Thanks for the feedback, guys. I hope you are all enjoying it. What do you think of it so far? There's still a couple chapters left. This next one isn't really action-packed, but I swear the next one is :) keep on reading!

Tossing. Turning. Groaning in my sleep. Frequent kicks, sending the blankets off the mattress in a heap. My eyes squeezed shut, my muscles tense, my skin dripping with sweat.

"Stop! Daddy, stop!"

"No! Carter, don't do this! Carter!"

"You little bitch. You disrespectful, little bitch..."

"Daddy!"

"STOP!"

My eyes snapped open, releasing a shrill gasp as I bolted upright. I sat there on the bed, panting, the voices echoing in my head.

"Daddy...Daddy...Daddy..."

I plastered my face into my hands, furiously rubbing my eyes.

No, no, no, it was only a dream. Just a dream. A damn dream. Nothing. Nothing. Just a dream...

I dropped my hands from my face, using them to support myself as I tossed my legs over the mattress, sitting on the edge of the bunk. I waited for a moment, gathering a breath, before I rose hesitantly and stood in the middle of the room. My cell creaked softly as I opened it and I crept across the cell-room, taking note to the locked, occupied cells on the second level, the snores of my group quiet yet audible as they slept. However, one cell caught my attention.

On the first floor, about five cells away from me, was Carol's cell. I knew it by heart. I've been in there several times before and I've caught Carol retreating to bed every so often. The door to her privy room was slightly ajar, which confused me since every cell is locked every night; only someone with who had a master set of keys could unlock the door, and that included me and Rick. From being nearby, a deep, rough snore leaked from the crack between the door and doorframe. The snore was too masculine to belong to Carol's polite, high-pitched voice. My stomach immediately dropped.

I approached the cell cautiously, adjusting one eye in the sliver of space created by the open door. Peering inside, a stream of sunlight cut through the festering darkness, allowing a limited amount of vision. But upon a simple glance, I've seen enough. The sunlight caught Carol's face, framing her rosy cheeks and her full lips, which were puckered into a soft, sweet smile. However, Carol wasn't alone. Behind her, lying on the same bunk as her's, sharing the same blanket, their arm wrapped protectively around Carol's waist, was the last living person I ever wanted to touch Carol: Carter.

Appalled, disgusted and furious, I watched as Carol slept soundly, slumbering peacefully while Carter snored loud enough to attract the Walkers outside. Seeing the two curled up, Carter just hugging her close to his body, made me want to punch him even harder. Although Carol was covered with a blanket, it wasn't hard to figure out, seeing that Carter was shirtless, that Carol was nude to a certain degree too. I didn't know what happened, how it happened, or what Carter did to her, but Carter was about as important to me as a Walker; I could kill him if I had the chance.

I could kill him, I told myself, which almost surprised me. I could kill him. I should kill him. I can kill him...

Maybe it was my husky breathing that woke her, or maybe the sunlight that was casted on her closed eyelids, but Carol sluggishly opened her eyes, and the first she saw was me, staring at her with a grim expression. Her eyes grew wide, glancing at Carter for a moment, before she looked at me, panicking quietly.

Daryl? she mouthed to me.

I grunted and whirled around, storming away from the mating- cell, trying my hardest not to stomp on the cement floor, but my heels were slamming furiously towards the large foyer. Behind me, I could hear Carol scrambling out of the bed, Carter snoring obnoxiously as she fumbled to put on her clothes that had landed on the floor. Her cell door opened, creaking quietly as she closed it then ran after me.

"Daryl!" she whispered harshly as she chased after me. "Daryl! What the heck was that about?"

"What the hell's ya problem?" I said, turning to glare at her.

Carol's gray hair was messed up and she had purple bags beneath her eyes, probably produced by her lack of sleep due to Carter's active sleeping procedures. Her clothes were wrinkled from spending a night on the floor, and seeing the tag on the outside of her shirt, I knew that she was wearing it backwards, not realizing that it was inside-out. My stomach churned.

"How could you?" I demanded. "With him? Carter? Why the hell ya doin' that?"

"With Carter? No, Daryl, I wasn't."

"Then explain why you were sleepin' with him and why ya shirt's inside-out," I snapped.

Carol looked down and blushed madly.

"I didn't do that, but yes, we spent a night together."

"Without any clothes on, huh? How stupid do ya think I am?"

"Well, what would it matter to you? We both felt lonely and we decided that spending some time together would cheer us up..."

"'We decided' or 'he made you?' You said you barely know him! Why are ya suddenly bumping uglies with him?"

"I didn't do that, Daryl!" Carol pleaded. "I swear it!"

I looked away angrily, brushing wisps of my hair drenched in sweat from my eyes.

"I didn't, Daryl. And why are you so mad at me? Did I do something wrong, here? Is this my fault?"

"Ya shouldn't have done that," I told her.

"What is it that...?"

"I mean it," I interrupted. "Okay, whatever. I'm warning ya. It's gonna be Hell for ya..."

I turned to walked away, but Carol grabbed my shoulder.

"Daryl!"

I took her hand and squeezed it hard, facing her again. I took her other wrist, shaking them as a gesture as a spoke.

"He's not what ya think!" I exclaimed at Carol's mortified face. "He ain't nobody! Ya don't know him, he don't know you, and if he left Lorretta like that then he do the same to you as a complete, dumbass stranger! Don't give him what he wants! He'll just want more and more of ya, until you're neck-deep in shit like what Ed did to ya. You really want that? Huh? Do ya? 'Cause it comin'. Fast, and you can't stop it if you are gonna act like a dumb bitch and do as he tells ya!"

I stopped talking, regaining my breath, letting my words soak in. Carol seemed almost frightened, watching with horrid eyes as I stood there, gripping her delicate wrists firmly. Realizing how strong my hands had been, I released Carol and stepped back, watching as she replayed my words in her head, deducing them. However, her face demonstrated one emotion: confusion.

"D-Daryl?" she asked me, quizzically. "Lorretta?"

My eyes grew wide upon that name, and I looked down sheepishly. Carol examined me up-and-down suspiciously, trying to understand.

"Daryl?"

"Just listen to me," I answered her tiredly. "Stay away from Carter. I'm warning you. He's not right; he's not good for you. Stay away."

"Daryl..."

"I mean it. Stay away."

With that, I turned around and walked away, my head down, feeling Carol's watering eyes watch me leave.