Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead. I also have no claim on any pop culture references that I may use throughout my writings. I only own my OCs. Enjoy the read.

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~213 ~ 3589

Isabell awoke from her light sleep with a start. She took a few deep breaths trying to control her heart rate. Isabell couldn't remember what startled her enough to wake her, but she thought it was bad. It scared her. Isabell swallowed the lump in her throat and tried to wipe the sweat from her forehead. Doing this, only made her realize her hands were just as sweaty. Isabell groaned, reaching for a dirty shirt to do the job.

The blonde looked out the screen window of the tent. Daryl had been back to their camp. Isabell only guessed by the clothesline that had a few dead animals hanging from it. She also noticed what looked to be a string that held ears. Isabell bit her lip, remembering the necklace he wore coming back from his most dangerous search for Sophia.

Not seeing Daryl around the camp, Isabell laid back down onto her cot. She silently worried about everyone in the camp.

They weren't quite sure about what Hershel was planning on doing. Would he let them stay or force their group off of his property. Without the protection and the resources that the farm provided, the group would always be in danger. Even with Rick, Daryl, T-Dog, Shane, and herself looking after the group, they'd always be in the midst of a threat.

Isabell sat up slowly as she heard footsteps headed in her direction. She made out Carol's figure through the dark as she made her way to their small camp. Isabell rolled onto her side, feigning sleep.

Carol paused at the tent, looking in. She saw Isabell laying on the cot. Carol turned away, going deeper into camp.

Isabell sat up slightly to watch Carol. She wondered what the other woman was doing out their way.

Carol approached the clothesline full of the animals Daryl had collected on his hunts. She stopped at the necklace of ears, and backed away slowly, disgusted by the sight. Carol was shaking her head at the animals.

Daryl arrived back to camp in that second and approached Carol from behind her. "What are you doin'?"

Carol turned around quickly, frightened by his sudden presence. "God." She took a step back away from him. Carol recovered. "I'm keepin' an eye on you and Isabell."

Daryl scoffed. "Ain't you a peach." He spat.

"I'm not gonna let you pull away or pull Isabell away from these people." Carol promised, "You both have more than earned your place."

"If you spent half yer time mindin' yer daughter's business instead of stickin' yer nose in everybody else's, she'd still be alive."

Carol stood in front of him, unable to move. "Go ahead." She said, urging him to continue.

"Go ahead and what?" Daryl questioned harshly. He shook his head.

Isabell got out of the tent, sensing Daryl's anger from across the camp.

"I mean, just go!" Daryl waved his arms towards the white house. "I don't want you here!"

Isabell quickly put herself between Daryl and Carol. She placed a hand on his chest to push him away from Carol.

Daryl pushed Isabell's hand away and put himself back in Carol's face, pointing at her. "Yer a real piece of work, lady. What? Are you gonna make this about my daddy or some crap like that?"

"Daryl, stop." Isabell ordered, seeing how upset both he and Carol were.

Daryl scoffed. "Man, you know jack. Yer afraid." He stressed. "Yer afraid 'cause yer all alone. Ya got no husband, no daughter. You don't know what to do with yerself."

"Daryl!" Isabell exclaimed since she was shocked by his unwarranted comment. She turned to Carol. "Carol, really, you just need to go. You shouldn't be here."

Carol didn't budge, and stood her ground in the spot.

"You ain't my problem!" Daryl shouted angrily. "Sophia wasn't mine to look after! All you had ta do was keep an eye on her!"

Carol licked her lips and took a deep breath, preparing herself for her next words. "Harley was yours, though."

Daryl squinted his eyes at Carol, processing what she had said.

"Harley was yours and you lost her, too!" Carol reminded. "That's what this is really about, isn't it?"

Daryl lifted his hand as if to hit Carol.

Isabell acted quickly to stop him, and she caught his wrist. Her interfering didn't stop Carol from flinching at the act. Isabell threw Daryl's hand from her grasp and turned to Carol. "Goddammit, Carol! Just leave!" Isabell shouted. "You're making things worse than they are."

Daryl took a step away from the women, squaring his shoulder and clenching his jaw.

Isabell took a deep breath, watching Carol. "Just go. Please." The blonde begged.

Carol studied Daryl, realizing that Isabell was right. She didn't need to be there. Carol relented, nodding her head. She made her way back to the house in silent peace.

Isabell and Daryl kept to their same spots for a few moments, breathing deeply and collecting themselves. Someone else arguing in Harley's defense seemed to do a number on them.

Knowing Daryl would need time and space, Isabell decided she would follow Carol and retreat to the house. She calmed her nerves and spoke. "I'm, uh — I'm gonna go check on the others."

Daryl nodded. "Do whatcha want. I'm hittin' the sack." Leaving her side, Daryl moved into their tent without another word.

