Disclaimer: I do not own anything that you recognize. Although I would love to have my own personal Daryl Dixon. Short and sweet.

AN: So Sorry that I haven't posted in a few weeks. Y'all are catchin' up to me again and my fingers haven't been itchin' to write like they were a few weeks ago. But Ima start writing again here soon so fear not my loyal readers!

Chapter 21

Since she had been absent most of the previous day, Adrian decided to stay and have dinner with everyone in the camp. She had kept Dale company while he was on watch and had enjoyed his company. The older man was wise and Adrian decided that she would start her own growing and trusting process with him.

After dinner everyone sat around the fire for a little while longer while Adrian went to her tent and stuffed a few things into a bag. She grabbed her brush, toothbrush and toothpaste, a spare change of clothes for in the morning, an extra clip for her gun since she was leaving her bow, and her new hatchet. Then she just waited for everyone to turn in for the night.

It was around ten before everyone turned in, exhausted from the events of the day. Hearing the calls of "good-nights" to each other from outside her tent, Adrian picked up her bag and waited in her dark tent until all was quiet outside. Once everything was quiet, Adrian unzipped her tent just enough to squeeze through, zipped it back up, and then headed off towards Daryl's camp, making sure to stay in the shadows.

When she walked into Daryl's camp he was sitting by the fire, looking deep in thought. "Think too hard, you'll give yourself a headache. You won't try and use that as an excuse to get out of sex tonight, are you?" she said with a grin.

Daryl must not have heard her walk into camp because he jumped when she spoke. "If I had been a walker, I'd a bit your ass before you even heard me. Of course I plan on doin' that anyway. The biting part. Although you do have a nice ass." she smirked dropping her bag on the ground.

"It's late. Didn't think you were comin'." he muttered stoking the fire.

"Well I would have been here sooner but I didn't figure you wanted everybody to see me walkin' out this way with an overnight bag. You know, you bein' a private kinda person and all. Me, personally, I don't care if they know I'm fucking you, but I figured you didn't want it advertised. So I waited until everybody called it a night and then stuck to the shadows." she said picking up her bag and taking it to his tent.

She noticed that he still had the pallet on the floor and it made her smile, which she was sure to wipe off her face before she left the tent. Adrian walked back outside and walked up to Daryl. She pushed him backwards onto the ground and followed him down, straddling his waist. She had her hands on the ground beside his head, her braid had fallen over her right shoulder and was tickling the side of his face. She had so much heat and want in her eyes that they could have burned the skin from his bones.

"I believe, sir, that earlier today to promised to fuck me hard enough and long enough that I would have trouble walking tomorrow. Do you intend to uphold that promise?" she asked.

Daryl's left arm went around her waist while his right caught a handful of her braid and jerked her body onto his.

"Damn right I do, woman." he growl giving her a bruising kiss.

Adrian had been awake for about five minutes before she felt Daryl start to stir. Adrian had to hand it to him, he had kept his promise. She had practically been liquefied by the time she had curled into his side and fallen straight asleep after five straight hours of sex.

She had woke up to find her right arm wrapped around his chest, her right leg wrapped around his, and everything from chest to hips was plastered against his side.

"God I feel like I was hit by a truck." Daryl groaned rubbing his face with his left hand, since his right was around her. "You're not the only one. Except I wasn't hit by a truck. Just got fucked really good by a two hundred pound guy." she laughed.

"God, why did I wake up feelin' like this yesterday mornin'?" he asked still rubbing his face. Adrian groaned when she moved her leg. "Because we didn't go at it quite so hard that night. And because you were drunk." she said.

"Jesus was the other night any thing like last night?" he asked, still not remembering everything from the night before. "No." she said laughing. "Last night was much better. Even though my muscles disagree with me on that point." she said, thinking about maybe moving.

"God, I don't wanna move." she said, dreading the thought of actually having to use her legs. "You're not the only one." Daryl said groaning as he sat up. "How about we both agree not to go at it like that again." Daryl said looking down at her. Adrian smiled at the comment.

"Deal. Although let me remind you that you were the one who made the promise in the first place." she said rolling onto her back and started to gather energy to get up and start her day.

