Chapter One: Into the Woods

Flashback

As hard as telling Lori had been, as sick to his stomach watching her tell Carl had made him. Shane would gladly do it a thousand more times if he could turn his car away from the direction he was going now.

As Rick's wife, Lori had been the priority. She had been given the formality of the police escort to the hospital and the official considerations that came with being the spouse of one of the most well respected and one of the most well-liked officers of the King County Police Force. His little sister on the other hand, who most still did not hold the highest opinion of, would not be given the warmest of welcomes. And even Lori hadn't wanted Kelly to be told until something more concrete had been known about Rick's condition.

It had been years since Kelly had gotten her life back on the right track, but she still saw a therapist regularly, attended group meetings, and kept up with outreach programs, Kelly was at a good place in her life and nobody was in a hurry to upset the peace and calm that had settled over the life of Kelly Grimes.

So, against Shane's judgement but going with Lori's wishes he hadn't spoken with Kelly or Mr. Grimes about what had happened with Rick until the doctors at the hospital had given them a realistic update on Rick's condition. And that update was not a good one. Rick was in a coma and there was not a particularly good chance at him coming out of it. The surgery had removed the bullet but the damage had been pretty severe along with the blood loss with how long it had taken to get him from the middle of nowhere to the hospital. Ultimately it was all up to Rick if he lived or died.

Shane knew Rick was a fighter and scrappier than most men. But Rick had also been pretty unhappy these last few months. His marriage with Lori was on the rocks, his father's declining health, his worry over his sister. Rick Grimes was a man on the edge and Shane didn't know why he would want to fight his way back into a life with all of that waiting for him. Shane didn't think he would fight back for all of that.

But Rick was also a better man than he was.

Shane hated, as much as Rick had, that Kelly had hung her hat up closer to Atlanta than King County. She was a good 45 minuet drive from his house when traffic wasn't a nightmare. But she had good reason for doing so, all of her doctors were based in Atlanta and her father's nursing home was also there. She lived in a suburb about 20 minuets outside of Atlanta. Closer than Rick if something happened to their father, none of them figured they would need to be closer to Rick if something happened to him.

He pulled into her driveway and let out a sigh at the open windows of her little house and the loud music that thumped into the thick air. She was having a good day, and he was going to have to ruin it. He gets out of his jeep and walks up front steps, his hands absentmindedly brushing the tops of her cattails that grow in the yellowing pots at the base of the steps. He rings the doorbell, Ricky's barks sound over the top of the loud country music that is coming from the office at the back of the house. Shane doesn't bother ringing the bell again, he knows that Kelly will run around the house for a few seconds straightening a few things up, putting Ricky in the back room and turning the music down before she opens the door.

He looks at the various herbs that rest in red and blue pots on the window ledges of the windows, wilting and yellowing flowers that were no match for the Georgia heat no matter the amount of love Kelly lavished on her plants most of them were doomed to die even as she plated them each spring.

It takes her three minuets before she pulls the door open, her brown hair piled on the top of her head in the unruliest bun he had ever seen, her chest heaving a bit at all the running around she did before she opened the door. "Shane? What are you doing here?" She says wrapping him into a hug. "I wish you would have called or something, I was in the middle of trying to get this stupid volcano to work for the kids. There really isn't a way to get plate tectonics to be interesting for 5th graders. But I will find a way! And if that means wax all over my kitchen floor I will!" She says as she grabs his arm and pulls him through her house, pushing open the bathroom door and letting Ricky out as they walked past it.

Shane knows she not just having a good day, she's having a great day, she's hyper-active, not really paying attention to much around her. She's riding a good high. She's dressed in her work-out clothes and her yoga mat is still in the living room, rolled out in front of the couch. Now he really wishes he didn't have to tell her

"Watch this." She says as she points to an old teacup with some wax and sand in the bottom of it that is sitting in a pan on her stove. "I've broken three stupid cups so far, but this should work this time. I think I'm heating them too fast." She says as she puts the burner on low. Shane looks to the left of the stove and sees the shattered and wax covered remains of three other tea glasses.

