A/N: Okay guys, sorry this is a little later than I was originally going to post but I'm visiting my sister and my niece and nephew and they're busy busy busy. This chapter is longer than I'd like but I think it's a good one. Sorry for any mistakes, if there's anything major let me know and I'll see if I can fix it.

Disclaimer: I do not now, nor will I ever, own The Walking Dead comic or TV show and do not make any profit from this story. This is purely for entertainment purposes, no copy-right infringement intended.

Chapter 9

Daryl helped move a few bodies from the more highly populated tent areas before heading for the three walkers he'd killed by the RV. He had dragged one to the burn pile and come back for the second when he heard the crying. Frowning a bit he looked around, only to realize it was coming from inside the vehicle. Sighing again, knowing that for the second time that night he would most likely be trying to comfort a crying woman, Daryl headed inside. He was surprised to see that Molly was sleeping, tears streaming down her dirty face as she held a sleeping Keegan close to her body. As he watched from the hallway, her head began to turn back and forth and her cries became louder and higher pitched.

He quickly stepped forward, worried that she would accidently hurt Keegan in the throes of her nightmare. He knelt down beside the sleeping duo and shook Molly's shoulder lightly as he called her name.

"Molly! Molly, wake up woman!"

Her brown eyes shot open and her breath came in gasps as she looked around her, as if looking for whoever, or whatever, had been causing her bad dream. Her eyes finally focused on Daryl as she tried to get her breathing under control. She seemed to realize she was back in reality because she closed her eyes and sighed before carefully sitting up so she didn't wake the baby. Tears were still slipping from her eyes as she looked at Daryl.

"Sorry," she whispered. "I didn't mean to…well interrupt whatever you were doing I guess."

She looked so fragile that Daryl knew she needed to talk to someone. He also knew that everyone else was too busy to bother with it; he'd just have to do it himself.

"It ain't nothin. You wanna tell me what the dream was about?" he asked in a quiet voice.

Molly sniffled and wiped at her cheeks with the sleeve of her sweatshirt. "It was the walkers. I guess I was pretty much just replaying what happened. Amy shut the RV door and I didn't know where to go, there was nowhere to go. The walkers were coming and Keegan was crying really loud and all I could think of was getting him somewhere safe. Then I was under the RV and the walker - he was so ugly and he was snarling at me and grabbing my legs. I couldn't get him to let go, I kicked his face so many time and he just kept coming. Then the other two showed up and one of them was trying to crawl under to get to Keegan and…I didn't know how to keep them all away, I only had two legs. The first one, he was about to bite my ankle when you woke me up," she said with a tearless sob.

Daryl looked down at the carpeted floor, not sure what to say to comfort the girl. "Well, I don't really know what you're goin through. I ain't never had a bad dream cus of the walkers, but I'm sure it'll go away in time. You think it's just cus it was scary and stressful that you're dreamin about it?" he asked.

Molly shrugged a little. "It could be, I don't know. It really was scary though, and I had no idea what to do. It doesn't help that I've had less walker run-ins than most of the group."

"Ya did fine. I think I got a bone to pick with blondie though, shutting the door on ya and shit," Daryl growled, incensed that the blonde woman had knowingly prevented Molly and his son to get to safety in the RV.

Molly shook her head, "she had to. The walker was right on top of her. If she hadn't fallen back into the RV and shut the door it would have torn her arm open. I don't blame her, and with her sister having just died…I don't think you should say anything either."

Daryl scoffed, "just cus she's a girl and is gunna cry if I yell at her for puttin my kid in danger?" he demanded.

It finally dawned on Molly that Daryl might be upset about more than just Keegan's safety. She didn't recall seeing Merle among the men who returned to camp. "Daryl," she whispered, looking into his unbelievably blue eyes. "Where's Merle at?"

She could tell by the way he shifted uncomfortably, refused to meet her eyes, and cleared his throat that something was wrong. "He ain't here," was all Daryl said in reply.

