And now the continuation of the story!

Rheila: Yeah I kept going back and forth between Lori or Michonne finding the shirt, but finally decided on Lori. Just makes things more interesting lol.

Mrskaz453: I know! I go crazy when I start reading a story and then Daryl all of a sudden turns into a different person. Lori situation shall be explained soon (: And long winded witches are awesome! In fact, I demand more! Haha

Like-A-Slasher-Film: Thanks so much!

Guest: Lori's thoughts on the whole thing will be explained soon (:

Emberka-2012: Yup, I think Lori is starting to get some sense and realizes she just needs to keep to herself.

Hazardous Hollz: Lol it's you! Yeah it's so funny to see Carol try to start crap and it not work haha.

LadyLecter47: Haha Carol herself is a major issue!

m0nalisat0ldalie88: Thanks!

MyLovelyRAB: Oh sweater vest walker, we hardly knew thee.

SaraLostInes: Yeah I think Lori's gonna be watching out for things now. It's not like she has anything else to do, not knowing where Carl is is actually pretty easy to do haha.

OmgitsBlondie: Alana rocks!

Leyshla Gisel: Haha yeah it only took 50 chapters (:

Guest: Thanks!

Emmalime: I agree. I think Lori at least deserves a chance at redemption.

CallingTheMaker: Lol yeah, we wouldn't want to ruin the truck running her over with it. And yes, if Lori is smart, she'll keep her mouth shut about the shirt.

Velvetemr73: Yup, things would be so much easier if they just went public with their relationship and Carol went away lol

AngieInWonderland: Took forever, but yup they finally kissed! That's the way Baby Steps Daryl does it though lol. Next chapter though, it's going to start off very interestingly (:

Limaro: Lol I've turned you all into monsters! You addicts! And I love your frankness about Carol; bitch needs to find out and opt out lol. And Lori, yup, I could come to accept her as long as she plays this cool and doesn't go tattle to Carol.

JellyBear7: Thanks. I think that's the only way to write Daryl, it has to be slowly. If I can get this story to 100 chapters, I'll totally do it (:

Panda-SamaSoto: Gibbs! I LOVE ncis lol. I'm addicted to it. And yeah, that totally sums up Hershel, Maggie, and Glenn. Now if only we could get Ziva and Tony to hook up lol.

Manatakira: Yeah Carol needs to mind her own business and stop living in her own little world. That woman is crazy in the head. Totally lost her grip on reality. But of course the group is just going to let her continue with her ways, anything to keep the peace. Bleh.

Black leather: Thanks! It's great getting new readers (:

A rule of thumb when the dead began walking was to never ask, "Where did those things come from?" All that mattered was that they had snuck up on you and you needed to kill them. Quickly. Alana couldn't care less where the walkers had come from; there could have been a slit in time behind the barn and the walkers were crawling out from it. Didn't matter to Alana. She just wanted them all dead.

Maggie, Axel, and Glenn had hurried over to the vehicles, weapons in hand. There must have been some twenty walkers stumbling towards them, but the number was constantly dropping as a muted pop filled the air.

They were a strange grouping. The walkers. Must have been those who were caught at the country club when things began. That or they were silly enough to think coming there would keep them safe. It was a shambled collection of dirtied pastels. There was a morbid humor in it all, watching as these former people of high society came forward. There was a woman who wore the remnants of a tattered Sunday hat; a chunk had been torn out and the rest was crusted in dried blood from where some other poor soul had taken a bite.

Alana gave the order and the group began moving towards the walkers. As they moved she shouldered the rifle and came down from the truck, machete in hand. She turned round to Daryl who still stood in the bed of the truck. "With me," she said and kept moving. She walked widely round the others and the walkers that still remained.

A normal bullet to the head from a sniper rifle didn't cause much damage—other than the usual, death—but that was with a live person. These things, they weren't quite fresh. The dusty ground was clumping up with bits of dark gore. Patches of skin, lumps of hair over there, shards of skull. Remnants of a Sunday hat. A bit more blood on it now. Looked like they were making a giant batch of fresh pasta, the way the blood mixed with the ground. The dirt was getting kicked up into clumps and slowly forming up into this thick sludge.

