Disclaimer: I don't own The Walking Dead.

A/N: So, I've come to the point where I'm not really going to even address the whole Daryl's sex life previously thing very much.I'm just NOT going in the whole man whore , would Daryl really talk much about his sex life? Probably not. Which is a little unfortunate because I'm sure we'd all love to hear him talk about sexy things. So anyway, virgin, not virgin, interpret it how you want. I'm jut going to leave it open ended instead of clearly defined.


Gimme Danger

Chapter 12: Almost Golden


"Glenn, mind keepin' a lookout while I talk ta her for a second?"

Shane's head hung over the roof of the RV, where Glenn and Roxy were coming up to from the tents. "Uh…" Glenn's eyes shifted to the blonde who hesitated to react, but shrugged, letting him know she didn't really care either way. She could take whatever the hell Shane had to throw at her this time. "Okay."

Shane nodded once and made his way down while Glenn took his place and Roxy waited for the older man to get over to her. She sure as hell wasn't going up to him. She'd actually thought Shane was cool when they'd first met, but now she just thought he was a dick.

Shane placed his hands on his hips and sighed, looking down before he made eye contact with Roxy. "I'm sorry. All that crap I said, I din't mean it. This whole thing is just… it's gettin' ta me." She was kind of surprised he was apologizing.

"You said some pretty mean shit to me. And you made everyone feel like assholes for something stupid like pot. We were just trying to chill out for one more night, y'know?" Her arms crossed over her chest, showing she wasn't dropping her guard just yet.

"Well Roxy, I'm a goddamn cop!" he sighed, not knowing what explanation to give. Truth was, he didn't really give a rat's ass about the pot. He'd just been in a bad mood, and when Lori had mentioned it, it'd been enough to set him off.

"I know that but, come on Shane. You gonna try to tell me never did it?" She knew she had him there. She could tell Shane had his own fair share of wild days.

"I ain't here ta argue. Ya stink right now an' I ain't sayin' anythin'," he called her out, letting her know he really was just in a nasty mood the other morning. "Anyway, hope ya can find it in ya to forgive me. I didn't send ya out huntin' thinkin' you wouldn't come back. Thought you'd be fine with Glenn; you two made it this far together. I was just… talkin' outta anger."

"It's fine." Roxy tried to keep her voice cool, as if it didn't make much difference to her either way. "Just don't flip out on me like that again."

"C'mere," Shane instructed, pulling her towards him into a hug. "Glad yer okay kid."

Once he let her go and she'd stepped away, she decided to bring up Daryl's concern, because if she waited for Daryl to do it, it would probably just end in some blowout and he'd be ready to pack up and go all over again. "Shane. Are we going to stay here? Move on? Do… something?"

He looked up at the sky, rubbing a hand over his head and breathed a long breath. "Not sure yet. S'hard, bein' the one ta make all the decisions."

"Maybe everyone should just sit and talk about it then." It seemed like a better idea than just ignoring the issue and leaving it all on Shane's shoulders. Then again, it had just been easier to follow the leader; do as the officer said. But when it came down to the nitty gritty of it all, they weren't his burden to carry.

"Can't have everyone involved. Too many different points a veiw 'round here. Not everyone's gonna like the idea of headin' somewhere else. Some a them, they're still clinging ta hope, thinkin' any day now we'll catch somethin' over the radio or—"

"Well we can't just humor them forever. Sooner or later… more of them will come." The fear in her eyes reminded Shane why he'd become a cop in the first place; to keep those fears away.

Now though, he was just as scared as the rest of them.

"I'll think on it. Figure out some kinda… plan. I know you're scared, but I ain't promisin' we're gonna get up and leave right away, but… I'll come up with somethin'. And when I do, I'll see what ya'll think." Shane patted his hand on her shoulder and went back to his post, while Roxy went into the RV.

"Morning," Amy greeted her cheerily. She, Andrea and Jacqui ere milling around the RV, passing bowls around to one another, dumping things in them and collecting clean dishware for everyone.

