Disclaimer: I don't own The Walking Dead.

A/N: So the new season is so good I just haven't even been able to concentrate on this. But, the holidays always leave me with a little more spare time and a clear head, so here's the next chapter! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and keep them coming! I also have two questions for you guys. As readers, do you find it better when an author splits the same story into different sequels, or do you prefer them all to just stay in one story. If sequels are preferred, I would end this story where Season 2 ended, and start a new one. I plan to run this story for as long as Daryl is around (god forbid, Chris Hardwick I will take it out on you if Daryl dies). And also, would you guys read a story where I wrote everyone, including Roxy, in a story about life if the apocalypse never happened and everyone still lived their lives, but everyone will slowly connect again. Sound interesting? Let me know!


Gimme Danger

Chapter 28: Meet Me In The City


"Just promise me you and Glenn will both come back safe."

Every curse word in the book was rushing through Daryl's mind right now, or maybe he was saying it out loud. He didn't even know, it was all happening so quickly. First, they get up to the roof, and Merle's gone; cut his own hand off the crazy bastard. And, since he was nowhere to be found, going back to camp to wait for him to show up was the best shot of them finding him again. Once Daryl realized this, there were only two objectives; get the copper's gun bag, and get the fuck out of dodge.

All Roxy'd asked of him were those two things, and Daryl had almost thought he'd be coming back safe and sound with her little friend in tow, all of them wielding some bad ass weaponry. She'd even been nice enough to not make a big fuss when they'd set off, even though he could tell she was holding it back. He thought he'd make her proud, bringing back the spoils and everyone in one piece, well, except for Merle. They only had his hand.

But then the Chinaman had to go and get himself scooped up by some thugs, gun bag and all.

Daryl knew if he didn't come back with that kid, Roxy might not look at him the same way. And hell if Daryl didn't kinda like it at this point.

He had to find him and get him back unharmed.

This was going to be fun.

Back at camp, things appeared to be looking much better, except for the lone soul sitting atop the camper, staring off into the distance, but totally alert.

Roxy was waiting. She'd been up there for hours now, and it was getting awfully hot. Andrea sighed at the sight of her and shook her head before she cocked her hip, balancing the laundry basket full of unwashed clothes, and then shielding her eyes from the sun with the other hand. "Hey Roxy? We could use a little help with the laundry. Why don't you let Dale take over, huh?"

Roxy was startled by her voice, quickly looking her way, then pausing as if she were thinking about the request for assistance. Her eyes focused back on the horizon, scanning the available area, looking for any sign of the truck they'd taken off in. She felt sick to her stomach with worry. And when she saw there was no sign of the men who'd gone off into the city, Roxy reluctantly got to her feet, heading over to the ladder, defeated. If they came back at all, it wouldn't be for a long while anyway. Sitting here thinking about it wasn't helping. She'd thought she could keep watch all day, but it had taken a toll, an emotional one at that.

Dale gave her an encouraging nod, moving up the ladder once she'd stepped back from it. Most of the camp had been giving her sad or worried looks, many of them not counting on the return of the four men braving the city yet again.

The younger girl followed the other blonde and Jacqui down to the water, assuming one of the full baskets of clothes and taking a spot at the water with Amy and Carol, already started on the camp wash.

Roxy stayed quiet as they complained about the division of work amongst the males and females, watching Shane and Carl splash around in the water having a grand old time. Roxy couldn't complain much. After all, she'd offered her services to the Dixon brothers, and she was sure Glenn would never be able to do his own laundry; she'd done it for him before all of this anyway. Kid could hack a computer and pull apart his Xbox for fun, but turning on a washing machine was a foreign concept.

Then they started reminiscing about luxuries they had always had and taken for granted that they would kill to be able to use one more time. Roxy's was simple, nothing spectacular. Something she'd never thought she'd have to give up. And well, she could actually still use them if she wanted to be totally impractical and risk impending death. She was going to pack her favorites, but Glenn told her it was a waste of space. "I miss my heels," she sighed, dunking a shirt in some fresh water to clean the suds from it. Her feet literally hurt sometimes because they were so used to being crammed into platform heels; the pair of sneakers she wore now and the one other pair of shoes she'd brought, hiking boots, did not fit to her shaped feet

"God, you really are a Barbie," Andrea laughed unbelievingly, never having wondered what it was that captivated men, that was obvious, But the high heel fitted feet? That was just the icing on the cake.

"Oh yeah, Daddy Issues Dancer Barbie," Roxy joked, rolling her eyes with a wide smile.

All the women just about lost it when Andrea commented on her vibrator, and Carol, of all people, agreed.

And then Amy piped up. "I don't think Roxy misses that too much," which just sent the laughter flowing again. Roxy was honestly amazed she even could laugh when she was so worried about her boys, but it was definitely easier to cope while busy as opposed to frying on top of the RV.

But the shadow that suddenly loomed over and the smell of cigarettes made Roxy's body tense before Ed even spoke his inconsiderate words, Andrea brushing him off as nonchalantly as possible, though she clearly saw the tension in Roxy's demeanor suddenly change.

