And a new chapter! Sorry it's taken me so long. New semester, new projects, loads of work. But don't worry, I won't abandon this story and I'm far from running out of ideas! Quite the contrary. I got a lot in store for you :D Loads of stuff happening in this chapter. Disease stuff, Connarphy, Conphy and Connaryl + my own storyline. I'm gonna keep it that way. A real nice mixture of season 4 stuff and my own stuff and new/different villains. Hope you like the way we're heading! It's gonna be a very bumpy ride from now on :D

Absolution

Chapter 21 - Ambush

They were sitting around the table, just like two days ago. It just didn't feel like any other council meeting. Everyone was nervous, everyone was slightly freaked out, everyone was tense and serious. Connor, Daryl, Hershel, Carol, Sasha, Wendy and Glenn were there. Michael was nowhere in sight, but Murphy was there instead and having a curious look around. He didn't feel too comfortable around all those people although he knew them, and he instantly went back to his nervous drumming his fingers on the table or picking at his nails.

He was sitting to Connor's right, so at least this way he was feeling –somewhat- comfortable, because as long as his brother was there everything was going to be okay. And right now he was actually happy and glad to be here, that the man next to him had actually let him in and stopped mother-henning him like he was some fucking baby.

And just like before he couldn't stop watching Daryl watch Connor, because the hunter's eyes were really fixed on the Irishman now. Daryl's frown made Murphy curious so he looked at his brother as well. Connor was unaware of the fact that he was being watched, he seemed strangely absent-minded and just stared at Murphy's drumming fingers, lost in thoughts.

"Patrick was fine yesterday and he died overnight" Carol started the council meeting and looked around. "Two people died that quick? Dr Stevens is right. We'll have to separate everyone that's been exposed."

Connor finally looked up and pressed his fist to his mouth, still thinking but now actually listening and looking at the others.
And since he was looking around now Daryl immediately stopped looking at him and looked at Carol instead.

"That's everyone in that apartment block. That's all of us. Maybe more."

"Everyone who was at te barbeque yesterday and around Charlie and Patrick, everyone who consumed te water from that block….." Murphy added.
Swallowing a bit when he remembered his chat with Patrick yesterday.

Connor tensed and swallowed hard, too, once again slightly crept out. That would be you.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck. Why the fuck had he been so stupid and drank it instead of getting bottled water. What the fuck. He'd never done anything as stupid and reckless before. He was usually pretty smart and considerate about everything, but this? Why they fuck had he drunk that much last night? Why the fuck had he decided to leave town with Daryl instead of just staying with the guy and sleeping in his bed for the night?

"We know that this sickness can be lethal. We don't know how easily it spreads. Is anyone else showing symptoms that we know of?" Hershel asked and Connor looked up, feeling like he was being watched.

No. He wasn't showing symptoms. He was just hung over. He was freaking immune, he'd had a great night yesterday, he had survived two walker bites, he had Murphy back right now so he needed to be there to look after him, he wouldn't freak Daryl out because he knew how his friend was going to react. So fuck the fact that he'd been so close to Patrick and that he had touched and consumed the infected water. He wasn't coughing, he didn't feel hot (apart from the general feeling hot because of the damn heat) and he just had a headache because of the alcohol.

He decided to say nothing. At least until he was absolutely sure he was infected or wasn't infected.

Connor turned his head and looked at Murphy.

"I talked ta Patrick yesterday at the barbeque, and I was pretty close t'im. I don' know if…." the younger MacManus said in regards to the anyone showing symptoms question. He didn't feel sick and didn't feel any different, but he felt the need to tell everyone that he'd been pretty close to patient zero before all this.

"Don't worry. We're alright, Murph" Connor immediately said and placed a hand on his brother's shoulder to squeeze it and reassure his sibling.

"We don't know that for sure" Hershel said and Connor gave the old man an almost hostile look.

"Yes we do. Me 'n Murph we're different. 'm pretty sure we can't get sick cos we're immune and we carry the walker stuff inside us."

Wendy widened her eyes.

"What?"

"Ain't the same as some freak flu, man" Daryl said and stared at Connor. "You should watch yah ass just like anyone else."

"Even more so. You are the only two cases of immunity that we know of. Your lives are extremely valuable. You should definitely be separated from the others" Hershel added, still looking at Connor. The older MacManus continued to give everyone an angry glare because he didn't like that they just kept destroying all his efforts to make his brother feel safe. The younger MacManus just rubbed his mouth, silently watching both parties.

Connor was just about to say something when Wendy interrupted their talk.

"Wait, so are you actually saying that we got immune people in here but you didn't tell anyone? Are you crazy? We could've found a cure ages ago! People oughta know about this!"

"There's no fuckin cure, lady" Connor snapped and glared at her.

"Why d'ye think we was gone. We went all the way down ta Augusta ta find someone who could figure it out, but this whole immunity 's worth shit cos there's no cure. Why break the news and upset people even more. We kept quiet fer a reason. A whole buncha people committed suicide cos of this before."

Murphy stared at Connor, wondering for a moment why his brother was lying. They had never really talked about Augusta so far, but he was pretty sure that should his sibling really have found the same people and the same hospital, people like Stevens and the soldiers, then the same things must've happened to him, too.

He was sure that they both knew that there was a cure. That they could find something with the help of their blood, their cells, their brains. Only that a possible cure would mean their certain death. It was a tricky situation, really. And he agreed with Connor to some extent. Telling people about the fact that there was no cure could cause chaos. Telling people that there was a cure could also cause even more chaos.

They both had experienced the craziness of that back in Augusta. When their lives certainly didn't seem to matter anymore, when they weren't even considered people anymore. When they were just 'the possible cure', when everyone wanted to kill them and bleed them out because of the immunity. So he understood why Connor wouldn't tell her the truth, but he couldn't quite understand why his brother just wouldn't tell her nothing at all.

Wendy was momentarily too shocked and surprised to keep talking, so Connor used the opportunity to speak up.