Alana looked once over her shoulder to Daryl as she walked past the stables. Her sights were set on the barn. Maggie and Axel stayed behind as Glenn hurried to catch up with them.

All those war movies, watching as the soldiers would creep about, all in formation, making their hand signals and such. One always either thought it was cool or corny(it's been done so many times), but watching Alana, one realized just how terrifying it was. The seriousness in it all. Daryl wasn't the only one wondering how many people had fallen in her crosshairs.

The doors to the barn were locked with a large chain through them. Alana stood before them, looking at the hinges. It looked secured. She motioned for the others to keep following her. Glenn kept twisting the baseball bat in his hands as they came to the back of the barn. Daryl came forward, walking a bit away from the side of the barn. Alana remained just at the corner, machete ready.

A quick look round the corner and Daryl's shoulders loosened. The rigidity in his legs was gone. Alana and Glenn followed after him to look at the back of the barn.

"Where did they come from?" Glenn asked as the three of them looked around the empty space before them. The field was empty.

Alana kicked at the ground and began walking back. "Does it matter?" She pointed her machete at the barn. "It was a blindspot. They could have come cross that field, but with this here we never saw them. They're dead now. We're not. All that matters." Daryl and Glenn followed after her, coming to the front of the barn and staring at the chain on the door.

The three exchanged looks and Daryl kicked a leg out at the doors, chain rattling against wood. No noise came from inside. With the butt of the rifle Daryl broke the handle off one of the barn doors. The doors were slid back to reveal what could only be described as a mountain of hay bales. They were stacked up in rows, some of which nearly reached the top of the barn.

"Let's move the cars and start loading," said Alana. She pointed out to the clear area between the stables and barn; Axel and Maggie brought the cars over. Maggie reversed the truck, the entrance to the trailer in front of the barn doors, some 50 feet away.

"Don't you think we should move it closer?" Axel asked, staring at the distance.

"It's close enough," Alana told him. "Buildings are blindspots. Or would you prefer to do this again?" she asked, motioning to the dead walkers.

Alana nodded over at Maggie who then began telling them what to do. Glenn would be in the barn, kicking down the rectangular hay bales. Axel would carry them halfway to the to the trailer; Daryl would take them to the trailer. Maggie would be inside, stacking them up. Alana stood back on the roof of the truck.

With everyone in a constant motion, Daryl would look up to where Alana stood, rifle back in her grip, knowing no one would catch him looking at her. But as he dumped a bale of hay in the trailer her saw Maggie had been watching him. From a quick thought, he looked back up over to Alana.

"Ya getting off easy on the workload," he said brusquely. "And ya look like a damn bug with those things."

Alana looked down at him and could hear that Maggie was coming towards the back of trailer with the latest bale of hay. She could hear her laughing lightly. Alana had taken out the large sunglasses she had found with Wilhelm and put them on shortly after getting on the truck's roof. Daryl came walking back to the trailer with another bale.

"If you'd like me to come down there and help you I will. And then when some walkers decide to show up and munch on your head I'll be sure to lay some eggs in your head. Great White Hunter: 0. The Fly: 1." Alana smirked down at Daryl as he shook his head and walked away, muttering about crazy Germans. Maggie giggled down in the trailer. Daryl came back again and Alana, not missing a beat when she saw him swipe at some bug flying round his head, said, "Buzz Buzz."

From inside the trailer Maggie added, "Fly: 2."

Glenn could be heard from inside the barn asking what everyone was laughing at. Axel then passed the question along to Daryl, who in turn told them both to quiet their traps.

It took them just over an hour to load the trailer fully with hay. Everyone was weighted down with exhaustion. Even Alana, just from standing up on the hard roof with so little space to move about. But Glenn was still fairly energetic. He had enjoyed being able to kick the bales down.

Alana was looking back towards the front of the country club. They hadn't checked the main building yet. She asked Axel if there would be anything of use in it.

The older man mopped at his forehead with a rag from his back pocket. "There's a bar," he offered.

Alana scoffed. "We don't need beer."

