm, the noise will attract the walkers."

Emmalyn nodded as they drove through the gate and the remaining Geeks that had piled up at the gate with the intention to get to the living beings. Glenn drove past in a nice red car whooping and cheering like a child on Christmas, the alarm doing exactly what was expected making Emmalyn smile knowing he'd be having the time of his life. But she also knew that the alarm would be a problem for them at the Quarry, she hoped they'd shut it off in time. They pulled up to the others and the group all piled in, Emmalyn looked around as T-Dog jumped in before closing the door behind him.

He turned to the woman with a sad expression, "I dropped the damn key..." Emmalyn raised her brow at him with a confused and worried expression making him look down in guilt and shame, "I dropped it down the drain-" Emmalyn's eyes widened as he spoke, "-But I chained the door shut, they can't get to him." Emmalyn quickly jumped out ignoring their calls for her to come back. She raced into the store and made her way to the stairs spotting Geeks up at the door, she went to continue with her knife in hand when someone grabbed her shoulder. She turned to see Morales, "Sorry Emma, I promised Carl I'd bring you back." She shook her head and went to turn around to help Merle when something hit her head harshly knocking her out.

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Rosemary Speaks

Some familiar scenes for the old readers but new ones to add to the spice.

How will Daryl respond to Merle's predicament?

Thoughts, questions or suggestions?

See you in the next chapter!