It was almost as if it took a moment for Glenn's words to sink into our brains. Everyone's eyes were suddenly locked on Glenn as if they were hoping that he would burst out laughing and say it was a joke. But when it was clear that it was just as serious as it sounded, every able body rushed to the worn wooden barn. Daryl, Jake and I came up last as they circled the door to the barn.

Daryl kept me just behind him as Shane slowly moved forward to the door. Jake stood stiffly at my side when his nose picked up the smell of rotting diseased flesh hidden behind the doors. I felt fear bubbling up in my stomach as Shane stepped closer one slow step at a time. I reached my hand out and grabbed for Daryl's hand. He squeezed it tightly in reassurance, but I could still see the nervousness in his shoulders. My other hand found Jake's collar as his fur started to stand and a growl sounded through his chest.

Shane leaned forward to look through one of the cracks between the boards of the door that was padlocked with a tightly wrapped chain. He jumped back when a loud bang sounded on the door with groans and teeth clattering following behind. I could almost see the steam coming from him as he marched up to Rick.

"You can not tell me you're okay with this," he seethed as he pushed passed him.

"No, I'm not," Rick hissed back. "But we're guests here, this isn't our land."

I chewed my lip as I glanced back to the barn when Shane whirled around. "This is our lives, man!" he all but shouted at Rick.

"Lower your voice!" Glenn pleaded, glancing up at the house nervously.

"We can't just sweep this under the rug!" Andrea said, throwing her arm at the barn and glaring at Rick.

"It ain't right," T-dog said, shaking his head.

"We have to go in there, and we have to make things right, or we just have to go," Shane paced. "Now we've been talking about Fort Benning for a long time-"

"We can't go!" Rick said glaring at him.

"Why, Rick? Why?"

"Cause my daughter is still out there," Carol said stepping forward.

Shane's hands found their way to his face as he pressed the palms of his hands into his eyes. He let out an irritated sigh as he spoke. "Carol, I think it's time that we all just start considering the other possibility."

I felt Daryl stiffen. My hand slid up his arm to the crook of his elbow to keep him from pouncing on the larger man.

"We're not leaving Sophia behind," Rick said.

"We're close to findin' this little girl!" Daryl said stepping forward, pulling me with him. Jake adjusted under my hand as his collar was pulled forward. "I jus found her damn doll two days ago!" he said with his voice rising in volume. He yanked his arm from my grip as he started to pace, his eyes locked on Shane.

"You found her doll Daryl, that's what you did. You found a doll," Shane spat towards Daryl, venom seeping from his voice. I braced myself to grab for Daryl before he could get his fists on Shane.

"Ya don't know whut the hell yer talkin' about!" Daryl shouted, stepping closer to Shane. I mimicked his steps, releasing Jake's collar as he sensed the rising tension and pulled away to stand next to Carl. Rick stepped forward and put his arm between the two as Shane puffed up at Daryl's words.

"I'm just saying what needs to be said!" Shane's voice rose.

"Shane!" Rick said, pushing him back, his voice growing louder than the larger man. "Let me tell you something else, man," Shane whirled on Rick to push him away. He turned back to Daryl who stepped even closer. I pursed my lips and moved forward with him, ready to grab for him. "If she was really out there and she saw you coming all methed out with your buck knife and geek ears around your neck, she would run in the other direction!"

Daryl shot for Shane before I could react. His fist flew towards Shane's face as I darted forward and grabbed him by the back of the shirt and Rick pushed himself between him. I wrapped my arms around Daryl's stomach as he kept trying to grab for Shane as he started to swing for Daryl. I yanked back as hard as I could, careful of his stitches I held him tight, my cheek pressed against his back so he couldn't break free of my grip. I could hear his ragid, rapid breathing as rage shuddered in his body. Rick was shouting towards Shane while I held Daryl back from attacking again.

"Keep your hands off of me," Shane spat storming towards camp.

"Just let me talk to Hershel," Rick shouted after him. "Just let me figure it out!"

Shane was on Rick in the blink of an eye. "Man what to you have to figure out?" he screamed, his neck bulging and his eyes practically on fire.

"Enough!" Lori screamed at him, shoving him in the chest.

"If we're going to stay, if we're going to clear this barn, I have to talk him into it. This is his land!" Rick said, glaring at Shane.

"Hershel see's those things as people!" Dale stepped in. "Sick people. His wife. His step son."

"You knew?" Rick asked, bewilderment in his voice.

"I knew yesterday, I talked to Hershel."