"You don't need any," countered Axel. "Nah, ain't really much there we could use I suppose."

Alana looked down at her watch. It was half till 1PM. "Alright. We'll take a breather, then head back to those houses and take whatever we can. Let's move the cars so we have a better view."

Maggie and Daryl moved the cars a bit down the dirt road and everyone sat in them, doors wide open. Glenn had brought a pack filled with food and drink. As everybody took their pick of items the contents slowly dwindled. Daryl sat in the back of Shane's car while Alana swung her legs out the driver's side. Using the seat as leverage she reached back to him and grabbed her pack from the floor. Daryl saw her take a bottle of medication out and pop two pills into her mouth.

"You gonna be sharing those goodies?" Axel asked with a mouthful of beef jerky.

Alana tossed the bottle back into her pack. "You in pain?"

"I'm an institutionalized man. My poor soul's in pain." Axel laughed at his own words.

"You think we can make it back to the prison today?" Glenn asked from the truck that was parked alongside Shane's car.

They had only the three houses to check. And because the men had already made sure there were no walkers roaming round in them, Alana figured it shouldn't take them too long to collect what was useful. The trying part would be loading everything. The truck bed was halfway full, trailer completely full. There was no room inside the truck. That left the very back of Shane's car for loading space. Alana asked the men what exactly they had seen in the houses. With them being right there on the road she thought the chances were high that others had come by and looted them. But Glenn said otherwise. Whoever had lived in one of the houses must have packed and left, but the place was still filled with items worth taking. The kitchen pantry was full. There were four bedrooms and each had closets and dressers. Alana was sure the group could do with a larger wardrobe selection. No one had really cared much to walk around wearing prison outfits. They had all taken pieces of clothing here and there; pair of jeans, undershirts, but there was there was an overall taboo about wearing the same clothes that inmates had worn. Aside from that, undergarments for the women were lacking to say the least.

Alana agreed that cleaning out the houses was worth it. They'd head back in and grab food and clothing. "And then we head back to the prison. We're easy targets out here."

WDWDWDWD

As they drove back down to the main road the group stopped once again. They checked the stretch of road. Alana didn't like the situation. If walkers or another car came there would be no time to hide. But Glenn had said the houses were nearly completely full, not being touched by looters yet. Alana could see how someone else passing by may think the area was ideal. Clean the houses out and shack up in the stables and barn. If they were smart enough to stay off of the main road. No, Alana thought, they needed to clean those houses out. They needed to make the area around the prison undesirable so that anyone else who may pass through would do just that. Pass through.

They began with the furthest house. Daryl had been making remarks in the car as Alana led them down the road to it, asking her how she enjoyed getting a tan while the rest of them broke a sweat. Said the he felt he might be coming down with a cold from all the sweating in the chilled air. In the front passenger seat Axel snickered.

Outside the first house, Alana slid out from the car. "Axel," she said, "keep watch. I have to make sure little Daryl here doesn't pass out from lifting cereal boxes." Axel laughed at the glare Daryl gave him, he not getting to stay behind.

Maggie remained at the truck; Axel stood on the ground while she climbed to stand in truck bed.

Inside the house, Alana asked Glenn where a bedroom was. He showed her to one. Those who had chosen to opt out in the house had at least been courteous and done it in the living room. Alana tore the sheets from the bed, handing them to Daryl and Glenn. "Glenn, grab the food, then move on to the closets." Glenn took the sheet and hurried off. Alana handed another sheet to Daryl who had purposely lingered at the door, allowing Glenn in first. He had hoped that Alana would pick up on why he was being rude to her in the car; he'd wanted her to come into the houses with him. She had told him to stay where she could see him. Now he wanted her where he could see her. "Check that bathroom," she told him with a nod of her head to the connected room. As he passed by he reached a hand out to brush at her side. Out of the corner of his eye he could see that she had turned to watch him for a brief moment.