"I know that, I asked where he was," Molly insisted. She hadn't been close to the older Dixon, she couldn't even say she was close to the younger one, but she did talk to Merle sometimes and he had seemed like a good enough guy when he wasn't being racist or sexist.

"He wasn't there when we went back. He…cut his hand off to get out of the cuffs and was gone when we finally got there."

Molly felt bile rise in her throat and struggled to keep from throwing up. She couldn't imagine losing a hand, let alone cutting it off herself. "I'm so sorry Daryl, I know how much he meant to you, even if you didn't get along all the time."

Daryl glared at her, "don't be talkin like he's dead woman! Cus he ain't dead! Nobody gunna kill Merle but Merle."

"I didn't mean it like that. Whether he's dead, alive, a walker, I'm still sorry for what you're going through," Molly replied.

The anger seemed to seep from Daryl's face and he nodded.

Molly knew he was going to leave soon, he had things to do and he'd already spent more time talking to her tonight than he had since they'd met. She didn't want to be alone yet, so she asked, "so what are we going to do now? We obviously can't stay here after what happened. Do the men have any ideas?"

Daryl shrugged. "I'm sure Shane and the new guy are cookin up some kinda plan now as to where to take all these people. Probably somewhere that's gunna get em all killed…" Daryl replied absently.

"Why are you saying 'these people'? Don't you plan to go too?" Molly asked quietly. She didn't want to think about what would happen if Daryl left on his own with Keegan. She knew it must have been hard enough with just him and Merle, it would be even harder with just him and the baby.

"After what these people did to my brother? I wouldn't be doin right by him if I stayed with the people who made him cut his own damn hand off."

"But, but what about Keegan? I'm sorry Daryl, but Merle is a grown man. I think he would understand you having to stay with the group to protect your son. Shouldn't you do right by Keegan too? You know how hard it is to survive out there, you've been through it. Except this time, if you left, you would be all alone with a baby. Please don't go, don't condemn this baby to a horrible death just because your brother made his own bad choices. Please," she whispered, feeling tears building behind her eyes and forcing them down. She couldn't stand by and let Daryl leave with this baby, to let this little boy get torn apart by walkers. She couldn't handle that, not again.

"What do you care? He ain't your kid, why do you care what happens to him?" Daryl snarled in return. He didn't like people telling him what to do, or proving him wrong. He knew he shouldn't even be thinking about leaving the group, not when he and Keegan would be out there all alone with no one to watch their backs.

"I…I just…Keegan is just a baby Daryl. If you don't want to think straight and realize that it's a bad idea to take him away all alone, then I feel responsible in telling you that it is a very bad idea. He needs the protection. And more than that, the camp needs you Daryl. Do you think we would even last two weeks without the game you bring back? If you leave now, it's not just your son you could be killing. It's Carl, and Louis, Eliza, Sophia, me. The supplies Glenn brings back aren't enough to substitute as real meals for this many people. We rely on the meat you bring us, without it we'll all starve or die trying to scavenge food from places that are too walker-infested."

There was silence after that. Daryl didn't want to admit to her that he was wrong, and Molly didn't know how far she should push him before he would leave for sure. "Will you stay?" she asked finally.

Daryl looked into her eyes for a long time, at least that's how it felt to her, before he stood up without a word and walked out of the RV. She had no idea if she'd convinced him or not, no idea if this was the last time she would hold the little boy in her arms. The tears she'd been holding back began to fall before she even realized it was happening. She couldn't bear to lose him, not like she'd lost Finn.

Sometime later, almost dawn by the way the sky was getting lighter, Molly walked out of the RV with Keegan in her arms. She felt her breath catch as she took in all the bodies that were now in piles waiting to be burned or buried. She hadn't realized last night how many walkers had overrun them, or how many of their people they had lost. A tear slipped from her eye as she caught sight of Amy, still kneeling beside her dead sister. From the looks of things, Andrea had not yet been put down to prevent her from turning. It also looked like the rest of the group was ready to charge in and do it regardless of the feelings of the surviving sister. Molly could see both sides of it really, the camp was worried about Andrea turning and attacking someone, and Amy was so consumed by her grief that she wasn't thinking correctly.