I pursed my lips as a light bulb went off in my head. That's what they were arguing about. Dale didn't want me to know about the walkers because I would have told Daryl. Daryl was still shaking, even more violently than before as the adrenaline started to wear off from his blood. I loosened my grip on his middle, but didn't fully let go.

"And you waited the night?" Shane snapped.

"I thought we could last one more night!" Dale snapped back. "And we did. I was waiting until this morning to say something. But Glenn wanted to be the one to tell you."

"Man, this is crazy. If Hershel thinks those things are people-"

I jumped as the barn doors started to shake. Daryl reached his arms back to shield me from the doors lurching forward. Jake was suddenly in front of us, pressed low to the ground, and fur standing on end, his growls melting with the walkers.

"Oh my God," I breathed, glancing around Daryl.

"C'mon," he said, stepping away from the barn. "Let's go back to th' camp."

I nodded and released my grip from him and wrapped my arms around his. I whistled for Jake and he snarled towards the barn and followed behind, his eyes never leaving the barn. I gave the barn one last long look and we headed back to camp.

"What do you think about the barn?" I asked, sitting on the cot. Jake sat loyal at my feet and rested his head on my knee. I scratched behind his ears as Daryl paced the tent.

"Hershel's fuckin' stupid," he muttered. "It's jus' a matter of time before those them damn walkers get out."

"What should we do?" I asked.

"Clear 'em out. Get rid of 'em." I pursed my lips. I felt Daryl's eyes on me. "Don't tell me ya don't agree with me."

"He think's they're his family, Daryl," I said looking up at him. "If my dad hadn't been trying to tear me open when I found him, then I probably wouldn't have wanted you to kill him either. And if you had even though I told you not to, I probably would have never forgiven you."

"They ain't alive, Rae. If they get out, they're jus gonna try and eat ya."

"It doesn't matter," I said, shaking my head. "Like Rick said, it's his land. It's his barn. It's his family."

He scoffed at me and turned to exit the tent.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"T' look for Sophia. Get yer head on straight by the time we get back," he spat at me.

I bit back my retort as he stormed away from the tent. I let out a sigh and looked down to Jake who looked up at me, eyes wide as his tail started to wag. I smiled at him, and patted his head.

"He's a dick, isn't he?" I asked down to him.

His tail started to pick up speed as I spoke. I let out a small laugh and sat back on the cot. I stared up at the roof to the tent and sighed. Daryl really did know how to be a dick, and he was very good at being one. I looked back down at Jake.

"Want to take a walk?" I asked.

He was on his feet immediately, tail wagging so fast it was a blur. I stood from the cot and exited the tent, making sure to zip it shut behind me. I looked around the farm to decide on which direction to go. I knew I needed to stay close to the house and camp, but I still wanted to put some distance in between. I decided to head towards a large tree in the distance, the opposite direction of the barn, with a large stack of wood beneath it. I started heading to it, Jake trotting next to me.

I knew Daryl would be pissed when he found out I left camp, but I knew I would be okay with Jake. Nothing would be able to get close to me without Jake hearing or smelling it first. The grass brushed the bare skin above my ankles as we crossed the field. The heat from the sun caused my skin to tingle and I could feel the sweat starting to rise from my skin. I reached up to tie my hair back as Jake sniffed the ground, breathing in the smell of the late summer grass. It would only be a matter of time before the nights started to get cold, and the snow started to fall.

As we approached the tree, I leaned against the stack of wood, as Jake sniffed around. I smiled down at him as he focused on one spot and took in a deeper sniff than the others. He pressed his nose to that one spot for a few more seconds before he moved on to the next spot.

I heard foot steps approaching and glanced up to see Daryl storming towards me. I inwardly rolled my eyes and went back to staring at my feet as he stood in front of me.

"Whut the fuck are ya doin' out here?" he snapped.

"Getting my head on straight," I said simply.

"Are ya a fuckin' idiot?" he hissed at me. I rolled my eyes as he stood firm in front of me. "Ya ain't got a weapon to protect ya!"

"I have Jake," I argued, still not meeting his eyes.

"Ya can't go off like this on yer own," he said. I could feel his glare on me.

"Neither can you," I said, glaring at his feet. I could feel anger spark somewhere inside me.

"Don't turn this on me, Rae."

"Why? You said you wouldn't. Then you turn around and try to the second you get pissed at someone. Why aren't you gone anyway?"

"Carol told me not to, said she don't know if she thinks that girl is alive either. So if she ain't gonna have any hope that she is, I ain't goin' out."

"So because Carol told you not to, you're not going? But when you promise me you won't, it doesn't matter?"

