A/N: This chapter is where I start to stray from the show by changing when certain characters appear and what happens to them. I love the show, obviously, but I thought it might be fun to change some stuff and see where I can take it (I don't know yet, but I'm just letting it flow). My main focus will still be the Caryl stuff, because that's what I love!

Carol and Daryl didn't make eye contact at all when she finally gathered up the courage to leave the tent and face him. She knew they needed to talk about what happened in her tent that morning, but she also knew they probably never would. Daryl wasn't much of a talker, and she didn't know what to say anyway. They'd just been too close in the sleeping bag. It was natural for any man and woman to respond physically to that closeness, no matter how they felt about each other. She was trying not to read anything more into it, but underneath her worry and discomfort she couldn't help feeling a small flutter of excitement. She'd never felt like this before, that was certain. She had had a couple of boyfriends before Ed, but she was a virgin on her wedding night. Sex with Ed had been boring at best, and in the later years she'd spent her nights praying he would fall asleep without touching her. She couldn't remember anyone ever making her feel the way she did in Daryl's arms. She was aroused, yes, every time he lay next to her, but it was more than that. She tried to deny it, because life was difficult enough already without this added complication, but there was simply no way to push thoughts of Daryl out of her mind. And their close contact the night before only made those thoughts burn more brightly.

But Daryl seemed to be avoiding her, and for now that was fine with Carol. She didn't know what would happen in her tent that night, but she couldn't help hoping he would join her in her sleeping bag again. But he didn't, because that day everything changed.

After a breakfast of cereal bars Maggie and Glenn had brought back from their last run, Rick gathered everyone together. "Me and Daryl were out scouting around this morning, looking for a place to hunker down for a while. A few miles west of here there's a little town with a gas station, some houses, and a little shopping mall. Daryl didn't like the looks of the mall, but. . ." He glanced over at Daryl, who just shook his head and looked down at his feet. "I don't know," Rick continued. "It might not be any safer than out here in the woods, but I think it's worth a chance. We looked in a few of the houses, and there wasn't much left but at least there are beds. We might even find a house that has running water still hooked up."

Everyone looked at Rick blankly, waiting for his decision. "I say we head out there now, get there with enough time to spare before dark so we can settle in. Some of us can head to the mall tomorrow and see what supplies we can find."

The group dispersed then, and Carol put her hand on Daryl's shoulder. He turned his head slightly toward her but didn't look at her. "Is this ok with you?"

"Yeah," he said quietly.

"But Rick said—"

"It's fine," he said, then walked away.

She didn't want to make him uncomfortable by continuing to talk to him, but she wondered what about the mall was causing him concern. Carol knew they would probably never truly be safe anywhere, and she had come to expect that the rest of her life, however short it probably was, would be spent on the run. But any safety, however short-lived, was welcome, and everyone in the group craved it so much that they grasped at any chance. They rushed around in the next few minutes, gathering their things and packing up the vehicles. T-Dog, Hershel, and Beth drove one truck. Rick, Lori, and Carl went in another. Maggie and Glenn still drove their car, and that left Carol to figure out where she would fit in. She'd always ridden on the back of Daryl's motorcycle, but she hesitated today, worried that the tension between them would be too much. She started slowly toward Maggie and Glenn's car, then heard him call out.

"C'mon!" He didn't look at her, just started up the engine and waited until she hopped on the back. She held onto the seat instead of wrapping her arms around him like she normally would, still afraid to touch him and make him uncomfortable. Just before they turned into the neighborhood where they would attempt to settle, Daryl took the curve a little too fast and she couldn't help grabbing his waist. As he slowed down to pull into one of the driveways, he placed his hand over hers and held it there. She was tempted by this small sign to say something to him, or at least to rest her face against his back and hold him a little tighter, but she didn't want to push it.

Maggie and Glenn pulled in behind Daryl's motorcycle and the other two vehicles parked in the driveway next door. When everyone got out and gathered together, Rick spoke.

"Me and Daryl checked out these two houses this morning and they're fine. No bodies, nothing to upset anybody, just a few supplies and some beds," he said. "I say we set up camp in these two and settle in for the night, figure out what's next tomorrow morning."

"Wait," said Beth. Everyone turned quickly. It was always a shock when she spoke, because she did so rarely. "You mean we're splittin' up?"

Rick nodded. "I thought it might be nice to have a little space. We've been on top of each other for a while now." Carol blushed at that, wondering if Daryl noticed it too and thought of her lying on top of him. She certainly couldn't get the image out of her head.

"I don't care how we split," Rick continued, "but I would like Hershel with us in case anything happens with Lori and the baby." Hershel nodded and started pulling his things out of the truck. It was soon decided that Maggie, Glenn, Daryl, and Carol would stay in one house, and T-Dog, Hershel, and Beth would stay with Rick and his family in the other. Carol was relieved that someone else made the decision. She knew she wanted to stay with Daryl, naturally, but she was afraid to say it in case his feelings had changed because of what happened between them.

Daryl went into the house first, with Glenn behind him and Maggie and Carol following. Carol could tell that Daryl wasn't totally comfortable with their new arrangements but she wasn't sure why. Daryl seemed to have a second sense about survival, and she trusted his instincts implicitly. If he didn't feel safe, she knew something was wrong. He held a finger to his lips as they went in, ensuring that they weren't foolish enough to disturb any walkers who might have holed up in the house since he and Rick had visited that morning. As soon as they entered, they heard noises from the back of the house. It sounded like footsteps, but they were too fast to be a walker's shuffle. Daryl motioned with her arms for the others to get back, and he lowered his crossbow to the firing position.

"Don't shoot." A woman's deep voice came from around the corner of the living room, where there was most likely a hall leading to bedrooms. "I ain't a walker."

Carol raised her eyebrows. Not everyone called the walking dead "walkers" as she and her group did. She'd heard a few other terms: geeks, lamebrains, even zombies. How had this woman come to the same nickname as they had?

"Let's see," Daryl said. "Get out here or I'm comin' after ya!"

A small black woman with long dreadlocks appeared then, and as she walked into the room she was followed by two walkers attached to her by chains. The walkers were missing the bottom halfs of their jaws, along with their arms. Carol gasped, then began to feel nauseous. One look at Maggie's face told her that the younger woman felt the same.

"What the fuck is this?" Daryl asked calmly, indicating the walkers.

"They're harmless, Daryl." Another woman's voice came from around the corner, and then Andrea appeared. Carol was shocked, relieved, and overjoyed all at once. She'd thought that Andrea had been killed after she saved her at the farm, and she'd felt incredibly guilty ever since. She knew Daryl had wanted to go back for her as well, but they'd followed Rick's decisions in the hope that he could lead them to survival. And so far, he had.

Carol started toward Andrea, mindful of the creepy walkers attached to the other woman. "Stop," Andrea said. "Don't come close to me."

Carol peered more closely at Andrea and realized that the setting sun and lack of light in the house had concealed a frightening reality. Andrea appeared feverish, ill, possibly even near death. She must have been bitten. Daryl raised his crossbow again and pointed it directly at her head.