*I do not own anything or anyone you recognize from the show or comics.*

A/N: I am so sorry it has taken me so long to get this chapter up. I had started it back in March but then my muse decided to take a nice long vacation without giving notice. I had kind of hit a wall on how to finish out this chapter and tried and tried to come up with a way to spin it but it just wasn't happening. Then Game of Thrones came on after TWD ended and I just couldn't get back to TWD. But then I seen that a series marathon was playing on July 4th and I decided to drag my muse back kicking and screaming. This is all the new material I have right now so I don't know when my next update will be but now that I'm back in Writer's Mode, hopefully it won't be too long. As always, read, enjoy, and if you deem it worthy, review.

Chapter 37

Adrian didn't know exactly how long she had been out there but it felt like she had been out there for hours. She had wanted to make her stand in the road but she knew that they wouldn't be able to clear the bodies from the road before Rick and the others got back from their run.

She had picked a spot on the grass on the left side of the road and made her stand there. There had been more than a few times that she had asked herself what the hell she had been thinking going out in the field to kill walkers instead of just finding a dark corner with Daryl.

Adrian had been out there for about an hour killing walkers, hacking, slashing, stabbing, and then kicking away the dead bodies. She had hit the point about fifteen minutes earlier where her body finally started to drain the adrenaline that had built up and helped her keep fighting.

Merle had stayed in his spot on the other side of the fence watching his brother's woman kill walker after walker like she had been doing it her whole life. She seemed like a tough woman, which he knew she was after taking the beating he had given her when she refused to tell him where his brother was back in Woodbury.

He had no doubt that if given the chance she would try to beat the shit out of him, payback for not only the beating he had dished out days ago but also being the reason that Daryl had decided to leave, even though he went back to the group. His brother had chosen a good woman to stick with during all of this.

She wasn't afraid to tell a person how it was, such as the night before when she told him that he hadn't been there for his brother in the past. If someone had told him that a year ago he would have punched their teeth down their throat, even though the statement had been true.

She had told him that he may not have been there in the past for Daryl, but now that they were back together after almost a year, Daryl needed him to be there for him now. Looking at her taking out those walkers though, he could stand to admit to himself that she was certainly a person to be feared if her angry sights were set on you. But even she had nothing on The Governor.

Merle heard the sound of the door from the cell block opening and closing. He turned to see who it was only to see Glenn marching up to him, gun in hand. "Merle, what the hell are you doing?" he Asian demanded. "Oh...just watchin' after a crazy woman." he said, turning back to the fence.

Glenn had a confused and annoyed look on his face as he marched up to the fence. "Adrian?! What the hell is she doing out there?!" Glenn demanded as he ran up to the fence to see the red headed woman killing walkers left and right. "I belive the words she used was "Blowing off some steam" and "stress relief." Merle said to him.

"Adrian, what the hell are you doing?!" Glenn yelled out at her, causing a few walkers to turn towards him. "Shut up and go away Glenn!" Adrian grunted through her clenched teeth as she swung at another walker. "I know my limits and I'm not done yet!" she yelled back at the boy.

"How long has she been out here doing this?" Glenn asked as he eyed the growing pile of dead bodies in the field. "Oh, I'd say 'bout an hour or so." Merle told him. Adrian didn't hear anything that was said and didn't see when Glenn took off back towards the cell block.

A few minutes later Adrian heard a commotion in the background. Then she heard a voice she had hoped wouldn't show up while she was outside the safety of the fence. "Adrian! Dammit woman get your ass back on this side a the fence!" she heard Daryl yell.

Deciding she had done enough damage for the day, Adrian slowly made her way back towards the fence, killing any walkers around her along the way. When she finally made it to the fence it was already open and she was suddenly pulled backwards through the fence by the back of her pants.

Adrian whirled around to face whoever had done it on pure instinct. She turned to see a very agitated Daryl. Adrian sighed. "Glenn, when I told you to go the hell away, I didn't mean to run and tattle on me to my boyfriend." she said, glaring at the Asian boy. "Yeah, well it's a damn good thing he did. You coulda got bit out there doin' that stupid shit. What the hell were you thinkin'?!" Daryl yelled at her. Adrian just sighed again, picked up her bow, and started for the cell block for a cold shower.

"Where the hell do you think you're doin'?" he said to her as she started walking away. "Inside. You wanna lecture me, you can do it while I take a shower." she yelled back at him as she walked inside.

Daryl was stalking towards the shower room intent on not only giving his woman an ear full, but blistering her nice ass for doing something so stupid. It hadn't occurred to him that something might be up after he hadn't seen Adrian or Merle for a while until Glenn came in yelling about Adrian being out in the field killing walkers by herself for almost an hour.

