We are a family

Daryl found himself getting dressed again. He was so exhausted he could barely see straight, but he had to get the scratch checked out by the Docs at the clinic. The last thing he wanted was to get the fever and die at the house…possibly endangering his beloved family.

Anna was laying in bed resting and waiting for Daryl. Hunter and Noel were close by and were anticipating their father joining them. That is why Anna was so surprised to see Daryl dressed in his regular clothes instead of what he normally wore when he went to bed.

"Daryl, what are you doing? You need to rest honey." She said in her sweet and soothing voice.

How was he going to answer this without making her worry? "I've got one more thing to do and then I promise I will get some rest. I have to go by the clinic and make sure they have everything under control. With Rosita and Ghita not being down there I want to be sure that Dr. Jordan is doing OK. I also want to check on Ian. We found his wife in Mt. Airy and I want to see if her return has helped his condition improve. I know if it was you that were returned to me it would go a long way in helping me heal up." He told her, knowing it was one of the lamest excuses he had ever given.

"OK…if that's what you need to do, then fine. But please hurry home. You haven't slept in two days, and no offense Daryl, but you look like hell." She said trying to get him to realize just how tired he was.

"I promise. Give me about an hour and I'll be back. Do you think you can manage without anyone here? If not I'll drop the kids off with Viv." Daryl told her.

"We'll be fine Daryl. These little ones have behaved better than I could have imagined. We've done a good job with them." She said to him as he bent down and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

…

Daryl rushed over to clinic after leaving the house, nearly running off the road twice as he was fighting exhaustion. He staggered into the clinic and was fortunate that no one was waiting to seek immediate attention. Dr. Jordan came out into the waiting area and looked surprised to see Daryl.

"Daryl, you should be at home getting rest. We've got everything under control here for now and you look like hell." The Doc told Daryl.

"So I've been told. Look, I've got something to show you and I want you to be up front with me about it. Can we go in one of the exam rooms?" Daryl asked.

"Is something wrong Daryl?" Dr. Jordan inquired.

"Not sure, that's why I'm here." Daryl said in a matter of fact tone. Dr. Jordan led Daryl into the exam room and Daryl kicked off his boot and sock and pulled up his pant leg to show Dr. Jordan the four inch long scratch on the back of his leg.

"When did this happen?" Dr. Jordan asked.

Daryl looked at the clock and noticed it was close to nine in the morning. "About five or six hours ago."

Dr. Jordan looked curiously at the scratch and then looked back to Daryl. "Let me check your vitals and then we will talk."

After about five minutes Dr. Jordan had taken Daryl's temperature and blood pressure and had listened to his heart. "Well other than your heart is about to beat out of your chest, your vitals are good. So far I haven't seen anyone fall ill from a scratch, so I think your gonna be fine. Obviously if this was a bite I would be much more concerned. That being said, we don't know what would happen to you since we show you don't carry the virus. Somehow if what you say about testing positive at the CDC is true, your body has found a way to fight it off, but that doesn't guarantee you couldn't succumb to the fever if bitten." Dr. Jordan informed him.

"I'll give you some antibacterial spray and let you monitor the wound on your own. If it gets worse, come see me immediately. If you have a few minutes I'd love for you to come over to lab to see what we have discovered as a result of you, Hunter, and Judith's blood donation." The doc told Daryl.

Daryl was bone tired, and now that he knew he most likely wouldn't get sick from the scratch, he wanted nothing more than to go home and sleep, but Dr. Jordan had his curiosity up and Daryl opted to follow him over to the research lab.

"Take a look at this Daryl." Dr. Jordan told him as Daryl made his way over to a microscope. Under the lens he could see cells jumping around rapidly. They were bouncing off of each other and continuing to multiply.

"What's this?" Daryl asked curiously.

"That is what most of the blood samples of the infected look like. The virus is alive but dormant and we aren't exactly sure yet why it waits until someone has died to become active." Dr. Sullivan explained.

"Now take a look at this one. It's a sample of your blood." Dr. Jordan said as he backed away and let Daryl take a look. The red blood cells looked normal with minimal movement. They flowed instead of jumped like the sample before.

"Hmmm. So that's what Dixon blood looks like?" He said, almost proud.

"Now look what happens when we add your blood to the infected blood." The doctor said as he dropped the infected blood onto a glass side first and then added Daryl's blood.

Daryl took a look and could see that when they added his blood to the unhealthy blood the unhealthy cells began to dissipate and Daryl's blood began to overtake the infected blood.

"Does that mean I am the cure?" Daryl asked.

"We don't know. We have a sample of Rick and Tyreese's blood, and though they still had the virus in their system, their counts were much lower than most. The only thing we could attribute to the lower counts is that you had donated your blood to them via a transfusion. We still have a lot of scenarios to explore, but I hope we can count on you to help." The doc replied.

"Ain't a problem, but I just ask that you keep Hunter and Judith out of this as much as possible." Daryl said.

