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

A/N: So I know it seems like I took forever to upload a new chapter but I decided to keep it to myself til this weekend. So here's the latest chapter, hope you guys enjoy.

Chapter 39

Adrian finally found Rick but when she did, he was alone. "Did you find him? Where's Daryl?" she asked him. "Merle's gone. Took Michonne with him." Rick said, trying to avoid the other question.

"Alright but that doesn't answer my other question. Where is Daryl?" she asked again.

"Rick, we both know you're just better off telling me what I want to know because one way or another, I'm going to find out." Adrian told him. "He went to go find his brother and Michonne to bring them back here." Rick finally told her. "

How long?" she demanded.

"About five minutes ago." Rick told her, also telling her where Daryl left from. After getting the information she wanted, Adrian took off to their cell to grab her weapons. She quickly threw on her quiver half full of arrows and was strapping on her thigh holsters for her gun and knife when she heard Kale run up to her door.

"You're going after him?" he asked her, she didn't even bother to ask how he found out.

"He's out there alone. Merle is heading straight for The Governor and Daryl will follow him straight to the Devil's gates. He won't come back without his brother and I'll be damned if I'm gonna loose him because he's stubborn and loyal." she told him as she finished strapping on all of her weapons.

"Then I'm coming with you." Kale said. Adrian gave a half frustrated sigh. She didn't have time for this. "No. You're going to stay here and help fortify the prison. They need you more right now than I do." she told him as she started to walk away.

"Why do you always leave me behind?!" he growled at her, finally angry with her.

Adrian stopped and turned to look at him after hearing the tone of his voice. His entire body was tense, his hands fisted, eyes glaring, jaw tight. He had grown up alot in the months they were apart.

Adrian sighed and then walked up to him, gently holding his face in her warm hands.

"Because they always need you more than I do, Kale. I taught you how to survive without me, and you did just that all winter out on the road with Michonne and Andrea. But this is our home and someone is trying to kill us and take it away. they need your help more here than I do tracking down my lover." she told him.

"Daryl is good at killing walkers but he doesn't need to go out there along, running through the countryside, alone, trying to catch up to his damn fool brother. So, please, stay here and be safe." she told him, looking him gently in the eyes. Kale looked at her for a second and then finally sighed.

"Fine. I'll stay here to help." he told her. Adrian smiled and him and then gave him a soft kiss on his forehead before she turned and started to run to catch up with Daryl.

He already had a good ten minute head start on her. And she knew how many bad things could happen in ten minutes.

It only made her run faster.

Adrian had been running for maybe half an hour when she was finally starting to get close. She stopped for some air and to let her heart slow down a little. When she felt like her lungs weren't going to explode, she started running again. About ten minutes or so later, she spotted Michonne.

"Michonne!" she said running up to her. "What happened? Where's Merle?" she asked. "He let me go. Took off on his own. Said there was something he needed to do." Michonne told her. "Should I be expecting anyone else on my way back?" Michonne asked her.

"Excuse me?" Adrian asked, still trying to catch her breath.

"I just passed Daryl not too long ago. Was going after Merle after he ffound out I didn't kill him to get away. Also told me not to let anybody follow him." Michonne told her. Adrian then narrowed her eyes at the other woman.

"Try to stop me." was all Adrian said.

Michonne smirked at the red head and slightly stepped to the side. "I wouldn't dream of it." Michonne told her.

Adrian then ran past the woman, giving her no time to change her mind. Michonne had said the Merle told her that he had something he had to do, which Adrian could only figure had to do with The Governor.

Adrian knew that Merle wanted to protect and be with his little brother now that they had finally, against all odds, found each other again. But she didn't think that Merle had thought of the consequences of his actions, should they not work out like he hoped. If Merle got himself killed or bitten, it would destroy Daryl.

Daryl loved the members of the group, sure, they were considered family after everything they had went through, but Merle was his blood brother. Daryl just wanted his brother to be a member of the group and for the group to accept him.

