I do not own anything to do with AMC's The Walking Dead. I do own my made up characters. Enjoy.

Middlekertz: :) Thank you very much!

FanFicGirl10: Oh my God, I know right. I'm sure we'd all love a little Daryl time, but I'm trying not to rush it too much in this story. Here's your update!

MAR76: Thank you kindly :) I'm glad. Exactly! Lori's a stupid hoe.

I just want to take the time to apologise to all of you, my fabulous readers, for not updating for a while. I've been so busy lately, so hopefully I can make it up to all of you soon. Again, I'm very sorry, I hope you can all forgive me and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Better Angels

The dirty blue truck roared down the gravel road, leaving a trail of thick dust behind it. It was like something out of a movie. Shane had the wheel, looking guilty and somewhat strained, and Andrea was in the passengers' seat next to him. She looked unhealthily pale and too thin, her tired blue eyes looking out the musty window as her cheek bones poked from under her skin.

"Dale could get under your skin."

Grace was in the middle of T-Dog and Daryl, who were riding in the tray. They were both close enough to her that they could touch her. T-Dog had a reassuring hand on her leg and, although the only thing Daryl was holding was the two crossbows, he'd let Grace rest her head on his shoulder. That was good enough. She rested her hand on T's, giving him a small smile and his hand a gentle squeeze, letting him know that she would be okay.

Eventually.

"He sure got under mine."

Grace closed her eyes as a chill slithered down her spine. The hunter didn't know where they were all going, but she knew that wherever their destination, there would be Walkers. Shane guaranteed it. The small group weren't heading into a death-trap. The Walkers were. Grace needed to kill something. A lot of something's. A Walker would be a perfect something.

"Because he wasn't afraid to tell you exactly what he thought; how he felt," everyone but Rick had their heads down. Grace was on the verge of tears again, but she couldn't cry. If she started crying there would be no way she'd be able to stop. "That kind of honesty is rare – and brave."

First, before they went all out, the fences had to be repaired or reinforced. There was no way anyone could risk another attack like that. Lucky for Grace, she was on Walker-Watch, which was definitely the perfect job for her at that point. Armed with her two knives, she surveyed the perimeter and kept a close eye on everything from on top of the truck. Daryl was on the ground with his crossbow, doing the exact same thing. The two hunters knew they made a good team.

Shane tugged at the wire, making sure it was secure.

"Whenever I'd make a decision, I'd look at Dale. He'd be looking back at me with that look he had. We've all seen it one time or another."

Daryl lead the group through the forest with Grace at the rear, now fully equipped with her crossbow and knives at her waist and thigh. There was no way she was going anywhere far without them. No way in hell. Daryl lowered his crossbow when he saw tracks. He whistled to the group and the other hunter snapped to attention. She noticed the disturbed dirt and looked in the direction Daryl was pointing. Some nasty mother fucker had been shuffling that way. Grace took off in front of them with a spring in her step.

"I couldn't always read him, but he could read us. He saw people for who they were." Grace remembered those few days before when Dale had questioned the two hunters about their actions earlier that morning with that stupid fuck Randall. Dale had expected more of the girl he had started to see as a daughter. He was disappointed in this girl and her friend for what they had done. She remembered when he had supported the idea of leaving the barn alone because Hershel saw the Walkers as people. Dale was a good man. It hurt to see him die in such a painful way. It hurt far too much. "He knew things about us: the truth – who we really are."

The blue truck roared over the hill and four Walkers came into view. Grace didn't wait for the car to stop. She slung her crossbow over her shoulder before she could even hit the ground and sprinted towards the first Walker – a woman in a night gown – with her machete held tight in her strong hands. The rest weren't far behind her as she slammed her fist into the side of the ugly bitch's head. The Walker's skull almost caved in as she staggered to the side. The rest of the ugly fucks had turned at that point and made their way to the first bit of flesh that caught their smell and sight. There were three more Walkers down the hill farther eating the insides of a cow.

"In the end he was talking about losing our humanity. He said this group is broken. The best way to honour him is to unbreak it; to set aside our differences and pull together. To stop feeling sorry for ourselves. To take control of our lives."

Daryl shot a Walker right between the eyes. The loud thud it made when the sack of dead meat fell made Grace feel good. The female Walker Grace had punched in the head had managed to find its way over to her again. She got into position: spread her legs shoulder length apart and shifted her bodyweight, raised her arms to cover her face, and kept her muscles tight and ready. The Walker lunged for Grace but she ducked out of the way. It was quicker than she expected, swiping at her with a deadly, rotten-nailed claw. Grace slapped away that wrist and grabbed the other that was aimed at her face. Barely a sound came from the Walker when Grace ducked under the arm she held and snapped it. She did the same with the other. Black blood went everywhere.

