Chapter 27

- KATE -

Little House at the Prison. That is what Kate had started to jokingly call it, remembering fondly the Laura Ingalls Wilder books her mother had read to her as a child. Some days that's exactly what it felt like, like they were settlers working tirelessly to build a life for themselves out in the middle of nowhere. Except instead of a one room log cabin, they lived in a sprawling cement fortress.

She'd been spending her days in the yard with Rick and Carl as they prepped and planted the first garden. Usually others would join them too, deciding they wanted to try their hand at farming. It was rewarding, she found she liked working in dirt, putting energy into something that would help sustain a life here.

Rick was like a new man. True to his word, he'd relinquished leadership to the council and had thrown himself fully into farming, Carl his somewhat reluctant sidekick. She was sure she'd seen Rick smile more in the last couple weeks than the entire time she'd known him. She wondered if this was the man Lori had married and was sorry she wasn't here to live this life with them now. Carl, who still would prefer to do something exciting, involving no doubt a gun in his hand, wasn't unpleasant and she started to see glimpses of the little boy she had first met back at quarry camp.

Since Daryl and Kate returned, the council had recommended runs should consist of at least four people. It wasn't fool-proof by any stretch, and there could be exceptions, but it did seem a wiser move. The only one who didn't seem to adhere to the new rule was Michonne and for whatever reason the council didn't press the issue. She was hardly home anymore, constantly searching for the governor. Daryl had stopped going on those runs with her and in fact, aside from a couple short trips he had organized, he'd been at home more and for longer stretches than since he and Kate had been together. She knew it was mostly because of her, what they'd gone through.

Physically she was almost completely healed. After almost two solid days of sleep, which Dr. S assured her was normal with a concussion, she felt much better. The bruise on her face had given many colors of the rainbow a turn: from the bright purple and violet of the fresh injury, to black and blue and now a sickly yellow that faded more each day. Her ribs felt much better, breathing didn't hurt anymore, but sometimes she'd forget her injury and would twist just the right way to throw a shovelful of dirt over her shoulder and they'd shout their protest.

The awful, dark feeling, as Maggie predicted, became less of an issue each day. She felt that she was slowly feeling more like herself. It still was disturbing to her, the whole thing, and she spent more time than she should thinking about all the ways things could have gone differently. How easily they could both be dead, or worse. She and Daryl didn't really discuss it, but she'd been having nightmares since they'd been back and she couldn't exactly hide those from him. Sometimes in her dreams, she'd be running alone through the woods with something chasing her - an animal, a walker, Joe. Sometimes it would be like they were back there being discovered by the men all over again, but this time they'd kill Daryl immediately. The gunshot ringing in her ears as she screamed. Either way she'd thrash and cry out in her sleep, waking Daryl, who would remind her they were both home and safe. If the others heard her, and there was really no way they couldn't living in the cell block together, they never said anything, but she got the impression everyone was treating her gently.

The sun beat down on her as she pulled at some weeds that seemed to have magically shot up overnight around where they'd planted the peas. She wiped sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand and decided to take a break and head up for some lunch.

She stood, squinting into the sun and called out to Rick who worked with a shovel about 20 feet away.

"I'm going up for lunch. You guys taking a break soon?"

Carl looked at his dad hopefully. Rick smiled, "Carl, go ahead, I'll finish up here."

Carl tossed down his hoe happily and joined her as she headed up to the prison.

"I'm going to head over to the showers and see if Daryl wants lunch, you coming?"

"No, I'm STARVING." Carl said, a pained look on his face.

Kate grinned. "Ok, I'll meet you over there."

Kate headed inside, her eyes taking a minute to adjust in the dark hall after hours in the bright sun. Daryl had been helping get the showers up and running. They were trying to bring two of the prison's bathrooms into some sort of functioning shape. It was still going to be rudimentary, a simple pump that drew from a big barrel of water that needed to be refilled by hand. Filling the water barrels they used throughout the prison was a tedious chore that consisted of cranking a wheel in the prison yard that pumped water from the creek just outside the gates. The hose ran under the fence and they would fill buckets that had to be hauled up and emptied into the barrels in the courtyard and the bathrooms. In the bathrooms they had been filling pitchers of water from the barrels and using them in the trough sinks to wash up. Now, with the equipment they needed, they would be able to use a hand pump to draw water up into a rigged maze of pipes and shower heads. The water would be cold, the pressure lacking and the showers short, but it would be glorious to get one on a regular basis.

"Hey." She smiled brightly at Daryl who was standing on a step ladder and tightening a pipe. "It's coming along!"

He finished with the wrench and stepped down. He wiped his hands on the sides of his pants.

"We should have showers by the end of the week, maybe sooner."