When Daryl walked into the shower room he stopped to look at Adrian. She was completely naked, beyond caring who seen her scarred skin. Her hair was completely wet and hanging loosely around her like a fiery red curtain and she supported herself against the wall.

Then Daryl got a closer look at her. Her hands her balled into fists against the wall, she was gently rocking her body back and forth, and she was muttering to herself. "Stop it...Stop it...Be quiet...Shut up...Stop screaming..." he heard her say as he slowly walked closer, having already put his bow down.

"Get away from him...No...No, stop asking...NO I WON'T!" Adrian starting screaming, throwing her hands over her ears. Daryl ran up behind her and wrapped his arms around her tightly so she wouldn't hurt herself or him. He knew she wasn't with him mentally at the moment but all he could think of to help her was to get her to snap out of it.

"Adrian! It's done. You ain't gotta do it again. Everybody's safe now." he told her as she pulled him to the cold, wet floor when she finally gave up standing on her own. "Why? Why did he have to get bit? We were so close. So close to being out of the city. Being together and safe..." she cried as she buried her face into his arm, completely limp and defeated.

Daryl didn't know if she really expected an answer or not but he didn't give her one, because he didn't have one. Daryl didn't know a thing about the kid so he couldn't comfort her with any good qualities or memories of the kid before he had been bitten. At least with the other members of the group who had lost someone, like Rick with Lori or Carol with Sophia, he knew them and could say good things about them to those who had been left behind.

But he couldn't do that for his broken, scarred woman. All he could really do was be there to comfort her and bring her back around. He didn't know when or even how she really managed it, but Adrian as fallen asleep, cold, wet, and naked, during her break down in the shower.

Daryl managed to find an old towel close by and threw it around her to cover her up before he picked her up to bring her back to their cell. He hadn't realized that that mornings conversation about Seth had upset her as badly as it had. He couldn't tell with her sometimes, what really upset her and what didn't. Sometimes her poker face was just too good for him to see through.

When Daryl finally made it up to their cell her placed her on the bed and covered her so her body would get warm quicker and after a quick kiss, Daryl left her to sleep.

A few hours later Rick and th others had made it back, not only safely, but with more guns and ammunition than they had ever hoped to dream about them finding. Adrian was still asleep and her earlier breakdown was well known through out the group that had stayed at the prison.

Rick must have been able to pick up on the tension through out the group. "Did something happen while we were gone?" Rick asked, looking around at the various faces of the members of the group. "Adrian." was all Daryl said. "What is it? Is she alright?" Rick asked him, suddenly concerned, especially since he didn't see her around. But he figured it couldn't be too bad since Daryl didn't seem too upset over whatever it was that had happened.

"She snuck off with Merle earlier today. Went into the field by herself for more than an hour, killin' walkers." Daryl told him, still uncomfortable since witnessing her breakdown. "That would explain all the dead walkers outside the fence." Rick said. "Damn fool woman." he added.

"Glenn came chargin' in here yelling that she was outside the fence. When I hollered at her to get back inside the fence, she came along easy enough. Came through the fence and headed straight for the showers. When I showed up to beat her ass, she wasn't actin' right." Daryl told him, trying to collect his thoughts.

Rick hesitated. "Was she bit? Can I see her?" Rick asked. "She's fine. Come on, she's upstairs, sleepin'." Daryl told him, leading the way to their cell. Daryl and Rick peeked in on her to see that she was still sleeping, although not peacefully.

"Talkin' about the kid this mornin' upset her more than I had thought. After she came in she was actin' funny. Talkin' to herself, rockin' her body, real tense. Then she started screamin' and I realized she was thinkin' about the kid and the night she shot him." Daryl whispered, explaining to Rick.

"Are we sure she ain't bit?" Rick whispered. "Checked her over myself. She's clean." Daryl said. "You didn't seem all that surprised when she talked about the kid this morning." Rick said to him. "I wasn't. She told me the day Judith was born. I had seen the picture before, kid looked nothing like her. Heard her tell a few stories about the kid before too. But I had never really guessed that she had had a kid 'til she told me." Daryl said to him.

Rick looked back over at Adrian. Rick wasn't surprised that Daryl had known such a secret about her. She seemed to trust and confide in Daryl more than anyone else in the group. Now knowing about her own kid explained alot about why she was so cautious about Carl and Judith's safety. She knew the pain of loosing a child and was making damn sure that she was doing everything in her power to keep them safe.

Rick just hoped she bounced back soon. A war was coming and he needed every one of his people ready to fight when it came.