"Rae, shut up. Ya know it ain't like that."

I shoved away from the stack of wood and glared up at him, finally meeting his eyes. "How do I know it isn't like that?" I spat, shoving his chest. "Your promises to me don't mean anything! It's always been like that! Always!"

"Whut the fuck are ya goin' on about?" he glared.

"Anytime you promised me anything, you never kept it! I'm the only one who put's forth any effort between us! You tell me no weapons, and I say okay! You tell me to never try to kill myself again, I say okay, even though there's nothing left in this shit hole of a world! You tell me that you'll never go out there alone again, and yet two days later you still try! But no, the second Carol says not to, you turn your happy ass around and head back to camp!" I was yelling by the end. I could feel my muscles shaking.

"Ya don't know whut the fuck yer talkin' about, Rae. Just shut up and go back to camp," he muttered.

"Don't tell me to shut up!" I screamed at him. I shoved passed him. "Fuck you, Daryl. Fuck you. I hate you!" I shouted back to him.

I felt him grab my wrist. I tried to yank away but his hand held firm around my wrist. I finally gave up trying to struggle away and stood facing away from him, breathing hard and staring hard at the ground.

"Look at me," I heard him say.

"No."

"Rae."

"Fuck off."

He yanked my wrist so that I had to turn towards him. He pulled my wrist to him, so that I bumped into his chest. His hand still held my wrist, but his other arm slid around my waist and pulled me close to him. "Look at me."

When I didn't respond, he let go of my wrist, grabbed my chin and forced me to look up at him. "Ya don't know whut the fuck yer talkin' about," he said. I could feel his breath grazing my skin. Before I could snap at him, his lips crashed into mine. He kissed me hard, and I felt my anger at him sliding off my shoulders, as his arm pulled me tighter into him. I snaked my arms up around his neck and his free hand slid down my side to the hem of my shirt. He spun around and pushed my back into the bark of the tree. My breathing hitched as his fingers brushed under my shirt just at where my shorts started.

I bucked my hips into his as his hand started to travel further up and dance circles on my stomach. His teeth bit at my bottom lip when my fingers knotted in his hair. I moaned into his mouth when his hand completely ignored my bra, pushing the cloth away and grabbing for the skin beneath.

"Larae?" Carl's voice called from a distance, causing Daryl and I to separate quickly. I adjusted my clothes as a blush crept to my cheeks as I looked towards Carl's voice. I could see him running towards us, still too far away to be able to see the scene just a moment ago. "Can I play with Jake?" he called, still running towards us.

"Sure," I called back, making sure my voice didn't crack.

"Jake!" Carl called. Jake's head snapped up from the spot in the ground he was digging at, completely oblivious to Daryl and I. He looked towards me, I motioned to Carl. Jake took off running for Carl to meet halfway in the field. I cleared my throat, and cast Daryl a glance. He was raking his fingers through his hair, smoothing out where I had messed it up.

"We should uh. Head back to camp," I said.

He grunted in reply, grabbed my hand and started to pull me back to the others.

"I need t' apologize to Carol," Daryl said as he watched the mother across camp from the lawn chair he claimed while he cleaned his crossbow.

"Why?" I asked glancing up at him from his feet where I leaned against his leg reading one of the books I borrowed from Maggie.

"I called her a bitch."

I snorted. "You sure are a dumbass, aren't you?" I asked him. He glared at me and stood from his chair. He looked at the crossbow in his hands and back at Carol. "Don't worry, Daryl. I can watch your baby for you while you go and play nice. No, I won't put an arrow through my head." He glanced down at me. "Or Andrea's."

He shook his head and walked towards Carol. They exchanged some quiet words, and headed into the woods. I smiled as I watched his back disappear into the woods. I sighed, and returned my attention back to the book in my lap, putting the thoughts of the barn full of walkers in the back of my mind.

And here's the chapter I promised! :) I hope it's good enough for you all to forgive me! I really am truly sorry it's taken me so long to update. I'm really going to try my hardest to update once a week.

This was a very angry chapter, haha. I was glad to finally be able to show a little bit more of Laraes' temper. It's so much fun to write :)

Thank you to LittleRin26, JTellersOldLady, Dalonega Noquisi, SharonH, LadyLecter47, LittleMija69, JavaNut, and mistressofdarkness666 (hugs are much appreciated haha) for your reviews! Even though I haven't updated, they really really do mean alot.

Leave a review and let me know what you think! Even if it's just to tell me to get my shit together and update faster :). Even the lurkers!