Isabell sighed, pushing her hair out of her face. She was frustrated in the moment, but she made her way towards the main house. Upon arriving, Isabell knocked quietly on the screen door before pushing it open. It was late, and she didn't want to cause much of a fuss. Isabell looked around the area.

Shane was standing up from the small couch in the room to Isabell's left.

Isabell's demeanor fell. "Shane." She greeted with a harsh tone.

Shane paused, hearing her voice before seeing her. He turned towards the foyer. "Iz." He said. "Thought you and Daryl high-tailed it outta here."

Isabell shook her head. "We wouldn't leave just 'cause things look a little ugly right now." She laughed once. "Someone's gotta be sane enough to watch over the people here."

Shane glared down at Isabell before walking away while shaking his head.

Isabell ignored him and took a few steps into the same room as Lori. She said hello to Lori and took in her beat-up appearance. "Oh, man you look like shit."

Lori furrowed her brow confused by Isabell's outburst. "Thanks?" She said, pushing herself off of the couch.

"I — I'm sorry." Isabell stuttered, quickly trying to correct herself. "I have no filter when I'm not getting any sleep." She confessed, getting a nod in reply. "Can I, uh, can I ask what happened?" Isabell questioned, looking in the direction that Shane disappeared in. She was quietly wondering if it was Shane that had hurt her.

Lori noticed and instantly corrected Isabell. "No, not Shane." She said quickly. "I was stupid. Went out to look for Rick. I got into a car accident."

"Shit. Are you okay?" Isabell asked.

"Yeah. I'm okay."

"I'm sorry." Isabell apologized. "Daryl and I should've — "

"You couldn't have done anything." Lori admitted. "I'm okay, and nothing feels wrong." Lori said with a hand on her stomach. "I think we're both okay."

"Both?" Isabell asked, eyeing Lori's stomach.

Lori smiled knowingly. "I know you're not stupid, Isabell. You noticed things when they happen around here. You're very intuitive."

"I — I just pay attention." She said quickly, stumbling for words. "And I — I knew you were pregnant. But then Maggie brought back those pills from her run with Glenn."

"Couldn't go through with it." Lori shrugged.

Isabell nodded, still in shock. "Yeah, I get that." The girl finally took her eyes off of Lori's stomach and shook her head out of her confusion. "Why. I get why. But I, uh, I came here — to check on — on Beth."

Lori nodded. "She's in there." She said, pointing to the room they kept Carl in while he was recovering from his gunshot wound. "She's with Maggie."

"Thanks." Isabell said, going to the door slowly. She knocked quietly before opening the door. Isabell's eyes first landed on Maggie with a small smile and then onto Beth. She barely believed what was in front of her.

The bright-eyed young girl had eyes like stone now. Beth lay motionless in the bed.

Isabell let out a sad, staggered breath. She bit her lip, looking to Maggie. "Is she okay?"

Maggie nodded. "We think so. Patricia and I don't know much, so we're just waiting on my dad to be sure." She looked down at Beth. "He's still not back."

"What happened to her?"

"After the barn, she just collapsed." Maggie was unsure why it really happened though. She was shaking her head and shrugging. "It was too much for her, seeing Shawn. Mom grabbed at her. Almost bit her."

"You know that it wasn't her, right?" Isabell asked carefully, not knowing how Maggie felt about the walkers.

"I know." Maggie nodded. "I came to that. But Beth…. She still believed that Daddy would fix her."

Isabell sighed, nodded, and looked around the room. "Where's Glenn?"

"He went with Rick. To get my dad."

Isabell smiled. "Of course he did."

"What do you mean?" Maggie asked with furrowed brows.

"I mean, that the kid loves you, Mags." She said with a laugh.

Maggie shook her head, not believing it. "He hasn't said."

"Maybe not. But I know he does. He might be scared or somethin'. Just ain't got the balls." Isabell joked. "Hell, it took me years to tell Daryl I loved him. Even before I knew that I loved him, I loved him. I think he knew it, too." Isabell admitted. "Shit's crazy like that."

Maggie turned her attention from Isabell back to Beth. "I hope they come back soon."

Isabell nodded. "They will." She promised.

! #$# !

After having spent twenty more minutes keeping Maggie company, Isabell made her choice to head back to her own camp. She entered the tent, eyeing Daryl's cot, trying to see if he was awake.

Daryl turned his head at the sound of Isabell entering the tent. He held up a couple fingers in a silent hello.

Isabell nodded and flopped down onto her cot. She let out a long, tired breath. "If Rick and the others aren't back tomorrow, you need to go help get them back."

"'Nd why the hell would I do that?"