Adrian just hoped that everything worked out okay, and if it didn't, she just hoped she got there in time to help out.

When Adrian finally made it to the location of the meet, everything was too quiet for her liking. Adrian had her bow drawn and ready but only found dead bodies of walkers and humans.

When Adrian finally found Daryl, he was stabbing a walker in the face, multiple times, his crossbow on the ground behind him. Daryl finally threw himself off of the walker and fell onto the ground, crying.

When Adrian looked at the walker again, she dropped her own bow when she realized that the walker that Daryl had just been stabbing, was his older brother, Merle Dixon.

Adrian ran to Daryl and hit the ground on her knees behind him, sliding a little as she did. Adrian threw her arms around him, one around his chest and the other across his shoulders. Daryl fought her at first, but she refuse to let him go.

"Daryl, it's me. It's Adrian. You're safe for right now." she told him, not really knowing if it was her words or her voice that stopped his fighting. Daryl kept crying while looking at the dead body of his older brother.

Adrian knew how he felt, although she wished he didn't have to go through it. Daryl had already lost his brother once, eventually coming to terms with the possibility of his brothers death, only to be told he was alive and well and reunited with him only to find his brother had been turned into a walker and forced to kill him.

After a while, Daryl stopped crying but stayed where he was, looking at his brother's body while Adrian held him. Adrian couldn't wait any longer. "What do you want to do with him, Daryl?" she asked. Daryl said nothing.

"Daryl we can't stay out here any longer. I'm sorry baby, but we have to get going soon. They need us back at the prison. Do you want to leave him or do you want to burn him?" she asked him, hoping that if she pushed the issue, she would get a response.
Daryl just got up, grabbed his bow, and started to walk away. Adrian got up to follow him but stopped and turned back to Merle's body. She couldn't just leave him like that, and Daryl wouldn't want to really leave him like that either.

Adrian went to the car she had seen parked around the corner and looked around inside. Somebody was smiling on her that day because she found not only a box of matches but a half a bottle of booze.

Adrian grabbed both, emptied the bottle out over Merle's body, lit a match and threw on Merle's body.

The body caught fire quickly, which satisfied Adrian, so she finally turned, grabbed her bow off the ground and jogged after Daryl. Once she got close enough, she slowed down to a walk and stayed behind Daryl, knowing he didn't want any company right then.

The next day everybody was helping pack up. Rick had decided that Hershel, Beth, Adrian, and Carl would leave the prison with Judith while the others stayed to fight off The Governor and his people. Carl was angry that he was being made to leave, forgetting that he was just a kid, even if he didn't see himself that way.

Carl wasn't the only one in a mood though. After Adrian and Daryl had gotten back to the prison, everyone knew from their faces alone that Merle wasn't coming back to the prison. Daryl didn't talk to anybody, just went straight up to their cell, bypassing everyone.

Adrian had quietly told them what had happened and everyone agreed to keep quiet about the subject around Daryl. It was about an hour after Daryl had went up before Adrian followed. When she got to their cell, Daryl was laying on top of their bed, facing the wall.

"Daryl?" she said quietly. He said nothing. "I told them what happened. They understand that you need your space. Agreed to give it to you for as long as you need it." she continued. Still, he said nothing.

"Do you want to stay with you tonight?" she tried again. He didn't so much as move, much less answer her. Adrian looked at the floor, closing her eyes, and gave a quiet sigh. Knowing that she wasn't wanted or needed, Adrian decided to go back to her cell until Daryl was ready for her to come back.

She walked into his cell and sat down on his bed. He may not want her there but she wanted to give him comfort anyway. She reached up and gently brushed the hair away from his face a few times. After she was satisfied she leaned over and gave his a kiss on his temple.

"I love you, Daryl Dixon. Don't you ever forget that." she whispered to him as she rested her head on his for a brief second before she got up and left his cell. She didn't hear from him the rest of the night.

The next day they were all packing but Daryl was getting his things organized on the ground beside his bike, which technically used to be his brother's bike. Carol walked over to him and Adrian seen Daryl say something to her. Carol answered whatever Daryl had said then offered him a hand up, which he took.