"Yeah well you didn't have to hold me to it. And I wouldn't a made that stupid promise if you hadn't kept lookin' at me like you wanted to burn my clothes off, chain me to the cot, and fuck me 'til my dick fell off." he said slowly getting to his feet. Adrian laughed.

"Which is exactly what I wanted to do. But then you kissed me like there was no tomorrow and I forgot what I had wanted to do to you." she groaned as she sat up.

"Come on. Rest of camp will be wakin' up soon. Might wanna try and get back to your tent so that damn kid of your's won't keep giving me 'burn in hell' looks all day today." Daryl said reaching own to take her hands and help her up. Adrian walked over to her bag on slightly shaky legs and started pulling out her clothes.

She started to pull on her matching black lace bra and thong set when she felt a tingle run up her spine. She turned to see Daryl starring at her. He had been in the middle of buckling his belt when he looked up to see what she had been putting on. And damn him if he wasn't the one wanting to chain her to his cot and fuck the shit out of her this morning.

But they had shit to do, like every day, so he turned and started focusing on getting dressed. The longer he moved the less crappy he felt, though he could really go for a cup of coffee. When he looked back at her, she was fully dressed in a light blue cotton tank top, navy colored jeans, her tan Ranger Joe's, her gun and knife strapped to her thighs, a hatchet tucked through her belt at the small of her back, and was currently working on braiding her hair.

Once they made it back to camp, Rick told everyone that he and Shane were taking Randall about eighteen miles out and leaving him there. Not liking that Rick was going alone with just Shane, Adrian volunteered to go as well. She started to get that tingling feeling again and knew that Daryl, along with a few other members of the group, were starring at her.

"Alright. We'll get whatever we need together, get Randall, and then head out." Rick said walking away. Adrian turned and walked off towards her tent. She was sure that Kale might pop up to lecture her about leaving again, so she left her door unzipped. Since she already had her gun, knife, and hatchet strapped to her all she really had to grab was her bow and some arrows.

She was rifling through all of her arrows, deciding on which ones to take since she decided to only bring about ten, when she heard the flap to her tent rustle and someone step inside. Once she felt that tingle again, she knew who it was. "Aren't you worried somebody might have seen you come in here? Appearances and all, ya know?" she asked over her shoulder.

"Why the hell you goin'? You don't care about what happens to that boy, so why you goin'?" Daryl asked in a low voice so no one outside of the tent could hear him.

"You're right, I don't care about the boy. But I don't like that Rick is just going to ride off with only Shane to cover his back. Shane's getting more and more unstable by the day. Last thing we need is Shane shooting Rick in the back and taking over the group. That day ever comes, I'm packin' my shit and leaving, alone if I have to." she said standing and turning to him.

"But that's not the only reason I'm doing this." she said looking him in the face. "Then why?" he asked really wanting to know her sudden urge to help.

"Name one thing I've actually done for the group since we joined up in Atlanta? I've hunted a few times, sure, but mostly I've stuck to the shadows and spied on everyone. Which is why I know Shane is getting unstable." she said. Then she sighed, shifting her weight.

"Truth is, I told Kale a few days ago that it's time to stop sticking to ourselves. We need to grow, trust other members of the group, become actual members and do our share. Kale has started doing that, as much as he hated it when I told him that. But I haven't really made an attempt at it. Talked to Dale a little, but mostly I've been at your tent at night having great sex. So this is my first real attempt to help." she said lightly rubbing on his jacket covered forearm.

"Can I ask a favor of you?" she said, starring at her hand on his arm.

"What? Watch over your kid?" Daryl said meaning for the statement to have some actual bite to it. Sadly for him, it did not. "No." she said looking up at him. "When no one is looking, do I have permission to kiss you whenever I want?" she whispered.

"Hell no." his mouth said, but his facial expression and eyes told her "Hell yes". "Why would you wanna do a thing like that anyway?" he asked, hoping she didn't take his "Hell no" to heart.

"Because I like kissing you. It's been a long time since I've enjoyed kissing anyone and I enjoy it alot with you." she said, still whispering. Truth was, he enjoyed kissing her too. He's be damned if he ever admitted it though, especially to her. And he didn't like that she had volunteered to go out with Rick and Shane to drop off the kid.

He felt something strange, something he had never felt before in the pit of his stomach when she had said she was going and that just straight up annoyed him.