The Walker staggered towards her with an angry snarl, snapping her jaws at Grace like a rabid animal. The hunter shook her head and slammed the knife up through the Walker's jaw into its skull.

T-Dog bashed the shit out of one of them with a crowbar. Andrea put the pitchfork to good use.

"Our safety, our future. We're not broken. We're going to prove him wrong."

Shane gave the rusted shovel an adoring look before he caved a Walker's skull in.

It seemed to be enough to get the other Walkers distracted from their meal.

"From now on, we're gonna do it his way."

The group marched down to the dead cow. Daryl already shot one of the fucks in the head, right between the eyes. Atta boy.

"That is how we honour Dale."

Grace jogged down the other Walkers as Andrea smashed one in the face with the wooden pole of the pitchfork and quickly finished the job.

Shane kicked one of them in the leg, causing it to fall to the ground. The group then continued to kick the shit out of it, regardless of the fact that it would get back up and pursue them if they simply walked away. Shane backed away from the Walker, watching. Daryl and Andrea backed away, letting Grace and T-Dog kick the shit out of it. When Shane had enough, the Walker's brain was all over the grass. T-Dog had to pull his friend away to make sure she didn't get in the way of Shane's swing.

The ride back was a lot easier on all of them. It was good stress relief. It helped with the pain of watching their friend die. It helped to kick the shit out of one of those fuckers, to kill a something. Grace could breathe easily the whole way back but resumed the same position she was in on the way there. T-Dog's hand on her leg under hers and her head on Daryl's shoulder – he didn't protest again.

Daryl saw her smile, her look of relief. It made him feel good.

...

"It'll be tight; fourteen people in one house," Rick said. Daryl and Grace managed to get into the habit of surveying every single area they were in multiple times together. Nothing was safe unless they said so. Listening to Rick, she wasn't sure if he sounded like he was trying to keep them out of the house. Was he crazy? Winter was close and they wouldn't be able to live in their tents.

"Don't worry about that – with the swamp hardening and the creek drying up–"

"– and about fifty head of cattle on the property, we may as well be ringing the damn dinner bell." Maggie finished for Hershel.

"She's right; we should have moved in you in a while ago."

"Damn straight," Grace muttered. Daryl smirked.

"Alright let's move the vehicles near each of the doors facing out towards the road. We'll build a lookout in the windmill and another in the barn. That should give us sight lines out both sides of the property."

Daryl slung his crossbow over his shoulder and Grace nodded to him, doing the same. The area is secure. Although it didn't have to be done, they both felt like it was the right thing to do. The group couldn't deal with another dead. Not yet, at least.

"T-Dog, you take the perimeter around the house to keep track of everyone coming and going."

"What about standing guard?"

"I'll be putting you, Grace and Daryl on double duty." The two hunters shared a look after they heard their names.

Grace headed to their tent to grab their things to move into the house. About fucking time Hershel moved them all in there. It wouldn't exactly be ideal for everyone to keep living in tents when winter came along. It was so close now. The days were sunny but they weren't as hot as they used to be. Everyone was wearing extra layers and the warmest thing Grace had was her hoodie and her gear. Grace was personally grateful for the Greene's finally letting them live there.

"I'll stock the basement with food and water, enough so that we can all survive down there a few days if need be," Hershel was carrying large boxes filled with fruit. Grace liked that idea.

"What about patrols?" Andrea asked Rick.

"Let's just get this area locked down first. After that Shane will assign shifts while me and Daryl take Randall off sight and cut him loose."

Grace went out of earshot as she walked away from the camp. She was pissed off. Randall was the whole reason Dale was dead. Dale was trying to stick up for the ugly son of a bitch when everything went wrong and he ended up dying for him. It was all Randall's fault. If he hadn't been a dumb fuck and impaled himself on a gate then none of this would have happened.

Grace glanced over her shoulder. The truck hummed to life compared to the roar of Daryl's bike. Grace had never heard anything like it, but she enjoyed the sound. Although it was the loudest and most attention grabbing thing on the whole property, she knew that Daryl wouldn't have given a fuck. Everyone moved slowly towards the house carrying bags, packs and boxes with them. Daryl's bike hummed as he rode it. Not exactly ideal for carrying multiple people, but that was probably his plan from the start.

Maggie caught up to Grace and walked beside her with one of the boxes of fruit her father was carrying. Grace's stomach rumbled loudly and she pulled a face.

