Well, here's the next chapter. I'm going to be trying to update all my stories before tomorrow's episode because I don't know how much writing I'll want to do after tomorrow. If anyone has any GOOD info for tomorrow's episode, PLEASE let me know. I don't mind getting spoiled. Hell, I'm freaking out so bad, I'd love to hear anything good concerning Daryl and Carol. Please! Okay, okay, enough of that. I hope you all enjoy! :)

Chapter 37

When Andrea heard voices coming from the hallways, she dropped the book she was reading, ignored the looks of alarm on Axel and Oscar's face and rushed to the door to peek out the peephole. The door was still locked, but she wasn't so sure that was enough of a barrier for a man who really wanted to get in.

From the tiny peephole, she only had a limited view but she did see Ed and the woman they had watched from the window earlier. It looked like the man was showing her a room.

"What is it?" Oscar walked up behind Andrea. "Someone trying to get in?" His hand began to itch to the knife he had strapped to his waist.

"No," Andrea stepped away from the door. "It's just Ed showing that new woman a room. Definitely doesn't look like she's a prisoner here. She was smiling as she shut the door." What Andrea didn't tell them was that the woman's smile was clearly fake and very dangerous. She was planning something, Andrea was sure of it and it didn't look like it would end well for Ed.

Andrea knew she had to talk to her. Walking over the small table by the bed, she picked up her handgun, stuffed it in the waistband of her jeans and headed to the door. "I'll be right back," she said to the two men. Before she could open the door, Oscar slammed a hand on it and kept it shut.

"I can't allow that, Andrea."

Andrea couldn't help but smile. "I'll be fine, really. I'm just going across the hall and I have my weapon." She patted the gun at her hip.

"You are also very beautiful and pregnant. If one of those men out there happen to see you cross the hall, I can't be sure that they won't try to grab you." He folded his arms across his chest. "Promised Milton I'd take care of you and that's what I'm going to do."

"Yeah, me too." Axel piped up.

Andrea sighed. They really had good intentions and she loved them for it, but they were becoming very overbearing and before the end of the world, she had been an independent woman and it was time she became that woman, again.

"We'll go with you across the hall," Oscar said.

"No," she said, firmly. "It's just going to be and her. Woman to woman. You and Axel can watch me safely arrive to her room, but that's it."

When Oscar looked like he was going to protest, Andrea fixed him with a look and his mouth snapped shut.

"Okay, I'm leaving, now. I'll be back soon. Do not come after me, unless you hear me scream or something. Understood?" Andrea made sure to make eye contact with Oscar and Axel as they nodded in agreement. They weren't happy with the arrangement, but tough luck to them.

With one last look at her friends, Andrea opened the door and walked across the hall. Luckily, the hallway was empty. She knocked on the woman's door and waited for her to answer. What she didn't expect, though, was for the door to whip open and a freaking sword to be pointed in her face.

Daryl had out his crossbow and Merle his handgun as they checked out the surroundings of the cabin. No walkers in sight, but they weren't for sure about the inside.

"Okay, I'll go inside first and get the top floor," Merle instructed. "You get the bottom floor and when we're done, then we'll meet in the livin' room." Daryl nodded and silently followed his brother into the building.

Staying alert, Daryl kept his crossbow up to his face and scoped out the kitchen first. Inspecting the cupboards, he was surprised to see them stocked full of canned food. Someone had been prepared for the end of the world or, they still where. For all he and Merle knew, whoever had been in this cabin before could still be around.

"Shit!" Daryl heard Merle curse from above. In an instant, he was taking the stairs two at a time. If Merle got himself in trouble with a walker, he would have shot it. Daryl hadn't heard a gunshot and was afraid that maybe Merle had gotten incapacitated before he could.

"Merle!" He called, hoping that he wouldn't be meant with silence. "Where are you, man?" Please, fuckin' answer me. Daryl didn't know how he'd react if his brother were to be killed.

"In here!" Daryl let out a breath of relief, but that was soon followed by anger. Merle had scared the shit out of him.

Daryl found him in the last room staring at a body on the bed. "What the hell?" He shoved Merle hard. "Thought your ass was in trouble. Could have killed myself runnin' up the stairs like I did."

"Fuck, sorry. This dude jus' surprised me, is all." Merle kicked the bed post. "Guess we don't have to worry about the people who live here comin' back. Looks like this man got bit," he pointed to a mark by the man's neck in the shape of a bite. "And then, he blew his brains out." That's when Daryl noticed the blood sprayed on the wall behind the body.

"And if they're any walkers in here, we would have known by now with all the yellin' we've been doin'."