But he also knew better than to take that annoyance out on her. She was likely to either stab him or annoy him further knowing her. He must have been pretty deep in his thoughts because the next thing he knew, she was pulling his head down and giving him one hell of a kiss, but then again, it seemed most of the kisses he got from her were pretty damn good.

Either that or it had just been so long since he had actually kissed a girl that he had just forgotten what it felt like.

Then he felt that talented tongue of hers invade his mouth and he loved it. But she pulled away all too soon. "Something to hang on for, for later." she whispered, her eyes still closed. Then she opened her eyes and smiled.

"And even though you said no, expect me to kiss you whenever I don't see anybody around. There are too few joys in this world and I'll be damned if you're going to deny me something as simple as a kiss because you're a prude." she said laughing as she left her tent.

She must have fallen asleep at some point during the drive because when they stopped they were outside some sort of school or something. The area around it was fenced off and Rick killed the car when they got close to the gate. Rick and Shane got out of the car to check it out.

Rick and Shane walked up to the fence and a walker was stumbling around by a near by bus. Shane pulled his gun but Rick stopped him from using it and took out his knife. Then the walker started running towards them and crashed against the fence in front of Rick, who then stabbed it in the head.

Rick came back to the car and stuck his head through the door. "We're gonna take a look around, make sure it's safe to leave him here." he told her. "I'll stay here with him then." she said nodding. Then they disappeared behind the fence for about ten or so minutes.

Shane came through the fence, got in the car, and then drove it through the fence to where Rick was. Shane and Adrian got out of the car and met Rick at the back as he was opening the hatch, then Rick and Shane pulled him out and they started walking off a little ways to find a spot to leave him.

They walked pasted a bunch of abandoned heavy duty vehicles and through another fenced in area. Shane and Rick dropped him to his knees between two dusty looking school buses, and then removed the black hood from over his face, the duct tape over his mouth and ears, and the ear buds that were blasting music.

"Where the hell is this?" Randall asked, confused. "You're destination. Enjoy your freedom." Adrian said as they turned to leave. "Come on, don't leave me here!" Randall started yelling. Then he started going on about how he wasn't like the med he had been with, that he could help protect what the group had, and started giving some sob story about his life before the outbreak.

"I went to school with Maggie, for God's sake!" he yelled. That stopped them all in their tracks. "You went to school with Maggie?" Rick demanded starting back in
Randall's direction. "Answer the question! Did you go to school with Maggie!" Shane yelled at the boy. At first he was speechless. "She didn't know me. But I knew who she was. And who her dad was." he said. Then they all finally digested that information.

"He know's where the farm is, Rick." Shane said rubbing his hand over his head. "He's right, Rick. We can't just leave him here. If he went to school with Maggie then it's very likely that he knows where we're at." Adrian said to him. Then Shane pulled out his gun and pointed it at Randall. "Shane, no!" Rick yelled pushing Shane. The gun went off but missed it's target, just barely.

"Not now, Shane. Just not now." Rick said, his boot covering Shane's gun. "Well then when, Rick?" Shane asked from his spot on the ground. Shane started ranting about how Rick couldn't do what needed to be done. It was heating up between them real fast. Then Shane threw out the one comment that finally broke the camel's back.

"I don't think you can keep them safe." he said referring to Lori and Carl. "Shit." Adrian said seeing where this was going. Rick threw the first punch but Shane blocked it and then headbutted Rick in the face, causing Rick to jerk backwards and fall to the ground.

Shane went for Rick's gun and pulled it from it's holster. Adrian started forwards to help but then Rick jumped up and knocked it from Shane's hand. Now that guns were out of the equation, Adrian had no intension of getting involved.

This fight had been a long time coming, and it needed to be seen through. Shane had to learn that only one of them could be the alpha of the pack, and it wasn't him.
Rick punched Shane in the face a few times before Shane grabbed Rick and spun them around so Shane could get the upper hand.

Rick and Shane continued to punch at each other, the face, stomach, kidney shots, whatever they could manage at the time. Shane threw Rick against the front of a huge MAC truck and punched him in the face enough to disorient him for a brief moment.

Shane then threw Rick to the ground next to a motorcycle and pushed it over so it fell on it's side onto Rick's leg. Adrian decided that it had went too far and went to go help Rick. She ran over to Shane and grabbed his left arm, attempting, and failing, to hold him back. Shane then reached over and grabbed her arm, pulling her in front of him, where he grabbed both of her upper arms and swung her around where she connected with the front of the MAC truck.

