I don't care much for this chapter. I swear I feel that way about most chapters now days. Anyway, I hope you all like it, at least. Good news, my friends. I caught a troll! I was so excited. LOL! I hope I managed to make them feel ashamed of themselves. I figured I should make them look at stupid as they actually are because maybe that will save them from hitting one of you. So, here is your chapter. Enjoy! Thank you all for reading, even though the troll thinks that this and S and S are painful to read, implausible, cheesey, repetitive, sexist AU's. They were kind enough to favorite and follow the one shot though, about 30 seconds before they left that lovely guest review. Smart move ;)

Chapter Seven

It took three weeks. Three whole weeks before they were able to secure the little town that they had found abandoned. One would think a man would be able to relax. Hell, God himself took a day off. But not Theodore Douglas. Nope. Now he had to stand on top of a damn wall and keep watch. He was starting think he would have been better off securing his own house and waiting out the storm of demons that were pressing down on them. But that wasn't him. He had gotten right in his church van and picked up every soul he seen that needed picked up. There had been plenty that had been trying to escape. His van had been stuffed with people.

Unfortunately, they had hit a snag right outside of this little town. A town called Woodbury, according to the sign. His small group of survivors met up with other small groups of survivors and then all of those survivors had ran into the Mayor of Pineville. The very town that T-dog and the others had fled from days before. Philip was a smart man, he had to give him that. He had organized the group and then put them to work. He worked right alongside them until the town was secure and none of those things were going to get in easily.

"How is it goin' up there?" Philip asked from the street below.

T-dog looked down at him and returned the smile. "Looks about the same. Seems like those things can smell us. They just keep comin'."

Philip heaved a sigh. "Well, I was talkin' with a few of the locals and they tell me that there's an armory nearby. I think I'm going to gather some of the men and see what we can get, as long as the place is abandoned, that is. If not then maybe we can get some military assistance."

T-dog nodded. "Guns would be nice. What we do have wouldn't put a dent in that mess out there." He said quietly as he gazed out at the sea of biters. They weren't in a frenzy anymore. There even seemed to be less than he had seen that morning. He wasn't sure if they were giving up or maybe they were dying. Could the dead starve to death? He didn't know. It seemed pretty unlikely. Then again if someone would have came to him a few weeks ago and told him the dead would be walking around to begin with he would have called them insane.

"We'll let you know what we find. I'll send someone up to keep an eye on things with you until it's time to change shifts." Philip said.

T-dog nodded, not turning around to look at the man anymore, gun held tightly in his right hand. H wasn't sure how much time had passed before he heard someone coming up the wall behind him. He didn't turn, assuming it would be Martinez. When whoever it was was finally on top he knew it wasn't him. They were too quiet to be him. Martinez was a talker. Much like T-dog had been but the last few weeks had him a little quieter, more thoughtful.

"Any changes?" A husky female voice asked from behind him.

He turned and saw Michonne staring out at the biters, expression grim, sword strapped to her back. She had told him before that she had taken it from her own collection when she had fled her home. She was one of the people he had picked up on the road that day. He found her on foot, walking down the middle of the road with the bloody sward in her hand. She'd damn near scared the hell out of him. He almost didn't even stop to pick her up but he remembered her from the Dixon's cookout.

"Not really." He said in response to her question. "They seemed to have thinned out a little and they've calmed down a lot."

She ducked her head in a tight nod. "I'm thinking about leaving." She said suddenly, her eyes never leaving the swarm below them.

He frowned. "Leavin'?" He asked, disbelief coating his words. "What kind of sense would that make? We just barely made this place safe."

Her eyes flicked towards him and then back towards the biters, her brow creased with what looked like worry. "I don't trust him." She said in a flat tone.

"Who?" He asked.

"Philip. I don't trust the guy. It's just a... I don't know. It's just a feelin'."

He scoffed. "You're serious, aren't you? You know, it's just in your nature to be suspicious of people. It'll pass. No reason to go out there and get yourself killed just for a feelin'."