Alana remained in the bedroom going through the dressers and closet. Daryl had moved on to another room. It was a certain level of strangeness, going through someone's socks and underwear and bras. She tossed everything into the center of the bed sheet. In the closet she grabbed any long pants she saw. Everyone was fine on coats so she left those on the hangers, they'd only take up space anyways. Her eye caught a hanger with belts on it and so she snatched them. Alana moved on to another bedroom. As she was getting ready to call it quits and tie the sheet up Daryl walked down the hallway. She caught his attention and he came in, looking at the opened dresser drawers.

"I'm taking this one out. Can you get the rest? Then we'll move on to the next house."

Daryl nodded and fought himself from taking the bundle from Alana. He started to regret getting her to come into the house and help. Worried about how badly her knee would be after the day was over.

Outside Alana dumped the bundle into the back of the truck, telling Maggie they were moving on to the other two houses.

"Hey," Maggie called out quietly. As she jumped down from the bed of the truck she took a quick look around. "If you see any tampons or pads, be sure to grab them." Alana nodded. "And…protection?" Alana nodded again, a bit hesitantly. "Thanks."

Alana thought that Glenn could just be getting those things for her, but he not being a woman, well it made sense that Maggie asked her. Plus Glenn had seemed to be too busy going through the kitchen and grabbing all the food he could.

The second house was two stories. Alana stared at the steps before her, ready to tell Glenn to head up, when he rushed off to the kitchen, making straight for a pantry. The metallic clink of soda cans could be heard along with Glenn's voicing of excitement. There were no bedrooms downstairs and so with a heavy sigh Alana gripped the staircase and began the climb up. After likely looking behind them, she felt Daryl rest a hand on her lower back, giving her a gentle push.

Knowing she'd have to come back down the stairs, Alana took the bathrooms while Daryl checked the bedrooms. One bedroom had been turned into a storage room, so Daryl quickly finished, tossing his bundle down the stairs. He walked down the hall looking for Alana after barking down to Glenn to take the stuff outside.

Daryl found her at the end of the hall in one of the bathrooms, staring down at a box in her hand. He instantly began fidgeting in the doorway. Alana casually looked up to him. "Maggie has a shopping list," she muttered, pulling the packages from the box and shoving them in her pocket. They both then looked at what all she had grabbed. Whoever had lived in this house, they must have shopped at a surplus store. Alana had found a large package of tampons and another of pads. Daryl saw Alana overtly shudder and then pick up the bundle. "Let's just pretend we never saw any of this." He gladly nodded his head.

At the top of the stairs Daryl took the bundle from her and walked down the steps first. She came down close behind him. Glenn could be heard in the downstairs bathroom, which was located behind the stairs. Alana reached a hand out to rest on Daryl's shoulder. As Glenn came down the hall she let it slip away.

For the last house Alana opted to check upstairs once again, along with Daryl. Glenn appeared to think nothing of it, likely just saw it as Alana being stubborn. And the fact that she and Daryl weren't causing any friction for the trip left Glenn unassuming of anything.

Alana and Daryl were going through one of the bedrooms. She had pulled a chair over from a small vanity to a dresser, sitting down to go through the clothing.

Daryl looked over to her from the closet. "Ya okay?" he asked her quietly, holding a couple of shirts. She nodded her head, tossing pairs of socks into her bundle. Daryl continued to look over at her. "What were those drugs ya took?"

"Vicodin."

"Knee hurting?"

"It's just really sore is all."

Again Daryl was regretting dragging her into the houses.

Glenn came bouncing up the stairs, done with the first floor. Alana told him there was another bedroom to be checked and he headed in its direction. Grabbing a few more items, Alana was done and began tying the bundle up. Daryl reached out for the bundle, taking it down the stairs along with his own.

It was 3PM when the group finished with the houses. After one last check of the area, Alana ordered everyone back into the cars.

They'd reach the prison within the hour.

WDWDWDWD

Andrea spotted the cars and was quickly out of her chair, walking out on to the balcony of the guard tower. "They're here!" she shouted down to Rick who had been sitting outside C-Block since Alana had radioed that they were on their way back. Everyone at the prison was eagerly awaiting their arrival. The anxiety of sending a group out never went away completely. Not until the group had returned, all accounted for.

