So as it turns out I had a lot more time than I thought and I really didn't spend much of it studying. Which I probably should have but all my exams were easy. I'll try to keep the story updated as the Christmas break goes on.

DxC DxC DxC DxC DxC DxC

The sun had already come up as the group had come across the prison. It wasn't that far of a drive from when they had seen it on the horizon in the early hours of the morning. They stood in front of its massive barbwire fences, having already killed the walkers which were hanging out around the outside of it. The grassy fields on the other side of the second fences were covered in walkers. They limped around aimlessly. It was obvious that they hadn't had a food source in while. The walkers within were much thinner than the ones they had seen in the roads and on the highway. Regardless, there were a lot of them.

"It's gonna be a lot of work" Rick spoke to the small ring of people. Glenn, Daryl, T-Dog and Maggie surrounded him looking over the shoulder of their 'leader'

"So how do we do it?" Glenn asked adjusting the cap he wore upon his head, already sweating from the intense heat.

Rick glanced over at the double fence structure which circled the entire prison. In between there a dirt path in which they could all easily move around.

"We clip ourselves through this fence" He spoke gesturing towards the metal behind him "Once were all in we can seal it. That'll keep any walkers out once were inside" He paused to look for a reaction from the rest them. When they didn't say anything to oppose him he started again. "Then we can cut the fence again and start clearing out"

"That's a lot of walkers Rick" T spoke

"Yea maybe we can have some kind of distraction" Glenn suggested.

Rick sighed heavily. He scanned the place again looking for an option. They were right. Even with the amount of people they had there were a lot of walkers in there and they were low on ammo. Not everyone would be carrying a gun and those without the range were more likely to get swarmed. What they needed was to clear the entire field portion and find a way to get inside the prison, which was probably just as overrun or even more so. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all? He scanned the rest of the group that was waiting for the plan. His face met Lori who gave him a small smile. They were starting to get better after the whole outburst of Shane thing and he needed this for her, his son and baby on the way. They had to get into this prison.

"We'll think of something once were in there. We're safer behind that first fences then we are out here" He pointed out.

As if on cue more walkers appeared from the shade of the forest and stumbled towards the bunch of idiots just standing around.

"Rick's right. Les move" Daryl agreed. The small group scattered as T went to grab the necessary equipment from the trunk of the red truck. Rick gestured for the rest of the group to come and join them. Their scared and worried faces bothered him. He was supposed to be keeping everyone safe and yet it seemed that many of their plans involved putting them in high risk situations. Yet all of them continued to listen to him.

He explained to them the first half of the plan. Once they got behind the fence they needed to form the second part of it as to how they could quickly and efficiently take down the rest of the walkers. He needed time to think however and their time was limited due to the oncoming group of walkers behind them. T returned with the clippers and cords that they could use to 'repair' the fence behind them.

He took the clippers from him and started making incisions in the fence. When it was big enough, he allowed everyone to start slipping through. He let his family slip through first followed by Hershel and his family along with Carol. Andrea and Michonne slipped in next followed by the tail end of the group which was everyone with Rick. As Rick slipped through and started to repair the fence the walkers from the forest pressed their ugly faces up against the fence. They moaned and stuck their decaying limbs through and holes they could fit through.

Daryl watched as Glenn raised his weapon, a metal pole, stuck it through one of the holes and jammed it though the skull of a zombie. He quickly pulled it back out and the body collapsed backwards. The others around him grinned and clapped him on the shoulder.

He turned to Rick and tapped him on the shoulder pointing towards the area not far from where they were now which contained the entranced to the grounds around the prison. Rick nodded back at him and took off at a run in the direction of the gate. He soon heard the sound of eleven other footfalls against the gravel and couldn't help but smile. The walkers from inside the prison had started to notice the group and followed them as they started moving.

The group convened together again and Rick took a look round the area. There were two towers in which the group could easily access. Perfect places to get shots in from above, these people wouldn't be in any danger. Across the yard he could see a fence which wasn't all the way closed. Walkers hung around it and some passed through it to come into the yard. That was the first thing that needed to be taken care of.

"Its perfect" He spoke breathing a sigh of relief "If we can take that gate, stop anymore from coming in. We can pick off the rest of these walkers. We'll take the place by nightfall"

"How do we shut the gate" Hershel asked

"I'll do it. I'm the fastest" Glenn offered.

"No. You, Maggie, Beth, Andrea, Michonne, and T draw as many of them in this direction. Pop em through the fence just like Glenn did. Daryl you take the tower over there. Carol you go with him you've become a good shot. Just take your time we don't have a lot of ammo to spare. Hershel and Carl you take this tower"

"Right" Carl agreed rushing towards the door leading to the tower.

"I'll take care of the fence" Rick stated. The group around him nodded in agreement.

Glenn started to holler and wave his arms around. The others joined in banging their weapons against the fence and shouting as loud as they could. The walkers took the bait and started following the group to the fence. The group proceeded to aim their weapons through the holes of the fenced like Glenn had done already and popped them in the skull. They were easy targets now and due to their desire to eat the walkers didn't even see it coming. All of them worked together to grab their attention and kill them. Even Beth whose inexperience with weapons and how to deal with this new world picked up a weapon and helped out.

Daryl, Hershel, Carl and Carol high tailed it up the steps of the towers and took their positions high in the sky. Carol watched as Daryl took his position and aimed the bow at his first target. As Rick was running towards the gate and had his attention turned a walker crept up from his side attempting to surprise him. But she watched as he raised his bow and with deadly accuracy took the shot, nailing the zombie in the head and dropping it only inches away from Rick. The sheriff looked at the arrow and then to the tower nodding towards Daryl in appreciation. One less walker to worry about. Despite the fact that she'd only had a few lessons with Daryl she picked up the gun they had given her and aimed at a walker near Rick. She lined up her shot and went to fire. The bullet went much further right then she expected and Rick had to stop short to avoid the oncoming friendly fire. He looked towards her with a shake of his head.