"Look who finally decided to grace us with her presence!" Lori sneered as she walked passed Molly with a box of miscellaneous supplies.

Molly felt her face redden in embarrassment; she had told Daryl this would happen. "Keegan was upset," she said.

"We were all upset," Lori replied, turning around to confront her. "We were all scared, but the rest of us did as Shane asked and started packing up camp. You went and took a nap."

"You have no idea what I went through," Molly replied with a frown. "While you were hiding behind Shane, and his gun I might add, I was trapped under the RV with a baby, with nothing to defend us with except my own feet! There were three of those things trying to get under there with us, to get to this defenseless baby, and all I could do was kick my feet at them. You're going to stand there and lecture me about how I reacted to everything when you were barely even in danger last night? Fuck you Lori, I am so sick of the way you treat me, and other people in this camp. I don't have to explain anything to you, and I'm done feeling bad for things I'm not doing wrong."

"And I'm sick of you acting like you don't have to contribute to the group just because you're taking care of some no good redneck's kid while he's off playing games!" Lori snarled, putting her box down and coming toward Molly.

"Lori!" Rick exclaimed, walking up in time to hear the tail end of the conversation. He, Shane, and Daryl had just come back into the main part of camp. Molly didn't know where they'd been but she was actually glad they were here now to witness Lori's mistreatment. "What is going on?"

"I'm just trying to understand why Molly thinks she can get away with laying around doing nothing all the time just because Daryl lets her play with his kid! She was in the RV all night long and hasn't helped at all with packing up. I just don't think it's fair that the rest of us women get stuck with the work she could be doing," Lori explained.

Molly glared at her, "that's simplifying things just a bit don't you think Lori? I mean, I've only watched Keegan a handful of times for Daryl and even then I'm contributing by helping with laundry or dishes or something. Maybe you don't ever notice that because you are never around helping us women do any of the work! I bust my ass helping keep this camp as nice as possible, while you're off catching butterflies or something equally pointless. Ask any of the women in this camp and they'll tell you the same thing."

"Molly is right about some things Lori. She does contribute, even when she's watching the baby. And even if all she did was watch the baby, it would be enough because that frees up Daryl to hunt, and food is something the camp always needs," Shane offered into the argument. He didn't seem to enjoy siding against the camp's self-appointed queen, but he knew when she was wrong.

Lori scoffed and put her hands on her hips. "Please, that would not be enough! There are plenty of women out there that took care of the kids, washed the clothes, did the dishes, kept the house clean, ran errands, and I don't hear them complaining about too much work."

"That's because there's no one left to complain!" Molly exclaimed. "Not to mention all of those chores were a lot easier to do back when there were washers and dryers and things to make the work more manageable. But we're not fighting about any of that. My problem is that you seem to think you're the fucking cat's meow around here and that entitles you to not only do nothing to help, but to boss other people around because you think they aren't pitching in. This baby that I'm holding right now almost died last night, he could be traumatized for life because of what happened. I will not apologize for taking care of him and showing him that he's safe, even if that means that I didn't help pack up."

Lori didn't reply right away and Rick took the opportunity to step in. "I think we've all had enough conflict and stress for one day. Why don't we just let bygones be bygones and call a truce? Let's agree that everyone does their fair share and if someone feels differently we'll talk about it as a group, not argue about it like children."

Lori shrugged noncommittally but Molly shook her head and shifted Keegan in her arms a little, "I'm sorry Rick but I can't let this go. She has been on my ass ever since Daryl and Keegan showed up. She's constantly talking bad about everyone, but especially Daryl and his brother, even though Daryl keeps her kid fed. When I confronted her the first time, she slapped me in the face and never even bothered to apologize, and has continuously brought this back up. I'm just letting you know that the next time she says anything to me that doesn't include the words 'I'm sorry I'm such a fucking bitch', I am going to punch her so hard in the face it'll break her pretty little nose. You have fair warning," Molly said looking straight at Lori before turning and walking toward Amy's immobile figure.