"Yes, I am serious. And it's in your nature to be too trusting. That is more likely to get your ass killed in this world."

"Have you told him you were plannin' to go?" T-dog asked, sparing her another glance.

She shook her head. "No. And I don't plan too either. He was the mayor of a town that's dead now. He isn't the law. Not over me. All these people, you included, can treat him like he is. I don't have anyone to answer to anymore."

"Michonne, it isn't safe out there." He said, his voice strained. They had become pretty good friends over the past few weeks and he didn't want her to get herself killed over something like this.

"Where is the man's daughter?" She asked suddenly.

He felt his mouth pull down in another frown. "I don't know. He has a daughter?" He never heard the man mention it before.

She nodded. "When we were at the Dixons cookout. He was there with a little girl. He introduced her as his daughter. Now he's suddenly alone. Why hasn't he mentioned her?"

T-dog remembered then. A lot had happened that night and he had been pretty drunk. But now he recalled it. There had been a little girl there with the man. He couldn't believe that had slipped his mind. He still wasn't convinced though. "Maybe he lost her to those things and just doesn't want to talk about it. You can't really blame the man for that. When do you plan on leaving?" He asked.

She shrugged. "A few days maybe. I'm thinking about heading back home."

"There's nothing there but those things. At least here you have people."

Now it was her who was doing the scoffing. "Here we have an all you can eat buffet for those things. It's only a matter of time before someone here slips up and then we're all just sitting ducks with our guards down. I can't do that."

"You wont even think about it?" he asked, feeling dread at the thought of her leaving.

"I have." She finally looked at him. "You can come along if you want but I can't stay here."

He didn't say anything for a long time. He wished she had never even given him the invite. Now if he said no and she left without him he would always wonder if she ever made it and then he would feel guilty because he would always wonder if she could have made it if he'd been with her.

"We're safe here." He said after a few minutes of silence.

"Opinions vary." She smiled slightly but for once he didn't smile back. There didn't seem to be too much to smile about at the moment.

~H~

Daryl wiped the sweat off his brow and started putting the tools away. Oscar was still tightening up a few screws. Two generators. That was what they had scored on the run that damn near killed him. Looking back on it now, now that they were about to have electricity after four weeks without it, it had almost been worth it. It had been him, Shane and Rick and the outbuilding they had been plundering was clear of any walkers. The land seemed to be clear of them too. They had came out of nowhere, about twenty of them, and almost took him, Shane and Rick out.

Rick and Daryl both vowed to keep it to themselves and then threatened Shane with castration if he told a soul. Daryl had had the closest call. The only reason he was alive now was because the thing that had gotten him from behind had tried to take a chunk out of his shoulder and it hadn't been able to rip through the leather of his jacket before Shane blew it's head nearly clean off.

They didn't want Lori or Carol to know about what happened to the three of them. Especially Carol, since Daryl was the one that had the closest call. She had been really strong throughout this whole thing and he didn't want her to start getting scared now. Not that she wasn't scared already, but that would be something that could really worry her. He didn't need her to worry about him on top of the other things she was always worrying about.

In the three story building that housed Hershel's animal hospital there were apartments and Buck had had his eye on them for a while. They had stayed in the furniture store for a while but everyone agreed that they needed their own space and with all the spare room they had in the town there was no reason for them to stay in the furniture store forever. The apartments were close enough together, as long as they all stayed on the same floor, that they would be safe.

They walked away, both sweating and grimy. Daryl didn't know what it was like to be clean anymore and all he could think about was a shower. Now all he had to do was hope that the water heaters in the apartments were electric and not gas. It didn't matter. He would take a cold shower if it meant he wouldn't have to go to bed that night smelling himself. He stank. They all did.

Him and Oscar made their way back towards the building that everyone was waiting in. When they heard a loud whoop coming from inside they looked at one another and grinned. Shane met them at the door and looked like he wanted to hug someone. Daryl hoped he chose Oscar cause he would hate to have to punch the guy so soon after he had saved his life.

"We got lights." Shane grinned.