"Sorry" She murmured, knowing the man could not hear her and raised her gun again. Why did these things have to be so damn hard to use. Even though she didn't mind doing the chores for the group she also wanted to help with the defending. Andrea had done it, why couldn't she? She wasn't that different then the blonde. Sure their jobs before the apocalypse were much different. She was a cutthroat lawyer and herself a librarian. Oh. Maybe that's why she had this killer woman inside of her. She laughed at the thought and picked up the rifle again picking her next target. After firing a shot which collided with her victims head she silently praised herself and looked over to Daryl who had just fired another shot himself.

What was she doing? She was supposed to be mad at him, not seeking his approval. She shook the thought off and glanced over to Hershel and Carl. The boy was growing so fast. It was sad to see that such a young one had to deal with the world like this instead of playing in the neighborhood with his friends. She imaged that he could shoot a gun ten times better then hit a baseball. Regardless of sex or age, everyone had a job to do now.

She watched as Rick finally made it to the gate. He kicked zombie in the chest pushing it back as he held the gate closed with a couple clips. He spun around and motioned to Daryl before shooting a few more walkers in the head and dashing through the door to the tower.

"Light it up!" Daryl commanded giving a hand gesture his voice ringing out over the relative silence of the day. Suddenly the atmosphere around them changed. She heard the sound of metal pipes and other weapons drop and the chorus of gunshots filled the air. A different sound every second from the array of different firearms they were carrying with them. She grinned; amazed with the power this group had and raised her own gun. The amount of walkers in the field dropped quickly as everyone continued to fire. Finally there was lone walker in the middle of the field. She lowered her rifle and watched as Rick raised his sniper and with a single shot the last walker dropped.

She glanced around and saw there was no more movement in the fields, only behind the fence in which they had sealed off. They had done it. The area was clear and she nearly wanted to jump in joy at the thought. She remembered thinking that the house they had found in the woods was the best thing that could happen to them but she knew she was wrong. This was the best thing that could happen to them. They had barbed wire fences which had proven that they could keep any walker from coming in. They had thick stones walls and vantage points in the form of towers. And most importantly they had space. It was a good day for the twelve survivors.

Daryl looked across the field. Nothing left. Their team had done a good job in taking care of all of the walkers. Plus it took them much less time then Rick had told them originally. He made a gesture towards Rick and then glanced over to Carol. She had a big grin across her face and he wanted to smile along with her. But as the rest of the group started to pile into the field she didn't once look at him and she quickly disappeared down the stairs to meet up with the rest of the group. She was still doing that shit huh? As much he wanted this to stop he wasn't sure what she wanted from him. He'd never been in this kind of situation so could she really expect him to react exactly as she wanted him to? He huffed and followed her down the steps needing meet up with Rick about their next plan. He watched as Carol nearly danced her way into the field. She twirled around with a big grin on her face.

"Fantastic" She stated looking around to the open field. Carol looked back to Lori who was grinning at her.

"You okay?" She asked

"Haven't felt this good in a while" Lori responded with a smile.

The field around her was green and finally they had something to look forward to. As she glanced back to her companions, all of which had smiling faces, she could help feel relieved and overjoyed. Finally something was going right for them.

"We haven't had this much space since we left the farm!" She exclaimed as she walked further into the field. It was flat and grassy. Since the walkers didn't have any enemies while they were wondering around the place they didn't leave much in the way of blood and guts so she knew they wouldn't have to worry about anything going wrong with it if they decided to use it.

She heard the sound of T-Dog's hearty laughing behind her.

"Whoo!" She shouted into the silence of the day.

DxC DxC DxC DxC DxC DxC

After the adventures of the day, night fell quickly. The group was clustered around a fire they built and were laughing and sharing a meal together. It was simple but everyone was happy. She tried to put together the best meal she could in order to celebrate their success today although without something fresh to add to the dish it was really just heated up canned food mixed together. But everyone seemed to enjoy it regardless. That is almost everyone. She looked to the north and saw Rick pacing around the perimeter of the fence.

"That's his third time around. If there was any part of it compromised he'd of found it by now" Hershel spoke

The man was diligent that was certain. But he'd spent the whole night wandering around the fence looking for something that wasn't there. She noticed the looks that Lori was giving. The two of them were still having a tough time but Lori was starting to accept what happened and she could tell that she wanted things to be right again. Was Rick over there because he wanted to absolutely make sure that nothing was going to come and get them in the middle of the night whole they slept in an open field? Or was it because he was trying to avoid Lori for a little while longer? She wasn't sure exactly.

"Tomorrow we can pull all the bodies together" T-Dog started and everyone stopped talking to listen to him. "We wanna keep them away from the water out there beyond the fence. If we can dig a canal underneath we'll have plenty of fresh water" he explained

"When the soil is good and the weather gets better we can plant some seed. Grow some cucumbers, tomatoes, soybeans…" The old man trailed off with a big grin on his face. The thought of doing what he did best, being a farmer, made him so happy and she watched as again smiles came across everyone's faces. She thought about it. It would be wonderful to have such things again. It would be like home. This place was a dream come true. Who would have through it would have come in the form of a prison.

She then looked in the opposite direction and saw Daryl standing on top of the overturned truck. Like Rick he was keeping watch. He paced back and forth diligently looking out towards the forest in which they came. They had escaped the herd and she wondered what happened to them and if they had made their way here. But she knew they were safe now but still the two men stood guard. There wasn't much light now only that of the fire. She could barely tell when he was facing towards the group or away. It was only when she could see his quiver of arrows and the crossbow on his back that she knew he was keeping lookout. There were a few times however when he would turn around as to listen to the group he couldn't hear but would quickly turn around again. She hadn't seen him take any dinner during the time that she was sitting here and no one around her seemed in any hurry to bring him anything.