"Whatever we're gonna do, we gotta come up with a solution fast. It's not just the infectiousness that's dangerous. We need ta make sure we can actually keep people behind locked doors fer a bit. Cos if die they become a threat. We can't have the whole scenario repeat itself inside another apartment block. Strict curfew. Strict quarantine. At least fer a day or whatever Dr Stevens and Milty say."

Hershel nodded.

"We need a place for them to go. They can't stay in their building. And we can't risk going in there to clean it up. We need to rearrange room occupancy. Regroup, put more healthy people in rooms together so we can clear out another building for the sick."

"Or we could move them outside. Inside the abandoned buildings down Sunnydale road. By the parking lot" Carol suggested.

"Without walls and with walkers passing through? Not sure this would make them feel any better. Their coughing could attract biters. We can't risk that" Glenn muttered and Wendy looked at him and then Connor and the others.

"Didn't we want to work on an expansion anyway?"

"With less people? 's a pretty shitty idea. Glenn's right" Connor muttered and stared at the surface of the table again.

Daryl looked at his friend for a bit and then finally decided to speak up as well.

"No, Hershel's right. We should regroup. We got enough space in here, keep everyone safe til they feel better. 'm gonna take the two leprechauns in. If everyone of my block takes two or three people in we should be doing fine. Relocate everyone inside our corner building, leave the other smaller block to the sick. Also closer t'Dr Stevens quarters. Think that'll work for her?" he said and then looked at Hershel because he had aimed the question at him. The old man rubbed his beard a bit and then nodded.

"This could work. I'll help Donna and Milton get it set up."

There was silence for a while as everyone considered this and thought about how they were going to do that.
Murphy had a curious look around the group and chewed on his lips, only to decide that maybe this was his chance to voice his concerns.

"That still doesn't solve it, though. We still don' know what caused this."

Daryl looked at him.

"We do. 't was Patrick. He didn' feel too good yesterday, got sick. Whatever it was, flu or allergies, killed him dead in less than 24 hours, turned him into a geek. Happened while everyone was asleep, he managed t'kill and infect others. Thing went awry."

"Aye, but what about te other fella we found upstairs? Charlie? He got te same thing and he was locked up. So how'd he get infected?"

"Coulda been the water, Murph" Connor said and looked at his brother.

"Or the food…" Murphy mumbled and fell quiet because he was slightly worried. Worried, and he felt guilty. He couldn't stop thinking about it. Maybe it had been his fault? The pigs? Or the tomatoes? What if he had transmitted something from the pigs as soon as he had touched the rest of their food? When he'd helped Terry cut up the meat or when he had picked the tomatoes for the salad Patrick had been eating on his own?

"Whatever it was, we gon' get rid of it, emo kid" Daryl said and looked at the younger MacManus as well. The others were just about to say something, too, when they suddenly heard someone cough outside. Everybody stilled, some eyes widened a bit and then everyone looked at each other. They all got up at the same time to exit this part of their town hall to go outside and enter the hallway.

"You okay?" Tyreese asked his girlfriend Karen, rubbing her shoulder as they entered the town hall and walked down the hallway.

The black-haired woman nodded but kept coughing.

" Mm-hmm."

Carol was the last to exit their council meeting room and looked at Karen with a worried look on her face.

" You sure? You don't sound so good."

Tyreese looked up to face the rest of the council with a smile, still rubbing Karen's shoulder.

"We're just going to get her some clean bed sheets. I'm going to take her back to my apartment, so she can rest."

Everyone looked at them for a moment, and Connor almost wanted to curse.

Fuck. He knew Karen.

She'd been living inside their apartment block as well. The one that was now quarantined, where countless people had been exposed. And now she was coughing, too. How fucking great. It just made him feel even worse. What if more people were going to show symptoms? What if they all had been infected? What if he was getting sick, too? Even worse, what if Murphy was going to get sick? He'd been inside the building a whole lot longer than him last night after all.

He looked at his sibling, trying to calm himself down, trying to remind himself that Murphy was right here with him, safe and sound, not coughing, not doing anything unusual. Connor instinctively placed himself in front of his sibling, although he was doing it rather inconspicuously. But he still wanted to shield him from Karen's coughing.

"Tyreese, I don't think that's a good idea" Hershel said to Karen, who immediately looked scared.

"Why? What's going on now?"

Glenn let out a gentle sigh and looked at her, getting a bit closer.

"We think it's a flu or something. That's how Patrick died."

Karen kept looking at them in shock and Connor spoke up after having pressed his lips together so hard that they almost felt numb.

"I met 'im last night. Down with te water barrels. He was coughing just like ye."

" Judith is in your apartment block, Tyreese. She's vulnerable. Anyone that might have been exposed or may be sick should stay away from that building. We're going to split everyone up. People who've been exposed and show symptoms will be moved to the north section of town."

Karen let out a terrified gasp and rubbed her throat nervously.

" It…it killed Patrick?"

Tyreese rubbed her back to calm her down.

"She's gonna be okay. Now that we know what Patrick died from we can treat it, right?"

Nobody said anything. Wendy stared at Connor and Murphy at the mention of treatment and another cure, eyeing them, unreadable expression on her face. Murphy was too caught up listening to everyone to notice, but Connor looked right back at the woman. He still didn't like too many people from Woodbury.

"Don't panic. We're going to figure this out. But we should keep you separated in the meantime. We'll have Donna take a look at you. I'll see what we have in the way of medications" Hershel said and already wanted to start walking when Karen spoke yet again.

"David from the Decatur group, he's been coughing, too."

David. Another one from their apartment block. Connor swallowed hard. That shit really freaked him out now. Had his throat just felt scratchy? And what was up with the headache? He always felt like coughing because of all his chain smoking, but what if there was more to it? He took a deep breath and then fixed his eyes on the wooden floor below, breathing in and out. No. He was fine. It was all just psychosomatic. His scared mind was playing tricks on him. Like when someone else started yawning opposite you or someone just needed to mention the word 'yawn' and you suddenly felt the urge to yawn. Or when your hands were all tied up and you suddenly felt all itchy and really needed to scratch your arm.

