A/N: Hello again my lovelies! Sorry about the delay in updates, but I'm here now and winter break is coming up soon so hopefully I will have some extra time. And oh gosh, that mid-season finale was off the chain! I'm so excited for the next half and already have plans on what Addie will be doing during all of this chaos! Anyway, I couldn't really think of anything super special for the fiftieth chapter so it is what it is, although I threw in a little Addie/Daryl bonding for you guys. Please read and review, I hope you enjoy!

Night fell and we all sat around the fire, which did little to keep away the chill that still hung in the night air. The only sound was the crackling of the flames, all the bugs and crickets staying inside for the night.

"That's his third time around. If there was any part of it that was compromised he'd have found it by now," Hershel said looking over my head. I knew without turning that he was talking about Rick who had been circling the fence for a half-hour checking for holes.

I couldn't tear my eyes from the moving flames, the beautifully dangerous sprites that were dancing around the logs. They were mesmerizing and it was like a crystal ball, I could see ghosts of the past four months playing across it and disappearing in the smoke. When a 'picture' of Shane came I jumped up, trying to banish those unthinkable thoughts. Everyone's eyes flickered to me but they had all learned to ignore my spells of craziness so they went back to their conversation. I wrapped my arms around my chest and walked over to where Daryl was perched on the overturned bus keeping a look out. I gripped the edge and started climbing up to him.

When I neared the top, Daryl's hand appeared and he pulled me up.

"Hey," I said as I stood up straight. I held out the bowl I had snagged from the fire. There were a few menial pieces of squirrel in it, all we'd had all day.

"If I hadn't brought it now you wouldn't have gotten any," I explained and he took it.

"Thanks. Did you get enough?" He asked but looked at the bowl longingly.

"Not hungry," I said and started pacing to try and keep warm. He dug into the food hungrily but looked up at me.

"You okay?" He asked when I stopped my pacing and stared out at the walkers gathering around the fence.

"Fine," I clipped out with no emotion. That hollowness in my chest wouldn't go away no matter how hard I tried. I looked back at him when I felt his eyes boring into the back of my skull.

"What?" I asked him after he didn't drop his gaze.

"Nothing," he said, mocking my tone and smirking at me.

"Dick," I muttered but was smiling by now.

"Bitch," he called back with a laugh and I bumped him with my shoulder before flipping him off.

"Watch it, I'm bigger than you. Stronger too," his voice was teasing and it made my heart a little lighter. His smile drove back some of the shadows that had haunted me and it felt natural to joke and laugh with him.

I playfully punched his arm and he grabbed my hand and pulled me closer. My breath caught as he wrapped his arms around my waist and looked at me intensely.

"Well hey there," I laughed breathlessly.

"Be quiet girl," he smirked lightly and put his hand under my chin. He slowly drew our lips together and when they touched it was gasoline on a fire.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed myself even closer to him. His hands on the small of my back, just under the hem of my shirt, felt like they were burning my skin. The kiss was bliss, full of passion and energy. It had been so long since we'd been able to steal a moment together, so much longing built up inside. My heart was pounding erratically when we finally broke apart, panting for breath. Our foreheads were together and we were smiling at each other. I felt more alive in that moment than I had in nearly a month.

"That was a really nice way to tell me to shut up," I laughed and he pressed our lips together again lightly, not letting the passion completely consume us this time.

"Anytime," he said in that deep husky voice that nearly made me swoon.

I heard a light voice singing and turned back towards the fire I could just make out Beth's lips moving in synch with the sound. I hopped down gently, Daryl following behind me without a word. I walked over to the others and saw Rick approaching from the other side. Beth's sweet voice was ringing out across the yard, catching the attention of a few walkers on the other side of the gate. I was a little mesmerized by the sound, something so sweet and normal in this dreary setting. Maggie joined in after a moment and they finished out the song, leaving us all in silence for a moment.

"Better all turn in. I'll take watch over there," Rick said, breaking the peaceful stillness. "Got a big day tomorrow," we all looked at him confused.

