Shey walked towards the kitchen, as Daryl went upstairs to see how Merle was doing. He knew he would be unconcious for a few more ours, maybe the rest of the day. He opened the door to see rick talking to the old man who supposedly shot his brother, he didn't look like an aggressive man. But his knuckles went white anyways.

-hey Daryl- was all Rick said, he was obviously nervous about the reaction the younger Dixon was showing.

-he gonna pull through?- Daryl said ignoring Rick and looking harshly into Hershel's eyes.

-yes, sorry for all this son, your brother is a tough man- the doctor answered.

-why did you shoot him, he was just hunting- Daryls voice was so calm it made Herschel even more nervous, he didn't even know what really happened out there in the woods, he blacked out after hearing all the shouting and shots, for God's sake, he didn't even bring a gun! He gave them up a long time ago.

-I'm almost certain I didn't shoot your brother son.

-I ain't yer son. And who the fuck shot him then, huh? Yer the stranger here!- his voice started to rise- ya gonna tell me T-Dog did it?, huh? Sha...- he stopped there, Shane was probably still unconciuos from the huge beating he received from him. The old man didn't look capable of shooting people for the sake of it, but something inside him told him that Shane wouldn't hesitate to do so. He knew he didn't like Merle, nor him, and he was starting to show a creepy fixation on Shey.

-Daryl, this man just saved your brother. We should take his word for now. T wasn't there still and neither Hershel nor Shane seem to remember what really happened.

-That asshole awake alredy?- Daryl asked, his heart rate speeding up like crazy.

-for a few minutes last night, you hit him hard Daryl, you almost broke his jaw- Rick answered.

-Good...- was all Daryl said and exited through the door mumbling something, he had to check on Shey, and he was going to put distance in between them right then. He didn't need a distraction, even less from a fancy college educated bitch.

He saw her right after going down the stairs, the bruising on her nose and jaw alredy showing. She walked towards him with a weak smile and a cup of instant hot coffee.

-Here you go, warm coffee, did you see Merle?- He just stood there looking at her face without answering- Daryl? Are you oka...

-leave me the fuck alone.- Was all he told her before storming off the farmhouse with his crossbow, he needed to kill something not to kill someone.

-Daryl!- he heard her shouting after him, but he just kept walking- fucking asshole! The hell is up witcha now!- She dropped the cup of coffee on the floor and run upstairs, specting the worst.

-Whats wrong?- was all Rick said looking at her surprised by her sudden intrusion.

-Is Merle okay?- her breathing was harsh.

-yeah, yeah he's stable, he will pull through- Rick answered.

-then why is Daryl...

-you'll have to ask him, he in not taking this right, I think we need to talk, alone. First go tell the rest that we need to have an urgent meeting, Hershel here has to go check on his daughters. We're in trouble Shey.

-why?- She was starting to panic.

-meeting.- was all rick said before signaling her to the door. Something bad was gonna happen, she felt it.

She walked downstairs and gathered everyone but the children, Shane and obviously Merle in the living room, the tension could be cut. They all saw Rick and the doctor come from upstairs.

-Hershel here is gonna go check on his girls to his farm now, we all need to talk.- Rick said, while opening the door for the older man. Once Hershel was gone, he sat on the sofa next to T-Dog.

-Well?- Andrea's bitchy tone made Shey roll her eyes.

-something weird is been going on out there. Hershel and his family realized a few weeks ago. Walkers are rising in numbers in a pretty sudden way, and they are all coming from the same direction.

-a Herd of some kind?- Glenn asked looking scared.

-he doesn't think so, also, the other day he went hunting with some guy called Otis, they saw the weirdest thing in the main road to Atlanta. A pile of dead walkers closing the entrance...

-that is not that weird...- Andrea spat to him.

-let me finish, will ya, they all had their heads bashed. In a pretty gruesome way, they then checked most of the sideroads around here. Same thing again and again.

-oh my God...- Shey sat down in the nearest chair- if there is a bunch of psichos surrounding and trying to control this area we might aswell be dead.

-they need to have numbers to do something of that magnitude- Rick went on- and no need to say they are probably not willing to work with other groups. We keep calm for now, tomorrow some of us will go take a look with Otis and Herschel, judge the situation for ourselves.

Once Rick was finished talking they all started to go do their chores, Shey stayed right where she was, looking at Rick.

-you wanted to talk to me...- She said, just one thing in her mind.

-look I know you are worried about Daryl being out there alone, he'll be fine, I'm sure he is just blowing some steam off with the walkers.

-yeah, amazing, he could get bitten or murdered by a bunch of psichos, great, so relaxing.- She responded sarcastically.

-It was Shane.- Rick said suddenly.- I'm not an idiot and neither are you, Shane shot Merle, I don't know why and I don't need to right now. But I need to ask you to do something.

-Rick...- She started.

-I'm sure Daryl will figure it out soon, if he hasn't alredy. He will kill him and we both know that, and once Shane recovers from what happened yesterday I have a feeling we'll need all the manpower we got. Daryl trusts you, or so it seems...

-nice way to put it- She cut him again angrily.

-keep him calm, we need him, we need you, and even if he is my friend, or was.- He paused for a second there- we unfortunately need Shane.

-I know that, but if Daryl wants to have his way with that fucking dick I can't stop him Rick. You know that, he doesn't even want to talk to me right now.

-He'll calm down eventualy, now go rest some more, there are some painkillers left in the kitchen, you look like shit.- he smiled at her jokingly and went out the door to help T cut some wood for the fire.

Carol approached Shey in the sofa a few minutes later, she handed her another wet cold rug to clean her face again.

-how are you feeling?- she knew there was no need to ask, the worry was quite obvious in Shey's eyes.

-fine.

-you know you can talk to me, right?- She sat down next to her and helped with the cold rug.

-I'm worried. I hate it when people ask questions they alredy know the answer for and you are a great person Carol, I can tell... I'm behaving like a bitch.

-you are entitled, Daryl is not the only one with the right to blow on peoples faces when everything goes wrong you know... I saw how he treated you this morning after going upstairs and seeing Merle. He had no right, and by the way, I'm really sorry for interrupting whatever was going on between you two this morning.

-maybe it was for the best.

-The world is gone to shit darling...- Carol answered with a sad smile- After I lost Ed... oh, I loved that jerk...- She looked out the window for a second- we could all be dead tomorrow, so no, it wasn't for the best. He'll come to you eventually, I can see that.- With that she just woke up and went to the kitchen to try and prepare some dinner with the cans they had left.

Daryl entered the front door at that moment, left his crossbow next to Shey without even looking at her and stormed upstairs covered in blood. Not a single word.

Bashed heads? Psichos? Did I just ate the governor for lunch 'cause I don't like him? Yeah.

Did somebody say early Saviours in Georgia because why not? Yeah.

I'm so sorry for the delay, I've been completely blocked. So thanks so much for waiting!

xxxx