She sighed. Regardless of the fact that she was still mad at him she didn't want the man to starve. She grabbed an extra bowl putting a small portion of what remained inside. The others watched her carefully and she felt their eyes on her as she turned around and walked over to the lone hunter. She could have sworn she heard snickers behind her but shrugged them off. Were they waiting to see how long it would take before she got up and did something?

The night was quiet and for the first time in a long time he wasn't worried about keeping a perfect eye on everything. The chances that anything bad would happen this night were slim to none when it seemed there was no way for any new walkers to get into their space. Rick had done a good job making sure the perimeter was secure and he guarded the main fence in front. So when he picked up the soft footsteps of someone coming over towards him it relieved him because he had something to do. He was surprised to see Carol rather than Rick. He nodded at her approached and grabbed the bowl from her hand as she tried to get up. He set it down, adjusted his crossbow and grabbed her by the hand pulling her up. When she was safely on top of the truck he grabbed the bowl and started to pick some of the food from within it.

"That's not much but if I don't bring you something you won't eat at all" She muttered softly.

"I guess little Shane over there had quite the appetite" He said jokingly

"Don't be mean" She said "Rick's gotten us a lot further then I thought…Shane could never have done that"

Shane. There were some days he woke up and glad that son of a bitch was dead. He saw how he was changing. He was more aggressive and wanted to fight every little thing that Rick said. He had to be the one that was different and made it seem like Rick was the bad guy and no one ever listened to him. He wasn't always that bad but he'd seen how he developed into the person he'd turned into when he died. It was just like watching Merle and he hated to see that. And even though it wasn't his fault that Sophia was in the barn that day, he'd been the one to release her and bring about the depressive self loathing side of Carol that he hated to see. When he was out there looking for her she was hopeful and he liked seeing that in her but all of that had changed once Shane did what he did. Sure eventually it was probably going to be exposed but he hadn't wanted it to be so soon.

He glanced over to her and found that she had a frown on her face and was rolling her shoulders as if she was in pain.

"Was wrong" he found himself asking as he dropped another piece of food into his mouth.

"That rifle…the kickback? I'm just not used to it" She muttered quietly

At first he wasn't sure how to react. Clearly the muscles in her shoulders were aching from the recoil of the gun. He'd felt that all too many times before but with him he had no one to do anything about it. Not that he needed anyone to do something like that for him. With her however he felt the need to be there for here like he had been for the past few weeks with the loss of her daughter. So even though she had been ignoring him for the past day or so he set down the bowl on the ground and gestured for her to come closer to him.

The desire to stay mad at him was fading. For as long as she'd known him, which in reality was only a few months, she'd never once had an experience in which he had been the one to start something. She wanted to stay mad at him and ignore anything until the day she heard him apologize even though she knew that the reality of that was unlikely. So against her better judgment she allowed herself to shuffle back a few steps until she felt his fingertips against her back. His fingers dug into the muscle of her back and despite her anger with him she felt herself melting into his touch. He was a lot gentler then she thought he would be and felt found it rather difficult to stifle back a moan of appreciation as his fingers kneaded her skin through the thin fabric of her shirt. She couldn't remember the last time that someone had offered to something like this for her. Ed certainly didn't want to touch her unless involved crawling in top of her.

Daryl Dixon was not the kind of person to give massages. If and when there was a women around there certainly wasn't anything other a few minutes of fake intimacy. He didn't aim to please; he did it simply for the high that came with it afterwards. But after the past week or so when she'd done just those little things for him and he'd enjoyed them he found that maybe there was something more than just the quick craving for that sexual energy alone. He also found that when it was her there was something in him that wanted to try something different even though he didn't know a damn about it. At one point she turned her head in the slightest so that when he looked at her she caught his gaze out of the corner of her eye. He met her gaze for a second before the feelings of embarrassment washed over him. He dropped his gaze quickly before pulling his fingers away and dropping his hands to his sides.

"Bes get back" He mumbled

"Was pretty romantic" She spoke after a long pause. The comment caught him off guard. Him? Romantic? He never thought those words would be coming out of a women's mouth.

Despite the fact she was furious with him about yesterday's events she found herself craving more contact. He was the person closest to her and without him she felt the depressing loneliness that came with the loss of her daughter creep up on her. She didn't want it to be like this, relying on someone to feel better about something. She knew Daryl wasn't the best person to get involved with. He could be emotionally cruel and he risked his life on an everyday basis to keep everyone safe. Those were reasons enough alone to just let the man alone but the craving for human contact and to feel contentment and happiness was starting to win out over those other feelings.

So when she found herself speaking even she herself was startled by what came out of her mouth.

"Screw around?" She questioned

His response came in the form of a nervous kind of scoff. He defiantly hadn't expected that out of her. Not after her being so mad at him for the last day or so and because the day before was the first time they had any sort of sexual contact. He watched her expression expecting her to be joking. He didn't want to fall for something so cruel because truth be told he wanted the answer to be yes. He found there to be a smile on her face and a spark in her eye. She wasn't kidding was she? Was she asking for it? Even if she really was there would be no place or time to do anything here. The entire group was no doubt ably keeping an eye on them and if anything transpired they would defiantly hear them. And for god sakes they had a kid with them they couldn't just go about doing that.

He walked to the edge of the truck not wanting to really confront her about this right now. He wasn't sure of the appropriate response.

"I'll go down first" He mumbled as he started to climb down to the ground below.