He scratched his arm and shook his head. It confused the hell out of him. He was usually pretty calm about everything. It took much to freak him out, so why was he so on edge today? Glenn's gentle sigh snapped him out of it and for a moment Connor caught glimpse of Daryl and how he was watching him with a slightly worried look on his face. The Irishman immediately cracked a tiny half smirk and Daryl returned it, but then just looked worried again.

"I'll get him" Glenn said about David then looked at Sasha "There's some old camp beds in the shed behind your building, right?"

Sasha nodded

"Yeah, we'll meet you there" she said and then walked over to Karen to get her. "Come on. Let's get you settled."

Tyreese, Sasha, Karen, Wendy, Carol and Glenn left after that, each on their way to get things done, new tasks set up and waiting to be completed.
Now there were only Daryl, Connor, Murphy and Hershel left.

"We'll have to call another meeting later" the old man said to Connor and Daryl, who nodded.

"All right. I'll get to burying the dead ones" the hunter said.

"You wear gloves and a mask" Hershel said with a worried look on his face and placed a hand on Daryl's shoulder.

"Te fuck yer gonna do" Connor spoke up before Hershel could say anything else. The Irishman gave his friend an angry glare. Daryl stared back at him with a frown.

"Someone's gotta do it. And it ain't the first time I barbecued a bunch 'a dead walkers. Just did it two days ago."

"But they weren't infected with shit tha makes people choke on their own fuckin blood."

"No, they're just infected with a buncha other disgustin shit. Same difference" Daryl growled and then wanted to follow Hershel who was on his way outside, but Connor shoved his friend back.

"I said yer ain't gonna do that shit!"

"Fuck off!" Daryl snapped, angered by the sudden shove.

Murphy had been watching their little fight up until now, feeling angrier by the second as well because he didn't like the way Daryl treated his brother and also because their whole fighting just killed his mood even more.

"Oh Jesus fockin Christ, just let te dumb hick do it then if he thinks he's gotta get his fuckin ass killed!" he shouted, trying to shut them up but being terribly bad at settling the dispute. Both Daryl and Connor, who had been caught up arguing and fighting with each other, looked at the younger MacManus, because they had already forgotten he was there with them.

"Ain't no one asked yah for your opinion. Go pick flowers or something."

"Murph, just…" Connor tried to make himself known, but his friend and brother ignored him.

"How 'bout I pick yer teeth outta yer fuckin mouth?"

Daryl narrowed his eyes and immediately tried to walk up to the younger Irishman to intimidate him a bit and put him in his place, but just like before Connor pressed his hand to his chest to keep him back.

"Alright now fuckin stop it, te both of ye!" the Irishman yelled angrily, his throat burning from his shouting. He looked at both Murphy and Daryl only to fix his eyes on the latter's face, glaring at him, forcing him to look him in the eye and make him understand that he better not fuck this up. Once he had made sure that Daryl got what he was aiming at Connor finally let go of him, turned around and then rubbed the bridge of his nose with an exhausted sigh.

"Murph…would ye go outside and…help the others fer a moment?"

Murphy raised an eyebrow and looked at Connor in disbelief, only to let out an angry snort. He shook his head, eyes looking back and forth between his sibling and Daryl. He didn't want to be excluded, didn't want to leave his brother especially when something as fucked up as this was going on, but the truth was that he also didn't want to see them together. Whether they were fighting or not.

He just didn't like seeing Connor and Daryl together, and his still very present dislike for that was making itself know whenever it got to that. When he was just around Daryl, like when he'd followed the guy outside or when they'd been talking by his motor bike, he actually liked the guy more and could actually talk and work with him, but as soon as Connor was in the picture it always and almost immediately turned into a competition, and it immediately made him like the guy less again. He just let out an angry huff and started walking.

"Fine, I ain't got time fer this fuckin kindergarten shit anyway" he grumbled and headed for the door, shrugging Connor off when he tried to place a hand on his back to pat it and kind of apologize with it.

"Murph….."

"See ye outside" Murphy just said and then closed the door shut behind himself, leaving only Connor and Daryl left inside the town hall.

"Fuck" Connor muttered and rubbed the bridge of his nose once more, walking around a bit and staring at the ground. He was pissed, he was tired, he was hung over, freaked out and stressed and didn't like this whole thing at all. Yesterday had been a –much- better day.

"You alright?" Daryl asked after a moment, now no longer sounding so angry but almost concerned.

Connor chewed on his lower lip with an angry frustrated frown and nodded.

"Aye. I'm gonna get te bodies, load them on a truck 'n bury them."

Daryl frowned yet again.

"No yah ain't. Yah heard Hershel. You 'n emo kid ain't gonna risk yah lives cos yah…"

"Well it doesn' fuckin matter cos I already drank te fuckin water, alright?" Connor suddenly snapped and gave Daryl an angry glare. He then shook his head with a frustrated huff and turned around, hands on his hips, staring at the door with a gentle "Fuck". Daryl looked at his back in surprise.

"What?"

Connor nodded and gently kicked at thin air a couple of times, watching his foot move forwards and backwards. He rubbed the back of his neck, moving his hand up and down, fingers moving through his blonde hair. "Aye. When I got home after te bar I met Patrick by the water barrels. Just like I said" he explained and then turned around to look at Daryl, still chewing on his lips, now openly showing that he was worried.

"We talked 'n I patted his back when he swallowed te wrong way. Didn't think too much of it. He told me there was no more running water, so I took a bucket upstairs ta get washed up, did the whole thing, brushed my teeth, washed my face with it, te same water he probably coughed right fuckin into."

For just a moment Daryl looked at his friend, paling a bit but not showing any other real reaction. The truth was that he was petrified with fear, because it reminded him way too much of an other scenario. When it had been dark, when they had been alone as well, the forest at night, when Connor had also confessed some terrible truth.

I got bit.
I drank the water.

And just like back then he immediately wanted to punch the Irishman in his face for being so stupid, he wanted to yell at him and ask him why the fuck he would get near this coughing bastard, why he would take the water with him after Patrick had been so close to it but of course. How on earth should Connor have known that this whole thing would turn into this? It freaked him out, it scared the shit out of him, knowing that his best friend might be in trouble yet again, probably infected with yet another disease that was supposed to be lethal. He didn't want any of this, not when so much had changed, not when they were finally doing so good.