Dale and Rick pulled the gates open and the cars drove in. The group immediately began going through what had been brought back. Rick walked up to Alana as she grabbed her gear from the backseats.

"Everything go alright out there?" he asked.

"Yeah," Alana told him. "Roads were pretty clear. Just a couple of deserted cars." Rick asked if they had had any other issue with walkers aside from the incident at the barn. She told him no.

Alana looked around at the others, seeing them welcome back the group. She saw how Daryl stood unsteadily as Carol came over to him. He nodded at her before sidestepping and heading into the prison with his gear. Alana turned back to Rick who was still speaking.

He was asking if it looked like anyone had passed through, but Alana again told him no. All signs pointed to no one going down those roads for a long while. "But we went ahead and took all that we could from the houses," she told Rick. "In case someone does go by, they won't want to stay there. And the houses are right on the road. Only a fool would think it was safe."

"Alright," Rick responded, patting Alana on the back. "We'll take care of this. Go ahead and get some rest. T-Dog's fixing something up for dinner. Got started on it once you radioed."

On her way in, Dale took her pack from her and took it up to her cell. Soon after he left Hershel came in, looking down at her knee.

"How's it feel?"

Alana took the brace off, the material of her pants deeply wrinkled underneath. She rubbed at her knee lightly. "Sore. Really sore," she said with a chuckle. "Think it's getting better though."

Hershel went ahead and suggested what medication she should take and that a hot bath would be helpful, if only they had something they could use as a tub.

As he was finishing his suggestions Daryl walked up to Alana's cell, her extra rifle in hand. Hershel gave a nod and left.

"Forgot this," Daryl told her, laying it on the floor with the rest of her weapons. He felt redundant, but he asked her again how her knee was. "What that old man talkin' bout?"

Alana waved it off. "Said it'd help if there was something we could use as a tub. Actually be able to have a hot bath." When Daryl didn't say anything she asked if he would go find Maggie for her. "Hey," she added when he turned away. "Tonight?"

Daryl thought on it. It wasn't a good idea. Both of them were tired from the day, chances were high that they'd both fall asleep and not wake up in time. And he was still regaining his balance from that morning. From that kiss. And now believing that he had forced Alana into her current situation, Daryl almost didn't want anything to do with her for the rest of the day.

Yet he had paused before answering Alana.

"Ya should get some rest."

Daryl left her cell, going off to find Maggie.

She came up to her cell shortly. Alana handed over the contents of her pockets and Maggie blushed, quickly shoving the packets into her own pockets. "Thank you so much," she told Alana, looking out the cell. "Dinner's gonna be ready soon. You coming down to eat?"

Alana nodded. "Yeah, I think I'll just relax for a bit. Let me know when it's ready."

"Sure." Maggie started to walk out of the cell and then paused, hanging onto the large bars. "Hey, Daryl didn't…give you any trouble? Did he?"

"No. No, he just whined about breaking a sweat," Alana said with a smile. She tried to push the tension away by telling Maggie how he paled when he saw her grabbing the tampons. It made both of the women laugh.

"I'll come get you when dinner's ready then."

WDWDWDWD

Lori helped to go through the bundles of clothing, sorting everything out. When it was all done, the group then went through the piles, picking out what they needed. All of the undergarments had been taken into the showers, placed in the large washing pots with a mixture of half water and half bleach. They'd soak overnight and then be washed the next day.

Those that had headed out on the run were all resting. Axel was quick and loud to lay claim to the showers first. Alana was the last. Without the brace she sat on the cold tiles of the shower after turning the water on. She didn't much care to slip and fall, to come shambling out a naked, wet walker with a limp. When she was done and had wrapped a towel around herself Alana heard Michonne calling out from the hall before coming inside. When she saw the small struggle Alana was having to get over to where she had set her clean clothes, Michonne headed out to grab a chair from one of the offices. Alana gladly sat down in it to begin dressing.

Michonne leaned against the doorframe, her head hung. "Saw Lori creeping round in your cell while you were gone," she said. She could see Alana's movements slow significantly. "Her and Carol were washing clothes."