Merle ran a hand through his short hair. "I guess. Did you find anythin' interestin' down stairs?"

"Kitchen full of canned food, but that was all I got the chance to see before you started yellin'."

"All right. Well I'll finish lookin' up here," Merle went to the closest and tossed a bag at him. "Find anythin' useful in here and we can bring it back to camp for the others."

Daryl nodded, slung the bag over his shoulder and walked back down the stairs he had run up only a few minutes prior. He knew he couldn't take all the food back to camp, but would bring enough for the four of them. After the whole thing with Woodbury was finished, they could come back here to stock up.

Or would they have to if they decided to stay in Woodbury? The idea of staying in a town with a hundred others and the only space that could truly be his would just be a bedroom caused Daryl to shudder. However, if Carol wanted to stay there, then he would do it. Gladly.

Heading towards the living room, his bag half full of canned goods. A large blue and green checkered blanket caught his eye. Running a hand over it, Daryl nearly groaned at the softness. The blankets back at the house were comfortable, but this felt amazing. Carol would love it. He took it and stuffed it into the duffle bag.

"Done shoppin' for your woman, yet?" Daryl dropped the pillow he had been looking at when he heard his brother's voice from the doorway.

"Shut up," Daryl mumbled. "Did you find anythin'?"

"Yeah, got somethin' for you." Merle tossed him a small object and Daryl was lucky to grab it. Opening his palm, Daryl saw that it was a silver band.

"The hell is this for?"

"I saw that Carol had a ring on her finger and I figured you'd need one, too, when you finally got hitched. See if it fits."

Daryl slid it on the ring finger of his left hand and was startled to find it a perfect fit. Where had Merle found it? Oh. Hell. No. Quickly, he pulled it off his finger and resisted throwing it back in Merle's face. "Did you get this off the dead guy? Cuz if you did, I'm goin' to kick your ass."

"Relax." Merle lifted his hand up in a placating motion. "Found it in a drawer. Promise."

"Better have." Daryl kept up the angry facade, but slid the ring back on. Marrying Carol was becoming even more real, now. Maybe that could be the first thing they did once he got back from their Woodbury mission. The sooner he could make her a Dixon, the better.

"Well, what's this, bro?" Daryl hadn't seen Merle walk over to his bag and lift up the blanket.

"Get out of there!" Daryl snatched the blanket back and shoved Merle away.

Zipping his bag back up, Daryl swung it over his shoulder and then, saw Merle's bag lying by the couch. Smirking he went over and peered inside. Turnabout was fair, right. Reaching in he grabbed something...lacy?

"The fuck is this, Merle?" Daryl pulled out a purple lacy bra. "Got somethin' you want to tell me? Don't think its your size." He chuckled and held it with two fingers.

Merle snatched the undergarment away and stuffed it back in his bag. "Found that in one of the bedrooms. Jus' my luck that it's Maggie's size and favorite color."

Daryl rolled his eyes and hid a grin. "Come on, let's head back." He started heading for the door. "We can always come back later. Still tons of food in the cupboards."

"Sounds like a plan."

Daryl took one last look inside the cabin before he shut the door and followed his brother into the woods.

Beth was singing softly as she made supper that evening. Sharon helped and Lori, who was battling morning sickness, now, couldn't handle the smells and was cooped up in her room. Carol, having being shooed out of the kitchen, decided to get some fresh air and was now sitting on the railing of the porch.

The sun still had a ways to go before sinking past the horizon and Carol took the time to look at the surroundings. It really was a beautiful place. The house was very modest in size, the yard was huge and towards the back of the property they had found good-sized creek. It was perfect.

The screen door behind her closed and Carol listened as someone approached her. Maggie appeared at her side and looked at her friend with a smile. "I hope you're not out here worrying."

Carol knew that Daryl and the rest of the men would not descend on Woodbury until the following night, so she knew that wherever he was, Daryl was safe. Well, as safe as one could get in this world. Of course, there were still walkers, but they didn't scare Carol as much as people did, now. Especially people like Ed Peletier and Buck Dixon. Those men could thrive in this world knowing that they could do whatever they wanted without consequence. This time there would be consequences, though.

"I'm not worried, yet." Carol knew she'd start to worry when Glenn, T-Dog, Milton and her father headed out to meet up with Daryl, Merle, Shane and Rick. That meant things were about to go down and it would become dangerous for them.

"The same." Maggie scooted closer up to Carol, her arm brushing against Carol's leg. "Do you think we can convince them to take us with tomorrow?"

"How do you think Merle and Daryl would react if we just showed up?" Carol laughed when she pictured how Daryl would look. He'd be pissed and so would Merle.