"What exactly are you trying to do?"

"Make a volcano. In a different way. I saw this at that conference I went to in Nashville last year. If I can get this to work, I can take it to school and it's something new to show them. It looks really cool when it works." She says as she slowly turns the heat up.

The air in the kitchen is surprisingly tense and Shane is actually curious to see what has Kelly this excited and this willing to destroy her dishes. She's staring intently at the glass in the pan, her leg bouncing a little with each second that passes, muttering at it under her breath. "I swear either bubble or break you dumb thing!" she yells at the cup. Then a few seconds later the blue wax starts to bubble up and out of the sand and it looks like a mini volcano in a cup. Kelly yells in excitement as she turns the heat off and jumps around her kitchen.

Shane doesn't think it was that impressive, but at the same time he wasn't a 10-year-old or a teacher who had broken three different cups trying to get the project to work, so maybe it was lost on him. But Kelly was happy and he returned her embrace as she jumped onto him yelling her excitement. "I knew it, I knew it, I freaking knew it!" She says as she squeezes him tight in her joy. She lets him go with a huge smile on her face. She turns and looks at her kitchen and lets out a sigh. "Now I have to clean this mess up." She walks over to her trash can and sets the lid on the counter and carefully tosses the broken cups into the trash.

"Now that I have taught you the joys of trial and error, what brings you out to my neck of the woods?" Kelly asks looking at Shane.

"I needed to tell you something."

"And by that tone and stance it's something not too good." Kelly says quickly, she sets the trash can on the ground, the larger glass bits are gone, but the wax is stuck on the counter now, she digs under her counter for the cleaning supplies but she knows she needs hot water to get the wax melted enough to really clean it off. So, as she stands up, she turns on the hot water and wets the sponge.

"Kelly, I know that you're all bouncy right now but I need you to focus. Can you do that for me?"

"I'm focused. I can clean and listen at the same time." She says, but Shane walks over to her, pulls all the cleaning stuff from her hands, turns off the sink and waits until she's still and looking at him.

"Rick got hurt today."

"Okay?" Kelly asks confused, Rick getting hurt wasn't exactly new.

"We got a call, some bad information. He was shot Kelly. He's in pretty bad shape."

"What…. When….?"

"This afternoon. I told Lori first, its protocol, I had too. They operated, got the bullet out. He's in a coma."

"And you're waiting until tonight to tell me why?"

"We wanted to wait until we knew…"

"You waited to tell me about my brother? He's in the hospital and you waited to tell me?"

"Kelly, I wanted to tell you but it was Lori's call. I had to wait. You know that."

Kelly quickly walks away from Shane and walks up the steps to her room, Shane on her heels. "Where are you going?"

"To see my brother, since none of you bothered to tell me when it mattered." Kelly says as she pulls her closet door open.

"Visiting hours are over, you can't see him tonight."

"And whose fault is that I wonder?"

"I wanted to tell you, I did. But there was nothing you could do. You had work and an appointment with Dr. Dryer-."

"Who would have understood if I canceled because my brother had been shot Shane!" Kelly yells as she pulls a clean shirt from the closet and slams the door closed. "My God, you don't get it! I'm not crazy! I'm not going to fall apart if I miss one session! Rick needed me and you kept me from him. I was here worrying about a damn sand volcano when Rick could have been dying! What kind of a sister does that make me?"

"We did it for you. You couldn't have helped him anyway. It was better for everyone if you weren't there."

"Better for who? Better for Lori? Or those pricks at the station who still blame me for you both getting arrested and putting a big PR stain on their golden boys? I didn't ask you and Rick to barge in a beat a man black and blue. I'm not the one who slapped the cuffs on you two."

"What were we supposed to do? You dropped off the face of the damn earth? We hadn't heard from you in months! You stopped talking to us, you didn't come home for Christmas, New Years, call on Rick's birthday. We were worried about you. Then we walk in and you're being stomped on like a piece of trash, we weren't just going to let that go. I'm not sorry for what Rick did and hell if I ever see anyone doing it again, I'll just shoot them next time."