Although he clenched his fists a bit he wouldn't start yelling and he wouldn't start shoving Connor like he had done last time, he was actually still calm and tried to stay all collected and positive about it. But he still needed to know. "Yah feel anything? Sore throat, shit like that?" he muttered, starting to shift and walk on the spot a bit, voice low, avoiding eye contact because he didn't even want to see a reaction, didn't even want to hear an answer.

Connor laughed nervously.

"Well I certainly am fuckin sore, but not me throat. Didn't have a great start this morning and I got a fuckin headache and I just need ta think about food and I feel like puking but hey, we had a bit too much last night, right? So there's that. 'm probably just fuckin hung over."

Daryl examined his friend a little while longer, thinking about the way Connor had acted earlier, whenever he had looked at him and watched him. How quiet and lost in thoughts he had been. The truth was that all the things Connor had just told him about didn't exactly calm him down. He was still pretty much worried and freaked out although it did just sound like a hangover. But he tried not to let Connor see.

"Yeah. Yah doin fine. Just hung over cos yah been so stupid last night."

He even forced himself to smile a bit and then started walking to get closer to his friend before walking outside, so he could nudge his chest and maybe quickly let his hand travel down his chest in a gentle affectionate stroking motion.

"Come on, let's get to it."

Connor placed a hand on his friend's arm on his chest and squeezed a bit but then Daryl already let go, still pretty eager to not let anyone see or know that he wanted to be like that with the guy, and that not letting know included Connor.

"What about ye? You okay?" the Irishman still asked, looking at his friend which made Daryl stop walking once more.

The hunter turned around, chewing on his lips, obviously trying to hide that he was not okay. Of course he wasn't. Not after hearing that his friend had consumed something that had been infected with a disease that had killed two people in less than 24 hours, making their eyes, nose, mouth and ears bleed.
Like if you shake a soda can and pop the top.

"Hmhm. Gotta be."

Connor smirked a little because this statement applied to him as well. He had to be alright, too. For Murphy, because he was his protector. For Daryl, because he knew that his friend didn't take this whole thing too good. He didn't even want to put him through shit like that again. Like last year when Daryl had left their group for him, to take care of him all on his own, to get him through the after effects of his first bite. He didn't ever want to be sick like that again, didn't want to make Daryl worry and take care of him like that ever again. Because he knew his friend would.

"Aye. Gotta be."

He found Murphy with Maggie and the others. The entire town was more than busy moving things around, eager to get the other apartment building all set up as soon as possible, so they could take care of possible infected, so they could get them away from the healthy ones, so they could keep the unknown disease from spreading all over town.

The entire climate had changed, from one day to the next. It felt like they could almost feel the nervousness, the fear, the terror. They'd never had to deal with anything like this before, but most of them had heard about the consequences of such aggressive flu strings. Spanish influenza, swine flu, avian flu, those diseases had made their papers before the outbreak, they had seen the terrifying pictures of what diseases could do all over the globe, and that had been when there had still been hospitals, the CDC and other scientists. And now here they were, with a simple vet, GP and wannabe scientist. Things could turn out really bad. And they all knew it.

Connor was actually happy to see that Murphy didn't have any troubles fitting right in and keeping himself busy. He liked to move so the job did him good, it kept his mind off things and it was also a good, honest thing, something god sure would be proud of.

Connor was also glad that it didn't involve any contact with possible infected. Quiet the opposite. It meant getting in contact with clean sheets, clean clothes, medicine and sterilizers. He was helping Beth, Maggie and the others set up beds for the sick and possible infected so they had a nice place to stay, and for a moment Connor actually just stopped, leaned against the door frame and watched his sibling move about.

He loved how truly good Murphy was, how although he might have forgotten parts of his past he was still his old self through and through, for the most part, helping others, being compassionate and sociable, a whole lot more than he could ever be. His better half, his missing parts.

"Murphy?"

The younger MacManus looked up in surprise and stopped working for a moment to face Connor. He nodded to let him know that he was on his way and then quickly helped Beth finish one of the beds until he made his way through these tight quarters to get to the door, where his brother was.

"Dr Stevens'n Hershel said that this would be a good place fer the rest'a our block ta stay in" he informed Connor and then looked back at the beds, still pretty much worried and the worry now more than obvious because of the look on his face. "They said we shouldn't stay in here though. Shouldn' risk getting even more exposed" he let out a gentle sigh and rubbed his nose. "'m pretty glad we don' have ta stay here, though."

Connor nodded.

"Aye. 's gonna be pretty shitty getting people in here. We don' know who's infected and who's not. We're certainly gonna end up mixing healthy ones with infected, but what else're we gonna do, aye?"

Murphy nodded.

"Aye."

They both watched the others work for a moment until Murphy let out a gentle sigh.

"Fuckin sucks, man. I don' understand how anyone can catch a fuckin killer cold when it's 300 fuckin degrees down here."

Connor chuckled gently.

"Yer right. Coulda been understandable back in Boston, but here?"

Murphy looked around and nodded with an approving "Aye", remembering their former native city.

He chewed on his lips some more, contemplating if he should tell his sibling about the possibility that he might be infected as well.
In the end he decided not to, though. He just needed to ask.

"What about ye, Murph. Are ye alright? D'ye feel sick?"

Murphy turned around and rolled his eyes a bit because there it was again, motherhen Connor.

"Nope." He then looked up a bit, as if trying to look at god. "Reckon the two'f us been through enough shit fer now, don't ye think?"

Connor nodded and looked up as well.

"Aye. Aye."

You better not fuckin disappoint me again, he thought, warning and judging god a bit.

"Rick killed te pigs. They were pretty much dead anyway. Milton's looking at their blood right now. See if it's their fault."

Connor nodded.

"Alright."

Murphy then looked at him with a questioning look on his face.

"I thought that maybe we should go back outside look fer the old farmer. Should the tests be positive. Ask him what te fuck's up with givin us sick animals after we saved his arse. What'd ye think?"