"Hey. Glenn said you guys needed some help…" Roxy mentioned as she stepped inside the RV. It really looked like they had the situation under control, and considering the close quarters in the RV, there wasn't a lot of room for Roxy to help. She was more likely to just get in the way.

Andrea lifted her eyebrows skeptically. "No… we're all set. We're almost finished. Just gotta go throw it on the fire for a little while."

Amy's lips curved into a smile. "He's sweet. I think he just wanted you to socialize instead of sitting in your tent all day again. He just doesn't want you to be scared. He was worried last night."

Roxy sighed. That sounded like Glenn all right.

"Really? Cause I kind of think he just doesn't want her around Daryl," Andrea put in, shrugging her shoulders.

"Boy's jealous then," Jacqui chimed in.

Roxy sighed and took one of the pots filled with SpaghettiOs, mindlessly stirring them around. "No, it's not like that. He just… he has his reasons for being protective. It's kind of personal though."

"No one's pushin' it honey," Jacqui waved her off, not wanting her to feel uncomfortable. She certainly was the odd woman out it seemed, but there was really no true reason for it. Jacqui thought it was nice to see her up and around them for once.

There was a second of silence before Andrea spoke up. "So what did Shane just want?"

Roxy hadn't realized they'd seen her and Shane talking, but she figured they'd probably heard him clambering down the ladder in the RV.

"He apologized to me." They all seemed surprised except for Andrea, who had earlier spoken to Shane without them knowing. She'd put in her two cents, let him know exactly what she thought of him chastising Roxy like a little kid. She reminded him that he wasn't her brother, her father—nothing. They were all just strangers amongst each other, being pressured into forming relationships in case these were the last people they ever saw again. She'd also made it a point to let him know if she ever caught him talking to Amy like that, she'd knock him down a peg or two real fast.

"Big of him," Amy commented, and they began filing out of the RV. Roxy followed behind them with the canned spaghetti substitute and spent most of the time they were heating up breakfast over the fire looking over her shoulder, just in case.

Up here she wasn't as scared for some reason. But she felt it would definitely be a few days before she'd go down to the quarry again like that. Unless maybe Daryl was with her.

They made plates for everyone and passed them around. Most of the campers had risen at this point, except for Carol, Ed and Sophia it seemed.

Roxy covered their plates and walked down the path to their tent, passing by Daryl as she did. He scowled as he breezed right by him with the food, the smell making his stomach growl. Where the hell was his breakfast? He wouldn't flat out ask, because then it would seem like he wanted her to get his food, which he didn't. But what the fuck, man?

"Where you goin'?" he called out to her.

"I'll be right back," she answered, looking over her shoulder, before she disappeared closer to some of the other tents.

"Carol?" Roxy called into the tent tentatively, not ever having spoken to either her or her husband directly.

"She's not in here," Sophia's tiny voice spoke up, and Roxy stepped forward, opening the unzipped flap, seeing the young girl still in her nightclothes, sitting on her sleeping bag with a coloring book.

"Oh. Um, where's your dad then?" Roxy questioned, wondering why the hell they'd left this little girl alone in the tent in the first place. There were plenty of people to watch her; they could've asked.

"They went for a walk," she shrugged, as if it were nothing.

"Well… okay. Maybe you should get dressed and go eat with Carl and the others," Roxy suggested, not really wanting to leave her here by herself.

"Maybe you should mind your goddamn business." Ed's voice sneaking up on her from behind made her jump, startled. She almost dropped the food. "Tellin' my kid what ta do? You stay in here an' eat with daddy." He instructed Sophia, whose eyes hollowed as she nodded mindlessly. "You get ta work."

He'd gestured behind her, and Roxy looked over her shoulder and saw Carol, looking as though she'd been crying, and trying to hide her eyes from Roxy. "Thank you," she said meekly, taking the plates and handing two to Ed before he retreated into the tent with his daughter and Carol walked off quickly towards Lori and Carl with her own food.