"Even better" She spoke with a grin across her face.

He nearly fell off the truck. The hell was that? There was no denying it she wasn't just joking around at this point, she really wanted these things. How could he tell her that he couldn't give her what she wanted? He'd never done it before, no one ever asked and truthfully he'd never offered. It wasn't the kind of thing that happened when you were shit faced and looking for a quick fuck.

"Stop" He laughed off jokingly hoping that she wouldn't notice the embarrassment and insecurity he was attempting to cover up.

But even in the darkness with only slivers of moonlight to prove any light she was able to make out a very faint change in color in his face. Was the man actually blushing? Because of something she said to him? In that moment she felt great about herself because she had done the impossible she had proved that even a Dixon could be embarrassed. She grinned as she followed suit down the side of the truck and followed quickly behind him.

The whole thing had been rather romantic, even if he hadn't realized or tried to make it so. It was a beautiful night, they were all in high spirits and he had genuinely been sweet to her. She knew that Daryl wouldn't do something like that for just anyone. It wasn't common for someone who was most of the time so emotionally cold. But perhaps he wasn't as cold as most people thought he was. She realized that after growing up with his brother he'd probably been forced to act a certain way and even though his brother wasn't there anymore he was still living in his shadow. His hardness was a part of who he was but perhaps if she chipped away at it, she would find something new and different about him. She certainly didn't want to change him. After all, that rugged, violent and commanding personality was something she found to be sexy about him. But maybe there was more to him that not even Daryl knew about.

Part of her was still very angry with him and she still wanted to hear his apology but despite that fact she knew she couldn't shut him out completely. Not like she had originally planned to do.

When they returned to the rest of the group, Beth was singing some sort of old song. Her voice was soft and sweet as she sang through the chorus. Maggie joined in afterwards. Her voice lower and taking a different sound. When the two sung together it made her want to cry. It had been so long since anyone has heard any kind of music. The radios were gone and singing was something that was usually done when one was happy. Needless to say there weren't many happy days worth singing about when the entire earth was becoming overrun with the walking dead. Listening to her brought back memories of singing lullabies to Sophia when she was a baby and trying to sing her to sleep after this whole mess had happened.

She didn't know the words of the song but she found herself humming to the tune the two girls created. She felt herself smiling and noticed that it caught the attention of a few in the group who proceeded to either hum along as well or try and sing along with the words. As she looked around the group she caught Daryl's gaze and slowly, a small formed across his face. Not just that little smirk that he normally got either, a genuine smile.

DxC DxC DxC DxC DxC DxC

When he awoke that morning, the sun was already out and shining. Despite the fact that they were in the middle of an apocalypse he felt…well rested. He had to have been asleep for at least nine hours or so. The smell of smoke from the dead fire beside him invaded the air for once he was grateful that it wasn't because they were burning bodies, although that would come later today. He sat up and looked around. Everyone lay scattered around the fire still asleep and many still snoring. He looked around and wondered who it was that took his normal shift in the early hours of the morning. It wasn't like Rick to not call upon him for watch. When looked to the sleeping bodies of those beside him he didn't see T.

What he did see was that of Carol who somehow had come to lay very close beside him. Wasn't she on the other side of the fire when they had all decided to call it a night? So when did she come over towards him? He shrugged it off. Grabbing his crossbow and his poncho he set out to look for T who deserved some sleep at this point. Unlike his brother, he never had anything against the man. He'd heard the stories from Rick and Glenn and T about how they had handcuffed him to the top of the roof and that when T had gone to unlock him he accidently dropped the key down the drain and left him there. Merle thought it was an obvious act of hatred against him but the man did his best to keep from walkers getting to him and they had come back for him as soon as they could. It was Merle's own damn choice to cut off his hand and try and make it out there alone.

Still, he was still his brother. Even after all the shit he did to him when he was a kid, and a teenager and up until this zombie thing they were still family. There was part of him that wanted him dead, after everything that he did to him but they were still family. If Merle had managed to survive and get out of that city he had no doubt that the man was alive somewhere. The two of them were going to survive this new world; they could have done it alone. It was Merle wanted in the first place, but when they found the group in Atlanta it had been Daryl to suggest that they stick with them. Safety in numbers right? Merle had never agreed with the idea, ever since the first day they had come to meet up with the group.

DxC DxC DxC DxC DxC DxC

Daryl strapped his crossbow over his back as his brother stopped suddenly dropped to his knees and touched something in the dirt. His brother had always been the best tracker, hell he learned everything from him.

"Looks like a lotta people goin this way" The man spoke touching the footprint in the dirt. "Can't have been too long ago. Ground is still soft" He observed and stood up. He raised a hand over his eyes and looked towards the direction of the prints. This part of the forest was empty. It seemed that because of the hill the walkers didn't come up this way much which was disappointing. He had an itching to kill something. "Probably in that quarry"

After a brief pause Merle put his hand down and started walking in the opposite direction up into the forest from which they had come.

"What're you doin" Daryl spoke to him.

"We ain't goin up there" He replied. "Is jus gonna be you and me little brother" He replied with a smirk.

Daryl didn't like that idea much. Sure since their parents had both passed away it had always been just the two of them. Sometimes he didn't mind it; Merle wasn't always as bad as he could be. Most of the time however he was hopped up on drugs and it always brought out the worst in him. Merle was getting close to forty but he still acted like he did when he was a teenager. He still pushed him around and beat on him like he was their father.

"I think we should" Daryl spoke.

Merle turned around with a glare on his face.

"Oh you do do ya? Why? Ain't no one down there gonna accept you" He taunted with that smirk on his face. Fuck did he really hate that look.