"I'm so excited!" And she truly was. "Hey, I'm going down to eat, want to come?"

"Naw. I'm gonna finish up here."

"Ok. Need anything?" She asked.

"Nope. I'm good." Wrench in one hand, he used the other to pull her towards him by her waist. "How's the farm today?"

"Dirty. I'll be glad when I can use these showers. So get back to work!" She teased, kissing him. She started to walk away before she remembered she promised Beth an answer.

"Oh ya, I wanted to ask you something." She started. "You know Beth is seeing that new guy, Zach. He came in with that college group."

Daryl nodded. "Mmmhmm."

"Well she wants us to have a picnic with them. Out in the yard with Maggie and Glenn too. Kind of like a triple date."

Daryl looked like the idea literally caused him pain. He tipped his head back and groaned.

"Come on, it won't be that bad. It's Maggie, Glenn and Beth. You know them."

"I ain't really the picnic type."

"Please?" They looked at each other for a second, a sort of mock stand off, but they both knew he'd

give in.

"Fine."

She smiled and rewarded him with a kiss.

The next afternoon, they found themselves sitting on a big yellow sheet that Beth had spread out on the grass. She had made every effort to make this a real picnic, but without the benefit of sandwiches and lemonade, they had to make due with substitutes like crackers spread with peanut butter and little cans of diced fruit. Still, for end of the world standards it was a feast.

Zach lounged back on the sheet, propped up on one elbow, his legs crossed out in front of him. Everything about him seemed like the old world - his casual mannerisms, the things he spoke about, the lack of weariness in his eyes. Maybe most of all was the way he was with Beth. He reminded Kate of a frat boy trying to smooth talk the sweet and innocent, laying back and telling elaborate tales of his life. As if one-upping your professor or having a fast car mattered at all anymore. Beth seemed to lap it up though. She sat facing him, her sweet smile lighting up her whole face, hanging on every word and giggling. Maggie kept rolling her eyes, which Kate found very amusing.

Kate wondered what Zach's story was, she knew he came in with the college group and they certainly had seen their share of carnage, but he came off as someone who hadn't seen such things. Despite this, she didn't think Zach was a bad guy, just someone who didn't get it. He seemed eager to get to know them all and happy that Beth had gone to the effort to plan this.

"So Glenn," Zach started. "What did you do?"

"What did I do?" Glenn asked.

"You know, before all this."

"I delivered pizzas." He said, knowing it was the most underwhelming answer.

"In Atlanta?"

"Yep. Rico's Pizza. Thirty minutes or less or your next pizza is free."

"Hey! I think I remember that place." He gestured between Maggie and Glenn. "Were you guys together before all this?"

"No." Maggie said, giving Glenn a big smile. "Met him when the group showed up on our doorstep."

"Technically," Glenn added. "We met when you galloped up on a horse in the middle of the woods and smashed a walker in the head with a bat."

"Impressive!" Zach said, eyebrows raised.

"I'm pretty sure Glenn fell in love in that second." Kate added. "You should have seen the look on his face."

She mimicked his stunned expression and everyone laughed. Glenn threw a cracker at her.

"What about you two?" Zach asked, turning his attention to Kate and Daryl. "You guys meet after the turn too?"

Daryl snorted and shook his head. "Regular Sherlock, ain't ya."

Kate ignored him. "Yes, we met at the very beginning. We both ended up in the camp after Atlanta fell. Glenn was there too." She smiled. "But we didn't get together until more recently, since we've been here."

"You guys get married like Maggie and Glenn?"

"Man, you sure ask a lot of questions." Daryl snarled, not completely unfriendly, but he stood and walked a few feet towards the fence like he was suddenly interested in what the walkers were doing.

Zach looked amused, but undeterred. "I'll take that as a no then?"

Kate shrugged. "No, we aren't married." She said married like it was suddenly a foreign word. "We're just…" She stopped, suddenly realizing she didn't know how to finish the sentence. She glanced nervously at Beth and then Maggie, she even thought Daryl had stilled to hear what she had to say.

She just laughed and shrugged, "We just are."

Zach seemed to accept that, smiling in that boyish way, and moved on.

"What did you do, before?" He asked her.

"I worked in an office. Nothing exciting."

"How about you Daryl?" Zach shouted towards the fence. They all exchanged looks, surprised Zach would pursue his questioning with Daryl

Daryl looked up, clearly annoyed.

"Guess."

- DARYL -

Daryl was torn from a deep sleep. He sat up in bed, eyes straining to see in the darkness, listening carefully for any sign of what woke him. His heart pounded and he grabbed the knife that always sat on the crate next to their bed. Beside him, Kate began to groan, her body thrashing, her legs kicking the sheets off of them. He should have known. This wasn't the first nightmare she'd had since they returned from their misadventure in the woods. He laid back down, pulling her towards him while trying to quietly reassure her.

