Two updates in as many days! I'm proud of myself. I've been working on something that very few of you know about. I've been working on it for a while now and I'm 11 chapters ahead but I've been writing it really slow. It's my go to story when I can't get anything done with this story. It clears my head a bit. I would probably only update it about once a week. I'm not sure if I should start posting it or wait until I have more chapters under my belt. If you're interested then let me know! Anyway, this is a filler and I am not too fond of it but we're progressing slightly. If nothing else, at least it's something to read, right? lol Hope you all have a great day and thank you for reading! =)

Chapter Thirteen

Carol sat Indian style in the middle of the living room floor. Despite the chill she felt like she was about to burn up. She was wearing Daryl's flannel pajama bottoms and one of her own old t-shirts that used to be loose on her but now clung to her like she'd bought it two sizes too small. She methodically cleaned her gun and then put it back together, making sure that it was loaded and ready to be used at a seconds notice. She slipped the strap over her shoulder and then went to stand up. She frowned.

"You can't be serious," she muttered, looking down at her distended belly. She leaned back bracing herself with her arms and then unfolded her legs, stretching them out in front of her. This was becoming a pain in the ass already and she wasn't even at the halfway mark. It hadn't taken too long to get Daryl to comply last night but she knew it was only going to get worse the bigger she got. It wasn't that he didn't want too. He just had a strange sense of ethics when it came to her and the baby. She laughed out loud thinking of what he had said the night before.

She was just about to work on figuring out how to get her oversized ass up off the floor when he walked in. His face was red from the cold. The wind had picked up and it made it much colder.

"Thank God." She mumbled.

He frowned. "Why are ya on the floor?"

"I was cleaning my gun and doing it on the floor seemed like a good idea at the time," she mumbled as she sat back up.

"And now?" he asked, raising his eyebrows questioningly.

"And now I can't get back up."

He marched over and took her hand, pulling her up off the floor easily. "Ya might wanna come outside. We got some company." He said with a sigh.

Her pulse quickened just as she felt the blood drain from her face. Her hand instantly went to her belly as she stared at him with wide eyes.

"No! No, not anybody we gotta worry about," he said quickly, blowing out a breath and running a hand through his hair. "Jesus, ya think I'd be comin' in here all calm and shit if somethin' like that was goin' on down there? Jesus, think, Carol."

She finally found her voice. "Sorry. I don't know what I was thinking."

"T-dog just showed up with a few others. That big fucker from Atlanta that you're buddies with and his sister."

Carol was shocked at this news. "How did they get out of Woodbury?" Michonne had already told them about the threesome she had left behind. Carol figured that was one of the reasons she had went with the men the night before. And the fight that was brewing between her and Andrea confirmed as much from what she could hear of it. She was pretty upset with Michonne herself but it wouldn't do any good to confront her. There was nothing to be done about it now. All Carol could do was be thankful that they hadn't been spotted and Michonne had been smart enough to not keep searching the town after they discovered all of them men that Philip had armed to the teeth. That was one place that wouldn't be easily taken.

"I didn't ask. I don't guess he's as worried about people getting out as much as he is about people getting in. Good thing for them. And us. We need more people."

She nodded. "I know. Have you guys talked about what we're gonna do?" She asked as she slipped a hoodie over her head and shoved her hands in the pockets of it.

"Ain't no we to it. You're gonna stay the fuck outta this one. You and Lori both." He gave her a hard look.

She narrowed her eyes. "Yeah, cause that's what the dutiful pregnant women do when their big strong men tell them too? You're outta your damn mind. I plan on protecting myself Daryl. I'm not gonna get too far in this world if I spend the rest of my damn life hiding behind you."

"Ain't no sense in arguin' with me about this. If that's how you wanna take it then sure. You're gonna keep your ass hidin' behind me as long as that baby is in there. You ain't gonna go do somethin' stupid cause you got a point to prove. I ain't beyond lockin' your ass in a room till this is over."

Her mouth dropped. "I'm pregnant you jerk! I'm not an invalid. I can still shoot a gun. I can protect myself." She purposely put as much venom in her voice as she could. Did he really think that he could come in there and boss her around? She wasn't an idiot. She knew she couldn't storm Woodbury with guns blazing. But she also knew that she was a good shot. She could protect herself and the baby just fine. He was treating her like some kind of breakable thing. After everything she had been through nothing had broken her yet. She was stronger than he was giving her credit for and it pissed her off for him to imply otherwise.