"Ain't about bein liked. More chances of survival if there's more than just two of us"

"We been doin fine out here on our own baby brother. Think we'll do better with a bunch a city folk who don't know what their doin?" He asked and Daryl had nothing to say. "They probly got kids down there too, you wanna deal with that?"

"We don't know if they do"

Merle glared as his little brother. It was supposed to be just the two of them until the end of days. He could get away with everything he wanted and never have to worry about a thing. The two of them were the best set of trackers and hunters. He really didn't want to go over there and play nice with the other folk but the thought of maybe getting some tail was an enticing thought.

"Alright little brother. Les go see these people" He finally agreed. Daryl nodded in agreement. The two of them wheeled Merle's bike in the bed of his truck and stuffed the rest of their gear along with it. They grabbed the hides they had being hanging out to try and stuffed them in there too. The two Dixon boys all loaded up and ready to go made their way over to the quarry. It was a silent ride, and he wondered if Merle had any kind of alternative motive. He wasn't the kind of person that would just agree with someone, there always had to be a reason.

As they made their way up the dirt road, their sudden presence startled the group of people that were there. They looked shocked and fearful as the two drove up and parked behind some of the others cars. Daryl got out cautiously but stood beside his brother with his crossbow in his arms ready to fire if need be.

"What do you want" A man with dark curls and eyes so dark they were nearly black spoke.

"Come ta join yur little group here" Merle spoke. "My brother and I been traveling by ourselves fur a while and we saw yur little camp from across the hills over there"

The man glanced over to Daryl who had a firm grip on the bow that he was carrying.

"Put the bow down" He commanded.

Merle glanced over to him and nodded. Against his better judgment he set the bow down and crossed his hands over his chest. Not like that was all he was carrying though.

"What's your name" The man asked

"Merle and this here's my brother Daryl."

"Well Merle. How the hell do we know if you're not here just to cause trouble?"

"What the hell you talkin bout boy?" He growled "In case ya haven't noticed were in the middle of a goddamn zombie take over. Were just tryin to survive like all of ya'll"

"You two seem to be doing pretty fine on your own" He retorted

Daryl watched as that look came upon his brother's face. This was turning ugly fast. As much as the man in front of him gave him bad vibes he couldn't let the two of them just be turned away because of his brother. And it was obvious that his brother was about to make this a whole lot harder then it needed to be.

"Don't listen ta him" He found himself speaking. By now there was a small crowd group around the man. He glanced over at them. An older woman with her son wrapped around her leg, a family of Latino's, a couple of blonde women who looked like they were sisters. A little blonde girl stood underneath her mother, an older looking woman who looked like she'd seen one too many bad days in her life.

"We been by ourselves a while. 'S hard work taking shifts jus tween the two of us and sleepin in a truck. We won't cause no trouble. We'll set up in the woods o'er there and stay outta yur way" He explained

The man paused and look back and forth between the two brothers. It was more then apparent that he didn't like Merle, the two stood of growling at each other waiting for the other to back down. Merle didn't like that he wasn't the one in charge.

"Daryl was it?" He asked and he replied with a grunt.

"You two can stay. But don't think that I ain't afraid to kill ya if something goes wrong" He growled and as if to emphasize his point his fingertips brushed the holstered gun at his hip. He wanted to scoff and refute that he'd be able to draw his bow and shoot him straight between the eyes before he had time to draw. Aint nobody messed with or threatened the Dixon brothers. He had a bad feeling about the man in front of them. Is this really who everyone decided was in charge?

"The name is Shane" The man finally spoke before turning around and walking away adjusting the hat on his head.

Daryl glanced over to Merle who clearly wasn't as happy with the way thing had turned out.

"Yur too soft Darlena" He muttered before heading back to the truck and slamming the door. Daryl glanced back to the crowd of people again, taking notice of that older woman with her little girl. They look so frightened. At first he thought it was Merle but then he watched as a large ugly son of a bitch came up behind her and he watched as she nearly jumped out of her skin. The man grabbed her by the back of her shirt and started pulling her away from the scene. Her reaction to him was one of fear. He'd seen that reaction before; it was similar to his own. 'Poor thing' was the last thing that he remembered thinking before Merle's ranting brought him back to reality and they made their way back to the truck to start setting up.

He found T at the other side of the prison scowling in disgust as zombies pressed their ugly faces against the closed fence and screeched out as fresh blood came towards them. He regarded Daryl's presence with a nod.

"Go get sum sleep" He spoke to the man.

"Thanks man" T returned. He hefted the machete over his shoulder with a smile and tiredly made his way back to the ring of survivors in the field.

When Rick and the others had first approached him about Merle and having left him on the roof he was furious with them. Just because his brother was an annoying son of a bitch didn't give them any right to just leave him on some roof in the middle of a geek infested city to die. What if it had been one of their own family members? He didn't want to have anything to do with those people after that.

But after that Rick had time and time again proved himself to be trustworthy in his eyes. The man was doing everything he could despite the odds that were stacked against him. And so when someone looked to him for advice and started including him the decision making process well there was some part of him that wanted to fuck Merle to hell because he said it would have never been possible. Aint no way somebody's gonna trust a red neck like you was what he always said. It was clear that the gate in front of him was holding out well, nothing had gotten in or out the entire night. So he decided to walk the perimeter of the yard just to make sure nothing had happened in the middle of the night.

DxC DxC DxC DxC DxC DxC

The sun was bright and in her face when Carol woke for the morning. It was quiet and some of group had already gotten up and started moving for the day. The fire had been re-lit and something was already cooking. She'd spent the whole night asleep for once. She couldn't remember the last time she had managed to fall asleep and stay asleep without having a nightmare. As she looked around for the first time this morning she noticed that Daryl was gone and that T had returned, already fast asleep.