Connor looked at Murphy, once again a bit surprised and also happy to see his sibling act like this, that he was really still doing this. Asking for his opinion, suggesting to do something together, to be a team again. He then nodded and shifted so he could stop leaning against the door frame.

"Yeah. We should do that. Fucker better have a decent explanation fer this fuck up then."

"Hm-hm."

The older MacManus then let out a gentle sigh and shifted to get moving.

"Alright. Ye help the lads and lasses with the beds. Me 'n Daryl were gonna dispose of te bodies and give them a proper burial outside. "

Murphy looked at his brother for a moment, contemplating if he should say something. But just like the many times before he didn't quite want to speak it out because he didn't know how to put it, because he didn't want to make Connor angry or upset him or whatever. But his silence was useless anyway, because his twin noticed his behavior right away.

"What?"

Murphy rubbed his mouth and shrugged, thinking about how he should put it.

"Well it's just…are ye sure ye should be doing that? Can't ye just ask someone else ta do it?"

Connor smiled a little, happy to hear that his sibling was obviously worried about his wellbeing.

"It's alright, Murph. We're gonna wear masks and gloves 'n shit. Don' wanna let him do this on his own, I need ta watch his ass in case the schtupid redneck fucks this up again."

Murphy snorted but still didn't like the whole thing, that Connor was willing to risk getting infected just so he could go out there with his stupid girlfriend.

"So what, yer not gonna watch my ass in case I hang out with te wrong people or look at te wrong people?"

Connor chuckled a bit and reached out to squeeze his sibling's upper arm and brush his thumb across the muscle there.

"I thought we made it pretty clear that ye don't need anyone ta watch yer ass, little brother."

Murphy immediately tried to shake Connor off with an angry growl.

"Fuck yerself, I ain't little, yer te fuckin little one, asshat."

Connor kept chuckling and turned around to leave when Murphy called out again.

"Connor?"

The blonde turned around to look at his brother again.

"Wear te fuckin mask."

Connor smiled once more.

"Aye."

Murphy was on his way across main street to help the others carry some more stuff when he noticed Daryl by the truck. The hunter was already busy loading bodies on the loading area with the help of two men Murphy didn't really know yet. Connor had gone to talk to a few people before leaving town to get rid of the bodies, so he was still nowhere in sight.

Murphy slowed down and just watched the hunter for a moment, how he was moving one body after another. It really just hit the Irishman how many people they had lost today, and all the 'masks' and gloves made it even more obvious how serious this really was. So Murphy just stood there and stared, thinking about it, letting the images of the chaos earlier today pass by.

It was seriously fucked up.

Just yesterday he'd thought that this was going to be his new home, that they were safe here, that they could build a life, that this was the place where he and Connor could get used to each other again, in peace, but of course. This was the end of the world. Things were never going to be easy again. Anyone could die from one second to the next, they had just seen it today, he could see it, reflected in the body count.

The younger MacManus chewed on his lips and then finally decided to just do it. He walked across the street and approached Daryl, hands shoved into his pockets, gently rotating his right shoulder, the one with the scar, that was too tight and tense once again. It took a moment but then Daryl raised his head and looked at him, mouth covered with a bandana, eyes widening the moment he saw Murphy.

The hunter let go of the body he and the other guy had just been throwing on top of the truck and immediately raised his gloved hand to make Murphy stop walking.

"Yah better stop. Ain't no one getting close t'the bodies without some sorta protection. Besides, yah bro's gonna kick my ass as soon as he sees you here so yah better fuck off."

Murphy stilled and looked at the bodies, once again chewing on his lips with a slight frown. He nodded, understanding and agreeing with Daryl because he was right, but he wouldn't leave, he just stopped and watched, thinking about it for a moment, watching how the hunter and the other two men walked over to the entrance of the building to get the next body.

"Can I talk ta ye fer a second?" the younger MacManus asked then and Daryl slowed down with a sniff, using his lower arm to wipe his nose and then look at Murphy. His hair was stringy because he was sweating so much, and the hunter actually looked like he could use a break anyway. But just for a moment he stared back at Connor's brother, once again rather surprised by the fact that although they seemed to hate each other, Murphy kept seeking his company for some weird reason.

The hunter let go of everything and then wiped the sweat of his forehead only to start walking, around the truck, approaching Murphy and then walking even further so they could put some distance between them and the other two guys. Murphy nodded the moment Daryl passed him and then turned around to silently follow the hunter, who pulled his bandana down after a while and turned around when they were a bit further away from the whole hustle and bustle.

"What is it, ain't got all day" the hunter growled and adjusted his bandana to get it out of his mouth, only to put both his hands on his hips with an exhausted sigh. He just looked at Murphy, slightly angry, slightly amused, and a whole lot confused. Murphy looked the man right in the eye, not shy or anything, making it obvious that this was serious, that he meant what he was about to say. He still didn't like talking to Daryl too much either, but this was important to him, so he went ahead.

"Con told me that yer gonna bury the bodies out there."

Daryl just looked at the Irishman for a moment and then snorted.

"If this is another one of yah trying t'make deals with me just so yah can do stuff your stupid bro don't want yah t'do then…."

"No. I just wanted ta tell ye that ye better fuckin watch his ass out there. And don' let 'im get sick."

Daryl raised an eyebrow at that, just a bit, actually surprised to hear that because he'd been expecting something else entirely. Murphy kept looking at him, in a way that made it look like he wasn't just thinking about the bodies anymore, that this was about more. The hunter didn't need to ask what this was about, because Murphy kept talking, at least after having made sure that no one was around them.

"He told me, alright. About ye."

Daryl just stared at the Irishman, already getting what he was aiming at but trying really hard not to take it that way. Because this wasn't good. Not at all. It didn't fucking matter that Murphy was Connor's twin brother. It didn't fucking matter that he'd already known that his friend shared everything with his sibling. Nobody was supposed to know, nobody was supposed to see him that way.

He didn't want anyone to know that he was screwing around with a guy. He just knew that people wouldn't understand, that guys like Murphy were going to view him as some redneck hillbilly fag, the exact reason why nobody was supposed to know. But Murphy did. He swallowed hard and tried to move although he felt like he was petrified.