Alana hadn't noticed anything missing in her cell. Then again, she was more concerned with being able to lie down and rest. "Did she take anything?" she asked, pulling up her bra straps and buttoned up her pants.

"Pile of dirty clothes. You had some things on the clothesline, but I took them from her, brought them up to your cell."

Alana slipped a grey wife beater on and slid into a long sleeve flannel shirt. "I didn't see anything missing. Guess she was just getting my laundry."

"Saw Carol too," Michonne added as they walked out from the showers. She lowered her voice. "Talking with Lori. Except, Lori didn't look too intrigued by whatever she had to say."

Alana shook her head, walking slowly down the hall. "Not my concern. They want to whisper about me behind my back, I don't care."

Coming out into the cellblock, Michonne watched Alana climb up the stairs.

In her cell, Alana lowered herself slowly onto the bed, her eyes scanning over everything. She braced herself on the mattress as she leaned back. Her fingers then flexed at the sheets. She pulled them back and sighed when she saw the shirt. With a glance outside the cell Alana gathered the shirt up and stuffed it in the underside of the pillow. She laid down, a towel wrapped round her head.

She woke what felt like a few seconds later as Maggie shook her shoulder.

Dinner was ready.

"Want me to bring you a plate?"

Alana sat up and swung her legs over. She put the brace back on and stood up.

In the cafeteria she saw that a plate had already been prepared for her and was waiting at the table. Andrea and Michonne were already sitting down, along with Axel. He was chatting away about the walkers at the country club.

"G.I. Jane over here, little lady must have taken out half those damn things."

"She was a sniper in the army," Carl said.

"Oh yeah?" Axel said as he turned round to look as Alana came to the table. "You kill any…foreign dignitaries?"

Alana took her seat and pulled the plate of food towards her. "Killed people, didn't ask questions about them."

"That's enough about killing," Lori said then, looking from Carl to Axel as she pushed food around on her plate. When she looked back down at her plate, Axel caught Carl's eye and stuck his tongue out to Lori. A splatter of snickers filled the room. Axel turned back round in his chair and went back to eating.

Alana had seen Carol at Daryl's table. After spotting her there she sat and kept her head down, thankful that she had her back to Daryl's table. Everyone was making small talk, either amongst tables or with others. Really the only interaction from Alana's table was carried on by Axel, who had no problem talking clear across to another table. The last thing Alana heard him say was something about the grits T-Dog had made, something about what was in them.

Rick made another announcement that he'd be wanting to send a group out at a later point, just to check the area. He believed that for the time being things would be okay though and that there was no need to go out on more supply runs. "Not for a couple of weeks hopefully," he said. He wanted to focus on maintaining the area around the prison and then move further out.

A few weeks? Wasn't that just like saying a month? Alana tried to imagine what she would do for a month at the prison, with no reason to head out other than to kill walkers that came into the fields. It would at least allow her knee to fully heal. But a month?

She could hear as Carol stood from her table, offering to take Daryl's plate, to get him another drink. Even asked Dale if he needed anything. After she passed by, Alana excused herself and left the cafeteria, saying she was going to get a head start on sleeping. There was a chorus of 'goodnight' that followed her.

In her cell she laid facing the wall, the covers pulled up all around her. After a short while she felt someone's shadow fall over her, but she didn't turn to see who it was. The person left after a few seconds. From the echo of the steps, Alana figured it was Daryl.

For a long while after the others had gone to bed Alana slept. She woke a few times, turning her wrist over to look at the time. She wanted to go to Daryl's cell, but just as he did, she knew they'd both fall asleep and risk being caught. And there was something in her that said Daryl didn't want to see her. The way he had looked at her when they got back, when she had asked about seeing him that night.

Alana rolled over and tried to go back to sleep.

WDWDWDWD

The creak of her bedframe could be heard in his cell.

Daryl had slept for a few hours, but woke when T-Dog came back into the prison from his shift, waking Hershel to take the next.

An hour went by and he heard the creaking noise again.

Part of him worried that Alana would come into his cell. He was paranoid that they'd be found out. When they had returned from the supply run Daryl noticed something wrong in his cell.