"No shit, dummy. What the hell you think me and Oscar's been doin' out there?" Daryl asked as he walked past them towards the stairway that led up to the apartments. "And we can't be usin' lights and shit all the time. We'll end up burnin' them generators up or runnin' out of fuel before it even starts to get real cold."

Shane and Oscar followed him up the stairs. "You're a real buzz kill, Dixon. You know that?" Shane asked from behind him.

It was almost dark and the upstairs hallway was dim but they all found their own doors pretty easily. Daryl hadn't really cared either way so it had been up to Carol to find theirs. He was missing the big house more and more. He missed the way it smelled and he missed the way it seemed to ease his worries a little bit. That was the place where he had heeled. He wanted to go home. Maybe even more than Carol did.

Merle was coming out of the apartment that Carol had picked out. He had made sure to grab the one right across the hall from them. He was doing better but he still hovered over her all the time.

"Carol in there?" Daryl didn't even know why he asked. He knew she was.

Merle nodded. "I gotta get my ass in that shower."

"Smells like a great idea." Oscar grinned before he walked on down the hall.

Merle flipped him off and disappeared through his own door.

Daryl hurried into the apartment then. It was dark when he went inside so he took off down the short hallway and saw light shining out from under the bathroom door. He could smell it then. Soap, steam, shampoo. God, all he could think about was getting the filth off of himself.

"Daryl?" She asked from behind the curtain.

He toed off his boots and rolled his eyes. "Who the hell else would it... Never mind. Don't answer that." He wasted no time stripping and then slipping in behind her. It had been a long time since they had even been around each other with their clothes off. They were working too hard to secure the town that they usually fell asleep as soon as they went to bed.

She didn't turn her body around but she grinned at him from over her shoulder, as she scrubbed vigorously at her hair. "This has to be the best shower I've ever taken in my life." She laughed and he laughed with her. She was covered in soap suds like she had already used enough soap for ten showers. "You guys really came through for us today." She said as she turned her head back to face the water.

He was itching to take her place under the spray but she didn't look like she was in the mood to share at the moment. So he waited, steadfastly ignoring the part of him that was acutely aware of how long it had been since he had been this close to her with no clothes on. Getting clean was what he wanted first. Then he wanted her.

Once she was finally rinsed off she threw him one more smile over her shoulder and then slipped out of the shower. He frowned. He must have really looked like shit. She never acted like she was in that big of a hurry to get away from him. He almost forgot what he was worrying about once he was able to get under the water. He scrubbed until he thought his skin would fall off. When he peeked out from behind the curtain she was still there, wearing nothing but his T-shirt and a pair of short cotton shorts, brushing her teeth at the sink.

She had started wearing his shirts a few weeks ago. He figured it was because they were always working and his shirts were bigger and more comfortable. When she wasn't wearing his t-shirts she was wearing hoodies.

He wanted to linger in there longer but all he could think about now was getting to bed. He only had a few hours before Buck would come and wake them up for their shift on watch. Him and Carol were always paired up with Rick and Shane. Lori had been pretty sick the last few weeks, throwing up almost constantly so they didn't make her take watch. Carol refused to stay in. She hadn't been sick at all and she hadn't had anymore hormone induced breakdowns.

He rinsed off quickly and then hurried out before she had a chance to escape the bathroom. He had been so eager that he hadn't even grabbed himself a change of clothes to take with him so he just tied the towel around his waist.

"You alright?" He asked as he met her eyes in the mirror.

She spit into the sink and then nodded. "Fine. Why?"

He shrugged and then followed her out of the bathroom, straight into the bedroom across the hall. When they could rest, they rested. That was the way it had been since they had gotten there. It was a pain in the ass but Daryl knew that they had it much better than others did. They had a strong group and they had them guns that he had been so pissed off about at first. It seemed like years had passed instead of weeks.

They made their way in the dark. He didn't even know where the hell Buck had put their bed, he'd only been in the apartment long enough earlier to see the living room. He'd been too eager to get that generator to pay much attention to a stupid apartment that wouldn't ever feel like home to him. He grabbed a hold of the back of her shirt, causing her to laugh.