Kelly rubs at her face and takes a deep breath, before walking to the dresser that held her pants and pulled out a pair of jeans. King County PD had been a bigger nightmare than she was expecting when she tried to move on with her life. Yes, she understood that two of their officers being arrested on assault charges was not the best image but it wasn't like she had called Rick and Shane up and asked them to beat Phillip up. Then everything had gone to trial and it had been a very public mess. Shane and Rick had both been given some community service hours and they were back to work, but the PR had been a mess and the main office had been pretty happy to put as much distance between Kelly and the boys as possible. When Rick had been promoted to Sheriff's Deputy, they had even cropped her out of the picture they had put in the paper.

"Shane. I get that I screwed up okay. I do. I wish that I could take it all back. I hate everything I did when I was with him, everything I put you all through when I was with him. I hate that I drug you and Rick into that mess. It's a mess I'm cleaning up and I will always be cleaning up. But it's my mess. It stopped being your mess when the trial ended. You and Rick did your community service, you're back on the force, and that's you and King County PD done. But Rick is my brother. And right now, I am going to King County Regional to see my brother regardless of what anyone wants." Kelly tosses the jeans on the bed and opens her underwear drawer. "Now unless you want to see me naked you can leave."

"Visiting hours are over Kelly, you can't see him now. At least wait until tomorrow and I'll drive you in myself."

"Shane. I need to see Rick."

"They won't let you see him tonight. You might as well just stay here."

Kelly played with the soft fabric that rested inside the drawer as she tried to calm her racing heart from both the situation and the fight she had just had.

"Have you seen him?"

"Yes, he looks well enough, all things considered."

"And Carl and Lori?"

"They're okay. They'll be there tomorrow. Lori wanted to come with me to tell you, but I said I would tell you, she needed to get Carl home."

"Does dad know?"

"Unless Lori told him, I don't think so."

"Is my brother going to die Shane?"

"I don't know."

She closes the drawer the tries to keep her breathing even, in her nose, out her mouth, but she knows she is failing as her ears start to ring and Shane crosses the room and pulls her against his chest as she breaks down, her previous joy in her kitchen gone as she collapses against him and cries into his chest. Shane wraps his arms tight around her and sits down on her bed and pulls her tight against him. Ricky jumps up behind her and rest his head on her lap and lets out a whimper as he senses her distress. Shane knows he made the right choice when he tossed his overnight bag in the jeep as he left his house earlier that night. Kelly didn't need to be left alone tonight. When she swung from one extreme to another like this she had trouble sleeping and trouble getting her thoughts back to normal. And if they were going to spend the next day in the hospital with Rick she would need all the help she could get.

*/*/*/*/*/*

Morning crept over the still recovering streets of Alexandria. It had been several weeks since the walker attack and while things were improving and the walls were back up, there was still a lot of work to do. Daryl sat on the bed and was pulling his boots on and he smiled as a pair of arms wrap around his middle and pull him backwards to the bed. "How can you make the most annoying sounds when I'm awake but be oddly quiet when I'm sleeping?"

"You can sleep through anything." He grunts as he shifts his upper body and presses a kiss to Kelly's forehead. "Go back to sleep"

"You can stay a bit longer too."

"Sorry, going out with Rick."

"You can be a bit late; he won't care." I pout, trying to tug him further back on the bed. Daryl refusing to budge anymore.

"He's already awake, I heard him yelling at Carl a moment ago."

"He's always yelling at Carl. Just a few more minuets." I grumble says as I shift out from under the blankets to get a better grip on him and give him a proper kiss.

"You're being ridiculous this morning."

"Am not. Besides, I checked the calendar last night, it's time to try again sir. No time like the present."

"We can try when your brother won't be knocking on the door. I'm good but not that good. You just relax, I'll be back before you know it."

Daryl pulls away from me with a smile and grabs his gun and the spare backpack that rests on the floor by the dresser before tossing it over his shoulder. I toss the blankets back and grab my hoodie that rested on the floor from where it was tossed last night and I walk over to Daryl and pull him into another hug "Please be careful out there."