But Andrea was bold, and she wasn't going to just sit there and let Ed demean his wife and women as a whole. She stood up for Carol, bringing to light why Ed didn't seem to work very hard around camp while everyone else busted their asses. But the man just kept talking, and Andrea couldn't just sit by and let it go. She wasn't afraid of standing up to the man. She wasn't afraid of him.

Things escalated pretty quickly once Ed threw the piece of wet cloth Andrea had tossed at him in her face, the slap of the fabric, making Roxy's shoulders jump.

When he summoned Carol, Roxy had grabbed her wrist tightly, hoping to keep her back, begging her with her eyes not to go. She knew what would await the older woman, and apparently she wasn't the only one as Jacqui called him out on leaving bruises on Carol.

So Roxy hadn't been the only one to notice…

It all happened so fast, it was hard to even remember which order everything had gone in, how long a period of time passed during it, and what had set him off, but Ed swung. Right out here in the open, put his hands on his wife like Roxy had caught him doing before in the woods. He obviously didn't have many boundaries judging by that day, since he'd actually put his hands on her also, a complete stranger really. But this was even more shocking to her, seeing the man use an open hand on the woman who now looked ashamed and in pain, right in front of anyone who was looking.

Initially, Roxy had yelled and gotten involved like the other women with her, but she backed off after a second or a minute, it was hard to tell.

That pause, however long it was, may have been one of the most nerve-racking moments of her life thus far.

Her pulse thundered in her ears as she reached behind her, her fingers making contact with the smooth, cool metal in her waistband. The gun Daryl had told her to keep with her was right there, in reach, loaded. She could put an end to this right now, free Carol from her submission and Sophia from God knows what. One quick pull of the trigger would put him out of business, but as she pulled the weapon from it's concealed place to line up the shot, just like Daryl had showed her, Shane intervened.

Shane. Ed, that idiot, had hit Carol, right in front of Shane. Shane, who was a cop. Who was already full of anxiety and pent up aggression.

Shane, who just stopped her from doing something that was morally wrong. He stopped her from becoming a legitimate murderer.

And the sickest part was, Roxy couldn't decide whether she was thankful or angry that he'd put a stop to it.

She exhaled a quivering breath and released the metal piece, blinking rapidly, overwhelming tears starting to sting her eyes. What was she thinking?

But everyone including her was quickly focused directly on the two men before them as Shane dragged Ed off to the side and started pummeling him. The officer beat him bloody, got so lost in punishing the suddenly meek and meager sorry excuse for a man beneath him, it was scary. It was as if he were in a zone, focused only on causing Ed pain.

The sound of a fist coming down on hard flesh, cracking skin when it split chilled all the women. There was a wet sound to every hit then, followed by crunches started escalading in volume and number.

And eventually, he stopped, but not before leaving Ed with some harshly whispered threat none of the women could quite make out over Carol's wails.

The women all looked at Shane with disapproval. They were sending him a straight message; he had gone too far. Action had needed to be taken, but not to that point.

But Roxy didn't give him that look. Roxy thought Ed deserved it. In fact, she almost wished Shane had finished him off like that, so he could know just exactly how it felt to get beaten by a grown man until you were sure you were going to die.

At this point, death had just become so normal. Killing was a way of survival. Shane killing this guy wouldn't make Roxy lose a wink of sleep. Actually, it would probably make her rest a little easier, not worrying about him whenever he was in her vicinity.

The chaos died down as Shane stormed away after being visually scolded for doing what, in Roxy's opinion, needed to be done. Which is why she was the only one to go after him while Carol begged Ed to forgive her and apologized for nothing, sobbing over his beaten body, Andrea, Amy and Jacqui all trying to comfort her whilst giving Shane astounded looks.

But Roxy fully understood his actions, and didn't think he was wrong for doing what he'd just done. She also couldn't stand to sit there and hear Carol sobbing over her piece of shit husband either.

Shane'd gone way past camp, near the trees, angrily pacing, trying to center himself, very unsuccessfully, as he repeatedly slammed his fist into the trunk of a tree, roaring with rage. Roxy backed off for a short while, allowing him to get it all out, only approaching him and sitting beside him when he collapsed on his knees, mentally and physically drained, huffing and puffing. She was guessing his whole Lori's husband issue was taking quite an emotional toll. Because even though Roxy wasn't really sure if Lori was just fucking, Shane was most certainly in love. It was plain as day and she doubted she was the only one who noticed.

A long time passed before she said anything, she just sat there with him, maybe just so he didn't feel like everyone was against him for what he'd just done. She knew now that Lori's husband was alive, something must have happened between she and Shane by now; they'd been in the city for a few hours at this point. Roxy had seen them near the quarry while she'd been helping the women with laundry, talking in what appeared to be an aggressive manner. Hence the reason Shane probably lost his shit, but what Ed had done was appalling.

"You weren't wrong," she finally spoke up, referring to the beat down. "He deserved it. Someone had to do it." In her mind, she was still focused on weighing her feelings on Shane intervening. Part of her was glad she hadn't had to do it, but part of her also regretted not putting a bullet between Ed's eyes. Then they could just be rid of him.