"I saw you eyein' off the peaches when dad was carryin' 'em, thought you might like one," Maggie said with a beautiful smile.

Grace returned it and slung her back pack over her shoulder briefly and grabbed the largest peach she could see, "You're my hero. It feels like I haven't eaten anything for days."

"You look like you should eat the whole box," Maggie said. She'd been keeping an eye on Grace since Sophia died. It hit the new girl pretty hard. Grace was already thin when she came along, but Maggie could tell that, wherever she came from, she had a lot of food to keep her going. Now her skin was pale, her eyes tired and her bones just about ready to break through her skin. She needed to stop what she was doing and take time to look after herself.

Grace gave her a sly look, "Do you think I could?" She asked quietly, a cheeky grin rising.

"Don't tell anyone, but I'll give you two more when no one can see," Maggie and Grace made their way up the stairs. Grace took the first bite of her peach. It was heaven. She could feel her stomach writhe in joy. Two more would be wonderful. Maggie put the box down on the kitchen table and unzipped the pack over Grace's shoulder. Grace watched as she took slow bites of her peach. Two more peaches, as promised, were put in her backpack.

Maggie zipped it back up, "You're an important part of this group, Grace," Maggie locked eyes with Grace and she couldn't look away, "Can't have you wither away into nothin'."

Grace gave a small smile and nodded her. Maggie could see colour coming back into her skin already. If the girl wasn't going to help herself, Maggie knew she would have to remind her. "You can stay in the room across from mine. It was Shawn's room – up the stairs on the right." It didn't hurt to talk about him anymore. Shawn had been dead for a long time and she had come to terms with it and moved on. Grace would be able to do that too, in time.

Grace nodded, "Thank you." The hunter started up the stairs, skipping every second step, and put everything down in Maggie's step brother's room. It was a small room with a single bed, but it would do. It would keep the wind and cold out so it was good enough. Grace set up a bed on the floor of the room and dumped her things at the end of it, putting Daryl's things on the bed before heading back outside. There was work to be done.

To her dismay, Grace was asked by Rick to help Shane load the Hyundai with wood so they could start repairing things or building lookouts. Grace nodded and turned with a sigh, heading to the back of the house for some good old fashioned suffering best dealt with in silence.

The wood was heavier than Grace had anticipated. She struggled with the first plank and Shane shook his head with a small patronising laugh. The silence didn't last long.

"Though you was meant to be stronger than that."

"I'm not in the mood to be patronized, Shane."

"What good are you if you can't even lift a few bits of wood?"

"I'm good at kicking your sorry ass," Grace snapped, throwing the plank of wood she was holding to the ground. Shane stood up straight and walked over to her, puffing out his chest.

"What did you say to me?"

"I said I could kick your ass with my hands tied behind my back," Grace looked up at him slightly, her jaw set and fists clenched. Being confident in her own abilities was one thing but she might just need her hands. Grace would love the opportunity to kick Shane in the face. Maybe it would make him look like less of an idiot. But he had height, weight and strength while she had speed and, at that time, a weak frame. It would not be a good outcome.

"Uhh... Grace?" The two adults backed away from each other and looked to the small voice. Carl approached them slowly, eyeing them both.

"What is it, Carl?" Shane asked.

"I want to speak to Grace."

The hunter gave Shane a triumphant look and walked away with Carl. She knew how much Carl looked up to Shane and for the little boy to not come to his hero for help would have been the kick to the face Grace wanted to inflict so badly. His expression would have to do.

They didn't go out of Shane's sight, just far enough that he couldn't hear them. Carl didn't want him to hear. Shane would get mad.

Grace sat down on the steps leading to the back door of the house and looked at Carl.

"What can I help you with, little man?"

Carl looked around, mainly at Shane, who was giving the two weird looks and annoying glances. Mind your own business, you nosy prick. Grace looked to what Carl was holding in front of her, out of Shane's sight. A gun. "Promise you won't tell my parents. Or Shane."

Grace took the gun from him and checked the clip. All rounds accounted for.

"Jesus Christ," Grace muttered, "Where did you get this?"

"I took it from Daryl's motorcycle. If he found out I took it, he'd kill me."

No he wouldn't. Get angry and raise hell, yeah, but wouldn't kill the little man. "You didn't have it with you when I took Sophia and you back to camp, did you?"

"I hid it from mom."

"What are you doing with this anyway?"

"Dale," Carl's voice broke, "It's my fault that he died."

"Carl, why would you say that? A Walker got him, that wasn't your fault."

