Four Days Later

Shane caught Daryl just as he came back into camp and said casually, "Only damn reason you two are staying is because if you leave, Brianne will go too. And sooner or later, she's gon come back to me… She always comes back."

Daryl eyed him and smirked as he said "You keep thinkin that, Officer. The irony in it is Brianne's been on our asses about movin on as soon as we kin. Don't seem like she's in no real big hurry to come back now, does it? 'Specially if she's tryin to get the hell away from the likes of you."

"She will be though. You done somethin to 'er, she wasn't like this before."

"Maybe, Officer, she got sick o' yer shit. Finally decided to start callin ya out on it instead a' keepin quiet." Daryl shrugged, laughing.

From behind them, Brianne spoke up calmly, "Fuck off, Shane. Shouldn't you be up Lori's ass right now? God knows the woman can't even take a breath on her own. You leave Daryl and Merle alone."

"The two of 'em are bad news, Brianne, and they only keep ya around to do stuff for 'em."

Brianne began laughing at that and she looked at Shane as she put her hand on her hip and shook her head… "You really think a lot of me, huh?"

"Ya do all the stuff ya used ta do fer me, for that asshole now. Kind of not hard to see what's goin on. They keep ya around to take advantage of ya." Shane said quietly as he nodded in Daryl's direction, a pleading look in his eyes as he fixed them on Brianne.

Brianne rolled her eyes and then said calmly, "The irony in this, Daryl… Asshole over there did all the things he's accusing you two of doing." which made Daryl smirk a little as his eyes met Shane's again. Brianne corrected Shane's stupid assumption quickly by informing him, "No, Shane.. You took advantage of the way I felt about you. I do this stuff for Daryl and Merle because I want to. Otherwise, I wouldn't bother."

She turned her attention to Daryl and then asked, "Find that deer you were looking for last night?"

"Nope, I reckon it's done went off somewhere to die. Pisses me off because some deer would be good right now."

"It would. You'll get it sooner or later. You always do." Brianne held out a beer to Daryl, opening the one she was going to drink. Daryl took a long sip after opening the beer Brianne had handed to him and then nodded at Shane and asked, "Gon guess he annoyed the livin hell outta ya all day."

"Actually, he kept his distance until you got back. I got some peace and quiet finally." Brianne admitted as Merle walked over, eyed Shane and said calmly, "That man don't realize just how close he's comin to a kicked ass."

"What the hell did he say to you?"

"Basically, brother, idiot thinks that the second he wins sugar titties here back, he's gonna make us leave camp." Merle gave a laugh and a roll of his eyes, glaring at Shane who was across the camp from them, watching like he always seemed to.

"Seriously? He said that?" Brianne grumbled as she glared briefly in Shane's direction and then swore under her breath and then said calmly, "I hate to tell that asshole, but if you guys were to leave camp, I'd be leaving too."

"Not iff'n he locked ya up in somethin. Sumbitch looks crazier n' a bedbug.. He's just hidin his crazy." Daryl grumbled to himself. He and Merle shared a look and Merle gave a nod, indicating that he understood what Daryl was thinking.

Brianne actually took a long look at Shane then and she shivered as she realized just how accurate that statement actually was. "I never noticed that before..." Brianne mumbled to herself, giving Shane a glare when their eyes met.

Across the campground, Lori happened to catch Shane watching Brianne again. "Shane, stop it. She's done, okay? She's made that pretty clear, actually. I mean how much proof do you need? Just let it go. Because if you don't, then there is going to be a lot of unnecessary tension in the group. Looking over there isn't going to do anything but make her mad."

"If she's mad, means she still feels somethin."

"It means she's tired of you butting in. She's made it pretty clear how she feels now, since she came back."

"She just waits on the two of 'em hand and foot. You think they brainwashed 'er or somethin? That's why she's actin different? She wasn't like that before, she was a hell of a lot more soft spoken. " Shane said quietly, missing the way Brianne used to be, but fascinated by this new side of her also. They had been having some pretty intense fights.

She hadn't really just 'picked a fight' before. She seemed to do it a lot now.

She'd been more passive before.

Now she wasn't quite so passive, she'd tell you off in a heartbeat.

She wasn't afraid to take risks either, from what he'd heard. Because the two men she'd come to camp with went into town earlier, for supplies, and she'd went with them, despite everything he tried to do to stop her from going. And she'd come back, and apparently she'd been only seconds away from getting bit by a Walker.

She'd been real quick to tell Shane that she had it until Daryl took the walker out with a crossbow's arrow to the skull. And that little spark of jealousy Shane felt?

It turned from a little spark to a raging inferno.

He was losing control of the situation; he didn't like knowing this one bit either.

Before now, Brianne was pretty manageable. He'd always been able to win her back before. This whole new side of her though, it was sort of making him realize that he'd lost her for good. That Lori was pretty much his only option now and all he had.

He stood and made his way down into the woods, finding Lori. She'd left to go and pick berries after he'd told her off about ten minutes before. He snuck up on her, his lips found her neck…

Rick had left Morgan and Duane about 3 hours before. He wasn't sure how long it would take; to get to the area that he thought Shane might have taken Brianne, Lori and Carl to, because he didn't know how bad the roads were between here and there. He'd just stopped at a gas station to attempt getting some more gas in his car when he saw one of them…

A little girl in a pink robe with a stuffed bunny and fuzzy slippers. He squeezed his eyes shut and shot two times.

The girl fell to the ground and Rick went in to try and get some gas into the car… All he had to do now was find his wife and son and hopefully, his sister. He just hoped that none of them had gotten the dumb idea to try and make it; staying behind after Evacuation.

"They'll be okay. They have to be okay. I'll find them and everything will be okay." Rick mumbled to himself quietly as he got back into the car and started the drive again….

Obviously, this chapter is the precursor to Rick joining the group and Merle leaving the group. Sorry it wasn't really that eventful, I swear, more big things coming here pretty soon. I'm stunned though, there are 7 reviews, 19 favorites and 26 follows. I really cannot express how moved I am currently, I mean I've never actually thought I was worth a damn at writing. Thank you guys so much, it means the world to me that people are reading and that they seem to like the story so far!

This is probably about day 58/morning of day 59. By now, Merle and Daryl and Brianne have been with the group at the quarry camp for almost a week. Rick's been working his way towards the quarry camp for almost a week and a half now. And we all know what lies ahead to some degree... Or do we?

I'm working on another chapter for you guys now. Hopefully it will be longer and better. This was mostly filler. Maybe I'll even include some sexual tension between Daryl & Brianne for the next one too.. :P we shall see.