"Always am."

"I know, just after those creeps on the bikes…."

"That was weeks ago, if anything was going to come from that I think it would have by now."

"I know, but it still makes me nervous. And that wolf guy. There are still dangerous people and I hate when you go out there. Plus, you and Rick have this horrible talent for attracting trouble."

"Stop talking about me." Rick yells through the door as he walks past it, kicking it with his foot as he goes by.

"See what you did. Now he's going to make me listen to his crap music all the way to wherever the hell we're going." Daryl says as he pulls open the bedroom door.

We follow Rick down the stairs and I kiss Daryl goodbye as he heads out to meet Denise to get the medical list and Rick passes Judith to me and I bounce her a little on my hip and brush her curls from her face as he fills the water bottles and grabs two packs of jerky. "What are you going to do today?" He says looking at me as he packs his bag.

"Gonna grab Merle and go herb hunting. I've done a lot of reading on plants and I think I can get us several good ones. I miss it. I was so good at it in Georgia and I want to be good at it here. It's a bit late in the year but I think I can still do fairly well."

"Just be careful. I think it will do Merle good to get out anyway."

"I think it will do the poor women of this place well to get him away from them. You know he has been trying to get with poor Dessa?"

"That poor woman."

"Yeah. I tried to get him to go bark up Angie's tree, at least she was actually interested in him, but I think he only wants the ones that don't want him."

"Well, you have fun with all of that." Rick says as he walks around the kitchen island, kissing Judith's forehead and giving my shoulder a reassuring squeeze then he is out the door as well leaving me and Judith alone in the kitchen. I look at Judith and smile at my little niece who is growing like a weed and I press a kiss to her forehead as well before putting her in her highchair. I dug in the cabinets for some food as I warmed the water on the stove.

Life had settled in Alexandria. It hadn't been easy and once again Rick was in charge and Daryl was second-in-command of sorts. The walker attack had seemed to prove Rick's half-crazed ramblings about how the community was soft and ill prepared for any real threats and when Deanna had died that had been that. But it wasn't like the prison, in a way this was more demanding. Alexandria was bigger, had more demands, was more hazardous too. Spencer was still an annoying fly that had to be batted down every few days it seemed. But for the most part we were happy. Overall, most hadn't been lost in the attack and everything had been rebuilt rather quickly.

Daryl and I had started trying to restart our family but with no luck so far, which surprised me. We had zero trouble conceiving Shayla considering we hadn't been trying, she just happened. So, I just expected it to happen on our first try, but here we were two months into trying and no luck. Denise said not to worry and just relax, but it was a little frustrating to be honest. Daryl was more optimistic about the whole thing and was far more relaxed about it than I was. He said I was putting too much pressure on myself about it, and he was probably right.

Merle sauntered into the kitchen not long after I pulled Judith's shirt from her body. She was an independent little thing and liked to feed herself, which I was okay with, but why make more laundry than needed, so she often ate without a shirt on.

"What's for breakfast?" He says loudly as he plops down at the bar and pokes his finger at Judith's tummy making her giggle around her oatmeal.

"She is having oatmeal; I am having coffee."

"What am I having?"

"What are you cooking?" I say as I take a drink from my cup

"You're really going to do me that way?"

"I made you breakfast yesterday."

"And it was so good I figured you could do it again."

"Merle, you're an idiot."

"Now that wasn't very nice. Tell your mean Aunt Kelly she's mean" Merle says to Judith, who just ignored him as she shoves a messy spoon of oatmeal into her mouth.

"I'll make you a deal, I'll make you something if you come with me to the woods."

"What do you want to do in the woods?"

"If your brother can go play in the woods with my brother, I think it's only fair that we can go play in the woods."

"They're in the woods for a reason."

"And we will be too. I want to go find some plants. Mainly coltsfoot. All the books say this is the best time of year to find it and that it makes great cough medicine and as a treatment for asthma."

"You and your stupid plants."