It was tidy.

More importantly, the bed was tidy.

Normally Daryl was capable of washing his own clothes. Did so while they were at the campsite outside of Atlanta. But now Carol was always there, to beat him to the task. And Daryl felt that there was nothing he could, should, do about it. If it kept Carol placid, then so be it. Anything to ensure Alana's status in the group was not jeopardized. Coming into his cell though and fixing up his things, it made the paranoia set in. What if Alana left something behind and Carol saw it? What if she could just know that Alana had been in there? Women were like that, he thought, they always knew things. Some even claimed to know everything.

They couldn't keep meeting in his cell, he thought. It was only a matter of time before they slipped and were found out. They'd just have to meet during the day. In that office she had pulled him into. That would work.

He began thinking of that office. Of the kiss. He'd be damned to admit it, but that kiss…it had changed things. Changed everything. Even if he wanted to stop it, end what was between them, there was no going back now.

Those thoughts were in his head when he heard the soft rustle of the sheets being pushed back; he craned his head up to see Alana walking carefully inside. Those thoughts were in his head and they pushed out every doubt he had about himself and Alana.

"Hi," she whispered to him, standing before the bed.

Daryl looked down at her leg. There was no brace on it. It looked like she had a pair of Wilhelm's pants on, being held up with a belt. Her feet were swallowed up by the excess of material. She held the material of the long sleeve shirt tightly round herself.

The anxiety left her body when Daryl pushed the blankets back; he sat up, scooting back to give her room. She lowered herself down on to the mattress, lying on her side, facing him. He pulled the blankets back up, reaching round her to make sure she was completely covered. As he rested back down he realized how close he was to her, but there was nowhere for him to go.

In nearly total darkness, Daryl couldn't see the blankness in her eyes. Her mind had fallen back onto what Michonne had told her. About Lori being in her cell. Alana knew that if she told Daryl about it, that he would become angry. That he could possibly end things between them. She didn't want to lie to him, to keep this from him. But she didn't want to lose him either. What she needed was reassurance.

Daryl felt as she once again reached out for the hem of his shirt. He prepared himself for her to touch his skin again.

Alana then rolled over, searching for Daryl's arm as she did so. She rested into the curve his body made on the bed and laced her fingers with his. He could feel as she splayed hers against his, feeling their smallness compared to his.

She risked kissing the palm of his hand.

When he didn't flinch or fill with tension, Alana had her reassurance.

Daryl let her pull his arm to her chest and hold it there. And when she whispered to him, "Let me stay till morning," he was unable to say no. Unable to say anything. His mind was already fast at work; the sheets hid them from everyone else. When none were looking, she could slip out, act as if she was coming out from her own cell.

Guilt and wanting kept him from heeding the risk.

He felt her shiver as his breath hit her neck.

Alana gripped his hand as Daryl nudged the collar of her shirt down and kissed her nape.

It was well worth the risk.

All of it was.

Poor Daryl, his head is like a constant battlefield haha, all these different thoughts running round.

You think Alana is going to say something to Lori? Or maybe the other way around?

And now that Daryl has fully decided there's no going back between him and Alana, you think anything is going to change? Think he might start taking more risks? Maybe open up to her a bit more about himself? Remember, he's never said anything to her about his scars. How do you think he feels about them and what he thinks when he sees her scars?

Send in your reviews! Ramble all you want! Be long winded! Get it all out!

Next chapter shall be up in a week :)

Also, for all those asking about possible sequels to this story and how many more chapters I'll be writing: I have no idea. I do plan to follow the storyline in the comics, but of course, I will eventually catch up with the comics. Though I have my own side stories I'm going to bring in, that catching up will still happen at some point. At that point I could either continue on with my own storyline or only post one chapter a month as the comics come out. I do plan on keeping this as one story, albeit large one haha. So it's very possible that I will reach 100 chapters on this story.

One thing I may do is, once the 3rd season starts, is to post one-off's that align with the episodes, but include Alana. Just a little something extra for you guys (: An alternate to the alternate universe of this story.

Okay, I'm done rambling, now it's your turn!

GO!