Daryl knew that the good days were not going to last forever. They never did. The last couple of months had passed in relative serenity. Woodbury folks had settled in and with combined effort they'd managed to turn the prison and contiguous demesne into quite plausible place to live. They had organized little school for young children, they were growing their own crops and they even managed to breed couple of farm animals. Medical care has improved with the arrival of army medical doctor Bob Stookey, who'd started passing his knowledge onto Hershel and Carol. They'd improved their defenses, reinforced the fencing and had more people taking watch, but there were less and less walkers to take care of. The runs for supplies were more frequent and better organized so they hardly ever suffered of shortage of any kind nowadays.

The prison had turned into busy beehive, gurgling with children's laughter. People had started opening again, spending their time with the others, sitting together in the common room, talking and sharing their life stories. Younger folks had begun dating hesitantly and it didn't take long before some of them were planning on getting married. Hell, two couples were already expecting. He still considered bringing a child into this screwed world reckless and crazy thing to do, but he kept his mouth shut as one the couples were Glenn with Maggie. He couldn't help smirking when he'd been watching young Asian hovering and fretting over his pregnant wife. They were his family and if they'd decided to go with it, he would respect it. Considering the given conditions, the living had become as normal as it could have and the life was slowly fighting its way through the dawn of apocalypse.

Daryl frowned as he was watching young children frolicking below the guard tower. What if he was wrong and decrease in walker numbers really meant that the apocalypse was heading towards its end?

Where would be his place when all this shit ended? Where would he go and what would he do when people started rebuilding the old world with their nice white picket fences, happy families and living their respectable lives? Daryl knew he wouldn't go back being the same redneck asshole he'd used to be with Merle, but he didn't see himself fitting into the provincial lifestyle either.

Would he be alone again? Or would Carol stick with him as she always had so far, no matter how moody or skittish he'd been? They had grown closer over the last eight months and he found himself really enjoying having the best friend. He liked the way she always found his eyes when he came back from the run or hunting, unspoken message that everything had gone well exchanged between them. He made sure he was always on watch if she was the one on the run, ensuring she was all right as soon as he opened the gates for them. He felt flattered when she gave him one of those smiles he knew she'd reserved only for him.

And he was damn proud of her fighting skills. He could hardly believe the she was the same woman he'd met at the quarry. She still looked fragile from the outside but he'd noticed how muscular and firmer her body had become from all those endless hours she'd been practicing with the knives or guns. Bowie knife and machete had become her favorite weapons and she could be lethal with them if needed. No longer she flinched when she buried the knife into the rotten skull to the hilt and she'd also become very good shot. When she'd asked him what he'd thought if she'd started teaching older kids with knives, he'd just stared at her agape before nodding.

The doubts about this way of life, sharing his life with other people, had left Daryl long time alone. He'd even admitted to his brother that he couldn't have done things without people anymore and Merle had died to give him this chance. Daryl wasn't going to waste it.

He smirked when he noticed the woman, occupying his mind, walking towards the guard tower with two steaming cups of coffee. Although Carol had been busier than ever before, teaching the kids, who adored her, so there were still couple of them hanging around her, still helping in the kitchen if needed, looking after Lil'Asskicker, who was growing like a weed and learning the medical skills from Bob, she always managed to find some time just for two of them.

She smiled up at him before stopping to exchange a few words with Dan, father of one the kids she'd been teaching, shy teenager Wesley. Daryl's mood had shifted. He'd seen other men watching her and every time he'd caught one of those looks, his chest tightened. He knew that one day she would give in, she would stop hovering over distant and moody Dixon, and she would take up one of those offers. He would stay alone again. This creeping thought sometimes kept him awake at night, when the prison was quiet and he'd been listening to her shifting on the bed in the cell next to his.

Soft knock interrupted his thoughts and he turned to the door with smile tugging his lips.

"Shouldn't someone release you from the watch already?" Carol asked, handing him the steaming mug, which he'd accepted gratefully mumbling his thanks.

"Yeah, Glenn but Maggie ain't feelin' well today so he said he was gonna find somebody else to take his watch but guess he forgot," Daryl shrugged.

Carol rolled her eyes: "I swear it seems sometimes that it's Glenn pregnant, not Maggie."

She stood up and went to the door.

"I'll find somebody to release you, you deserve some rest as well Daryl."

He knew what she meant. Rick was still an unofficial leader but he'd started spending more time with Judith and Carl and people naturally started turning to his right hand man Daryl with their problems, worries or ideas, expecting him to tell them what to do. Daryl didn't really mind but when being in prison, he hardly found some time when he wasn't being bugged. He'd asked Tyreese to be the spokesman for Woodbury people and him, Daryl, Hershel, Michonne and Rick were trying to set up some kind of democracy in their growing group. It didn't always worked, some requests had to been forced by their original group, but they were slowly getting there, learning how to cooperate rather than dispute.

Daryl reached out and grabbed Carol's wrist. He no longer flinched when somebody touched him and the first person he'd started losing his barriers around, was Carol.

"It can wait till we finish the coffee."

She smiled and sat down on the chair in front of him and he was leaning against the table.

"What's wrong Daryl?" Carol asked when she looked up at him, her eyes suddenly serious.

Daryl sighed. Damn woman always had a knack of seeing right through him, there was no point in lying to her.

"Just afraid that this quiet ain't gonna last long," he said thoughtfully, "something's in the air, I can just feel it."

She thought about his words and when she opened her mouth to answer, a high pitched terrified scream suddenly cut the air. Carol went pale, jumped to her feet and headed to the door. Daryl was right behind her, loading his crossbow while they ran down the stairs. When they opened the door leading to the yard, Daryl grabbed Carol's arm and stopped her before she could start sprinting toward the prison.

"Stay behind me and don't do anything stupid, OK? I've got a fuckin' bad feeling."

I apologize if it was a bit boring, I needed to set up the scene, next chapter will be hopefully a bit more angsty! Please review and Caryl on!:)