He gripped her shoulders and stared at her, refusing to break the eye contact even when she narrowed hers and glared at him. "Don't fight me on this okay? You don't have to be involved in whatever the hell it is Buck comes up with. He don't want you involved."

She hated this. She felt strong and she felt capable and still Daryl and Buck looked at her like she was nothing but a child herself. She understood that they were worried about her and they were worried about the baby but what they didn't understand was that there wasn't time for worrying anymore. There was only time for surviving. She needed them to understand that she could protect herself.

"Carol?" he pleaded with his eyes.

"I love you," she said simply, causing him to blink in surprise. "I don't even think every language in the world has enough words to express how much I love you. Do you understand that?"

His eyebrows came together. "I..."

"But you don't own me. You aren't my keeper. I love you but I'm not, I can't sit on my ass and watch my family do all the work just because they don't think I can. I'm your equal, Daryl. I'm not below you. I'm not hiding behind you. I can protect myself and I can help keep us safe."

His eyes went hard then and the look he gave her had her taking a step away from him. His nostrils flared. "I never pegged you for the type that'd put our kid at risk to prove a fuckin' point, Carol. But thanks. It's a real good thing to know." He growled and then he turned without another word, slamming the door so hard she could have sworn the windows shook.

Was that what he thought of her? That she would risk... but of course he did. That's how it had sounded. All she wanted him to do was understand that she needed to know how to protect herself. The prospect of something happening to him made her physically ill, but it was something she had forced herself to think about anyway. This new world was full of dangers that she had never imagined before and if a person wasn't prepared then they weren't going to make it. If something happened to him before it would have been different. She would have rather laid herself down and died with him than face a world he no longer existed in. But she couldn't do that now.

No matter what happened to the rest of them she had to fight. She had to survive. She couldn't only think about herself. She had a whole other life that she had to put ahead of everything else and here, in this world, she had no other choice than to force herself to be strong and to be capable. She would never learn how to do that if she spent her time cowering behind Daryl. And now he thought she didn't even care about their baby. How could he think that about her?

She felt the tears overflow while she stood there staring at the door. She felt sick as his words echoed in her mind. She walked slowly to the door, feeling more alone than she had in a long time. She felt tired, like she needed more sleep. But she kept on walking until she was out on the sidewalk in front of their building. The air was cold and the wind whipped her hair around her face. She wished she had grabbed something warmer but it was too late now.

She saw Tyreese standing with Buck and Andrea, Sasha and T-dog by his side. Everything looked calm although she felt like she was drowning in a sea of emotion. She glanced down the street and saw Daryl talking with Merle and Michonne. She opted to go see Tyreese and Sasha. She hadn't seen Sasha in years and she was happy she was here. Even though none of that happiness found its way into her thoughts at the moment. She still felt a little stunned.

~H~

Daryl watched her make her way towards the group huddled about a half a block away. She hadn't even bothered to make her way over to try to talk to him again and he really didn't blame her. He felt like a real piece of shit for saying that to her. The thing was, he was mostly pissed off about it because she had been right. He'd said what he said because he knew it would hurt her and he was pissed off and he was tired and he was stressed out beyond belief. All he could think about doing was keeping her safe. And all she could think about doing was keeping herself safe when he failed.

He shook his head angrily as he watched her go. He'd seen the sting on her face like he'd slapped her. And he'd turned around and stormed out just to rub salt in her wounds. What the fuck was wrong with him? He should have been glad that she wanted to be strong and take care of herself.

"Where the hell's your head at baby bro?" Merle asked.

Daryl glanced up at him. "What?"

Merle rolled his eyes. "I asked what you thought of Shane's suggestion?"

"What'd he suggest?" Daryl asked as his eyes drifted back towards Carol, who was receiving a drawn out hug from an over exuberant Tyreese. He scowled.

Merle punched him hard in the arm, forcing him to pay attention now. "He thinks we should start hiding out and pickin' off men as they go out on runs and shit."