The look Ed had thrown at Sophia made Roxy sick to her stomach. And the dread in Sophia's eyes made her feel even worse.

Something was seriously wrong here.

Quickly, Roxy spun around and jogged back over to the other tents, wondering if she should talk to Shane or… someone about her concerns. It was a hefty accusation to just throw around with no proof though other than inkling.

She'd keep quiet for now, just in case she was wrong. But she'd be watching Ed and his family closely from now on.

Going back to the girls with the plates, Roxy took one for herself and one for Daryl, since everyone else was already eating it seemed. You'd almost think it was normal, looking at all the campers surrounded by one another, talking and joking and even laughing. If there weren't flesh eating undead running around, it would be nice.

"Where are you going?" Glenn asked with a mouthful of food as he saw her about to retreat from the large group of them, all eating together.

Roxy, stopped and turned slowly, not exactly anticipating the reaction she would inevitably get for this one.

"I was gonna go eat with Daryl. He's all alone and Merle hasn't come back yet…"

"Nice excuse," Andrea quipped, trying not to show she thought it was funny. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out where this was going. Big strong hero saves the pretty princess, and as a result, she falls all over him. Though everyone should've probably expected it in this situation. Life expectancy had plummeted in mere days, and suddenly it was becoming much easier to attach yourself to people you really hadn't known a long time. And hell, Andrea thought she might as well get her good times in while she still can. Even if it was with a hot-tempered hillbilly like Daryl.

"I'll be fine," Roxy assured Glenn, who, for some reason, always seemed to think he'd leave her alone with Daryl for a minute too long and he'd come back and she'd be ripped to pieces or something.

She continued on her way, taking a seat on the stump near the hunter's tent and passing him his plate. He took it wordlessly and began eating, having set his things aside.

Roxy started picking all the little hot dog slices in the SpaghettiOs out with her fork and dropping them into Daryl's plate while he looked at her dumbfounded.

She wrinkled her nose. "Hot dogs. I just can't eat them." She'd been doing a pretty good job of transferring from vegetarian to survivalist, but hot dogs were too much. The smell, the taste, the texture; all of it. It was just one of those foods that made Roxy cringe and want to hurl.

"Ever hear a' askin'? Maybe I don't like 'em either," Daryl pointed out, though he continued allowing her to drop them on his plate.

"Well, I figured, since you eat squirrel for fun, you probably wouldn't mind the hot dogs all that much." Her shoulders shrugged and her head tilted to the side once she was finished giving him the chopped up pieces, and she began eating slowly.

They sat and ate in silence for a little while, just listening to everyone else talking in the distance. Roxy stared at Daryl. Not even really realizing it, watching him as he ate, able to see when he noticed her doing it just by the way his body tensed. Roxy had come to find his body language was much easier to read than his expressions.

"Cut it the hell out," he grumbled finally. He hated when anyone stared at him for too long. It was annoying, and it made Daryl feel uneasy.

"Sorry," she apologized, without really averting her eyes at all. "I'm just glad you stayed."

Daryl said nothing in response. He only paused in his feasting for a second before just continuing on with it. It was unusual for him to be around someone who wasn't continuously acting like an asshole. It was… different.

He wasn't sure if he liked it all that much.

But he'd found his own amusement with her, sitting here in silence, waiting to see how long it would take her to break it. He could tell she was itching to talk; he saw her as kind of a motor mouth. But it seemed she tried to restrain herself for Daryl's sake.

It never lasted though.

"So… are you going out to look for Merle at some point?" He'd been gone almost a whole day. Even Roxy was a little worried; how could Daryl not be?

"Ya don't know Merle. Does this kinda shit all the time. He'll be back." He sounded pretty certain, but she didn't completely buy it. She'd drop it though. It was up to him.

She didn't want him to run off into the woods tracking Merle anyway.