"What do you mean?" Daryl asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Look I know we're all exhausted. This was a great win, but we've got to push just a little bit more. Most of the guards are dressed as guards and prisoners. Looks like this place fell pretty early, could mean the supplies are still intact. They'd have an infirmary, a commissary," Rick tried to sell the idea.

"An armory?" Daryl asked. We were low on so many supplies that the promise of more did make us hopeful.

"That'd be outside of the prison itself, but not too far away. Warden's offices would have information on the location. Weapons, food, medicine. This place could be a gold mine."

"We're dangerously low on ammo, we'd run out before we make a dent," Hershel wisely pointed out. Who knew how many walkers were in there, we could easily get overrun.

"That's why we have to go in there…hand to hand," Rick said after a pause and we all slumped a bit. "After all we've been through, we can handle it, I know it. These assholes don't stand a chance," he got up and walked away, closing the discussion. Lori heaved herself off the ground and went after him, the two of them talking out of earshot.

Daryl and I joined the others around the fire and I took in the faces of my friends. This had been a great win, Rick was right about that, but we were all still exhausted and the thought of a task as daunting as what Rick was suggesting was unbearable. The road had not been kind to us all winter and we all needed time to rest and enjoy what could become a refuge in the storm for us. We tried not to look at the couple, but we couldn't help but notice the confrontation and then Rick walking away angry. Lori stood there looking after him for a while and I didn't know if she would move, so I stood up.

"Lori?" I called as I walked up to her. She was cradling her belly and I was pretty sure I saw a tear run down her cheek before she wiped it away. "Come on Lori, let's go back to the fire. You need to rest," I was extremely uncomfortable with talking to her, but I couldn't just leave her here. She didn't respond or even acknowledge me and I looked back at the others for help but they all shrugged.

"Come on, let's go," I tried again, grabbing her elbow and gently tugging her back towards the others. She allowed me to move her and we made it back to the fire where she sat down between Hershel and Carol and stared at the flames much like I had earlier. I looked across the fire at Daryl and our eyes met, silent messages passing between us.

We were worried about tomorrow, not sure what it would bring or what waited for us inside. Everyone began to disperse to set up their individual sleeping places and Daryl and I did the same. We spread our sleeping bags beside each other and sat on them. I wasn't tired, and honestly I was a little scared to go to sleep. The nightmares still haunted me and they had gotten more vivid recently, I was pretty sure it was from the stress but a small part of me wondered if I was going crazy. Those moments scared me more than anything and I was thankful for Daryl, because without him I probably would be crazy.

"Better get some sleep, need to be ready for anything tomorrow," he said and laid back. I did the same but didn't climb into the sleeping bag; I just looked at the stars. It was completely clear, not a cloud in sight. It reminded me of our first night in the camp at the quarry.

At this point we had met up with Dale, Andrea, Amy, Jim, Jaqui, and T-Dog on top of the Dixons and Peletiers. Shane, Lori, Carl, and I were in his jeep, talking about our options.

"Fort Benning isn't that far away, we could make it in a day," Shane said looking at the map he'd found in the glove compartment.

"If they're bombing the cities what makes you think a military base is safe?" I asked, long hair falling over the seat as I looked over his shoulder from the back seat.

"It's a shot," he said running his hand through his hair.

"We could just rough it for a few days. This place seems safe enough, at least until the chaos in the city dies down," I was still in a little shock, only the practical part of my brain functioning. I'd seen one of my best friends die today and people eating other people and bombs being dropped in the middle of Atlanta, that was too much to process right now.

"I don't know," Lori said, "Camping isn't exactly the safest thing. And we don't know any of these people." I rolled my eyes at her and jumped out of the jeep.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Shane called.

"For a walk," I said and started making my way further into the quarry since we had stopped right at the edge. It was pretty there, peaceful. I had always loved the mountains and the clean, fresh, air was relaxing after that crazy day. It was pitch dark but I had good vision. I started at a brisk walk but was running before long, letting the cool air burn my lungs and wipe away the memories of the day and the worries for the future. When I ran I was free and that feeling was pure bliss.