"Told yah what 'bout me" he snarled, trying to play it like he didn't know what he was talking about. But of course. Murphy was smarter than that. The younger MacManus looked around once more, making it obvious that this really was about the him and Connor thing, that he obviously didn't want anyone else to know either.

"'bout te fuckin thing ye got going with Con."

They both had to snort because of the way Murphy had put it without realizing.

"Ain't got no idea what yah talkin bout. I gotta help Ed and the others move the bodies" Daryl muttered and tried to walk away, but Murphy wouldn't let him, he just kept talking, reminding the hunter once more that he was Connor's twin brother, that he was just as relentless and annoying as his sibling.

"I don' think it's right, nor does god" Murphy said and Daryl rolled his eyes. He turned around again to glare at the younger MacManus. Murphy looked back at him and shrugged a bit after a moment. "But I can see that he likes ye a lot and that I ain't gonna change shit cos a lotta stuff went on while I was gone. And I can' get that back and I don' know and can't remember what happened."

Daryl continued to just stare.

"But he trusts ye so I just gotta do the same. All 'm asking ye: ye better not fuck this up, ye better not mess with 'im an ye better not take 'im fer fuckin granted. So look after 'im out there, and he better mean the same ta you. Else ye have ta face me."

The hunter just kept getting surprised by his lookalike today. He already knew Murphy well enough (he hated that they were actually kind of alike not just looks wise but also mentality wise) to understand that this was the closest they were going to get to actually hearing Murphy utter words of 'approval'. He knew that he had the guy's 'blessing'. Whether they both liked the whole thing and how it had turned out or not.

He still didn't like the fact that Connor had really told Murphy about the whole thing, and he certainly was going to beat his ass into the ground for that later, but a tiny part of him actually appreciated the whole thing, that Murphy had actually addressed it on his own without flipping his shit because of the religious issue. It actually really surprised him to hear and see how quickly Murphy had started to trust his brother again, how their strange and tight bond that Connor had kept talking about was still there for the most part. It made him happy for his friend, but it also made him feel uncomfortable and crept him out a bit.

"Hm-hm" was all he managed to say. He had a lot more to say actually, that the fucker didn't even know how much his brother mattered to him, that he would die for him and that he would do anything to keep Connor safe, but he wasn't a man of words and although his friend had changed him some, he still wasn't willing to admit to anything emotional around people. Other than the stupid leprechaun, because damn, he had already opened himself up to him way too much after telling him about his past and everything. He certainly needed to cut it short. So all he gave Murphy was the 'hm-hm' with a nod and tried to leave once more, eager to leave the whole topic behind, but the younger MacManus still didn't make it easy for him.

"'n Daryl?"

"Good lord, what is it now, yah annoying wacko" he growled with a dramatic eyeroll and looked at Murphy for a final time, making it clear that he was going to leave after this no matter what.

"Should this disease really get me this time… Keep lookin after Connor fer me. Don' leave him alone."

There was a small pause and then the younger MacManus added a determined "Promise."

Daryl wanted to snort, he wanted to make fun of the Irishman and tell him exactly that this was what he'd been doing all year anyway after his huge fuck up with the walker bite in Boston, he wanted to tell Murphy that he better watch his ass this time then and that he was nobody's babysitter and that he didn't owe him shit because he didn't even like Murphy, but he wouldn't say anything like that at all. He chewed on his lower lip instead, keeping it in, studying his lookalike's face (and fuck did that still creep him out, it was like he was looking in a freaking mirror).

He wouldn't say anything mean or shrug it off because he knew that Murphy was right. Connor needed them. Or needed one of them, should the other be gone. The guy wasn't going to make it on his own. Not because he wasn't strong enough, not because he wasn't smart enough, not because he wasn't a survivor. Connor could be perfect for this world with his abilities and his character traits. But he had already seen the truth. No matter how smart and talented and capable the guy really was, he was too dependent on Murphy. He just couldn't be a person of his own because of their freaky twin status.

So the hunter eventually nodded and gave Murphy an honest answer.
It wasn't a good one and it certainly wasn't strongly worded, but he was being sincere about it and he wanted the other to know that he meant it.

"I got it, emo kid" he said with that gentle nod, making it final. A promise, that went without saying anyway.

Murphy nodded back and seemed to appreciate the gesture, also knowing that Daryl would never really form the exact words to show real approval and really tell what he thought about the whole thing, just like he had refused to give Daryl his real blessing.

Daryl shifted a bit and even took it a bit further.

"We're family 'round here. Ain't gonna let no one get hurt."

You're Connor's brother. You're family, too. I'm gonna protect your stupid annoying ass just as much cos you matter to Connor and matter to me this way, too, it said, but he wouldn't speak that out either. He then just walked past Murphy to get back to moving the bodies, and this time he even refrained from a final snarky and dismissive remark, to let the other know that he really meant everything he'd just said, that he actually kind of liked the guy.

"Jesus fuckin Christ, why did ye let me drink that fuckin much last night, I think 'm gonna die" Connor grunted and stabbed the ground with his shovel only to keep it there and use it to lean against it and rest for a bit. He was digging his third grave now, with the hot Georgian sun shining down on them like they were surrounded by radiant heaters, merciless, unforgiving.

His black shirt was soaking wet, and no matter how many times he wiped the sweat off his forehead, it just kept coming right back. Daryl looked just as exhausted, his hair wet from all the sweat, his sleeveless shirt sticking to his chest, also drenched. "Fuck those fuckin gloves" Connor kept complaining and suddenly got rid of them, tossing them as far away as he could and then pulling down the bandana that had been covering his nose and mouth.

Daryl stopped shoveling with a gentle smirk and then looked at his friend, just smiling even more, mischievous and gleeful.
He also pulled his bandana down for a moment and gave his friend that honest smirk, squeezing one eye shut because the sun was blinding him.

"Well, made yah less annoying so ain't been no reason t'stop yah."