"You were pretty grateful for my stupid plants at the prison when you had all those sinus infections. Plus, herbs can be found basically anywhere and all food can be improved with just a bit of seasoning. Wild onions and mushrooms are always easy to find."

"And you'll make me breakfast if I agree to this stupid scavenger hunt?"

"Yep, I'll make you anything but pancakes."

"You won't make me pancakes?"

"I'm not making that big of a mess for one person, no pancakes."

"Fine, you make me breakfast and we'll go to the woods Little Red."

*/*/*/*/*/*

Merle hadn't exactly been thrilled when the breakfast I had sat in front of him had been a bowl of oatmeal, but I had taken pity on the man and spiced it up a bit with some cinnamon and syrup, but Merle still wasn't happy. He couldn't complain too much since their agreement had just been that Kelly had to make him breakfast, the level of that breakfast had not been specified.

"Can you finish feeding her and then take her over to Beth? I'm gonna go see Shayla and I'll met you by the gate?"

"Sure. But don't be exptecting me to clean all that mess up." He says looking at the grey, globby mess that was all over Shayla and the highchair.

"Just run a wet cloth over her, put her shirt back on and I'll clean it all up when we get back."

"Tell Shayla I said hi."

There was a memorial section by the church and Daryl and I had made a very small section of it into a memorial corner for our daughter. We made a small wooden fence that we painted white and planted wildflowers and after a few months and some help from a rather crafty member of the community a plastic bear was created that had Shayla's name carved into it that rested in the middle of the plot of land. Their sweet baby rested on the side of the road in a different state, but this way we felt like we could properly mourn and remember her. I had kept her clothes after she had passed because items like that were always useful when the world was over, so they had buried one of her blankets and outfits when they decided to set this up. I went to see the memorial every day, sat on the grass and remembered my sweet baby who deserved a better life than the short one she had lived.

I wanted to build a better one. The world Rick had talked about at the CDC all those years ago, the one he talked about to the Governor before he cut Hershel's head off, the one they were trying to build in Alexandria. I didn't think it was possible before, but now I wanted to help him build it. If I could even play a small part in making it a reality, when it was my time to go and I finally saw my daughter again I could do it with pride.

I came here everyday and just talked or reminisced or sometimes I would say nothing. It was a say nothing type of morning.

I didn't spend a lot of time in the woods lately, I had never been the member of the group to go on runs and I still had the worst aim when it came to firing a gun or shooting a bow or throwing a knife. I was decent if I had to stab a walker up close or throw a punch to a person. So I was asked to go out on occasion to keep that skill up. Hand to hand was more my forte surprisingly enough, but I wasn't very strong just fast, so everyone had agreed that I needed to avoid all fights if I could. Which is why everywhere I went I typically had Rick, Daryl or Merle with me. I did enjoyed getting out though, the crisp air wasn't as muggy this far north and I found myself snagging a few unfamiliar plants to compare to the books back home hoping to figure out what they were. Merle was happy getting out too even though he would never admit it. He didn't get nearly as nutty as Daryl did when stuck inside for too long, but even he had his limits and soon Merle had a few rabbits slung over his shoulder as they walked.

"See, you're happy you came out."

"Shut up, no one likes a know it all."

"I'm just being honest."

"You found your stupid plant yet?"

"No, but I found a few others I was looking for. We have a few more hours until we need to go back if you don't mind staying out here longer."

"We can stay out a big longer, the meat will last a bit without needing tending too." We walk in a comfortable silence before Merle clears his throat and glances over at me when I stop and crouch down to look at a patch of bright yellow flowers trying to decide if they are what I was looking for.

"How are you doing?"

"What?" I ask, looking up at Merle in some confusion

"Don't play dumb, it don't suit you. After all the shit that went down. That stupid idiot drug you all over Alexandria while walkers were wondering around, just making sure you're actually doing okay. Not the bs you tell everyone else so they let you breathe."

"I'm okay, honest, yeah, that guy was a nut. I mean, who carves letters into their foreheads? But if I can handle all that by myself, I think I can handle anything." I say, brushing off his concern. As scary as my time with Owen had been, I had felt oddly connected to him by the time he died. I sometimes wondered what would have happened if he would have made it out of the attack in one piece.