Daryl watched her go, contemplating what she'd said. He had always assumed that a man from the camp had hit her that day so long ago. He also knew why she wouldn't tell him it was the cop's bitchy wife. If she'd told and he'd done something about it that would have just brought Lori down on her even harder. He couldn't believe that she had defended him and his brother, especially when she knew nothing about them.

"You told me you apologized to her already!" Shane said suddenly, bringing Daryl's attention back to the present.

"I went to, but she never came out of her tent. I wasn't going to stand around and wait for her to take her sweet time. Don't act like I did anything wrong," Lori objected angrily.

Rick and Shane didn't say anything. They looked at each other, Shane shook his head, but they didn't contradict her.

"You did do something wrong," Daryl growled. "Just cus you're too pig headed, ignorant, and stubborn to admit you're wrong don't mean that you didn't do anything wrong. If you were a man and I was an asshole I would kick your ass for the way you been acting bitch." He walked away, leaving the other three gaping at him.

Molly was now standing behind Amy, her free hand on the blonde's shoulder as they continued to watch Andrea's body, as if waiting for it to move again. The sun was fully up now and Molly knew that Andrea would be changing any time now. She was a little surprised that it hadn't happened already. She had no personal experience with the change but she'd always assumed it happened within hours of death.

"Amy, we need to take care of her, before she…comes back," Molly said softly.

Amy nodded, "I know, I just…I've been sitting here all night long, thinking that she's going to wake up soon. I know in my head that when she 'wakes up' she won't be her. But every time I get ready to have someone take care of her I think, maybe she's not really dead, she's just sleeping and she's going to wake up. If she wasn't dead and we…I could never live with myself."

"Honey, you know she's dead, really dead. When she comes back she'll be a walker. You know she never wanted that, you have to end it before she can come back."

"Alright," Amy said with a sniffle. "But, I can't do it myself. I just…I'm not strong enough."

Molly nodded, "Daryl, could you come here?" As the hunter walked toward them Keegan began to squirm. Molly looked down and realized that the boy was awake, and had probably been for a while now. He was looking up at her and apparently was focused on a strand of brown hair that had fallen from her customary bun, because he reached up a chubby hand, curled his fingers around it and yanked hard. Molly smiled and gently pried his fingers from her hair, more than happy to let his hand rest against her nose as he explored her face.

"What?" Daryl grunted when he finally meandered his way over to them. He saw the interaction between his son and this woman who had snuck her way into their lives, and couldn't help the pang of sadness that April wasn't here to see and interact with Keegan like that.

"Amy's said goodbye to Andrea. Could you…we don't want the hole to be noticeable. Could you stab her in the back of the head with your knife?" Molly asked softly, looking up from Keegan to see Daryl's face.

Daryl was sick of all the emotional, sentimental feelings going around camp lately, but Molly had gone above and beyond the night before so he figured he could do this without whining about it. He nodded and crouched down beside the two blonde sisters. Amy was crying again but she nodded her consent when he looked at her for confirmation. He reached forward and turned Andrea's head to the side to get to the back of her skull, pulled his knife, and thrust it in fast and deep to save the girls as much pain as he could.

"Thank you," Amy whispered, reaching for the sheet that Dale had brought her sometime in the night. She kissed her sister's forehead, whispered things that Daryl couldn't make out, and covered her sister's body with it.

It wasn't long after this that the 'funerals' for the dead survivors took place up the hill. Daryl, with Keegan in his arms, stood in the far back of the group with Molly at his side. He had not been attached to any of the people who died. In fact, the only two that he had actually known were Andrea and Jim.

I realize that this kind of just…ended, but I figured you'd rather have a new chapter than a good ending sentence ;). FYI, yes I did kill Jim instead of have him sick on the way to the CDC, it just distracts and takes too much time to deal with that little subplot and I just wanted to skip it. Also, I've been thinking that Daryl is more out of character than I was originally planning. Please let me know if he's too different or if you like the difference.