"Fuck you, yer fuckin annoyin, fuck's sakes" Connor kept grumbling and leaned against the dirt for a moment, rubbing his forehead because the headache was getting worse from the heat. "There better be no more fuckin dead people, or I swear ta fuckin god they can dig their graves in advance."

Daryl lazily poked the dirt with his shovel, staring at the ground, thinking about everything that had happened earlier today.
All the death, the disease, the worry, the possible consequences.

"Your lil bro asked me t'look after you. 'n case that thing gets him and he bites the dust again" he said and then looked at Connor, once again squeezing an eye shut because it was so bright. He had added the last bit to make it a little less serious, and he did get what he'd aimed for. A little snort from Connor, who looked away for a moment and then thought about it for a bit.

"Yeah, that's not gonna happen" he answered, trying to sound all determined and tough although Daryl knew that Connor really feared that.
He could see it in his eyes. The hunter poked at the dirt some more, avoiding eye contact and nodding.

"That's what I told 'im."

There was silence for a while as they both got lost in thoughts again, Daryl still digging a bit, and Connor massaging his temples and spitting on the ground once because of the bitter taste in his mouth.

"Yah told 'im?" Daryl asked after a while, all casual and quiet because he still didn't like talking about the whole thing. But it had reminded him of the first part of his conversation with Murphy, where he'd told him that he had found out about them. Daryl was comfortable enough with the thing he had with Connor now, comfortable enough that he wanted to keep doing it for a while, in the near future, he was comfortable enough that he could even admit that he liked it, liked Connor, didn't want to fight the whole thing anymore just because of his stupid past, but if there was one thing that was still bugging him then it was the whole 'label' thing and other people finding out. He didn't want it to be anyone's business.

"Told who what?" Connor asked and grabbed his shovel again to get back to digging as well, right beside Daryl, his rosary dangling left to right, freely in the air, with each movement.

"Your bro. 'bout… y'know."

Connor frowned and looked at Daryl, because he honestly didn't know what the fuck his friend was talking about.

The hunter noticed the confused look on his friend's face and growled.

"'bout us, dumbass."

He didn't like the word 'us'. It sounded cheesy and stupid, like they were a couple or something. Fuck no. That was wrong.
But he also didn't want to say 'about the fact that we're fucking each other now' because that was even worse.

Connor pressed his lips together and looked away.

"Didn' give me a fuckin choice. Little shit's smart" Connor answered, digging harder. "See, this is the downside 'f bein twins. Comes with biologically implanted lie detectors. We like, literally can't lie ta each other. 's a fuckin curse sometimes."

Daryl snorted.

"Yeah, no shit."

"What'd he say?"

Daryl let out a gentle, frustrated sigh.

"Yah usual bible-banging psycho crap. 'God ain't seein it as something right and yada yada yada.' But he ain't against it cos yah like me 'n shit."

Connor started laughing and turned his head to look at Daryl, even waggling with his eyebrows.

"Well, I certainly do, sweet Darylena" he teased him and Daryl let out another angry snort, but he still couldn't stop himself from smirking.

"Jackass" he growled and threw the dirt from his shovel right at Connor, who dodged the attack, chuckling even more.

"Well, as long as he ain't seein it as right and as long as he's bein a good boy about it he can certainly make it ta heaven" the Irishman then said, going back to digging the hole.

"Yeah whatever" Daryl grunted, pretty eager to try to stop them from actually evaluating this whole thing and its consequences. He didn't want to keep getting reminded that what they had started doing was against every single one of his beliefs, how it was insulting his family and practically felt like he was spitting on Merle's grave, he didn't want to think about it at all, didn't want Connor to get started on evaluating what was more important to him – physicalness or religion. He didn't want to let Connor go down that way of thinking, because he didn't want it to stop.

"How'd he find out anyway? Creeper been sniffin yah panties or something, fucked up the two of you are?"

Connor snorted.

"F'ck you."

They both dug some more until Connor wiped the sweat off his forehead once more.

"No, wasn' hard ta figure out after ye fuckin bit me. So many thanks ta you, asswipe."

Daryl tried hard not to grin, because although Connor was right about the bite and how visible and stupid it had been – it still made him feel pleased with himself because he had marked his friend as his property, because he now had a constant reminder of that, a secret only he and Connor (and now Murphy) knew about, that was clearly visible without actually giving away too much.

"Ye better not fuckin do that shit again, else the whole town's gonna know within a month. Unless we come up with a decent fuckin cover-up."

"I ain't the one who told someone shit 'bout it. If McFryBrain talks, shit's on you, not me."

"He ain't gonna fuckin talk. Stop talkin shit 'bout Murph all te time, alright. Tha's me brother yer talkin 'bout."

"Just makes 'im even more annoyin and stupid."

"Fuck you."

"Fuck you."

They both smirked yet again, at the same time, amused by how this constant calling each other names and bantering was still going on, even after that many months of being friends.

"It's a stupid idea. Shoulda gone right back t'town" Daryl growled, eyes fixed on the dusty gravel path in front of them. They were driving towards the little farm that looked a bit like Hershel's farm, although it was a different one. The hunter had never been here before, but Connor had.

The Irishman was looking around, eyes fixed on the house from time to time, frowning.

"Shut it, we was gonna go back here sooner or later anyway, so why not stop by since we're already on te move anyway? There's a possibility that the pigs were te carriers, so we gotta make sure the old man didn'... Shit, slow down" Connor answered, grabbing Daryl's arm to make him stop the car.

There was still some distance between their car and the farm, but they were close enough to see that something wasn't quite right. They were looking at the farm of the old man who had given the MacManus twins the horse and two pigs yesterday. They could also see the old guy now, with his two kids, but the whole scenario was off.

Because much in contrast to yesterday there wasn't just the three of them, there were four military trucks parked around the property, trucks that had brought a group of heavily armed people with them. They didn't exactly look like military. The way they were holding their guns, the way they were grinning and moving about, or how that one guy and woman kept practically eating each other because they were kissing so hard, almost making out right there on the spot, by the truck.

The old man and his children had been forced to kneel on the ground, hands behind their heads, guns pressed to the back of their heads. One guy was hovering above the old man and obviously talking to him, asking him something, but neither Connor nor Daryl could make out what he was saying.