"We promise. Daryl I'm not sure if your blood is the cure to this virus, or if something you have been exposed too somewhere in your past is the cure. That's why we still have a lot of research to do. If we can find out why you are seemingly immune, then maybe we can figure out how to treat this damn thing. Who knows…Daryl you might be the one who saves all of civilization." Dr. Jordan said as he gave Daryl a pat on the back.

"Ain't never been a Dixon to do anything worth while…as fucked up as everything is these days ain't nothing gonna surprise me." Daryl said as he gave a slight chuckle. Daryl Dixon…Savior to mankind. It sounded like a punch line to a bad joke.

…

Daryl arrived home close to ten thirty and had Rosita in tow. As he was leaving the clinic he heard the exhausted nurse and Abe arguing about Angel's whereabouts. When Rosita explained to Abe that Angel voluntarily had sought out Damien, Abe didn't believe her. "She said she had information that Damien would want, but she never said what it was."

"That makes no sense." Abe told her.

"When did Angel ever make sense. You know as well that I do that she would stop at nothing to survive. Maybe one day you will open your eyes and see her for who she really is instead of seeing her as an easy lay." Rosita said angrily as she saw Daryl and asked him if she could get a ride back to the house. He simply nodded and waved to her to join him in the Land Rover.

She explained that she had checked on Andrew and that his knee needed further surgery. Andrew was going to be out of commission for a while and would most likely have a pronounced limp for the rest of his life. With that being said, she said Andrew felt fortunate to survive and he wanted nothing more than to leave the clinic and convalesce at home.

"Andrew is good people Rosita…y'all deserve to be together." Daryl said as he gave her a pat on the shoulder.

"He is a good man Daryl, and so are you. I can never repay you for all you and Anna have done for me." Rosita told Daryl while she gave him a warm smile.

"Look Rosie girl…I know you probably wanna move down to the Mocksley compound to help out with Andrew's rehab. Don't want ya to feel obligated to stay at our place, we'll be fine." Daryl told her.

"We'll see Daryl. I'm not even sure Andrew would want me to stay with him. We've been taking things slow, but I would like to stay down with the Mocksley's for the first week or so when he moves back home. That way I will know how much help they will need. They've all lost so much since this began. Now with losing Evelyn I wonder if Bill is going to just give up. Getting Mark back was a small miracle, but now it's just Bill and his three sons. Beth is there to help out, but she's so young and I'm not sure she can handle being both the Mother figure for the family as well as Mark's wife. Besides, her and Mark will be married soon and moving into their own place. Those two deserve a honeymoon period. They are a tight knit clan and I wanna help out anyway I can." She told Daryl.

"I get it Rosita, you don't have to sell me on it at all. I'm just glad you are back here safe and that you have someone besides that douche bag Abe in your life. He's a great asset to this community, but that doesn't make him any less of an asshole." Daryl said in an honest tone.

"He wasn't always this bad. Angel has a way with fucking with his head. I wonder if she is even still among the land of the living. She disappeared shortly before y'all came, and never came back. I'm still curious as hell to know what it was she said she had to tell Damien." Rosita said.

"Don't matter. We got every one who was worth a damn and I don't give a fuck if she lives or dies. She's the one who pushed Anna off the cliff and nearly killed her. If it hadn't been for Marty…" Daryl said, thinking about how close he came to losing his precious wife and unborn children and the ultimate sacrifice her Uncle made so she could get back to safety.

"Seriously? I didn't know…if I had I would have I am not sure what I would have done to the bitch…" Rosita cringed thinking about what she would have done to Angel if she had known just how far the manipulative blonde had gone to get to take out Anna.

"Well if by some miracle she survived and she attempts to show her face around here I'm gonna kill the whore." Daryl said emphatically. Rosita shuddered at Daryl's words, knowing he meant it to the core of his being.

…

Daryl stumbled into the house with Rosita following. He was exhausted to the point his body wasn't following his commands, yet he was pleasantly relieved to know that his scratch wasn't fatal as well. He opted not to even mention it to Anna to keep her from worrying about him.

The house was quiet and Daryl wondered if everyone had fallen asleep again. He was pleased when he walked into the master bedroom and found Anna reading to Noel and Hunter. Since she could only use one arm she was holding one side of the book while Noel held the other and Hunter would turn the pages. She was teaching them how to recognize the words on the page as she read them and Daryl realized that without formal schooling, Noel couldn't read and it was now up to Anna and him to teach both children until New Hope could establish some sort of education system.

"Baby you look near death. Come in here and lie down and we'll move out into the living room." Anna said, then she asked the children to gather their things and told them she would be with them in a moment.

Daryl looked at his wife and then flopped on the bed stomach first beside her. "Promise me you are gonna do what the doc said and take it easy."

"I promise Daryl. Our family is more important to me than anything else." She said as she felt him place his large hand across her belly and splay his fingers over their unborn children.

"I'm gonna see if I can talk to Viv about having the girls come down here each day and help out. It would do Jenna and Carrie some good I think. Plus it would allow Jenna to spend more time with Noel…I don't want them to ever forget or take for granted that they are brother and sister." Daryl told her, his voice beginning to fade as sleep started to take a hold of him.