Isabell turned her head to Daryl. "Beth is really bad. She's in shock, catatonic. They don't know what to do without Hershel. She needs the old man. And Lori needs Rick. Maggie needs Glenn."

"What does that matter?" Daryl asked.

"Just does, okay?" Isabell stressed, annoyed. She wished that he could get her sympathy for the new couple. Being apart from each other was hard, especially in a stressful time. "You need ta go." Isabell rubbed her hand on her forehead, trying to rid herself of the growing headache.

"Izzy." Daryl called, getting her attention. "Come over here."

"Why?"

"Will ya just do it?"

Isabell groaned and rolled off her cot to join Daryl on his. She laid next to him on the small cot, reluctantly. Isabell stayed as much to one side as possible with her arms folded over her chest.

"Dammit, Iz, lighten up." Daryl insisted. "I'll go."

"What?"

"I'll go find the sheriff. If it'll make ya like me again, I'll go get him."

Isabell sighed and relaxed against Daryl's side. "It's not just that." She admitted. "Yeah, they need to come back, but we probably got some bigger problems."

Daryl's face became serious as he looked down at Isabell. "Wha' happened? Was it Shane?" His breathing became hard. "Fuckin' hick. Did he hurt you?"

Isabell shook her head, looking up at Daryl. She put a hand on his chest to calm him. "Lori's still pregnant."

Daryl stared at her for a moment, and then he scoffed. "Coulda called that one. Ain' no way a woman like that woulda been able to go through with it."

Isabell chewed on her lip, just thinking about her family.

"We'll figure it out. Don't let it get to ya." Daryl promised. "We got people to protect."

Isabell nodded after receiving a kiss on the top of her head. She laid with her head on his chest quietly for a moment, listening as Daryl's breath slowly evened out. Isabell couldn't stop thinking about Harley. "Hey, D?" Isabell whispered. "You awake?"

"Yeah." He groaned, obviously already half asleep, eyes still closed.

"Do ya think I woulda done it?" she asked.

"What?"

"That night I told ya I was pregnant. I didn't think you wanted the baby, so I said I was gonna take care of it." Isabell said.

Daryl had opened his eyes and was staring at Isabell intently.

"Do you think I would've 'handled it'?" Her head turned to meet his eyes.

Daryl pursed his lips. "Things were different back then, Izzy." He told her. "As much as you wanted kids, you knew you couldn't do it on yer own. Before Harley, you were only worryin' about yerself."

"Daryl…." Isabell begged, wishing he would just answer her question.

Daryl didn't want to answer the question. With Isabell's serious look, he knew she had to. "If I didn't stop you, tellin' you I wanted it, you would've handled it." Daryl nodded against his pillow. "But if we were in this now, even after Harley, I know you'd do exactly what Lori's done. You'd keep it. Even with the risk. You know she's just in doin' what she's doin'."

Isabell hesitated before answering back. "I don't know." She said, wavering. "I — I'm kinda tired."

Daryl nodded. "Get some sleep." He said, giving Isabell a tight squeeze after she'd rolled to her side, facing away from him.

! #$# !

Isabell fell back to sleep after Daryl left the next morning to find Rick, Glenn, and Hershel. Or, at least, she had tried to sleep. Realizing that the group was now going to add a baby into the mix made Isabell think about her own baby.

All the things that Isabell remembered about Harley used to make her laugh, but now they only made her said. She recalled how the little girl would sleep in her room with her whenever Daryl was on a hunting trip. Harley would jump on the bed until she woke her mom up and the two would go make breakfast together. They would spend the whole day in pajamas watching movies and eating junk food.

Isabell sighed and rolled over onto her side. She wished she had more days like that. Isabell wanted to be with her daughter again. She wanted to hear the soft snores in the night and the squeals the next morning.

Hearing footsteps approach the tent, Isabell swallowed the lump in her throat and quickly wiped under her eyes for any trace of tears. She turned over, hearing the tents zipper. "Daryl?" Isabell questioned when she recognized him. "I thought you were going to get Rick."

"Didn't need to." Daryl said simply. "They came back."

"Is everyone okay?" She asked.

"I think so. I didn't stick around to check. They're back. That's what you wanted."

"You saw them and bailed?" Isabell sat up, reaching for her boots to put them on.

"I didn't want to go in the first place. I only agreed 'cause you were in a mood."

Isabell scoffed. "You're impossible." She grabbed a light flannel shirt to put on over her tank top.

"What are you doing?" Daryl asked, blocking her exit from the tent.

"Goin' to see that they're alright. And you should come." Isabell insisted. When Daryl didn't get out of her way, Isabell continued. "Look, what Carol said last night was right. We can't pull ourselves out of the group."

Daryl stood in front of Isabell, rocking his balance between his feet.