Adrian didn't understand why he was shutting her out because he was, she knew it. He hadn't said a word to her since before he left to find Merle the day before. He had spoken to the others, Rick, Hershel, Carol.

Adrian didn't understand but she was going to try and be patient until he was ready.

She just hoped it was soon.

They could hear the people from Woodbury attack the prison. They blew up and shot at the guard towers and shot at walkers. When the field was clear they drove through the fence that lead into the prison yard but nobody was around.

Maggie and Glenn were waiting close by to chase them off after they came out of the prison where the others waited to throw flash grenades and smoke bombs at whoever entered the tombs and in the generator room.

Soon enough they could hear people screaming as they came out of the prison. Then they heard shots being fired, which they all assumed was Glenn and Maggie.

"I should be down there." Carl said, mostly to himself.

"Like it or not Carl, you're still just a kid." Adrian told him. He turned on her and glared at her. "I'm not a kid. I can fight." Carl said.

"Yes, you can fight walkers. But you've never fought people before. They're much smarter than walkers are when it comes to attacking you. They don't just stand there while you shoot at them." Adrian said very sternly to him.

"And you're not even thirteen years old yet, so yes, you are still a child no matter how grown up you act or people treat you. You're father may not whip some sense into you, but by God you better remember that I will. You want to act like a grown man, then I'll damn well treat you like one." Adrian growled down at the angry boy before she walked back to the car to check on Judith.

After a while they heard a rustling in the trees and seen a kid no older than seventeen or eighteen come running out of the trees with a shotgun. "Hold it right there son." Hershel said as the boy came to a skidding stop. "Just hand it over. Nice and easy." Hershel said. "Yeah. Sure." the scarred kid said, slowly extending his gun out to Carl.

Carl just looked at the scared boy and then pulled the trigger and shot the boy in the head. Adrian, Hershel, and Beth were all shocked and horrified at what Carl had just done. "Carl, what did you do?" Adrian asked, her voice a tad shaky.

"He was here to kill us. He was one of The Governor's soldiers." Carl said, not understanding why they were looking at him like they were. "

He was here to kill us?" she said pointing at the boy on the ground.

"Do you want to see what I'm going to do to you when I get my hands on you, Carl Grimes?!" she yelled at him stepping forward to get to the young boy.

Hershel held his hand out to stop her. "Not here. This isn't the time. Let's start heading back and check in with the others." Hershel said to them. They all got in the car in silence and drove back to the prison.

When they got there Rick see Beth with Judith and checked the baby over and then spotted Carl. He knelt down to hug Carl but Carl just pushed him away. Carl then told Rick that he was going to Woodbury with the rest of them to finish the job.

"Carl." Rick sighed. "Dad, I did my job. I killed one of The Governor's soldiers." Carl told Rick. Rick just looked at Carl not fully registering what he had just been told.

"You mean that scared kid?" Adrian said from beside Hershel, looking down at Carl in extreme disappointment.

"One of his soldiers? The kid was running away. He just happened to come across us." Hershel told Carl. "No, he drew on us." Carl demanded. Rick just looked down at his son. "

Well I'm sorry you had to to that." Rick told him. "It's what I was there for. I'm going to Woodbury." Carl said before he walked away, the subject settle in his mind.
Well if he thought it was settle just because his father didn't argue, then was going to be sadly mistaken when Adrian locked him in his cell if need to.

Hershel walked up to Rick. "That kid was scared, Rick. He was handing his gun over." Hershel told Rick, still looking at Carl. Rich refused to believe that his son had shot someone in cold blood. "He said he drew." Rick said. Hershel just shook his head no.

Rick still refused to believe it. "Carl said it was in defense.." Rick said to the older man. "I was there. He didn't have to shoot. Had every reason not to." Hershel told him. Rick still refused. "Maybe it looked like that to you-" Rick tried again. "Rick!" Hershel yelled at him.