Then I smacked into something hard and stumbled backwards, landing on my butt very ungracefully. I looked up to see what I had hit and saw eyes looking back down at me. Very icy blue eyes.

"Oh, I am such an idiot. Sorry about that," I said, glad the darkness was hiding my blush as I stood up and dusted myself off. He didn't say anything and after a moment of awkward silence I made a lame excuse and left to return to Shane and the others, but those icy eyes burned in my mind all night.

Back at the prison, my mind was filled with racing thoughts and I wanted nothing more than to silence the noise. I closed my eyes and rolled over to try and sleep, hoping I wouldn't dream. After a few futile minutes, I knew I wasn't going to go to sleep anytime soon. Daryl was already snoring softly, exhaustion taking over. I sat up and sighed, looking around the yard. I stood up and started walking, figuring the movement might make me tired. I made a complete lap around and saw Rick perched on the overturned car where Daryl had been earlier.

"Adeline?" He asked, squinting into the dark to see.

"Yeah," I called back but didn't go any closer.

"What are you doing up?"

"Couldn't sleep," just this small conversation was putting a strain on me.

He nodded absentmindedly and I was getting ready to walk away when he called my name again. I turned. "Can we talk?" He asked and I bristled instantly.

"I don't know…" I tried to think of an excuse but my brain failed me.

"It will only take a minute," he said and when I didn't protest he continued. "We have to work this mess out Ads, we can't keep going like this. Now, I don't expect you to forgive me, but you need to understand why I had to do what I did. I'm responsible for all of these people and their well-being and Shane was a threat. I know you loved him, I did too, but he was dangerous and I had to do something." I'd heard all this before and was growing tired of it, but couldn't make myself move. For some reason I needed to hear this.

"Rick," I started but trailed off. I didn't know what to say.

"Just listen Adeline. For once in your life just listen. I've known you your whole life; you think I would lie to you? I would never hurt you on purpose and I wish things could have been different but I can't change that now. I know he was your brother, and I get that you're angry. But you've been angry for months now; it's time to start moving on. We need each other, this group, we are all that we have and we can't keep pretending that the other doesn't exist. Please Ads, just try and understand," he was rambling and it was taking all of my focus to follow his thoughts. Once he was done, an awkward silence fell between us. He was waiting on me and I was waiting for my brain to start functioning again.

"I…" I started but was at a loss for words.

"Adeline Walsh speechless. Never thought I'd see the day," he laughed and I couldn't help but smile.

"Do you remember the night you and Shane took me to my first party?" I asked him, the memory popping up and demanding to be spoken.

"Of course. I don't think I'd ever been yelled at so much," he smiled.

Shane was always a party animal and Rick almost always tagged along, but this one night I wanted to go with them to this insane party at a college guy's house. He was one of Shane's friends, but I was a freshman in high school and it wasn't cool for him to bring his little sister along. I bitched all day and they finally agreed to take me so I got all dressed up, nervous and excited.

The party definitely lived up to my expectations, then the cops showed up. I'd only drank one beer but I wasn't good at holding my liquor back then so I wasn't fast enough to get away from them. They caught me and I was taken downtown and they called my parents. It didn't take my dad long to figure out I'd been there with my brother and Rick and both of them got the grounding of a lifetime. I didn't exactly get away with it either, not being able to leave the house for a month and losing phone privileges, but it had been worth it.

I was smiling at the memory and so was he. I looked at him, really looked at him, for the first time in months. This was the man who had been like another brother to me and had done everything he could to help me, but he was also the man who killed my real brother. But my real brother hadn't been acting like himself. My mind ran in circles, trying to decide what to do.

"I'm not saying that I'll ever understand, but I'm not saying that I won't either," I said, deciding that neutrality was the best option. I couldn't promise to put this aside because I had no idea if I could, but I could try. That earned me a wry smirk and a nod before I began to walk away.

"Goodnight Ads," he called and I turned back.

"Goodnight Rick."