"I saw that Walker. It was the same Walker that scratched Sophia. I was going to shoot it. It was stuck in the mud... I was throwing rocks at it and stuff. But I was going to do it: shoot it right in the head. But it got free and fell on Sophia, scratched her... I got her up and we ran away and then we found you. If I killed it then Sophia and Dale would still be here and–" His voice broke again and he sniffled, rubbing his eye.

"No, Carl, stop it. Don't blame yourself. I should have gone back and killed it myself. This isn't your fault. I'm taking the gun back to Daryl and telling your parents what you did."

"You promised you wouldn't!"

"I did no such thing. You've put me in the middle of a family matter, Carl. I'm not your guardian."

"I promise I'll never touch another gun again."

"Don't be an idiot. We all need weapons, Carl. Everyone needs to know how to take care of themselves and–"

"I don't care! Just take the gun back to Daryl and don't tell my parents."

Carl stormed off. Grace shook her head and walked away to find Daryl. Shane had taken off with the wood already. Figures.

Grace found Daryl by the barn Randall was being held in. She had half a mind to go in there and shoot his brains out all over the walls of the barn but knew it wouldn't go down with the rest of the group, especially Rick, who was intent on setting him off to go on his merry way. Grace didn't like the idea, but it would have been what Dale wanted.

Daryl was being a busy bee and hammering away at the barn from on top of the roof. Grace briefly wondered how he got up there before calling out to him.

Daryl stopped and looked over the edge to see who was calling for him, although he had a pretty good idea already. Yupp, Dwyer.

"What?"

"So kind," she muttered, "How'd you get up there?"

"Support post has bars on it," he pointed with the hammer and went back to his work.

Grace found them and climbed it easily. She handed Daryl some wood to hammer an open window shut.

"So Carl came and found me earlier."

Daryl gave Grace an expectant look but didn't say anything. Grace pulled the gun from behind her and showed it to him. He gave her another look this time but snatched it away and tucked it into the back of his belt. Grace wasn't offended by it, but he probably didn't have to snatch. "Where'd you get that?"

"I didn't. Carl did. He went snooping around your bike with Sophia and found it, went out into the forest to be a little idiot and kill a Walker. It was stuck in the mud, apparently, but got out. They ran after it scratched Sophia. He told me to give it back to you because he thought you'd kill him."

Daryl let out a grunt and hammered a nail into the last board. He climbed down the post and they worked as a team to get the remaining wood back into the truck so they could go to their next job. Grace would drop it down to him and he'd load it up. It didn't take long at all. Daryl got in the driver's seat before Grace could get to the ground. She secured the tray and jumped in the back before Daryl took off back to the house.

Daryl kept looking in the mirror at Grace, the way she sat back against the wall of the tray, relaxed, her long hair flicking lightly in the wind. Grace caught his gaze in the mirror. She was too thin; her cheek bones were far too prominent, but a flash of colour rose to her cheeks when she smiled and looked away. Daryl looked away too and focused on parking the car towards the road. Grace jumped out and went into the house when Rick called over to Daryl from the veranda. There was some paper in front of him, probably a map. Daryl skipped every second step and nodded a greeting to the officer. Business had started. Daryl leant against the rail just as Rick did and watched his hand move along the map.

"We'll take him out an hour away, then an easy hour back – give or take. We may lose the light but we'll be half way home by then."

"Then this whole pain in the ass will be a distant memory. Good riddens."

"Carol's putting together some provisions for us, enough to last a few days."

Their attention shifted to the sound of a car coming up the drive way. Shane in the Hyundai, his favourite toy – well, aside from a gun.

Rick folded up the map and played with the corners. He tapped the edge of it lightly on the wood, "That thing you did last night..."

"Ain't no reason you should do all the heavy lifting." The two shared a look. Rick was genuinely thankful for Daryl taking care of Dale for him. It was indeed a weight and burden on his shoulders. He was sick of having to kill people in the group. Sophia and Dale so close together was too much.

"So you good with all this?" Rick lifted the map.

Daryl looked over his should at the approaching Shane. He nodded. "I'm gon take a piss." Daryl lightly threw the map back on the wooden veranda and went back into the house before Shane got to Rick. The hunter wasn't even two steps in the door when he bumped into Grace. She almost lost her footing but he caught her.

"Watch it, Dwyer."

"Watch yourself, Dixon," She snapped back playfully, pushing through the wire door. Daryl smirked.

Rick and Shane were talking about Grace. She heard her name before she went through the door. When she did, they both looked at her. Rick was leaning against the railing when he was talking to Shane, but stood up straight and placed his hands on his hips.