She was awake in the middle of the night when it happened. Rick had just switched with T and had gone off to lay with Carl and Lori; she watched as T left and took up a position on the opposite side. As she looked to everyone around her she say Daryl laying there head propped up on his hands lying on his back. After being with the group all this time she realized that not once had she ever seen the man sleep. He was always awake before her and went to bed much later then she could manage to stay up.

Before that even when they were in Atlanta, he and his brother slept in the middle of the woods separated from the rest of the group. It was one of those moments where she found herself thinking 'wow am I really surprised by something so little.' Seeing someone sleep wasn't anything that a normal person found to be interesting but there she was kneeling near him as his chest rose in even breaths peacefully asleep. Even in his sleep he looked tough and she feared at that any second his eyes would snap open and his weapon would be at her throat. But he never woke and as much as she wanted to sit there and watch the man sleep she was too tired herself to stay awake. So instead of crawling back over to her spot on the other side of the fire she simply laid down near him with a smile.

She looked around and spotted him leaning over one of the railings of the guard tower which Rick had taken the day before. His crossbow was at his back and paced slowly back and forth scanning over the entire outlay.

"Good morning" She heard Lori greet and she turned her attention away from the hunter in the sky.

"Morning Lori" She responded

"Breakfast is ready" She spoke "Rick wants everyone to eat so we can get moving with today. We have a lot of work to do"

Carol nodded in reply and sat herself down near the fire. Many items which had no use now due to the lack of electricity were finding purpose. Someone had taken an old fan and turned it into a grate in which they could cook food on the open flames of the fire. They were starting to run low on food and water now. Rick was hoping that the prison had fallen to this plague long ago and that most of its resources were still available. For everyone's sake she hoped he was right.

When most of the group had eaten their meal and Beth and Andrea started to take the dishes away Carol watched as what she called the Strike Team formed up. Rick led the group away from the rest of them as if to discuss some secret plan that the rest of the group couldn't know about. The group consisted of Rick, Daryl, Maggie, Glenn and T-Dog.

"The five us will get inside that gate and make our way for the warden's tower. There's sure to be keys in there. Once we get them we can go inside and take care of one cell block" Rick planned.

"You ever been inside a prison like this?" Maggie asked

"No. Back where I was sheriff we had a small little jail. But the layout ought to be same just on a much bigger scale"

"So once we get the keys, we go in there and clear out where were gonna sleep. What about the rest of it?" T asked

"We'll figure out what to do when we get in there. First we gotta take care of all these walkers" Rick spoke "We have to do this old fashion way. Hand to hand"

He was greeted with looks of discouragement. Guns had been their best friends against these things. The chances of getting bitten were lower when they were at range and with so many walkers inside those gates it could become a major problem.

"After all we've been through…we can handle it I know it" He tried to encourage. "These assholes don't stand a chance" He received a few nods and a couple of weak smiles but it was good enough for him. No one opposed him because after all that he had done for them and never let them down they would keep following whatever worked.

The group reconvened a few minutes after but only to look at their small arsenal of weapons and choose which one they wanted for the oncoming slaughter. Daryl had his crossbow and knife of course, those two never changed. T was carrying a long thin metal pipe, Glenn a long pipe in one hand and a big knife in the other and Maggie carried with her the machete. After returning from a talk with Lori, Rick nodded to the group and they headed towards the gate. The rest of the group followed watching those who were about again put their lives on the line.

Carol wondered why so few of them went. There were so many walkers and it would go a lot faster if more people went with them. Especially people like Andrea and Michonne, why hadn't Rick taken them along? They were both great fighters. And she knew that she wasn't that great of a shot yet but she was able to use a knife, she'd killed one or two walkers in this journey so far. No one expected anything out of poor Carol. Swallowing the bitterness she felt she muttered her 'good lucks' and 'be safes'. Hershel had a hand upon the gate ready to slide it open while Rick took the clips off the doors.

"Ready?" He asked the group and they nodded. He let the clips go and they dropped to the ground. Hershel quickly slid open the door and immediately Daryl dove into the gate and already stabbed one through the eye. T was right behind him and jammed the pipe through the skull of another. Within seconds the silence had turned into a battlefield and the moans and shrieks of walkers filled the air along with the sound of metal forcing its way through bone and back out again. The aggravated cries of the warriors rang out as they pushed, hacked and shoved their weapons through the bodies of the oncoming waves of walkers. All the while they kept moving in a tight formation.

They kept close to each other with their backs together and they moved quickly and efficiently. When a walker would come close the nearest person would dart out, make the kill and return to the formation. The team worked in a constant motion never once losing the rhythm that they had. Rick hacked at a walker in front of him and while he was still moving forward, Glenn came from behind and stabbed the knocked down target through the skull with his pipe. As they got closer to their destination, T picked up a rather large riot shield and took point. He bashed a walker back and Maggie leapt out from behind him to stab it once it had hit the ground. Glenn grasped for her hand after she had made her kill and the kept moving forward.

All the while the other group stood behind the fence banging out I like they had yesterday to get the walkers attention. Some of them took the bait and they once again popped them through the fence. Even if it was a small amount of walkers compared to their friends they would do anything to help them out.

As they moved further into the prison yard they reached a red door. Rick went to open it and found nothing inside, this wasn't the place they were looking for. As he went to turn the corner he saw the mass amount of walkers huddling around the area. They were all standing in front of an open gate and they had just realized that something was there. He darted back quickly stopping the group. The pressed their backs against the wall and stood for a moment to catch their breath. Daryl stood behind them his crossbow aimed and ready to go. In front of them a set of walkers came from around another corner. They were wearing guard outfits including a face mask. AS they came closer to the group Daryl raised his bow and released and arrow but it simply bounced off and fell to the ground.