"They would drag us back to the car and drive us back themselves."

"I just hope everything goes quickly so that they can come back soon." Carol's tone turned serious. "The quicker the better." When Daryl returned, they had to talk about what they were going to do. Would they stay here or would they go to Woodbury? Carol knew she'd follow Daryl to Hell if that's where he wanted to go.

Beth nearly jumped out of her skin when she turned from the kitchen counter and nearly ran straight into Glenn's chest.

Glenn took the bowl full of canned baked beans in Beth's hands and placed it on the counter behind her. Now, he had her full attention. "Are you avoiding me?"

Sharon stopped preparing food and looked at the couple. Beth felt her face grow hot and she grabbed Glenn by the arm to drag him out the backdoor.

"Well," Glenn shifted nervously. "Are you? I mean, I'm sorry that I kissed you last night, but the way you kissed me back I thought you liked it and then-" Beth pressed a finger to his lips and shut him up.

"Don't worry, I'm not avoiding you." Beth smiled. "Especially not after last night, but my dad's been keeping a sharp eye on me all day and I couldn't have him see me go off alone with you."

"But he knew we were alone together last night." Glenn looked confused. "He didn't have a problem, then. Did he?"

"No." Beth rolled her eyes. "He just likes it when I let him know if I'm going off with some boy. Otherwise, he'll look for me and probably catch us kissing."

"Oh." Understanding dawned on Glenn's face and he smiled. "I get it, now." Then, the smile vanished instantly. "We're alone, now. Do you think he's looking for us?" He immediately began to look around them.

Beth covered her mouth and muffled a giggle at the look of fear in Glenn's eyes. "He probably is, so we should head back inside. Supper should be about ready, too." She leaned up on her tiptoes and kissed Glenn quickly on the mouth before walking back into the house.

A scream tried to escape out of Andrea's throat but she made sure to hold it down. At the first sound of alarm, Oscar and Axel would be out of their room within seconds and that was the last thing she wanted right now.

"Please don't kill me," Andrea also made sure to keep her voice down. "I'm just here to talk to you, that's all."

Slowly the sword lowered from her face and Andrea finally got a good look at the dreadlocked woman in front of her. The woman narrowed her eyes and didn't look away from Andrea as she sheathed the weapon.

"Come in." Her voice was low and she stepped aside to let Andrea pass.

Andrea didn't wait for the woman to invite her to sit, she just took the only chair in the room and waited for the woman to shut the door and take a seat on the bed.

"What did you want to talk about?" The woman's voice was laced with suspicion.

"First of all, my name is Andrea and you are?"

Her eyes narrowed even more. "Michonne." Michonne's gaze went to Andrea's stomach. "When are you due?"

Self consciously, Andrea covered up her stomach with her arms. "In about five months."

"Does Milton know?" Michonne smirked and leaned back on the bed.

"Yeah, I let him know before he-" Andrea stopped. "Wait, you knew Milton?"

"I know him. He's at a farmhouse about a mile or so away. "

Andrea nearly stared weeping in joy. "He's alive?"

Michonne nodded. "Very much, so, and if everything goes as planned, then you'll be reunited with him tomorrow night."

"Really?" Andrea nearly bolted from her chair. "Oh my God." This was the last thing she had expected to happen when she walked across the hall to Michonne's door.

Michonne leaned close. "We have a plan to take back Woodbury. We could use your help."

She smiled. "Of course."

"Tomorrow, Buck is going to come and 'show me around town'. We both know that's not what's going to happen." Andrea agreed. The man was sick. "I'm going to knock his ass out. He won't expect a thing, so that will get him out of the way. Now, the plan is to come through the east and west side of Woodbury, since there is only one guard on each side."

"You're right," Andrea said. "Phillip would usually have the least experience or one of the younger men on guard. Buck probably has done the same. It's really an easy job because no one can come in that way, unless they climbed and well, by then the alarm would have gone off."

Michonne absorbed the news and got to her feet to walk to the window. From her window, she could only see behind the building and the wall surrounding the town. "I can get one of the men on one side." She looked down at Andrea. "Do you think you can get the other? Half of the men will be going to the west and the other to the east. Hopefully, it will be enough to take back Woodbury. So, are you up to it?"

The idea of doing something to take back Woodbury from Buck, Ed and his men nearly had Andrea jumping out of her chair and screaming, 'yes'. Being cooped up in her room with two other men for a couple days was starting to drive her crazy. "Of course, I'm up for it." Milton would have had a heart attack if he knew she was putting herself in danger, but she would gladly do it if it meant she got to see him again.

Michonne smiled. "Good."

Thanks for reading!