"We are just as much part of this group as everyone else. You can pull away from the group if you want and I will lay my head down out here, if that's what makes you happy. But Ima be a part of this group. Helpin' with breakfast and laundry and around the farm."

Daryl pursed his lips. "That what you want?"

"It's all we've got, D." Isabell reminded. "These people are all we've got left in this fucked up world."

Daryl nodded and stood for a moment before turning out of the tent. "Let's go then."

Isabell smiled and jogged after him to catch up. As the two of them approached the house,

Daryl pushed the side door opened, lifting his arm above Isabell, so she could enter under it.

Andrea was speaking as they entered. "Isn't that the same as leaving him for the walkers?"

Isabell furrowed her brow. They had entered quietly, and she leaned over towards T-Dog to whisper to him. "Who's bein' left for walkers?"

T-Dog shook his head, hardly believing the situation. "Randall. They brought a kid back with them."

"You're just gonna let him go?" Shane asked making Isabell's eyes shoot towards him. "He knows where we are."

"He was blindfolded the whole way here." Rick informed. "He's not a threat."

"Not a threat?" Shane countered. "How many of them were there? You killed three of their men, you took one of them hostage, but they ain't gonna come lookin'?"

Isabell stood with a shocked look on her face, not wanting to believe that Rick would have killed someone.

"They left him for dead." Rick stressed. "No one is looking."

"We should still post a guard." T-Dog suggested quietly.

Hershel stepped up. "He's out cold right now. The old man said. "Will be for hours."

"You know what?" Shane spoke jokingly. "I'm gonna go get him some flowers and candy." He scoffed, moving towards the door. "Look at this, folk — We back in Fantasyland!"

Hershel stepped after him. "You know we haven't even dealt with what you did at my barn yet."

Shane stopped in his tracks, facing an angry Hershel.

"Let me make this perfectly clear, once and for all." This is my farm. Now, I wanted you gone. Rick talked me out of it, but that doesn't mean to have to like it." Hershel spoke with a confidence in his voice that was almost threatening. "So do us both a favor — keep your mouth shut."

Shane nodded his head once and looked around the room. It was obvious that he was ashamed that he got yelled at. Shane turned, rubbing his hands on the back of his neck. Finally, he was out the door.

Rick approached Hershel, placing a hand on his shoulder. "We're not gonna do anything about it today. Let's just cool off."

Carol moved passed Isabell to get to Daryl.

Daryl was quick though. He pushed out the door forcefully and exited the house, leaving the screen door to slam behind him.

Isabell was unsure of what she would do. She wanted to talk to Rick and find out what happened while they were in town, but she also knew that she should follow Daryl.

Daryl was still upset over the spat that they had with Carol the previous night.

The blonde sighed, rushing around Carol to follow Daryl. She followed him into the horse's stables. Isabell breathed a laugh, trying to ease the tension in the quiet barn. "So, I guess a lot more happened on that trip than gettin' back Hershel, huh?"

"Guess so." Daryl said. He picked up a brush and walked over to the house Isabell knew bucked him off. Daryl was becoming friendly with the horse.

"We'll have to get the whole story." Isabell said, waiting for a response. When she didn't get one she continued. "I'm sure there's a good reason that Rick killed people. They must've been a threat." Isabell insisted.

Daryl nodded in response, continuing to brush the horse.

"Do you think there's a good reason?"

Daryl glanced at her for a brief second. "Of course."

! #$# !

Eight Years Earlier….

Isabell held Harley over her head in the air. She made the little girl feel like an airplane as her arms were held out from her sides. Isabell moved through the house quickly, making the airplane noises for her daughter.

Harley laughed loudly as Isabell made a quick turn into her own room.

Isabell placed her daughter lightly on the big bed that sat in the middle of the room.

"No, Mama, no." Harley protested, holding her arms out towards her mother. "Again." She cheered.

"Harley, Mama's tired. It's time for sleeps."

"No sleeps!" The little girl stood clumsily to her feet. She was even shakier due to the softness of the mattress. "No ti-ti."

"Yes, ti-ti." Isabell laughed, trying to calm Harley. "Listen to Mama. Tonight, we'll go to sleep. And who is gonna be home when we wake up?" she asked.

"Daddy!" Harley cheered.

"That's right, little one. So, we've got ta get up early, so we can make Daddy breakfast. Which means, right now, is bedtime."

Harley smiled, falling onto her hands and knees. She crawled to the head of the bed, putting herself under the comforter. "Night time, Mama." Harley said, patting the bed beside her.

Isabell grinned, getting in the bed and pulling her daughter close. "Kiss." Isabell said, turning her head to the side and pointing to her cheek.

Harley complied then copied her mother's actions. "Kiss, kiss!"

Isabell kissed Harley. "That's my girl."