"You lost, Dixon?" She asked.

She led him to the bed and then he crawled in after her without worrying about putting anything on. He wasn't worried about being dressed. He hadn't worked nearly as hard today as he usually did and neither had she so he knew they weren't that tired, and they were actually clean. All he wanted to do now was get dirty again.

With a grin he pulled her closer, burying his face into her neck when she rolled over to face him. She smelled incredible. When his lips found hers he moved so she was on her back once more, her fingers raking his hair back from his face. He worked his hand under her shirt and then pulled his face away from hers, eyes widening.

Where once there had been the flat planes of her lower stomach there was now a prominent bulge under his palm... and it almost freaked him out. How had he not noticed that? And then he knew how. That's why she'd been wearing his shirts.

"When the fuck did that happen?" He whispered, keeping his hand pressed flat against it.

"Close to fifteen weeks ago we had sex and..."

"You're a smart ass." he muttered and then kissed her again. He didn't understand. Lori was at least a few weeks more pregnant than she was and Lori was still skin and bones. Actually she looked smaller than she had not long ago. She was sickly looking all the time. Hershel had her and Carol both on vitamins that he'd found in the pharmacy and Carol was as healthy looking as ever, but not Lori.

He explored this new roundness for a few silent moments before pulling away from the kiss once more. She huffed and let her head fall back to the pillow.

"How come you're like this and Lori don't look pregnant at all?" He whispered, honestly curious.

She sighed and put her hands behind her head. "I don't know. But I figure that the less of this she sees the easier it will be on her. She's so sick all the time and she's kinda wasting away. She's scared to death while I feel healthy as a horse. I don't want her to see this and then worry even more about her own. She's been trying really hard to be as strong as the rest of us. I'm afraid that maybe..."

"She'll be fine." He didn't let her finish her sentence. But he had to admit that even he had been worried about the woman. Him and her were alright. They got along pretty good and sometimes she was even funny. Or she was, until she got sick.

She nodded and then covered his hand with her own.

"Ya still coulda let me know what was going on?" He grouched as he laid his head on her chest. He wasn't as eager as he had been before to get dirty again. He didn't know what the rules were but he wasn't willing to do anything to hurt the kid. The kid that he could actually feel now. Or almost.

"You've been tired and you've been busy. I figured you would notice eventually." She was smiling, he could hear it in her voice, which caused him to grin. She usually didn't smile when they talked about this stuff.

"Yeah. I guess I would." He yawned. He must have been more tired than he thought.

~H~

Beth made her way down the sidewalk towards where she knew Buck would be. There was a lot more activity than usual outside of the barricade at the end of the block. Where those things were usually pretty quiet, moaning or growling on occasion, tonight they seemed to be a bit worked up. Buck had told her and Merle to fill him in if anything changed and she had thought this was a change he would want to know about.

Merle didn't want to leave his post but he didn't want her walking the two blocks alone. She had eventually won the whispered argument. He didn't want her there alone with just an overturned trailer separating her from a swarm of walkers.

She held her gun in front of her, keeping her ears and her eyes open for any threat. If she hadn't then she probably wouldn't have noticed the quick movement down the ally she was passing. She stopped in her tracks and turned so she could get a better look into the shadows there. Whatever it was it had been quick. It could have been an animal but she doubted it. It couldn't have been a walker because they were mindless eating machines that weren't fast like that.

She was a block away from Merle and Buck both. She didn't want to call out and cause the walkers to get even more worked up. She took a step into the dark ally, holding her gun out in front of her.

She squinted when she thought she saw a darker shadow moving along the wall, heading away from her, then another. Two shadows. Two men. Two men that weren't a part of her group. She wasn't sure what to do. Buck's rule of act don't think kind of didn't apply to this situation, but the longer she waited the longer whoever it was had to either hide or get back out of the town.

With a frustrated growl she took off running. Straight towards the shadows she had seen dart around the building.