Daryl frowned. "That ain't too bad a plan till that freak starts noticin' his people are disappearin'. I don't think it would work."

Merle was the one scowling now. "Well, what the fuck do you think then?"

Daryl shrugged and looked past Merle once more. Now the bastard had his hands on her stomach. He clenched his teeth together.

Merle finally looked over his shoulder to see what the hell had his brother's attention. He snorted when he caught sight of Carol and Tyreese. "Oh don't start actin' like an asshole. She's pregnant. Ain't no man gonna try to fool around with a chick when another man's kid's inside of her."

Daryl glared at him. "Shut up, dumb ass."

Michonne looked towards the others too and then shrugged. "We're really going to have to sit down and figure out what our next move is."

Merle elbowed her. "After that shit you pulled you should consider yourself lucky he didn't put a bullet in your brain."

They started walking towards the others. "He wouldn't waste the ammo." She deadpanned. "I think I'd have rather had a bullet in the brain than deal with Andrea anyway. She was pretty upset when she found out about it."

When Carol looked up and saw them heading in their direction she gave Tyrees's sister one more hug and then she hurried off. Daryl's heart sank. He'd really fucked this up. No one else seemed to notice her quick departure but he did. As she walked away, hands shoved in her pockets she was staring down at her shoes. He really wished he had thought before he had said that too her.

Buck was telling the newcomers where they could stay and what was expected of everyone. T-dog nodded towards him and he gave him a quick nod in return. He was different now. He wasn't the smiley joking man that had been to their house for dinner many nights, cracking jokes and making light of any given situation.

Daryl figured he had changed just like the rest of them had. The only person, as far as he could tell, that hadn't been altered by the event's of the last few months was Buck. He was still just Buck. The only difference was now he could kill whenever he wanted and didn't have to worry about getting locked back up for it.

~H~

Buck scratched at the back of his neck in annoyance as soon as he saw Michonne approaching them. He was still pretty pissed off over the stunt she had pulled. He should have kicked her ass for it but there were other things, more pressing, that needed his attention.

Everyone wanted to know what their next plan of action was suppose to be but he was at a loss. They had plenty of guns and ammo but they were still short men. Guns didn't do much good if you didn't have the man power to carry them. They wouldn't have much of a chance if they tried to ambush the town. They seemed to be loaded to the gills with guns of their own and, unlike his own group, they had the men they needed to protect the place.

"What's the plan, old man?" Merle asked when they finally made it over.

Buck blew out a frustrated breath and then shook his head. "I was hopin' one of you had a suggestion."

Merle shrugged. "Just what Shane offered earlier."

Buck looked past them towards the apartments. There was a fire escape on the side that went all the way up to the roof. That's how most of the old buildings were. He figured if they had to play defense the roofs would be a good idea. But he didn't want that. He didn't want the fight to come to him. He wanted to take the fight to them. He needed a plan and he needed it now. It wasn't going to take too long for that son of a bitch to come after them and he couldn't let that happen. Shane's idea was becoming more and more appealing.

Tyreese cleared his throat, getting everyone's attention. "What we need to do is take him out first and then that whole little army he has at his beck and call will fall apart. Some men need to be led. They strike me as the type. Without Philip they wont have a reason to come here. They'll be sloppy and easy to pick off."

Buck rolled the idea around in his head before he nodded. He hadn't realized he had shoved his hands into his pockets until he felt the bracelet clutched in his hand. That little girls face flashed in his mind and he had to shake the image from his thoughts and focus on what everyone was saying. He had no idea why killing that kid had been so hard. It hadn't even been a kid. It was a fucking walker and it needed to be taken out. "How often does he leave the town?" he asked gruffly.

Tyreese rolled his heavy shoulders and sighed. "Not as much as he used too. That's the problem, really. None of us can know when he'll be coming or going. We won't have any warning."

"What we need is someone on the inside." T-dog mumbled.

Buck nodded, running the bracelet through his fingers once more. The name that was braided into it running through his mind. "Well, I guess the only thing we can do is hope more people end up like you all. See how fuckin' crazy the son of a bitch is and decide to take off."

From the looks on the faces of the Woodbury escapee's, that wasn't a likely scenario. Couldn't blame a man for wishing though.