"You know someone has to make sure you're actually being honest."

"And who would have thought that person would be you?"

"I've seen you naked, it's the least I can do."

"It was one time Merle, you were dying! Are you ever going to let that go?" I say as I stand up and cross my arms, giving him a glare. He brought that up all the time just to annoy me.

"Nope, was the best sight a dying man could ever see." He says with a wink before he walks past me pulling his bow up to his face and pointing at some poor animal that I didn't see that he clearly did.

I just roll my eyes and crouch down slightly so my steps are not so loud as I follow after Merle as we stalk whatever he saw. Merle truly was my best friend and it was so funny in my mind to think about. He read me so well, always took my side, even over Daryl's most of the time. But he also stepped in when I had started going off the deep end.

I had been so broken after leaving Georgia. Losing Shayla and all that happened in Alexandra when we first arrived had torn all sense of who I was as a person from me. At first, I had just agreed to having another baby because it was what Daryl had wanted, I had seen it in him just how much he wanted another and I just wanted him to be happy. I felt that I owed him anything he wanted and he had wanted a baby. Merle had called me on that.

Daryl had been so happy the morning that I told him I wanted to try, then Rick had attacked Pete in the street, I ended up elbowed in the face, and all hell had broken loose and Merle and I ended up having a pretty blunt heart to heart talk about everything.

But now I had a sense of myself back. I felt like Kelly again. I was back to doing things that made me happy. I was looking for plants and herbs, cooking for my family, I knew my weaknesses but I also knew my strengths and I didn't want to be that lost and confused woman I had been after Terminus, after the hospital, after Shayla.

Merle and I ended up getting back into Alexandria later than we meant to, but we had beat Rick and Daryl back. I sent Carl around to ask their main group who wanted to join them for dinner, this ended up being Merle, Abraham, Michonne, Carl, Rosita, Eugene and little Judith. With all of us working different guard shifts, going on runs, working the garden plots or just the various jobs we all had, most of the time we all weren't able to get together in a group at once anymore. So, we took any time we had to spend any time together we had. I spent most of the time with Maggie at the gardens, time with Glenn in the supply rooms, just squeezed out the time we could whenever we could.

"I really hope Rick and Daryl find something good" Rosita says as she sets the bowls around the table.

"I do too, rations are low. Dragging Merle into the woods today was pretty helpful. At least we all get some real meat today." I say as I stirs the rabbit meat over the stove, it was easier to turn it into a soup this late in the evening. Merle and Abraham were in the living room playing cards with Carl, poker by the sounds of it while Michonne was changing Judith's diaper upstairs.

"I still can't believe you talked Eric into eating opossum."

"It's really not that bad, cook it right and it's pretty good. Plus, they drew the short straw in the garage so they get the rodent, had to make sure they didn't waste it. Besides, it's not the worst thing I've seen someone eat. There was one time we busted into this house and Daryl shot an owl then he just cut it open and ate it. Raw. Blood and feathers and all. In front of us all."

"Ew. Seriously?"

"Yep. If we weren't already miserable, I probably would have punched him and then barfed on his shoes."

"That is so gross. Even on our worse day we never are raw bird."

"He was the only one who ever did that. He offered me a bite, but I obviously turned him down."

"I'm very glad you did, just…a raw bird. Yuck."

"What's the oddest thing you ever ate?"

"Before or after?"

"Both?"

"Before has to have been when I was in the army and we had these MREs and it was supposed to be meatballs with BBQ sauce and let's just say that what I bit into was not meatballs with BBQ sauce. It was gray and chewy and there was something in it. And like a good friend I passed it around to all the guys in my unit. After I was in Texas with a group and we ate rats."

"Rats?"

"Yep. We had some Maplewood woods chips and a smoker and we smoked some rats." She says with a huge smile on her face trying to keep her laughs in.

"Wow, Maplewood smoked rats? I have to say that is a first."

"Don't knock it until you try it."