"Shit" the Irishman managed to say after a moment, horrified by what they were seeing.

"Those guys ain't military" Daryl noticed and Connor nodded.

"Aye, we should do…."

Three loud gunshots rang through the valley right then and there, startling the two friends and making them look back at the farm in shock. The old farmer and his two children had dropped to the ground, the three guys who were standing behind their shot bodies were lowering their weapons, grinning, laughing.

The woman that had been busy kissing that one other man suddenly broke the kiss and started cheering, flipping out and jumping up and down like she was enjoying the whole scenario, like it was some sort of rock concert.

"Jesus fuckin Christ, we gotta do something" Connor gasped and tried to move, but Daryl pressed his hand to his friend's chest to stop him.

"Ain't nothing we can do 'bout it. Guy's dead. We should get the hell away from here and head back t'town, just like I said."

"Are ye shittin me? We can't just leave those scumbags out here, they just straight out murdered te fella and a buncha teenagers! We gotta drop 'em right te…" Connor didn't get to finish the sentence, because then he suddenly felt the cold blade of a knife against his throat.

"Now now now…who do we have here?"

The Irishman swallowed hard, his Adam's apple booping up and back down just above the blade, and then turned his head to look at the man who was pressing the weapon to his throat. The guy looked kind of normal, actually. He'd seen a couple of twisted figures in his life with ugly teeth and 'evil' practically written all over their filthy, slimy faces, but this guy actually didn't look like it at first. But his grin gave it away, made it obvious that he was enjoying the fact that his group had just shot an innocent farmer, liking it just as much as the cheering woman in the distance.

"Look, fella. We was just passin through" Connor immediately tried to defuse the situation because he knew how dangerous it really was.

Another man to their left, by the driver's door, was chuckling. He had pressed a gun to Daryl's temple to keep him in place as well, which the hunter didn't seem to like at all. For a moment both friends managed to look at each other. Connor just looked worried but still collected. Daryl tried to stay calm as well, but when he let his eyes travel down his friend's face and saw the knife pressed to his throat he nearly lost it. No one threatened Connor's life when he was around. He immediately wanted to kill these bastards. Not just because of the knife thing, but also because their group had just murdered an old man like that.

"You with old McDonald there?" the man with the knife asked and pointed at the farm, suggesting that he meant the people they had just killed.

"Said we were just passin through, yah deaf or what, scumbag?" Daryl snarled at the man, threatening him with just his glare.

The man to Connor's right looked at him for a moment and then fixed his eyes on Connor again, grinning.

"What town you been talkin 'bout?"

"Yeah, you guys hauled up somewhere? How many of you are in this town of yours? We were gonna crash raise our camp here, but town sounds a whole lot better. How much room you got?"

"Ain't none of yah…" Daryl roared and tried to move, but the man with the gun shoved him back and the guy with the knife immediately reacted as well and pressed it even more to Connor's throat, making him lean his head back and press it against the headrest.

"You shut up, you white piece a'trash, or I drop blondie right here 'n now."

"'m gonna fuckin kill yah!" Daryl roared, doing the exact opposite of what had been requested but Connor raised his voice and even grabbed his arm.

"Fuckin shut it!" he hissed and then turned his head to look at his hostage-taker.

"Just…just relax, fellas, alright? We're nobodies, we weren't even here and we didn't see shit. You mind your business, we mind ours, let's be civilized about this."

Knife-man chuckled and relaxed the hand with the knife a tiny bit, giving Connor more space to breathe but still keeping him in place.

"I like 'im. He's smarter than redneck guy" he said and smirked at his colleague, angering Daryl even more.

But the hunter kept quiet this time because Connor squeezed his arm painfully hard, letting him know that he was going to handle it.

"I don't know, Aaron. Both of 'em look a bit shady if you ask me."

Aaron just chuckled even more. As the both of them talked to each other Connor inconspicuously squeezed Daryl's arm once more to let him know that he wanted him to look at him. The Irishman managed to make eye contact and quickly tried to guide him through his possible escape plan with gentle, almost invisible nods towards the steering wheel and doors. Even using his right hand a tiny bit to try and use hand signs.

"Jess 'n Derek certainly like shady."

"Ohhhh yeah" the other man said and then both laughed, like this was some sort of inside joke.
Then they finally really concentrated on the two friends again, who they still held captive with their weapons.

"Come on, out with yah. Let's go get you meet the boss" gunman said and placed his hand on the door opener.

"Nice 'n slow. Hands above your heads, get lined up by the car so we can frisk the two of yah."

Gunman slowly pulling the door open was the moment Daryl had been waiting for. He had managed to move his foot away from the foot throttle and had placed it on the door, to use the heat of the moment, seconds after shooting Connor another glare that meant "Now".

The hunter kicked the door hard and made it connect with gunman's face, making his nose crack and bleed. His head was thrown back from the impact and then he fell down to the ground, momentarily knocked out cold. Connor used the opportunity to knock out Aaron in the meantime. He managed to grab the man's arm and twisted it away from himself, making the man scream and cutting his own throat a bit but only superficially. He then used his other hand to grab the man by his hair and pulled him down, smashing it against the door frame multiple times and that as hard as he could with angry grunts.

He then shoved the guy out of their car and yelled "Go! Now!", making Daryl kick the accelerator hard after having thrown their car in reverse while Connor had been busy with their remaining attacker.

They were thrown forward because of the sheer and sudden speed of the car and then Daryl spun them around, just split seconds before gunman regained consciousness and aimed his gun at them. A couple of bullets still hit their car and smashed their rearview window and then blew up one of their back tires, but they had made it, they were driving away from the farm, away from their attackers who were yelling and trying to go after them. But they were too fast, going at full speed.

Connor looked back in sheer surprise, chest heaving from the shock and suddenness of it all.

"Hooohhh, holy shit" he gasped and then let out an exhausted laugh, because he couldn't believe they had really made it.
Daryl kept glaring in the rearview mirror, more than angry and running on adrenaline, but their attackers were nowhere in sight.

So far.