"Kate. Kate. Its ok." He whispered into her ear. "We're home. We're safe. You're having a nightmare."

She quieted and went still. After a second she turned into him and he could hear the peaceful sounds of her breathing. Daryl laid there for awhile and tried to calm down enough to fall back asleep. Usually he couldn't. This morning would be no different. Their curtains started to slowly glow as the sun light worked its way through the narrow windows outside their cell. When he was sure it was a lost cause, he eased himself slowly out of bed, hoping she could get some more sleep. He headed down the metal steps and out into the common room. It was empty, which wasn't surprising considering the hour. He found the tubs of cereal and a plastic bowl and poured some bran flakes out. Sitting on the cement steps, he tipped his head back and dropped them by the fingerful into his mouth and worried about Kate.

Hershel walked into the common room from C-Block, Michonne had found him a prosthetic leg on one of her runs and Daryl was still getting used to seeing him without his crutches.

"Mornin' Daryl."

"Mornin' Hershel." Daryl said. "Kate wake you?"

"No. No, I was up." Concern darkened his face. "But I heard her. We've all heard her. Poor thing. What does she say she's dreaming about? Those men?"

Daryl shrugged. "Probably, we haven't really talked about it." He mumbled.

The lines in Hershel's face deepened as he considered that for a minute.

"Daryl, can I share something with you?"

Daryl nodded. He sensed this conversation was turning personal and he felt a little panicked, but it was Hershel and he respected the man too much to shut him down.

"When I was married to my first wife, Maggie's mother, I was a different man than the one that sits before you today. My father wasn't an easy man, and when he drank, which was nearly always, he was even worse. I left home when I was 15, I guess that all had an effect on me and although I loved my wife very much, I didn't know the first thing about opening up to her or even talking to her about things. I was afraid if I did, she might not like what she saw. Josephine was a good woman and she loved me in spite of these shortcomings, but after she died I felt great regret that I hadn't shared more with her."

Daryl looked down into the bowl of bran flakes. Hershel continued.

"When I married Annette, I had already changed a lot. Being a single father to a growing, feisty girl does that to a man. I promised myself I would do better this time. It was difficult at first, I don't imagine I was much good at it, but I know that Annette knew I was trying and she loved me even more for it. Pretty soon, I couldn't imagine not being able to go to her about what was on my mind."

Hershel took a deep breath. "I tell you this, not because I think Kate is unhappy with you, on the contrary, anyone can see how much love there is between the two of you and how badly you both need one another. I tell you this only because it reminds me so much of how it was with me and Jo and I don't want you to have any regrets."

Hershel looked hard at Daryl. Daryl met his eyes hesitantly. He felt exposed, but for once he didn't feel defensive.

"Daryl, I don't pretend to know where you came from or who you were before, but I do know that you're a good man and if Kate were one of my daughters, I'd be happy that you found each other."

Daryl's face betrayed the effect those words had on him and Hershel smiled, his kind eyes crinkling.

The gate to C-block opened again and this time Beth walked out.

"Mornin' Daddy. Mornin' Daryl." She said.

"Mornin' Bethie." Hershel said, opening his Bible.

Daryl stood. "Thanks Hershel" He said quietly, before heading outside.

Later that night Daryl pulled the truck into the yard and he and Kate sat on the hood, their backs against the windshield and their eyes fixed on the stars and the bright moon. It was the same sky and the same stars that hung up there when the world was still marching on and for some reason that seemed odd.

Daryl's rough hand rested on her knee and she drew circles on his arm with her soft fingertips.

"Kate, when we were out there, with those men." Daryl paused and took a deep breath. "All I could think about was getting you out. Once we got away, I was thinkin', I kept thinkin' about if I had lost you. I felt like I'd failed you, getting us in the situation."

"Daryl, it wasn't you." Kate started to protest.

"Let me finish, this don't come easy for me and if I stop, I might not get it all out."

Kate went quiet, even her fingers stilling on his arm.

"When we got back. I was angry. I was an idiot."

Daryl stopped, but Kate remained silent.

"Kate." He let out a shaky breath. "I love you. Longer than I even knew. I want you to be my wife. I don't want you to not know what to say when people ask what we are. I don't have much to offer, I can't promise to keep you safe or that we'll be happy, but I'll try. I'll try my whole life."

The moon hung bright in the sky and Daryl could make out the big grin on her face and his heart, which had been beating hard in his chest, felt like it swelled to twice the size.

She leaned into him, taking his face in both her hands and kissing him.

"I can't wait to be your wife." She whispered against his lips.