"Find some Maplewood chips and a smoker and we'll have a party." I say as I pull the rabbit stew off the heat and calls everyone into the kitchen.

*/*/*/*/*/*

Later that night I was in bed waiting on Daryl to get home, I hated when he was gone later into the night and I almost jumped out of my skin when the bedroom door opened then closed and the closet light turned on as Daryl came in to change his clothes. He was grunting and mumbling under his breath as he shuffled about the room, he was obviously aggravated but trying not to wake her up. Apparently, the run didn't go well. I sat up on the bed and look up at him when he came out of the closet dressed in just his sweatpants. "Bad day honey?"

"Didn't meant to wake you."

"It's okay. What happened?"

"Ran into some lunatic on the road."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Rick is too. Dude calls himself Jesus. Nutcase. We found a truck, lots of supplies, then this Jesus prick steals it, we run after it, get it back, he pulls some ninja crap, hops on the roof, get him off the damn roof, we chase him down, truck ends up in a pond, lost all the supplies and now he's locked up and we wasted a whole day out there. Your brother and his stupid law of averages." He finishes with a growl as he plops down on the bed roughly running his hands through his hair.

Daryl tells his whole story in a broken away that I have a hard time actually following, but I picked out the main bits that matter, that being that they found a random guy that is in the lockdown house and that they brought back no supplies. I crawl out from under the blankets and wraps my arms around his shoulders and press a kiss to his cheek. "I'm sorry you had a bad day. Merle and I didn't quite strike out that bad. He got some game for everyone in the community for tonight and I got some plants. There is some rabbit stew in the kitchen. Want me to get you a bowl?"

"Nah, Rick packed snacks for the road."

"He packed jerky; jerky is not a meal."

"We also had some of the food from the truck before we sent it into the pond. I'm good. Found some soda too. Was a request from the doc, managed to save one can for her. I'm good."

"Your shoulder hurt? You getting into scraps with our Lord can't be easy on it?" I say with a smile, trying to figure out why anyone would go around with a name like that.

"This guy is crazy, pulling shit like that. Said his name was freaking Paul or something like that, but his friends called him Jesus."

"Does he look like Jesus?"

"I don't know. Why are so interested?"

"Just trying to figure out how one guy managed to give you and my brother such a hard time today?" I say as I lean off of him and reach into the side of the bed to where we keep our closely guarded collection of lotion bottles. Anytime Daryl and I go out and lotion in any form is spotted we grab a bottle for this purpose. His shoulder had been a never ending source of discomfort for the man since I had known him and I always do what I can to help him.

"Because he's a prick." He says with a moan as I start rubbing his shoulder with familiar strokes of my hands. I try to stick with less floral smells, but beggars can't be choosers and if he has to smell like a damn rosebush so his shoulder won't hurt in the morning he will. "The hell you and Merle doing in the woods today?"

"I went to find some flowers. See if I can get a good stash of dried herbs going before the winter months. Virginia has some pretty cool medicinal plants that I've been reading about and I since you took my brother into the woods, I took yours to the woods."

"Technically your brother took me to the sorghum store, not the woods. I would have preferred the woods. Less ninja assholes in the woods." Daryl grunts as he picks at his nails.

"Merle had fun. Got a lot of game and then Aaron and Eric drew the short straw and they took the opossum home tonight."

"Seriously?"

"Yep, it was awesome, should have seen Eric's face. I had to convince him that he wouldn't die if he ate the stupid thing. Gave him some of the mushrooms and onions I found and traded some potatoes for corn and I'm excited to talk to them tomorrow to make sure they didn't contract rabies."

"And all we have is rabbit stew?"

"We have amazing, fully loaded rabbit stew thank you very much. I would have made bread but didn't have time. Starving hyenas that you lot are."

"I wasn't even here."

"You wouldn't have been any better if you were."

"Do we even have the stuff to make bread?"

"Kinda. I could have made something that would have been bread like." I say as I rub the last knot out of Daryl's shoulder and rub the rest of the lotion into the rest of his back. "There, feel better?"