"We'll talk about it after you get some rest baby." Anna said as she gently ran her fingers through his soft hair sending his body into total relaxation. Within minutes Daryl was out and she carefully got out of the bed and covered up her husband so he could get his much-needed rest. He looked so relaxed, and in her opinion, beautiful, when he slept. She could watch him for hours.

…

Rick was at finally at home holding his newborn son while Michonne was preparing the infant a bottle. The child was having issues latching onto her when she attempted to nurse him so Dr. Jordan insisted that bottle-feeding would be their best bet. Ironically Michonne's first son Andre also had the same issue, so she wasn't all that surprised that Micah struggled as well.

"He's perfect mama, you did good." Rick said gently to Michonne as he cooed to his son.

"Carl and Judith have been helping every way they could while you were away. Carl even drove me back so I would be here when you returned. They are excited about their new little brother. I think Judith wants to be a little mama." Michonne teased.

"In this world she's gonna have plenty of opportunity to help out." Rick said, somewhat sadly.

"Hey, don't let it get you down. We do this together, as a family, and I don't mean just us five. All of us…Daryl, Anna, Maggie, Glenn…We are ALL family." Michonne said in a determined voice.

"You're right, we do this as a family." Rick said agreeing with her.

"It's been a hell of a couple of days for you Rick and you need to get some rest." Michonne insisted.

"I know but I don't want to leave you alone to care for the baby. I'm afraid if I fall asleep I might wake up and realize all of this is a dream." Rick said.

"We're fine Rick. Judy asked me if she could call me mommy this morning." Michonne informed him.

"Are you OK with that?" Rick asked.

"I'm the only mama she's ever known, of course I'm OK with that, in fact, I count it as a gift." Michonne said as tears filled her eyes.

Rick nodded and gave his son a kiss before he got up to place the infant in a bassinet they had set up in the corner of the living room. Michonne had insisted that Micah could sleep there so Rick could finally get some rest. He thought about the past couple of days and frowned. What had started out as a day of hope and celebration three days earlier became a massacre and kidnapping. Anna had nearly died, and they had lost Marty. Now on top of everything else they had over three hundred men less than fifty miles away that would want revenge on New Hope for taking back what was rightfully theirs to begin with. They were in no shape to go up against such large numbers and they would need a plan if they wanted to defend their town. But for now, Rick needed sleep so that he could think clearly. Once he got proper rest he would call the council together and they would have to come up with options…quickly…or they would lose everything they had worked so hard to build.

…

Joe and Viv were sitting together on the screened in porch that had become Marty's private getaway. So many decisions and discussions had taken place here over the past few years and it was the one place that Viv felt closest to her husband. She and Joe were grieving together, over a bottle of scotch.

"Viv, when Rick and Daryl get some rest, we're gonna get Marty and bring him to his final resting place. He'll be with Isabella, Michael, Gus, and Ava watching the sunset every night." Joe said, his voice straining as he tried to maintain his composure over the loss of his older brother.

"I know we will. It's gonna be so hard for me to say my final goodbye to him. Joe, I miss him so much." Viv confessed as she began to sob. Quickly Joe made his way to his sister-in-law and held her too him so she could finally release the grief she had been holding in. Viv always tried to be strong for everyone else, but Joe knew she needed this release.

"Ghita, Nelson, and I are going to move back up here to the main house. We discussed it and we don't want you three women to be here by yourselves. It's just not safe anymore." Joe told her.

Viv tried to tell him No, but Joe wouldn't let her. "Viv, you've got two teenage girls and this house is one of the first places someone would come across if they were able to breech the perimeter of town. Please allow this for me…it's what Marty would want. We both promised each other that we would be sure to take care of the other's family in case one of us didn't make it. We're family Viv, and it's what we do." Joe insisted.

Viv nodded, not really able to speak. "It will be nice to have some life back in this house, but you realize this means we're gonna have to keep an eye on Nelson and Jenna. I know they are young, but I remember you and Izzy were young once too, and that didn't stop you two from giving into your teenage desires."

"Trust me Viv, I know how teenage boys think, and I assure you that Nelson will be as far away from Jenna as possible in this big house. I'm thinking of clearing out the storage room in the basement and putting him down there. I'm also going to have a stern chat with the young man and let him know what the consequences for crossing boundaries will be." Joe told her, and both he and Viv let out a laugh remembering Isabella's father having the same conversation with Joe many years earlier.

No one knew for sure what the future held for all of them, but the one thing that was certain was they were all one big family, and this family was not one to be taken lightly. They would survive the looming threat of Damien as they had survived all the other threats that had been thrust upon them in the past…together.

Too Sappy? I really hope y'all continue to read and enjoy this story- I know it's difficult to pick up a story after such a long hiatus. If you can, please review for me and let me know what you think...or if you think I should just end this. I've incorporated a lot of characters here...but I want everyone to know the different people in the community besides Just our TWD regulars.

I REALLY hope to hear from you guys as I didn't get much response on the last chapter. I took my time with this one, and I hope to get another one up soon, maybe even by the end of the weekend.

Take care folks and thanks for reading and a special thanks to each of you who have been kind enough to leave feedback.

Missy-

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