Chapter 25

Daryl's POV

Tying Shane up was easy now that the man was unconscious. Daryl used enough duct tape on the guy to fix the hull of the Titanic. Looking down at Shane he was confident that he wasn't going anywhere –his legs were covered in the tape as well as his arms which were taped to his torso. Putting a gag in his mouth and a bag over his head Daryl gave the man one last kick to his stomach.

"We just can't keep him like this," Daryl said turning to Rick

"We won't I'll take him out tonight and I'll take care of him." Rick was staring at Shane "I should've already done it- It's my responsibility"

Daryl knew that Rick felt guilty about Kat but it hadn't been his fault. Shane was the type of guy who was waiting for the world to end so that he could show his true colors. Daryl was surprised the man had managed to keep up the team player act as long as he did.

"I'm going to go check on Kat" he felt guilty being away as long as he had but he wanted to make sure that Shane suffered for what he had done.

Walking to the house he noticed the glances that the others were giving him –no doubt seeing the blood spattered on him, his reopened bloody knuckles, and his hair matted to his head from sweat.

Before going to check on Kat he made his way up to the bathroom and jumped in the shower without looking in the mirror. He would normally use the creek to wash up but he didn't want Kat to see him like that and it would take too long to run to the creek. He watched the drain as the water went from a dark color to more of a clear. Drying off he put the clothes he was just wearing back on and made his way to see Kat.

She was sitting in the bed, reading a book. She looked annoyed and he guessed that Hershel was making her rest.

Sitting down on the bed next to her "Any good?" he nodded toward the book

She swallowed and it looked like it hurt because she closed her eyes when she did. She opened her mouth to say something and a terrible raspy sound came out. She grabbed a notebook and pen that was beside her and started to write.

When she handed it over to him he read it: "Can't talk it hurts, but I'll be fine. Hershel is making me stay in bed. My throat hurts- I can still walk."

He could hear the feistiness in her writing but he wouldn't have let her walk around even if Hershel said she could. Nope the rest of the day he was sticking by her side –hell maybe to the rest of her life. It has been too many times that Kat has been hurt or put in danger and he was going to stick by her side to make sure it didn't happen again.

Kat's POV

Daryl had been by her side all day –she loved the man but she wanted to get away. Everyone kept coming by and checking on her. She was fine and it was probably a good thing that she couldn't talk yet, she would've started to yell at people. She grabbed her notebook

"I want to get out of here" she shoved the note in Daryl's face and when he looked up at her she poked out her bottom lip trying her best to seem pouty.

He smiled and stood up from the bed. But before he could try to pick her up she jumped up and hopped off the bed herself. She could tell that he wasn't pleased with her walking around but she was fine and he would be right beside her if anything happened.

He grabbed her notebook and put it under his arm, the pen in his pocket. Then he took her arm. She felt like she was being escorted by a nurse and she an elderly person –she rolled her eyes but if it made him feel better about getting her out of the house she would deal with it. Besides it was nice to have Daryl Dixon this close to her.

Stepping onto the porch she realized that the air seemed chillier than it did earlier today. She wondered what time it was –the sun was starting to dip lower. She was curious what happened to Shane or where he was but Daryl didn't say so she didn't ask. He left pretty quickly after she was brought into the house and she saw the look on his face when his eyes landed on her throat.

Damn –did her throat hurt. Hershel was worried that her larynx might be injured but after looking over her, he thought she would be okay just sore. Well at least now Daryl would have to do all the talking and she could grunt or ignore him if she chose to.

Daryl helped her sit down then started to make a fire, she was thankful for it because she was cold but she didn't want to go into the tent yet and she sure as hell wasn't going back to the house. She understood why Daryl needed to be alone sometimes –it was exhausting trying to be nice to people. Sure she got along with pretty much everyone but her anger has been quick to come out lately and she has had to bite her tongue more often than not.

She watched as he went into their tent and came back with a blanket –placing it over her shoulders. He sat down beside her but she lifted her arm and made sure he was also under the warmth that it offered. His arm wrapped around her back and she laid her head on his shoulder. Closing her eyes she listened to the fire crackle and enjoyed the warmth of Daryl.

Rick's POV

He was pulling Shane along behind him. The man was limping since Daryl had shoved his knife into his leg several times but Rick was not going to let up or slow down. He stopped in a field that was next to the tree line. This was as good a place as any –to kill his best friend.