Rick looked up at Hershel, still not wanting to believe it but beginning to. "I'm tellin' you. He gunned that kid down." Hershel told him. Hershel left Rick with those words.
Rick started to look around, clearly upset. "Something needs to be done, Rick." Adrian said softly to him.

"He doesn't even think he did anything wrong. That kid was scared, running for his life. He had already surrendered but Carl shot him anyways and wasn't sorry about it." she told him.

"I've already told him. If he wants to act like a grown man, I'll treat him like one. But one way or another, he will understand that what he did was wrong. Cold blooded murder is not what we do." she told him as she walked away as well.

Adrian decided to go to Woodbury with Rick, Michonne, Daryl, Glenn, and Maggie. Rick had told Carl that he wasn't going and Adrian was glad. When they were getting ready to load up, Glenn told Rick the he and Maggie were staying behind to keep watch since thy didn't know where The Governor was.

Daryl still wasn't talking to Adrian so she decided to ride in the truck with Rick and Michonne instead of on the back of the bike with Daryl. On their way to Woodbury they came across some trucks in the road and walkers eating on fresh bodies. They killed the few walkers they found and even found someone still alive.

She was one of the women that had attacked the prison but had told them that The Governor had opened fire on them after forcing them to pull over. After he had killed everybody he had just left and she had hidden in the truck until it was safe.

They told her to get in the truck and she told them she could get them into Woodbury. It was after dark when they reached Woodbury. When they got close to the gates somebody started shooting at them so they all ducked behind a car and started to fire back.

When the shooting stopped for a second, Karen the woman they had pick up from the slaughter, called out to someone named Tyreese. The man hollered back, asking if she was okay. After explaining what had happened with The Governor, everyone came out from behind the car, hands up in surrender.

The gates opened to show a large black and and a small, slender black woman. Rick and the man named Tyreese seemed to recognize each other. Adrian had no clue who the man was. "What are you doin' here?" he asked.

"We were coming to finish this. Until we seen what The Governor did." Rick told him. "He really did it? He killed them all?" he asked. "Yeah. Karen told us about Andrea jumpin' the wall to come to the prison. She never made it." Rick told them.

They all went inside and closed the gates behind them. "She might be here." Rick told them as he made his way to where Adrian, Glenn, and Maggie were held. "This is where he held Glenn, Maggie, and Adrian." Rick said after they walked into the building.

"He held people here?" Tyreese asked, shocked. "He did more than hold 'em." Daryl said. They came to the end of a hallway to see a metal door with a large pool of blood that had leaked from the other side. Rick opened the door quickly and they seen the dead body of a man near a chair and a pair of pale feet by the door.

They rushed in to see Andrea, pale and bloody, sitting on the floor, slumped against the wall. Michonne and Rick rushed inside and Michonne commented that Andrea was burning up. Andrea pulled her jacket open to show them the large, bloody bite mark on her neck.

Andrea asked if everyone was okay and Rick reassured her that everyone was fine. Michonne was very upset, crying as she held her dying friend. "No one can do it alone these days." Andrea said to Daryl.

"No one ever could." he answered her. Adrian may not have liked the woman, but she never would have wished this upon the woman.

"I just didn't want anyone to die." Andrea tried to explain. Andrea then said that she wanted to do it herself and after saying it again, Rick gave her his gun. Michonne claimed that she wasn't leaving but the others did, after saying their silent goodbyes, to give them privacy.

Soon enough they all heard the gunshot and the metal hitting the floor. Nobody said a word as they all mourned the passing of their friend. Later they gathered all of the elderly and the few women and children onto a bus and decided to bring them back to the prison.

They made it to the prison not long after dawn and everyone was outside waiting for them. The bus pulled up and everyone started getting out and being shown into the cell block.

Adrian could see Carl say something to Rick, clearly not happy about what was happening but whatever Rick told him shut him up enough to make him walk away.

Adrian looked around at everyone, new group members and old, and gave a small smile.

This was a good way to start something new.