He scoffed, but it came out more like a huff. " 'S what I thought. Apparently, it's fine ta be a woman beater with everyone else though. Looks like you an' I 're the only ones who think those kinda people should be beaten ta death."

Silence filled the air again, a summer breeze blowing softly at them, chilling the sweat that was sitting on the surface of their skin from the hot, Georgia sun. "So, what happens next?" she wondered out loud, needing to know what his situation was now. It was important, not just girlish curiosity. Whatever emotional shit he was going through now could interfere with their survival if he wasn't okay. She really just wanted to gauge the situation, to check on his sanity. Make sure his decision making skills were still rational.

… and know the juicy details of him and Lori's apparent affair.

Unable to suppress that aspect over the more important and pressing ones, like what would happen when everyone got back, and what would happen if they didn't, she blurted out what she found to be the most character defining detail. "Did you know he was alive?"

Shane looked up at her sharply, shaking his head and sighing before he moved his hand over his hair. "Alive? Yeah, he was alive when I went ta get him. But what the hell was I supposed ta do Rox?" He was pleading with her to understand what he was saying. Lori had made him feel like such a horrible person, but he'd had no choice but to leave a comatose Rick behind. Everyone at camp had heard the story of how Lori's husband had been shot on duty before the outbreak. But they didn't know what Shane knew— the harsh reality of the necessary details.

"Guy was dead to the world. The place was getting bombed; there was tear gas, gunshots. I couldn't carry Rick outta there. None a us woulda gotten out alive. Tells me I lied ta her. He wasn't dead, but he might as well've been. I put a gurney in front of the door. It was the best I could do." His voice cracked at the end, his eyes looking away from her, focusing on the ground.

Roxy was afraid Shane might cry, the way his voice sounded to strained. She felt bad for him, felt like he needed someone to believe that he had tried his best to save his friend, but the only realistic thing to do in that situation was to leave him behind. What, was Lori going to get up and go get him herself?

"I believe you," was all Roxy answered with, just so he wouldn't feel so abandoned. She was worried about him; she had been worried about him. The pressure of this life, being the one everyone looks to, was too much for him. He was starting to crack. The responsibility of keeping everyone safe was just overwhelming him, slowly but surely.

What if he lost it?

Roxy didn't want to think about that. She was already nauseous enough from worrying about the guys in the city.

"Least someone's on my side. Good ta know. Uh," Shane began, pausing to awkwardly pat Roxy's shoulder. It made it very obvious to Roxy Shane had never had much experience with women in the friendship department. "Thanks Rox," he concluded breathing what sounded like a sigh of relief. That comforted her because she wanted him in as sound of mind as possible. They couldn't afford to lose him now too, even if it wasn't a physical loss. Shane needed to keep his mind on the camp, just in case there was no grand return later on tonight.

"Ain't chyou s'posed ta be the one's all torn up right now?" he joked, forcing a small, almost bitter laugh out. "You must be… goin' outta yer damn mind right now." Her face must have reflected the way her heart dropped, the fact that he expected her to be worried proving that she should be, and Shane must have noticed. "Ain't nothin' ya coulda done ta stop him, y'know." Roxy had just assumed he meant Glenn, because it's who she'd entered the camp with, her best friend, her platonic life mate. But then Shane spoke up again. "And Glenn, he's their best shot outta there. They'll be all right. Did it once already, right?"

Roxy wondered if she was obviously that enamored with Daryl, so much so that she'd become associated with him over Glenn.

The blonde lifted a shoulder; looking down at the dirt she was sitting on and drawing swirls in it with a stray stick. She couldn't decide what was going on with her feelings. Was she really just in love, or was the pressure of life like this just getting to her, making her claw at the one piece of normality she could maintain from her old life, reeling men in.

But it felt so different with him, that it couldn't be just because things were so crazy now she just needed someone. No. Daryl made her feel like if he was gone she would die without him, physically and emotionally. Something just pulled her to him, and now she couldn't stand to be without him. Life just seemed better with him here, with him to look forward to. Daryl was special. And if she was the only one who really saw it, then that was fine. Daryl wasn't a hard, soulless shell— he was the complete opposite. A complex individual who was practically filled to the brim with repressed emotion. And Roxy wasn't going to force it out of him, but when he erupted eventually, she'd be there for him.

"Ugh." Roxy made the noise out loud, shaking her head, disgusted by the fact she couldn't seem to just shut her brain off today. Thinking about them was making her worry more about them. She used the sole of her sneaker to scribble out the doodles she'd made in the ground and then chucked the stick.

"This is really turnin' inta a pity party, ain't it?" Shane realized, making them both laugh lightly. More silence filled the air again, seemingly reverting them back into the sad stares and gloomy thoughts they had been sporting before, bit no.

"Ed looked like he was about ready to shit himself when you grabbed him" Roxy chuckled, enjoying the memory. Hesitantly, making sure no other women who would be offended were around, then joined in on laughing and mocking the now brutally injured man, and making up interesting ways he could potentially die.

Hey, they had to do something to pass the time.