When Shane had swung her around, she had been so surprised that she dropped her bow onto the ground. Shane must have swung her around with all of his might because when she hit the front grill of the truck, she hit had first. She felt her right arm make contact with grill and knew that there would be some serious bruising on that arm come morning. If she made it that long.

When the right side of her head hit the grill, she immediently seen stars. A searing pain shot through her head and then she started to get fuzzy as she hit the ground in front of the truck. She didn't pass out, had fought to stay awake, as hard as that had been. She felt something warm flow down her face and assumed that the hit had cracked her head open.

Adrian tried to bring everything back into focus but all she could see was the dirty asphalt, which kept throwing up what seemed like white flares, and all she heard was a strong ringing in her ears. After a minute the ringing started to fade and she could hear, but the noises sounded muffled. Like she was listening from underwater or something.

She forced herself to sit up and then grabbed onto the grill of the truck, pulling herself up just in time to see Shane throw a huge wrench at Rick's head. The wrench missed Rick and went crashing through a window that was behind Rick.

Shane just stood there, looking at the window, while Rick starred at him in shock. And then she seen the dirty, pale arm reach up from the floor and then the decaying body of a walker came crashing out of the window and down onto Rick.

Rick quickly grabbed the walker and then stabbed it in the head. And then Adrian felt a chill run down her spine when she seen at least ten or more walkers stand up from inside the window an came crashing through the busted window.

Rick grabbed the dead body of the walker he had just killed and rolled it on top of him so the walkers wouldn't notice him. But they had taken fast notice of Shane and Adrian. Shane took off running behind Adrian who had started her miserable attempt at running when she seen them.

In her severe disoriented state, the walkers would have no trouble taking her down if she didn't get a head start. She and Shane ran through the maze of vehicles with the walkers right on Shane's heels. The seen a bus with the door open and quickly ran inside.

Shane tried to push the door closed behind him but there were too many walkers behind him pushing on it to get inside for it to close fully. Adrian looked around for something to help when she seen the door lever to her left. She gripped it with both hands and pulled on it to try and help keep it closed.

"I hope you're fucking happy with yourself right about now, you dick." Adrian growled through clenched teeth.

"Yeah. Picking a fight with Rick. Like fucking children! You're jealous because the fucking quarterback of the team is fucking the lead cheerleader and she don't want anything to do with you. I hope you're fucking proud!' she yelled. Shane hadn't recovered his gun so he was only left with a knife. He cut his palm and then smeared the frame of the door with it to attract walkers there.

He stabbed one or two in the head. And then he lost his knife in the head of a third walker. Looking around for something, Shane caught sight of the large knife strapped to her thigh. "Give me your knife." he said.

Adrian looked at him like he was crazy. Blood from her head injury started to drip into her eyes and was making it hard to see clearly. "Piss on that. You just lost your knife. I ain't givin' you mine!" she yelled at him. Then he looked over to his right and started to panic.

Adrian looked out the windshield to see what he seen and felt her stomach drop. Rick had ahold of Randall and was making a run for it. Leaving her and Shane alone, trapped inside of a bus with walkers trying to break down through the door. "Shit!" Adrian yelled pulling harder on the lever, trying to keep the walkers out as long as possible now that they were on their own.

"Shane. Just know that if we get bitten and I turn, just know that I will eat every bit of flesh from your bones for this." she growled, her arms beginning to burn from intense strain she was putting on them. Just then they seen Shane's ugly green car come flying into the lot. Rick pulled himself out of the window and started to fire off rounds. "Shane! Head for the back of the bus!" Rick screamed at them.

Adrian and Shane looked at each other for a second and then Adrian took off running for the the exit door with Shane hot on her heels. She threw open the door just as the car pulled up and jumped through the window with Shane right behind her.

"Go!" she heard Rick yell. And then she realized that Randall was the one driving the car. But his neck was duct taped to the headrest of the drivers seat. Randall crashed through the fence and took off don the road and out of town.

"Thanks for not leavin' me man." Shane said to Rick from the back seat.

Adrian wasnt sure of exactly when she did it, but she passed out.