winter 2

When the light doesn't go off after a minute Rick rumbles. A herd. Then another light comes on, closer and Rick turns to see Daryl already waking people, Glenn and Maggie start putting the equipment up. They take the pots and fire pit to van one and pile it in with the other supplies they found in the store they were going to take with them. The tents are taken down and moved into the van as well, everyone piles into the second van just as the herd passes it front of the gate. Loud snarling and growling is almost enough to drown out the sound of the thin metal shaking like a maraca. Rick waits until everyone is in, including Lori before helping Daryl with the last of the supplies, moving it to fit around Daryl's motorcycle which they had stuck in the van as well. Rick would have suggested leaving it, but the bike was Merle's and he still felt to guilty to even suggest it to Daryl. Plus, it could be good for scouting later.

The rattling chains made more Walkers join the party at the outside gate and Stiles ran to van two to make sure everyone was inside while Daryl climbed into the driver's seat of van one. The whole Pack and Lori were seated in the second van except stiles and Daryl. Stilee opens the passenger door and holds on to the outside while Glenn drives to the back gate where less Walkers were gathered. He hops down and slams the door shut, pulling out his gun and shooting the two closest Walkers before shooting the lock. He throws the gate open and Glenn floors it, Daryl pulls up and swings the door open. Stiles climbs onto the driver side and the alpha hits the gas, the door slamming Stiles into the hood with a grunt as it hits a Walker.

"STILES!"

"I'M GOOD! KEEP GOING!" They drive a little longer before Daryl pulls on Stiles's shirt. The omega bends his knees carefully and turns a little to see Daryl almost completely in the passenger side. One hand was on the gas and the other was steering but his bottom half was over the console, he just had to sit up more. Stiles sits on the corner of the seat and moves one leg to the gas petal. His foot brushes Daryl's fingers and the hunter sits up, Stiles's thigh just below his chin as the Alpha keeps his eye on the road. Stiles scoots over and brings his other leg inside as Daryl sits up completely. The Omega takes the wheel with one hand and slams the door closed with the other. Once both were situated and breathing heavy, Daryl snorts and bites the skin at his thumb while leaning against the window, staring at Stiles.

"What?" The Omega asks, a little nervous.

"Adrenaline junkie?" The Alpha smirks, looking down at Stiles's lap. He sits in his seat sideways with one leg crossed over the other, his hands tucked into his armpits now. Stiles's barks out his own snort and looks down too. Yep.

Daryl laughs from his belly, head thrown back and tears in his eyes. Stiles's smirks, preening a bit. He liked the other man's laugh, it was deep and more like a nose breathing crackle. It made him want to laugh too. They follow Glenn as he pulls into a driveway with a fenced in backyard and detached garage. They pull in behind the fence and pile out of the cars, Stiles takes His dad and Carl into his arms to scent him and then they get closer to the house.

"Think there's anything in there?" T-Dog asks, "We can't all barge in, guns blazing, if there's a lot in there. Give 'em time to sneak up on us."

"We'll need to come up with a way to communicate with each other without yelling at each other; hand signals, knocks." Rick says. He bangs his elbow on the door to alert the Walkers inside to move or make some noise. "Some kind of formation for clearing houses, especially if we have to keep jumping from place to place."

"Merle and I would whistle when hunting if we split up; bird calls too." Daryl says, readying his crossbow, "I can teach ya'll later. Right now whistle once, long and high, if there are Walkers you need help with, and two short ones if a room is clear. It'll have to work for now."

The group nods. Glenn, T-Dog, Daryl and Rick head in first. They leave the others outside and try the new formation, checking every room, closet, and behind every door before they go back outside. Maggie and Carol had closed the gate while Hershel checked the garage, and now they were setting up the tents inside it. It would be safer there than in the house. Rick has members go in and grab every blanket they can to cover the windows like Morgan had done before. The Prime often worried about the Alpha and his son who saved him to begin with. The battery in the Walkie had died the day after the CDC, and with everything that had gone on, he forgot. He couldn't charge it even at the farm because the adapter was still at the station and in the police cruiser he'd left on the side of the road.

"So..." Maggie and Glenn came up behind the omega while he was looking through the books. He looks up at them with a raised eyebrow, and they kneel.

"Maggie-" Glenn whispers before she cuts him off, "We were wonderin' how long you were going to hang on the door while drivin' and so we kept checking on you, and we saw Daryl bent over while you were getting in the seat, almost made Glenn swerve off the road. Then we saw ya'll laughing and thought you saw the van dance around... there gonna be two courting' pairs soon?"

Stiles just chuckles at the female Alpha; the sound eases the tension from Glenn. He scents the Alpha with a hand on his shoulder. "No. His hand was still on the gas petal. I don't think I'm ready to court anyone; the timing's wrong."

Stiles shakes his head, "And even if I was, it takes two. Daryl's is an alpha, and I doubt he sees me as Mate material. I mean look at me, I'm pathetic and barely hanging on. The only thing Omega about me is my scent and will to protect my brother and dad. I haven't gave birth. I wouldn't even know what to do."

"Stiles ." Glenn could smell the almost non-existent self-worth Stiles was imitating, as could some of the others if the looks they were getting were anything to go by.

The scent disappears as stiles takes a deep breath and smiles, picking up a book and skimming the summary. "Hershel has first watch, get some sleep."

Stiles scents the two Alphas and nods goodnight to the others, climbing into his tent and laying down next to his dad's and Carl's sleeping form. He scents his brother, and father and purrs, settling in and shielding Carl from the door, closing his eyes until his breathing evens out. For now, this would have to do and in the morning they would train to survive the winter.

...

Stiles and daryl where getting along better, stiles had started the mating process and then they had to move again