No –this guy wasn't his best friend not anymore. The Shane Walsh he knew was gone, this guy in front of him was someone else. This guy had murdered Otis and tried to kill Kat and himself –it was only a matter of time before he succeeded in killing again.

He owed it to Lori, Carl, Kat, Daryl and himself to make sure Shane never bothered them again. He harshly removed the bag and gag from Shane's face.

"So this is where you decide to man up? You won't kill Randall but you'll kill me brother?"

"You said yourself, Shane, I have to protect my family. I have to protect them from you," he said as he pointed his finger at the man.

"Nah man –you- - you won't do It" even now Shane was taunting him "You won't shoot an unarmed man"

"You're wrong!" Ricked yelled. He knew he had to do this –he had to protect the group. He could have asked Daryl to do it but it was his responsibility. He should have done it back at that county building.

Shane had a satisfied smile on his face at the fact that Rick hadn't moved to kill him and he was ruffling Rick's nerves. "Even right here, right now, you ain't gonna fight for 'em? I'm a better father than you, Rick. I'm better for Lori than you, man. It's 'cause I'm a better man than you, Rick. 'Cause I can be here and I'll fight for it." Shane said

"Damn you for making me do this, Shane." Rick said as he pushed his knife into the chest of Shane

He held the man who was once his friend "This was you, not me! You did this to us! This was you, not me- not me! Not me! All you had to do was go back to being you, I gave you that chance" he watched as his friends eyes went from surprise to dull.

He had just killed his best friend.

He waited watching as the steam from Shane's blood stopped rising. He had to know for himself if what Jenner said was true. He had told Daryl but the man never said anything about what happened to Cora and he didn't feel like it was his place to ask.

He watched as Shane opened his eyes except they weren't Shane's eyes –no these were the eyes of the dead. He had become accustomed to seeing these eyes, they were the eyes of a walker. He slowly stood and shoved his knife into the head of the thing.

It was true they were all infected. He thought about going to tell Daryl that it was done but he knew the man wanted to be alone with Kat. It was pretty obvious that the man loved the woman –maybe not obvious in the way most people think but Rick saw how he acted toward Kat.

Daryl's POV

The day after Shane had attacked Kat he was still by her side. She claimed that her throat was hurting less but he still saw her flinch when she would swallow. She still couldn't talk without sounding like Louis Armstrong. He knew because she had tried to tell him that she was going for a run and her voice had scared him so she wrote it down in her notebook. He didn't think it was a good idea for her to run around when she could barely swallow without her throat hurting –what would it be like if she starting breathing hard?

So he decided that he was going to take her into the woods for a while show her how to shoot his crossbow. She had thought it over a second before she nodded that it was an acceptable replacement to running.

He was kneeling behind her his hands on her arms helping her to position the crossbow. He was having her sit so that it was easier to hold the bow, it was heavy and she was not accustomed to its weight yet. Most of the weight was on her knee while she was sitting. It also helped keep her arm steady.

"Never put your hand here" he showed her "If you do you have your hand in the path of the string and it will cut your hand to the bone"

She nodded her understanding.

"Okay try to hit the tree" She fired and missed it -by a lot

He watched as she cocked the bow then nocked another bolt. The she brought it up again making sure her hands were away from the danger zone he had just shown her.

She fired again and it was closer but still didn't hit the target. He could tell she was getting frustrated, her hands were moving faster and she kept wiping her face.

"Calm down woman –you've only tried twice now" he put his hand on her back to calm her then reached over and adjusted her hands so that it moved the bow slightly to the left. His hand on her back she fired the crossbow and this time it hit a tree –just not the tree she was aiming at.

He heard her growl and then she sat the crossbow on the ground.

"It ain't easy" he told the woman "It took me a while to get this good"

He laughed when she rolled her eyes and gave him a look that said 'oh please'. "It's true, Merle taught me how to shoot. He had just about given up on me when I would go out into the woods every day after school and shoot. Eventually I became better -then I was able to out shoot Merle"

Picking up the bow he put it back in her hands and she sat up propping it on her knee. "You've got to calm down –slow your breathing. Look down the end and take your time before you shoot."

He let her get the bow ready and then watched as she calmed herself down before she shot. This time it hit her target and she had the biggest smile on her face when she turned toward him.

He couldn't help it he leaned forward and kissed her. A fierce rush of ferocity and desire. He was claiming her with this kiss and she allowed it –met him with the same passion. He wanted to deepen this kiss but he remembered that she was hurt and cussed himself for possibly hurting her more unintentionally. "Come on. Let's get back" he helped her stand and grabbed his crossbow.