Back at the original gate which had already been clipped close to make sure nothing got into their area the group was still pressed up against the fence. Carol moved to Lori's position.

"Do you see them? I can't see them" Lori panicked

"Their back there" Carol gestured. The only one thing that she was able to see to prove that they were over in that direction was a pair of dirty wings.

It was a difficult situation. The zombies had died in these outfits and even though they didn't have the brain capacity to realize it they were well armed they made it much more difficult. Still the team did their best to fight back against the new and tougher to kill enemy. The only way to kill a walker was to kill the brain but they couldn't do anything but push them to the ground when their faces were covered behind the masks. As T did his best to bash one to the ground he noticed Glenn and Rick both trying to attack a different one in the chest with their weapons. But the armor that they wore reflected the blows and kept the zombies safe.

He glanced back and noticed Daryl who shoved a walker to the ground with his bow and followed up by stabbing her through the eye with his knife. He watched the expression on the man's face and examined the kill. There was something different about that walker then the rest of these. For one it was a woman, it was the first one he had seen since they had been outside the prison walls. There was no time to think about that right now though because they ere too busy making sure that these knew tougher zombies didn't find a way to get them all killed.

Out of the corner of his eye Daryl watched as Rick lunged forward and tackled an armored zombie to the ground. More of them were coming in the through the gate and without thinking he rushed to the man's side instinctively knowing his plan. He followed behind him quickly, avoiding the blood splash coming from Rick decapitating the walker in front of him. As Rick raced past him towards the gate he grabbed a nearing walker by the side of the head and jammed his knife straight through. He let the body drop and hurried after Rick who made a jumping kick to knock one square in the chest. The zombie fell back inside of the gate collapsing from the momentum and bringing a few other walkers to the ground. He took the opportunity to begin closing the gate. Rick clasped on as well and clipped the gate shut quickly. They made a quick recognition of each other and then Rick was running off again towards the rest of the fight.

At least there was one thing accomplished. He watched while he was heading back into the fight that Maggie was struggling with one of the armored zombies. She pressed against it, her knife buried against the armor and began pushing it backwards. Finally after a few more moments of struggling with it she drew machete up to its throat and jabbed into the exposed skin of its neck. The zombie collapsed In front of her and she turned around to the others with a huge grin on her face.

"See that!?"

Finally someone had figured out how to deal with these things. They immediately took their newfound knowledge to use and began to run around to every armored zombie and copied her move. Glenn and T approached one and while Glenn lifted the helmet up to expose its rotting throat T jabbed his pole up though it. Daryl appeared behind another and slid the knife just under the helmet and jabbed it through. He watched as Rick kicked a zombie down three times making sure it fell to the ground. He loomed over it ripping off its mask and sneering in disgust as most of the walkers flesh came off with it. It writhed and squirmed under him and with scowl of hared he stabbed his weapon horizontally through its right eye socket and wiggled the black back and forth until the creature had nearly been decapitated.

Behind him Maggie grabbed a hold of the last one picking up the helmet and jabbing it through the face. It dropped without another sound. She pulled back her arm and gripped her weapon tightly. He looked around. The whole group was covered head to toe in walker blood. Maggie's entire right arm was blood stained as she pulled her weapon away from her last kill. He looked to himself and to Rick especially whose clothes had suffered worse. And after all that work that Carol and the other weapon just put into to washing all those clothes. They didn't get a lot of chances to do such.

But the good thing was that the fight was over, for the time being. They had managed to clear out this part of the outside but they still had yet to achieve their goal and that as to find the warden's keys. After a moment of rest the group backtracked through a steel door and up a set of stairs.

Carol watched for the second time today as the group disappeared to somewhere the rest of the group couldn't see. The others around her were just as restless. They all wanted this to just be over so they could get on with everything. Well there was certainly no use in standing around while they waited, know knew how long they were going to take in there. She put down her weapon and set herself down on the dying grass.

As she waited for them to come back she leaned up against the fence and started to think about the first time that she'd ever seen the hunter. The day that he and his brother had first come to their camp back in Atlanta.

She had just gotten back from the side of the river where the other women were gathered and washing clothes. Her hands were cold and pruny from their long dip in the water and she returned to her tent to warm them up. As she neared her tent Sophia came rushing out with a grin on her face.

"Your back!" She called and jumped into her mother's arms. She relished in the feeling of her baby girl in her arms. She was the light in her life and every day she thanked God that she had the world's most perfect daughter.

"There's something going on momma" The girl spoke sticking the tip of her thumbnail in her mouth and nervously chewing on it.

"What's going on honey?" She asked her daughter petting the top of her head.

"Some assholes looking for a place" Came the gruff voice of her husband. She nearly grimaced when she heard him and forced herself to put a smile on her face. He loomed above her and Sophia and looked down upon them with a scowl on his face. "Aint none of your concern…Shane'll take care of it"

As much as she hated to disobey Ed, knowing full well she would probably get punished for it later she glanced over at the ensuing scene. Two men faced Shane. They looked like they were brothers and judging from their truck and the way they dressed they were folks who lived in the rural part of the state.

The older looking looked wider with more muscle everywhere. His hair was short and graying and he had a mean scowl on his face. The other was younger, he was thin and muscular but in a lean way. He carried a crossbow on his back and she noticed that his face held a much softer expression then the other man. She wasn't sure why but when she saw the younger man something in her fluttered. He was attractive that wouldn't lie about that, but there was something about him that she liked, she just couldn't put her finger on it.