"Rick," Grace started, walking towards the two after shooting Shane a dirty look, "Carl came to me today with a... a problem."

"What kind of problem?"

"Before he went out into the forest with Sophia and got attacked by the Walker, Carl had been snooping about Daryl's things. Found a gun. He wanted to kill a Walker that was stuck in mud with it but it got free before he could. He said it was the same Walker that got Sophia and Dale. I was actually just coming to tell you, but I guess Shane beat me to it," Grace gave him a fake smile, her eyes filled with menace.

"I'll talk to him. Thank you for telling me."

"Sorry I didn't come earlier. I was returning the gun to its owner."

"Bet that's not all you did," Shane muttered, turning away from the two in hope that they wouldn't hear him.

They both did.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"What do you think it means? Why'd you take so long to come to Rick, Grace? He's been at the house all this time."

"I just told you, idiot; I was giving the gun back to Daryl and helping him fix the barn."

"Yeah, right, I'd bet you 'n' him were in there f–"

"Shane!" Rick yelled at his comrade, who scowled at him in return, "That's enough. Go board up the house. Now."

Grace turned on her heel and stormed back into the house, furious. Her knuckles were white when she released the knife from her iron grip.

...

"Shane don't know what he's talkin' 'bout," Daryl assured Grace, who was leaning against the truck. She'd told Daryl what Shane had said and he'd just grunted like he normally does and kept doing his thing, which at that time was stocking the truck with basic food supplies and bottled water.

"That's not the point."

"He's just tryin' to get a rise out of you, which, clearly, he did."

"Of course he did! How was I supposed to react to those accusations?"

"I don't get why you're beatin' yourself up over what he said when you and I both know that it ain't happened."

"Shut up," Grace grumbled, looking away from the hunter when she felt her face turning red.

T-Dog was walking towards the two love-birds, holding some arrows they requested. Why was Grace blushing like that? He didn't want to know, but T-Dog thought Grace looked a lot healthier with some colour on her cheeks.

"Only got so many arrows," T-Dog handed them to Daryl and he, for once in a while, actually looked pleased. Daryl nodded his thanks. Grace straightened when she saw Rick coming but kept her hands on the wall of the tray as if to balance herself.

"Ready?" Rick asked, giving Grace a look. It wasn't a bad look; he almost looked embarrassed.

"I'll go grab the package," T-Dog left, with good timing too. He saw the tension. Grace saw her opportunity. Although she didn't want the two of them to go by themselves, mainly because she was worried about her friend, she could always argue with them when they got back with 'the package'. Grace caught up to T-Dog in a few long strides.

They walked in silence for a few meters. Grace watched the way the gun in T's hand swayed when he walked.

"What made you go all girly and blush when you was with Daryl?"

"What?"

"You know what I mean, Grace. I saw you turn red. You can tell your ol' buddy T-Dog, can't you?"

Grace looked at her feet and kicked a stone, smirking. "I guess you are my buddy."

"You better believe it."

"It wasn't what Daryl said... well, technically it was, but not for the reasons you're thinking."

"I don't know what you mean, Grace," T-Dog said as innocently as possible.

Grace pushed him lightly and he laughed, "That's what I mean. Does everyone think that Daryl and I are..." Grace trailed off with a sigh.

"Fuckin'?"

"Sure, fuckin'," Grace imitated his accent and they both laughed.

"Personally, now don't take this the wrong way," Grace raised an eyebrow at him, "it looks like it. The fact that you can barely even say that you two're fucking makes me think otherwise, but y'know. I could be wrong."

"We're not! I saved Daryl from being Walker food and he brought me here. Before you or Glenn or Dale, he was the only person I could really trust or talk to for a while."

"And that's what made us think you two were fuckin'."

"You're so charming."

"I try my best for you, Grace." They made it up to the barn. Not a moment too soon. Talking to people seemed to have worse consequences by the second. "Yo, Randy, governor called: you're off the hook." The yanked at the lock after changing one of the numbers to fit the code and Grace pulled the door open. T-Dog stopped in the door way, his expression sunk immediately.

Grace frowned and looked under his arm. The room was minus a person. Bloodied handcuffs lay in the corner where Randall should have been.

"Awh hell no."

Grace took off before T-Dog could even turn around. Shane. It had to be Shane. There was no way Randall could have gotten out by himself and everyone knew how crazy Shane was. He was the first person to suggest that they kill him. He wanted Randall dead more than Grace did.

"Daryl, Rick!" Grace called out to them and their attention snapped to her. They came running in an instant. "Randall's gone."