Daryl rolls his shoulder out a few times and rolls his neck as well, testing everything out before spinning around and pushing me back into the bed and looming over me with a smile.

"I think you did a wonderful job. In fact, I did promise you a little something from this morning before your brother rudely kicked at our door."

*/*/*/*/*/*

Much later that night I woke up with a headache clawing behind my eyes. I slowly push Daryl's arm from around my middle and pull my pajama pants and hoodie on and make my way down the stairs into the kitchen. I take down a glass and filled it with water, drinking the whole things in one go before filling it up again. Pain reliver was not kept in the houses right now as we were running low and it was only given out by Denise so I would have to power through this stupid thing, something I had been doing more than I would like to admit. It was my stupid sinuses and I was afraid that this new part of the country that they called home meant I had new allergies that my body didn't like and it wasn't like I could just take some Zyrtec and move on with my day. I turn on the hot water and duck under the sink to get a towel intending to make a steam funnel for my nose. When I popped back up from the counter there was a man that I had never seen before in the kitchen, this made me jump sky high and reach for the knife set that rested by the stove. When I turn back from the knives the man had his hands up.

"Who the hell are you?" I demand in a squeaky voice, knowing I was in no way intimidating in my pajamas and red-rimmed eyes.

The man literally had not been there a second ago when I dropped behind the counter to get the damn towel. Where had he come from?

"I'm Jesus, Rick and Daryl met me on the road today. They brought me here. I need to speak with Rick." He said in a calm voice, a calm smile on his face. Just relaxed like he hadn't been brought back to a strange place and tied up and locked into a house that I knew was guarded.

"Ninja shit. Right." I mutter as I set the knife down, rubbing at my forehead. Jesus tiled his head to the side at my words and now I got why Daryl had been so frustrated when he had gotten back.

"Just, go sit at the table, I'll go get him, and for the love of god if you just poof up behind me I might scream."

"I will wait here." He walks over to the table and sits. Not a sound. Not even when he pulls the chair out. For a second I just stare at him. Not a sound from his big boots as he crossed the floor, as he sat on the wood chairs, it was creepy. Shaking my head, I turn the hot water off and make my way up the stairs as I wish I had never gotten out of bed. I knock on Rick's door, not wanting to knock too loud since Carl was still sleeping and Judith's room was right next to his as well. After a few seconds I knock again. When I don't get an answer after knocking a third time, I just push the door open.

"Rick, you will never guess- OH MY GOD!" I can't help the scream that comes from my mouth as I see Rick and Michonne naked and tangled on his bed. I turn away and run out the door as fast as I possibly can, pulling the door shut behind me. My hands are over my eyes and I'm squeezing them tight. I must have been a bit louder than I meant to be, and then everything just seems to come crashing down very quickly after that. Jesus apparently thought something was wrong as he, silently, runs up the stairs as Daryl and Carl bust out of their rooms, guns in their hands, a few moments later, guess someone figured out Jesus flew the coup because Glenn, Maggie, and Abraham came in with their guns, then Rick and Michonne came out of their room quickly pulling on clothes.

Even with all the guns on Jesus, his eyes were calm, all eyes were looking at me since I had been the one to yell and I probably looked like an absolute shocked mess. My headache was worse now than it was. I just lowered my hand and looked at the man who poofed into the kitchen and ruined my night. "This is all your fault." I say giving him a glare. And as much as I didn't like when my niece cried. I was pretty happy this time when she did since it gave me a chance to point at Jesus as I headed towards Judith's room. "He poofed into the kitchen when I was getting water and said he wanted to talk to you. And Rick, I did try to knock first. You didn't answer." I say as I go into Judith's room, closing the door behind me.

Well, there it is. The first chapter of Kelly's newest adventure. Like always we are going to start off a bit slow but we will pick up fairly quickly in the next few chapters.

I always enjoy comments, helpful criticism, and tolerance for all the typos in this.

If I have enough interest in this I will continue. This is kinda just casting the line back out and seeing if anyone is still interested in this.

Thank you all for reading!

Maxy