"Couple of hicks" Ed growled from behind her grabbed her by the collar of her shirt. "What did I tell you" He added. Sophia looked at her with a frown on her face. The worst part of this wasn't that she constantly had new bruises and every day she woke up wondering if it would be her last. No, she was worried for the safety of her daughter and all the damage seeing her mother being abused was going to cause her. As she was being dragged off she took on last look in the direction of the newcomers. The younger man, looked over towards her and she felt sick. The first time he ever saw her and she was being hauled off by her monster of a husband like an animal. She hung her head in defeat and let herself be taken away all the while thinking, I didn't even get to hear his name.

As if to pull her away from the thoughts and memories she heard the sound of an opening door and a creaking metal gate. She along with the other's raised their heads towards the noise and watched as Maggie and Glenn made their way out of the door and down the step. Despair flooded over Carol. Where were Rick, T and Daryl? Had they come across a room and been overrun? As Hershel set to opening the gate the young couple jogged over to the fence.

"We're all in. the others are doing some last minute cleaning" Glenn announced with a smile.

Carol sighed in relief. So they had just come out as messengers. Everyone was alright. Daryl was alright. She knew she shouldn't be that worried about it. He'd proven time and time again that he could survive even when he was up against the most difficult of situations.

"How is it in there?" Lori asked

"Like home sweet home" Glenn answered

Although the likelihood of a prison being comparable to a real home was slim to none, it was certainly the best thing for them now. She didn't know what to expect when she got inside having never been inside a prison. There had been some times where she had to fetch Ed out of a holding cell for being an asshole drunk at the bars sometimes but she didn't think they would look anything like this place on the inside. She imaged it to be cold and grey with a lot of cells. It was a cruel thought to think that they were going to be sleeping in prison cells but the bars offered protection in case something went wrong.

The rest of the group picked up the items they had with them and followed Glenn and Maggie up the steps and into Cellblock C. As they walked in behind them, the body of a walker was tossed over the railing on the second floor. It hid the floor with a crack and T immediately grabbed it by the legs and set to hauling it out of the building. There were blood smears and stains on the floors and walls of the place. The cells were lined up all spaced together to fit as many possible prisoners.

"Is it secure?" Carol found herself asking aloud.

"This cellblock is" Rick answered coming down the stairs to meet them. Daryl was at his back his crossbow already put away. She knew that Rick was telling the truth. If Daryl wasn't on the edge about being safe then no one was.

"What about the rest of the prison?" Hershel asked

"In the morning we'll look for the cafeteria and the infirmary"

"We sleep in the cages?" Beth asked her voice showing her uncomfort with the idea. She wasn't the only one. Carol included. She could see the looks on some of their faces. They didn't want to sleep in the cells in which prisoners used to lie and do who knows what. Not to mention a lot of the cells still had bloodstains. That was the first thing Carol as going to do if she could, clean the walls of these cells.

"We found some keys on some guards. Daryl has a set too" Rick answered "It'll be safe" He added afterwards as a reassurance

"I ain't sleepin in no cage" She heard him say as he popped his head over the side of the railing. "I'll take the perch" Gesturing towards the small landing after you climbed up the ladder to the second level.

It was stupid to think that he'd want to sleep near her. She didn't know why she thought that after a few little exchanges between them that he would have any want to come and sleep near here, or even in the same cell. Then again he didn't want to sleep in the cells at all. When she realized that she was acting like a child the thought that Daryl, the lone tracker, the outdoors man all rugged and wild sleeping in some cage was completely unnatural. She chuckled at the thought of him being cooped up and it reminded her of some beautifully vicious bird.

"Come on" Carol said to Lori with a smile. She grabbed the women by the wrist as they set out to find their cell. To Carol's delight they found on the second floor not far from where Daryl was sitting right now. His poncho had been lain out and he was fiddling with his crossbow when the two women came up the steps.

He watched over everyone from his perch, making sure that everyone was finding a place to sleep and taking note of all of them chose to reside. He wasn't all that shocked when he saw Carol and Lori come up the steps. She regarded him with a smile but continued to lead Lori to the line of cages on the walls not far from him. They chose one that was only a few paces away from where he currently was. Good, the thought of having Carol so close in case something did happen relieved him. Ever since the farm when he found he running away from the rest of the group and almost choosing to opt out he'd kept a close watch on her. He wanted to protect her from the walkers and from herself.

Carol walked into their cell, their new room, and set down her stuff against the wall. She and Lori sat down on the bottom bunk and she glanced around the room. It was small and for someone who had a mild case of claustrophobia it was almost too small for comfort. It was dark and it smelled but it was safe and right now that was the most important thing. She glanced over to Lori whose hand rested on her stomach and smiled at the women. Things didn't need to be as dreary as they really were. They were safe and Lori had a little miracle on the way. She remembered the feelings she got when she was carrying Sophia and she watched as the smile she was wearing came onto Lori's face as if she knew what Carol was thinking.

She patted the women on the knee who took it as a sign that she was getting up and leaving. She sighed heavily and lay down against the small uncomfortable looking beds.

"There not so bad actually" Lori said and another grin came across Carol's face.

As she left the cell she couldn't help but wondering if this was going to be their home forever. It was secure enough and thought she knew they were still going to have to go and make supply runs to get more things she found they would really live here. They had everything they needed. They had the fence and the yard to play in. The only thing that was missing was the dog. She stepped outside of her cell and hung over the railing. She heard the low mummers of the others talking on the level below them and she watched sadly as Rick fell to his knees and then leaned up against the wall. Poor man, he must be tired. With all the work he did he needed a good rest though she wondered why it was she that was sharing a cell with Lori and not Rick.

She looked away from him and found herself looking at Daryl, who chose that exact moment to look up as well. Her gaze met his and although part of her was still worried about them living in this situation which could still prove to be dangerous, the calm look in his steel eyes was reassuring. She offered him a small smile in which he returned with that signature smirk of his. After a moment of just staring into his eyes she reluctantly looked away and turned to head back into the cell.